Put Yourself in My Crocs..

So last night I posted a blog update at 1:30 am, right? This morning, I am starting at 1 am :-) It only gets better! :-D

After I left the computer room last night and went back up to our room, I found all my roomates asleep (God bless their poor weary souls). Using my ipod for a light, I navigated across the treacherous expanse of our room, which was littered with clothes, souveniers and things that reach out to grab my feet when I least expect it. My bed is in a corner, and against the wall, on the other side of John's bed. My suitcase took all the space between the foot of the bed and the wall, so there is just a narrow space between the feet of the beds and the wall in which I can scoot towards my stuff. Kinda fun :-) Try doing that silently, at 1:45 am, with your ipod as a flashlight... it was an adventure!!!

Once I'd gotten ready for bed, I settled in for a peaceful night's sleep. First, let me tell you once again that my suitcase was at the foot of my bed. The last few days I've kept my duffel bag on top of the suitcase (which was on top of a stand thing), and I'd been piling things on top of the two of them. What a recipe for disaster!!! :-D As soon as my feet bumped the pile, it all cascaded onto my feet and legs, the coins from shopping, the receipts, the bandanas for skits, my puppet, anything and everything you can imagine!!!

So around 2 a.m., I fell asleep in my pile of awesomeness and slept clear until 7:30. Then, I woke up suddenly and was WIDE awake. Since breakfast was calling my name, I bundled downstairs to chow down on another free meal!!! (Gotta love those!)

It has been a completely full day, as you can tell from me posting this in the wee hours of the morning. In the morning, our team gathered outside and left for the beach! It was sooo pretty out, and as soon as our bus stopped and we unloaded... it started to POUR!!! The lightning was gorgeous and we spread out to study our Bibles under whatever shelter we could find. I wound up in the most interesting of places...

From a distance, it looked like a big yawning giant, with its awning stretched across a 50 foot span of concrete steps and a small stage. There were two homeless guys sitting on the top step and a rusty remnant of a bike lay abandoned along the concrete walk. I sat down on the edge of the stage as the rain poured, and what do you know, they have speakers mounted on the stage that were playing popular american music! Fun stuff. I settled in and read a few chapters of Isaiah, and then I watched as the bottom level of the concrete fill up with water. The drains were pumping water IN instead of out! The rain only worsened and I could visibly see the water rising. Totally awesome!!! :-D :-D

After an hour and a half, I wandered back to the McDonalds that everyone was gathering at, and we sat around until the bus came back. The attitude of my team is both incredible and inspiring! Instead of complaining about how the rain prevented us from riding bicycles along the beach, we prayed and thanked God for protecting us from what might have happened if we had gone biking, and for the time we were able to spend with Him. I love my team :-)

We spent the afternoon back at the Hangout, and I got a chance to organize my things in a better spot, away from my bed :-) Napping was very needed... I don't know how I fell asleep, but it happened and I thank God it happened!!! :-D I felt so much better after a little sleep :-)

Dinner was tasty, and the CI went well! Our kids were wonderful and Marie taught responsibility because its her favorite lesson. I really enjoyed watching her and studying the children's reaction to her :-) My absolute favorite part of the night had to be when we were doing the Sycamore tree and Zacchaeus skit. I played the tree, the table and a beggar under the table. for one part, I bit off a piece of a foam paper and hid it in my mouth, then put out my tongue to show my empty mouth. The kids went CRAZY!!!! :-D I love doing this stuff :-)

Now it is time to rest and sleep :-) I still need to try and wake up for breakfast though... we'll see :-)

Keep praying for our team! God is daily showing Himself faithful to us, and we are encouraged, but the enemy continues to attack our team members. Please pray God's protection over each one of us as we seek to fulfill His work in His kingdom in Southeast Asia!!!

Love you all!

Gladly serving Jesus,
Lewis