Trip Update 2

Okay, so we're on to Day 2 of our trip! I promise it won't take you four hours to read the recap of each day! :o) Poor Melinda hadn't been feeling well leading up to the trip and got pretty sick the day we left and through our first day there - the first day of the conference, too. She bounced back incredibly well, though, and was an amazing 'patient' the whole time she was stuck in bed. For breakfast we had stale bread and milk (some thought it was powdered condensed milk, but I dunno. It was really sweet, but I liked it. I know it wasn't goat's milk like before! ;o)

The people for the conference were already there, so the devotional that we were going to do with just our team became a conference devotional! Todd's notes for his messages had gotten 'lost' the day before, so he spent the entire night and this day's afternoon and the next day (Wednesday) working on recreating his messages and translating them. Amazing. He spoke that morning and Pino led us in a 'chupa-chupa' ceremony - the first of what became a daily event! It was hilarious! The Miami people also did a drama which was pretty darn good! But I've come to expect that from them. :o)

After a yummy lunch, and because it was so hot, we cancelled the afternoon sessions so everyone could rest. We headed to our rooms and the people went home or hung out in the church building, sleeping on pews, jamming on the instruments or just talking. This was a pretty unusual opportunity for them since most of them rarely see each other, so it was neat to see them taking advantage of it. It reminded me of a very hot Celebration afternoon walking past the tent-cities, ya know? Oh, and the electricity was out for about 8 hours! Random. And such a bummer because the fan and those a.c. units are your best friends when they're working!

That night, our team led worship. This was my first time to play on the worship team, so with much fear and trembling, I began to play. What did we play, you ask? I have no idea! Some of the songs I didn't even know....that promised rehearsal? Never happened. It was like the feeling of being held out over the Empire State building and trying to climb to safety....ok, so maybe that's a little dramatic. :o) When I began to get comfortable, Todd must have sensed this and decided to have Miguel get me and Juanita Megan to sing the girls part on 'Extiende Tu Mano' - on mic. This felt like someone slapped my hands as I was gripping the ledge of the Empire State building and I began to plummet. Okay, again, maybe that's a little dramatic, but you have to understand. I have never sung on mic before, let alone in another language...and on top of that, I didn't know the song very well. Definitely not my idea of a perfectly progressing conference and definitely not what I'd anticipated my first time on the worship band to look like...Isn't God good? *grin* He takes our measly expectations and plans and turns them into what He wanted all along...but I'm kinda getting ahead of myself....

After worship, one of the pastors there spoke and then we were done! We fellowshipped for a while and then headed up to the roof for our nightly ritual of cooling off, telling Helen Keller jokes (Abot, I still laugh!) and taking pictures. All in all, it was a great first day where the Lord was clearly leading and in charge - exactly where we want to be!

P.S. Some of these pictures are Jordan and Ody's. :o)