i am sitting in front of this computer at a loss of words...well, that's not entirely true...i have a million things to tell you, but i am overcome with emotion that i simply don't know where to start.

you all would be so proud of each of your kids if you were here! yep...here comes the tears!

the past year has been filled with so many emotions for me as we planned this trip, formed the team, and trained. i have been in ups and downs, including times of frustration, where i wondered if they were truly getting what we so desperately wanted them to learn. Satan, at times, told me over and over that not only was i failing, but that the kids would not be able to grasp Jamaica. i became fearful at times that they would just goof around and take nothing seriously. I WAS WRONG!!!! guys...your kids rock! This trip has already been a huge success in my opinion, and we haven't even started the ministry week!

let me try to summarize last night and today for you...

Audra, Jensen, Dawn, Logan Casselman, Brock, Austin A. and I ended up playing cards and talking pretty late. we got a first hand glimpse of exactly how different boys and girls are. we were all in one room. the girls on one side were about peeing our pants laughing, while the boys look at us with complete amazement that any human could laugh so hard...also of confusion at what exactly we were laughing at...which of course made us laugh even harder! at one point, audra was bent over me, shaking me with her laughter, making me cry so hard! it was an experience! it had everything to do with lack of sleep...we were exhausted! Austin decided to try to see how many tootsie rolls to stuff in his mouth....i know it was somewhere between 30-50..you will have to see the pictures! yes we were laughing at that too!

some of the points of last night that touched me were when i peeked in kelsey, annie, and brett's window and they were preparing for bed. they were all smiles, and were looking like this was the best thing ever to be in a room with their best friends for a week...they looked at me and said that they were going to go to bed after they were done JOURNALING!!!....guys...these kids were journaling! maybe i am the only one amazed, but i got my first glimpse of kids seeking Jesus without any adult telling them they had too!

even though i had had no sleep, i had to get up with the sun in the morning. i can't explain exactly the feeling i have while i am here, but some mornings i wake with a dread that i missed it. i hope that one day, you may all be able to come down here and experience exactly what "it" is, but for now i will attempt to clarify a bit: imagine the ocean, just picture how vast it is...now turn your ears on and attempt to hear wave after wave crashing into the shore...next picture a breeze blowing away any other possibly distracting noise that is out there. imagine yourself sitting on a huge piece of coral rock, all you have is your Bible, and you can almost feel an electricity coming out of it as the Spirit is just calling you to soak it in. as you sit in silence, you quiet your heart and feel the power of God course through your body...i promise you, this is the most amazing time ever...in fact, my heart is just longing for it to be morning! as you are sitting there, you look out and watch the sun just peek over the water and quickly slide into full view. the colors are breathtaking...like nothing you have ever seen before...and it feels like HE has just arrived. This my friends is how i get to start every morning here! what is cool is how the kids reacted to first seeing this sitting place. they exclaimed in excitement "can we come down here to do our devotions in the morning?"...o.k. the tears are back....your kids are desiring to meet our Savior before starting their day!
it rained this morning, so i wasn't able to stay down there long, but as i walked back up, i once again was in awe. under the tuck shops awning sat 4 boys...all separate from each other and silent...many with their heads bowed, as they had their Bibles in hand and their Bible studies opened! Men with Bibles! This is how our world is going to be changed! these kids are going to be a huge part of it!

man....i haven't even got to church yet!

as we walked into the building, dawn and i got instant chills...the kind of chills you get when the Spirit of the Lord is working....and then we entered into the presence of God...many of you have never experienced praise and worship like we experienced today! they PRAISED HIM! i loved watching the kids' reaction to seeing people praise without any hesitation. and the message! oh my word! i have 3 pages of notes! it was so cool...

we had a great day of R&R and finished it out at the jerk chicken stand, huddled around a counter...belting out praise and worship with the guitars! when derek asked me how many more songs to play, before i could answer, i had several kids yell out that they want to keep going and after finishing all of the packet, continued to sing for a few more. it was awesome!

so there is our last couple of days....we will continue to randomly post and let random people share what they are seeing and doing! we go to the school tomorrow to teach P.E., tutor and build a wall. thanks for the prayers! they are working!