Cave tubing, here we come!

I write tonight with not a ton of news to report, but because I know I won’t be writing for several days and more like a week or so. Why? Because MY DAD COMES TO BELIZE TOMORROW; and I could not be more excited!! (can you hear it in my voice through my all capitalized letters?:) He arrives tomorrow and departs on Monday, which is the day that Kimberly and Mac arrive and then when they depart, my dear friend Libby arrives... so it will be a busy few weeks, but very good!

My last blog detailed my trip to Belize City and the past few days have been much calmer. Saturday evening I went to Albert (the high school principal) and Romaldo’s house for dinner where we made black beans and rice (spicin' things up a bit) and beef; it was yummy and it is just so nice to be in a home! On Sunday, I caught a ride with an American family (from Atlanta) to meet Mrs. Lacey as we were going to Xibu, a small nearby village, to film, only as we approached Cristo Rey(where Mrs. Lacey lives), panic overtook me as I realized I had left the video camera at my place. I had purposely put the video, fully charged, by the front door so as not to forget it but when my ride called me and told me they would be there in 10 minutes, I took my PJ-d self frantically in my room and got dressed, running out with the camera case, but no camera. Those of you who know me know that I hate inconveniencing anyone and I feared even telling Mrs. Lacey because the last thing I wanted to do was make a 77 year old woman have to rush around. She looked at me and immediately calmed my nerves and said “We’ll just go get it; don’t you worry about a thing….now, help me find my car keys.” Apparently her neighbor had borrowed her car the night before but she had not seen where the keys had been placed, upon return, so we began to search all around her house as well as her neighbors'(her neighbor was busy playing the keyboard for church across the street). We were both covered in sweat and knew time was ticking since we had to go back to get the camera and the church service we were to film started in 40 minutes and we had not that much time, with the traveling we had to do. But in the midst of frantic searching, Mrs. Lacey pulled me aside, sat me on a bench on her porch, turned the fan up above on high and looked at me and said “Let’s pray” and proceeded to pray for her missing keys and for God to allow them to resurface so that we could get to the service on time. Wouldn’t you know it that minutes later, we found the keys(on the key hook in her neighbor’s kitchen) and we sped off to get the camera…and then pulled up the church at 9:58, 2 minutes before the service began! It’s amazing what will happen when, in the midst of flurrying around, you stop and be still and ask God to calm your hearts. I continue to learn how being still is the answer to a great deal in our lives.

After the service, we came back to Cristo Rey where two of Mrs. Lacey’s friends had prepared lunch and we sat on her porch and enjoyed a nice rice/beef stew/green beans lunch. One of the ladies was living in Corozal so she offered to give mea ride back to town and on the way back, she proceeded to tell me about the fact that her apartment had been broken into 3 times in the past month. As you might expect, I was a little shaken and so came back to my place fearful even to climb the stairs. After emailing a few friends asking them to say a prayer for my safety, I decided to go to my journal(you would think I would learn to go there first ) where I prayed for safety and God’s protection. That afternoon, the same girl who told me about the break-ins invited me to an evening service in a nearby village and I reluctantly said yes. I say reluctantly because I knew I wanted some down-time that night and also I knew the service would be in Spanish and twice in one day Spanish services were getting to be a little much, but my weakness in not being great at saying no took over and I hopped in the car and went. Obviously, however, God wanted me at that service because wouldn’t you know it that one of the girls who went with us offered to sit next to me and translate the entire sermon...and wouldn’t you know it that the sermon was about...yes, FEAR and in the midst of fear, we need to run to the Lord for protection as He is our protector, our refuge, our fortress. It is easy to be overtaken by fear but the Lord wants to protect you and cover you like a shield but He wants you to go to Him. HELLO, PRESH, ARE YOU LISTENING??!! Earlier that day, I had let fear cover me and not God; I had let my own imagination and worry come into my mind and not God and the verses I had looked up earlier on fear made me feel lots better but it was this sermon on the very topic that I had been consumed by all afternoon that made me feel so much better, made me feel the hug from God. For those of you reading this(i.e. my family in whom I caused worry with my hitchhiking story from an earlier blog)who may be concerned about my safety, please don’t. I really do feel safe here and am now just cautiously even more aware of my surroundings, asking the Lord to protect me and carrying my mace with me everywhere(ha). I also talked to the owner of the hotel and she said in 30 years of owning the hotel, she really has not had much trouble at all; she daily prays for protection and thus far,she is happy to it has been protected.

Monday, I went to PDS(Presbyterian Day School) in Cristo Rey to help unpack boxes and boxes of books that had been donated from schools in the states. We arrived at 8:00am ready to work and did not finish the last bit of organizing until 4:00pm at which point we treated ourselves to some choco bananas(just like it sounds…chocolate covered bananas)! I came back and swept and mopped for the next hour(getting ready for my dad) and I know this is gross, but I feel like it needs to be shared. You know when you have gone to the gym and seen those sweaty(usually) guys who have sweat literally pouring off in them in pools of sweat puddles below; well, I have always seen that and been grossed out, especially when they don’t clean it up! Well, as I was mopping and cleaning my place, I was that guy in the gym; with each swish of the mop, sweat puddles were forming beneath me so that the mop grime mixed my sweat in with the tub water. Ok, enough Presh—that is disgusting even to you so WHY do your friends and family care to read that. Sorry-just felt the need to share(I also feel like I am coming across as bipolar talking in the third person:).

Today, there is really not much on which to report as I did a lot of follow up from last week’s visit to Belize City; all in all a productive day but nothing too terribly exciting to report, except that my anticipation for my dad’s arrival is rising and I simply cannot WAIT! I have been craving my family and having my Dad come is just what I need! I have packed his 5 days here with cave tubing, going to the islands, church with Mrs. Lacey--all in a rental car so he can experience, first-hand, the bad roads and pot-holes for himself. I’ll blog after he leaves or shortly thereafter but as you do what you are all doing on Thursday, think of me and my dad with headlamps on our heads, sitting in inner tubes and floating down the water, in a dark, dark cave. I have no idea what to expect (nor do I know if my description above is even accurate), but I am excited for the adventure and for this time with my Dad. Get ready Dad!!