Going on An Adventure

Emily and I are leaving the house at 5 a.m. tomorrow and headed off to Adventure Learning Center in the Bahamas.  We will be there for ten days, serving the people of the Bahamas and sharing the love of Christ.  Whenever I tell people we are going to the Bahamas, I get a smile and a comment, "Suffering for Jesus on the beach?"  However, contrary to popular opinion, we will be working that entire time and only one day spent at the beach.

Emily will be working with the children in their summer camp program which runs from 8:30-4:30 each day.  I will be cooking for the various groups that are there serving during that time.  It's a different sort of an adventure, but one that we have been anticipating for a while.

As I was thinking about this trip, there are a few things that I would like to see occur.

1.  For Emily to see a broader view of the world outside of her little corner of New York state.  This is the first time she will have ever traveled outside the U.S. and while it's not that far away, it's still a different experience.  I love her heart for people of other cultures and races so I want this to solidify that.

2.  The opportunity for me to encourage some of the ladies who are working at this center.  One of them has been sent out from our district and as we were chatting one day, I discovered that she and her husband worked with my aunt and uncle years ago.  What a small world!  Anyway, they are working long hours in tropical heat and need a bit of encouraging.

3.  A time of bonding with my daughter.  So often, I feel like I'm in Mom "drill-sergeant" mode.  I want us to be drawn closer together through this experience.  I want it to be a time where I can listen to my daughter share her heart without feeling like I need to correct things all the time.  My bad habits need to be broken! ;-)

4.  For Emily to hear from the Lord and get some direction from Him to the path she should take after high school. 

There are many other things floating around my brain too, but these are the primary ones.  I'd appreciate prayers over the next ten days for travel safety, tolerance of the heat and humidity and that some of these things would happen.  Also, prayers that Emily's allergies will be okay.  She does not do well in the sun so I'm praying for her during this time.  She is deathly allergic to peanut butter and stops breathing if she even touches it.  We discovered that is primarily what the children in the camp eat each day so she's more than a little worried.  Please pray for God's protection over her. 

And on a silly note, I am petrified of spiders so I would really appreciate it if the Lord would allow those tarantulas and larger spiders to stay away until we come back home! :-)

We are off on an adventure and praying the Lord will bless it!