June 24th, 2008 - Day 4

6:52am

Well, the worst thing that could possibly happen (okay, not the worst, but it's bad) is happening. I woke up at 5:30 hearing what sounded like a fan right next to my ear. I looked around and Porsha and Lauren were both not in the room. Then I heard it thunder and realized the fan-like sound was the rain pounding on the tin roof. Lots of rain. It's still raining now, but not nearly as hard. It's expected to rain all day.

I got really nervous. In Jamaica, I didn't care if it rained, but Nebraska got flooded before. I don't want it to flood again. Our mission trip would end, and it'd be difficult to get back home.

All we can do is pray.



11:03pm

We're all fine. It didn't flood, and Camp Sonshine continued. It was really soggy and muddy, though. Still, it didn't dampen the spirits of the campers or us (we call it "Liquid Sunshine" here).

Schedule: first I helped make lunches correctly (Carmen was the culprit...being Hispanic, she doesn't read good English and apparently can't determine that mayonnaise doesn't go with PJ&J), While I was doing them, Clayton came up to me, a pretty upset look on his face. He handed me a soggy piece of paper with one giant ink blot. It was my Bible lesson. When it rained, our Bible barn leaked all over my story. So I thought, "Great. I was nervous enough with me having to teach the Bible story twice today, now my notes are completely destroyed." So I asked for my Bible, and Clayton handed me the soggy remains of my teen study Bible. So i had no notes and no Bible. I pretty much gave it to God and said, "Lord, You know I can't do this. I can't do it. It's not within my power. But I'm doing it for You, and I will trust fully that You will give me the words to say, cuz if You don't, I'll fail."

Needless to say, God gave me the words to say for both lessons. The kids were really interactive and it was cool. And it was totally God. It definitely wasn't my brilliant work.

Anyhow, then Jeff assigned me with the go-karts. Immediately I thought, "Oh Lord, not me." But I went anyway, saw this teeny worn go-kart caked with mud from practice rounds around the muddy track. The kart could hold 2, but there was no seatbelt for me and I was not given a helmet. So I got to ride with little girls around the track. It was fun, scary, thrilling, and oh-my-gosh-get-me-the-heck-off-of-this-thing-now intense, but all in all, I enjoyed it. A couple of girls couldn't reach the pedals, so I was fortunate enough to apply the gas myself, but most of the time the pedals were far enough so they couldn't press them hard, but they couldd still reach it. Then I had some taller experienced drivers who went full speed around the track. It went about 5-10 mph, but man, it felt like 60. I was clinging on for dear life, praying, "Don't let me die, please don't let me die." Then there was one girl who couldn't push the gas pedal and steer at the same time. She drove full speed at a shed and wouldn't turn or slow down. I kept screaming, "Turn left! Turn left!!" and she wouldn't. I managed to grab the steering wheel and turn back before we crashed, but it was a close call.

As for the skit, I forgot to mention, Jeff (notorious for picking random people for anything whether they want to or not) called PJ, Cameron, Brede, Garrett, and Logan into a skit. Jeff was the narrator, Em J was a bird keeper, and the young men were - you guessed it - her birds (PJ comes in later). Cam, Garrett, and Brede were rare beautiful tropical birds, dressed in vibrant scarves and whatnot (Brede even had on a dress). Logan, on the other hand, was the ugly bird - big black fro, battered clothes, and a decreped walk. It was so hilarious watching the "tropical birds" sing and coo "beautifully," while Logan merely squawked. PJ was the bad guy who kidnapped the tropical birds and Logan came to the rescue. It was great.
Then I hung out with water games again, which the Slip N Slide was used again, and we played a bunch of water balloon games. I am convinced that the younger girls (kindergarten-3rd) love Cameron, the older girls are absolutely crazy over Garrett. They adore him, laugh at all his cheesy jokes, always pick him to break a water balloon on, evrything. He's a chick magnet. Ian and Neil don't have half the popularity Garrett does. I think it's cuz Garrett is sweeter than chocolate around them and still has fun at the same time. He's a dazzler.
It was great today.
Btw, I've been snacking way too much and gained about 2 or 3 lbs. I feel fat. I have flab I didn't have when I came. I am disgusted and will work this off when I get home.
The one item I am needing and craving and just about dying without: my iPod. (we were not allowed to bring iPods or cell phones, as they would take us away from the team)