All In

Wednesday is always a crazy day on a mission trip. The initial walls of nervousness, being unsure of your place on the team, and uneasiness about working on the jobsite are gone. But now the problem is the end is creeping ever closer - and we all know it. Normally Wednesday is a great - only two more days until the weekend, but now that means only two more days until we go home. So that's why it's usually the most emotional days of the trip. Throw in the beach service too - well you see where this is going. The day began with some rain. For about 2 hours it poured off and on, but luckily the two bigs jobs were inside. But that still left about 15 people looking for something to do. It was frustrating for a while, but there were plenty of kids to play with and little odds and ends to keep us busy. Once the rain stopped, a group went to play basketball, another went to the beach area thats just a few hundred yards away, and another began the second coat on the neon yellow house. As we wrapped up for the day, the goals we had set for ourselves were almost complete. Two homes need areas sanded and primed, the shanty needs the interior painted, and there's a new home down the road that needs to be scraped and painted. All this by 2:30 so we can head to the port. Looks like its going to be another Woodside work week - exceeding Raoul's expectations for us. Tonight's beach service couldn't have been better. The Holy Spirit was making it's presence tonight - the weather was perfect, the testimonies were moving, and the kids were opening up. We had two members give themselves to Jesus tonight! After we wrapped up our last song, "How He Loves," Greg spoke about a passage he has been reading in Malachi on how God loves us, and what that means. We all sort of dip our toes in the water, get our fill of God, and then run to shore, thinking we got it covered. Then we go to our knees and turn around; then our waists. But even though we might get deeper each time, we don't go all in. He said he's not afraid any more to give it over to Him, trust Him, and go all in. He emptied his pockets, took off his shirt and ran straight for the ocean, inviting us as well. The only thing about this was it was 8:30 and we had already showered after work!! But we followed, jumped in the ocean hugging and laughing and crying! There was a different attitude as we walked back to the hotel. We have one day left to finish the work. We are going ALL IN!