Rainy First Day

The team anxiously traveled to Eight Mile Rock this morning to see Miss Velma and the kids, and we weren't disappointed. They were waiting at the door for the bus to arrive. There were hugs and smiles all around. Surprisingly, the work that was completed last year has held up very well, except for the weeds which were pretty much out of control. We soon got our marching orders from Miss Velma. Finish her room, which needed to be spackled, sanded, and painted; spackle, sand, and paint Denzel's room; build a closet and paint the girls room, build a closet for Olivia's room, and transform one the rooms into a classroom for Miss Velma to teach in. The exterior work that needed to be done was to clear some weeks, cut down four trees, and build a new table. Before we even got ourselves settled, the skies opened up once again like a big wet blanket. The usual first day hesitations about where to go and what to do were magnified as 24 people stood in the house hoping it would stop. Not long after, it let up a little bit and we broke into our rooms to get to work. However it didn't last long. The rain came and went until about 3, but by then a lot of the work inside was finished, and there wasn't enough time to start something new. The bright side to all of this is that it's a lot nicer here in the Bahamas temperature wise than it is back home. So after dinner we were able to head down to the beach for another round of games (the Cherry Bombs won 2 out of the 3) and we were able to relax outside comfortably until small groups began. We ended with another great discussion about one of God's promises to us, and wrapped it all up in Jeff's room sharing stories and laughing a lot. All 24 of us in one room (thanks goodness it wasn't mine!)