With this post, you are assured that the first of this year's Saba Summer Lipscomb and Friends Mission Team is safely on Saba. It was a long but happy day of travel yesterday that ended with pizza and salad, prayers of thanksgiving, and a make shift bedroom of air mattresses and army cots.
Today has been a day of worship and organization. We are about to meet with Stacey at Child Focus to make sure that day one of Day Camp is ready to roll. Then it will be off to Swingin Doors for steak night!
These were my thoughts as we traveled from Woodbury to Atlanta to St. Martin to Saba. Check back this week for more updates and thoughts...
Today I am writing from 30,000 feet. It's the first of July and for us that means one thing...Saba.
My energy has seemed endless the past couple of days. My dreams have been filled with little white cottages with red roofs atop. My suitcase is packed to the brim with tank tops, t-shirts, and Tevas. My feet are anxiously awaiting the water. My ears can already hear the tree frogs and the sea breezes that whip through the trees in the park. My mouth can't wait for the first bite of a Johnny Cake and the taste of a cold Ting.
My physical body is about to catch up with my heart.
The three kids had no trouble waking at 2:15am this morning. Their excitement never ceases to make my lips curve into a smile. They packed their little bags and have been counting down the hours. At this moment they are eating goldfish, watching in flight movies, and taking in the passing clouds out the windows of the plane.
It's been 104 days since we last saw her, The Unspoiled Queen. For the next 16 days we will walk on her road, play in Her waters, and love on Her people.
Last Spring Break as the team organized for a canvas of the island, Michael and I gave instructions and split the team into groups. Before we split up, I shared a little story with the team. I love a good story.
When Sadie was a baby she despised her car seat. Even the shortest of trips could be miserable. Until we found The Bee Movie. She loved it. We could pop in this movie to the DVD player, and faithfully the screams and tears turned to giggles and applause.
The plot of the movie...Barry the Bee, voiced by Jerry Seinfield, decides that bees are being used by humans for their honey and goes to court to sue humans, eventually winning. In the end he realizes bees need to produce honey to survive and humans and bees need each other. In true Hollywood animation style, lots of antics go on as Barry makes the journey to the courtroom and beyond.
Michael and I had this movie memorized word for word before we actually saw it. We drove many a mile with our baby girl watching intently with the car speakers turned wide open.
There was this one part that always got us...
Barry gets stuck on the windshield of a moving truck. He begins to panic but is consoled by a mosquito, voiced by Chris Rock. The two banter back and forth, and are having a good chat...until the driver of the truck decides he needs to clean the windshield with the wiper blades. Panic insues.
Chris Rock bellows...
"Watch out, triple blade, triple blade! Hold on for your life! These crazy humans always needing to see! Open your eyes, stick your head out the window!"
That last line was the purpose of the story that morning. It's my encouragement to every team member we travel to the island with through out the years. Slow down...take a moment...open your eyes...stick your head out the window. Be present in the moments that God has granted you on this unique five square miles that very few get the chance to experience. What is He teaching you through the creation around you and the people you meet? How are you encountering Him as you walk along the road and pillow your head next to your fellow team members at night? How is He using you? Better yet how is He using others that He has given you the chance to witness?
At the end of that day, a fellow team member, new to the work on Saba, ended our family meeting with his thoughts. His take away from the day...It's not about opening your actual eyes, it's about opening the eyes of your heart.
TRUTH!
So as we begin this two week adventure here, we plan on rolling the windows down...we'll stick our heads out the window...and we will ask that the Father opens the eyes of our hearts on a daily basis.
This just doesn't only apply to a little group of day camp volunteers on a remote Caribbean island. Join us. Whether you're on vacation, putting in a 40 hour work week, or enjoying the summer days at home with your kids...
God's story is being written through all of creation, through the lives we live, and through the relationships we are a part of, near and far. Things are not just by chance...coincidences, I think not.
Open your eyes! Stick your head out the window!
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