From the Diary of.

On my way out the door, I snagged a small scale moleskin that had random chicken scratches in it, and I pulled a partially used notebook off my bookshelf. Quickly, I stuffed them in my Vera Bradley duffle bag. It was early in the morning, and I was barely cognizant. But, I knew that I needed something to write in during the trip to the city.

Monday, July 18th

Welp, today the SMITE team is off to Staten Island. We're all riding on the mini-bus, and the air conditioning doesn't work (oh wait, they just got it working. still, it was bad without it). Yesterday was pretty rough, rougher than usual. My selfish desire to always please myself kept getting the best of me. I laid out my ugliness before God and tried to be reminded of his grace (remember, I had negative desire to go on this trip). Jenna, Stephen, and I practiced worship last night which really helped me to get a little more excited.

I know that God has been exceedingly gracious to me, and I hope I always remember that. A friend posted Romans 7:18 on Facebook last night. It was like God put it there because I really needed to hear that truth.

Tuesday, July 19th

Yesterday, I can safely say, was one of the best days of my life. From the people to the food to the ministry, I'm at a loss for words.

We woke up to Mrs. Watkins making us breakfast. She is such an amazing servant, and by far the most hospitable woman I've ever met. Quickly, I pulled on some jean shorts and a t-shirt before the guys came over for breakfast. We ate the deliciousness and headed out to VBS.

All the kids attached to us like glue. There were only 8 at the VBS, but we went to the park later to recruit some more little cuties. At the park, I pushed kids on the swings for almost a hour and a half. It was a whole new ball game being around all the adorable Liberian kids. They caught on to my name really quickly, but theirs took me so long to learn (Erika vs. Toulee...you get the point).

At night, 19 people piled into a 15 passenger van to go to South Beach. We played in the salt water and sand, passed the football, and ate ice cream. It was such a blast, and yes, I took plenty of pictures.

The tantalizing adventures of the rest of week are yet to come.