schedule? what schedule?

Tour…routine or no routine? that is the question

“Be thankful for quiet days, when nothing special seems to be happening. Instead of being bored by the lack of action, use times of routine to seek My Face. Although this is an invisible transaction, it speaks volumes in spiritual realms. Moreover, you are richly blessed when you walk trustingly with Me through the routines of your day.” Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

I have a simple routine. Get up, shower, eat, go to school, teach, come home, relax, eat, shower, and go to bed.

My routine, however, is often get up, shower, eat, relax at home all day (school is cancelled often and either I go to school then come back-because no one showed up-or I do not even go because I already know it is cancelled…), eat, shower, and go to bed.

When I first arrived in Chuuk, this excessive amount of down time bothered me. I felt bored or anxious to do something. In America I always had something to do and a routine/plan for each day.

I now enjoy my days of having nothing to do. I never plan my day; I just go with the flow and do whatever comes my way.

Maybe I…

Read all day

Sit in our utt all day listening to Chuukese (trying to understand it!)

Play with my siblings or other village kids all day

Go swimming

Sit and stare off into space (actually I stare off into the ocean….)

Listen to music all day

Try to help around the house (I am still limited on what I can help my host mom with…)

Or maybe I do all of those things

My new routine is never having a routine…and I am okay with that because I know that Jesus is always leading me through my day. Whatever I happen to do is what He wants me to do. I have learned to recognize that and not think to myself I wish I would have done/I really needed to do such and such today…because every day is perfect in its own way, whether it is crazy busy or nice and quiet.

Let God plan your day/routine, you may never know where He is leading you but that is all part of the adventure.

the adventures of a ship ride

Tour…home

Is it a sign of feeling comfortable where I am, by longing for my sleeping pad bed and own bucket shower? I was so glad to be home after my time in the Mortlocks!

The ship ride home was an even better adventure than the one out to the Mortlocks. This time we boarded Nien Chuuk, in the rain…so before we even left I was already wet! 

This ship was crowded too, but not as bad. It was covered but one side was an open ‘door’ (remember these are not cruise liners!). I was the ‘lucky’ one and got the spot right next to the ‘door’. Again I had to lie down to subdue the seasickness. Since I was right next to the open ‘door’ I was hit by huge waves for about a third of the trip (I was so wet I mine as well have swam back home…). 

I was also right next to two baby pigs that would freak out occasionally and try to escape (at one point I thought they might bite my feet, do pigs even bite?). 
The best part of the trip…watching the crew catch a huge swordfish! And because of my ‘first class’ seat I was less than a foot away to witness the entire thing! (and when I say huge I mean it was longer than I am tall!). A few hours into the ride we stopped at some islands to drop off some people, so a spot on the other side of the ship opened up and I jumped at the chance to have a ‘dry’ seat (even though I no longer got soaked by waves I stayed wet the entire trip). In the morning I was able to see the sunrise, it was so beautiful! Total travel time 24 hours! (and yea again, I did not get sick!)

they only way to make it through a 24 ship ride is to laugh...

When my friends and I got back we treated ourselves to a hotel. A nice warm shower and soft bed to sleep in was nice after the long wet ship ride.

I am so glad to be home.

Easter on a tiny island!

Tour…He is Risen!

Happy Easter!

I took a trip to the Mortlocks for Easter. All of my PCV friends in Chuuk got together on one of the volunteer’s island for the holiday.

How did we get there you ask? We took a ship and when I say ship I do not mean a vacation cruise ship…it was more like a small fishing vessel.

Lien Pukieal was the ship we boarded along with a ton of locals. When we bought our tickets we were unaware that it would be a chartered funeral ship (it was taking a body from Guam to the Mortlocks-locals really believe in burying people where they are from).

We sat in the enclosed room, which was nice because we did not get wet from rain or waves. We had our little space marked out with a mat to sit/lay on along with all our bags (right next to the casket…). However, we ended up being pushed from our spot and laid on by people through the course of the trip due to the rocking side to side of the ship. Inside the lagoon the ride was smooth and relaxing the second we left the reef and entered the open ocean…you knew it! It was such a rocky ride that as I laid down (so as not to feel sea sick) and looked out the window I could see sky then water, sky then water…needless to say I tried to sleep the whole time! 25 hours later we made it to the Mortlocks! We stopped at one island to drop of the people for the funeral, and hop on a small motor boat to head to our destination! Total travel time 28 hours! (oh and yea for me, I did not get sick!).

My friends and I spent the week hanging out and enjoying time together, it was nice to get away for a few days.



singing on the sea wall at sunset







team Chuuk! (we had to take turns, to get everyone in the picture)

Random thoughts…

I called home for Easter, using one of my friend’s satellite phones, and I had to stand in the ocean up to my knees to get good service!

sitting with my best Friend

Tour…needing time with Jesus

Can I sit by You?

by Three Cord Wonder

I feel like a life-raft

tossing in the sea

looking for some answers

and hoping I agree

Maybe you could tell me

What’s gonna happen soon?

But even if You’re silent, I will follow You. 

Can I sit by You?

I don’t care what we do

I just want to hold Your hand

I only want to be with You.

Can I sit by You?

I’m so in awe of You.

Please, may I kiss Your hand?

I only want to be with You

I feel like a victim

Of a life where all went wrong

I’m still trying to catch my breath again

And I find where I belong

I feel tired and neglected

A broken jar of glee

Though it feels like Your ignoring me

I am gonna to stay

Can I sit by You?

I don’t care what we do

I just want to hold Your hand

I only want to be with You.

Can I sit by You?

I’m so in awe of You.

Please, may I kiss Your hand?

I only want to be with You

I feel like You’ve taken

almost everything I love

and cast it in lake of fire

burning it all up

the pain I’m feeling right now

is overwhelming me

and though the world tells me to curse You

I still believe

Can I sit by You?

I don’t care what we do

I just want to hold Your hand

I only want to be with You.

Can I sit by You?

I’m so in awe of You.

Please, may I kiss Your hand?

I only want to be with You

I just want to kiss Your hand

I only want to be with You

I just want to hold Your hand

I only want to be with You

with you Jesus

underwater adventure

Tour…diving!

I went on my first dive adventure! (finally, I got to be “The Little Mermaid”)

It was the most amazing experience, an underwater museum! (the deepest I went was 65 feet!)

I was able to explore four different wrecks from WWII, the Hoyo Maru, Heian Maru, Fujikawa Maru, and Kiyosumi Maru.

Being able to see such an important part of Chuuk’s history was unforgettable, and indescribable. The ships were HUGE! I saw old telephones, tea cups, gas masks, and much more.

The wildlife was awesome. The fish were all around and we even watched a large fish get cleaned by little fish for over 5 minutes…it was so cool to get to see that. There were many different kinds of coral, all different sizes and colors. (there was so much to see, if I was not limited to the amount of air in my tank I could have easily spent all day down there looking at everything!)

There really is no way for me to put what I experienced in words, and I do not have a camera that can go that deep in water so I cannot share it with you either…I guess if you really want to see it you will have to come for a visit!

I cannot wait to go again and spend more time in God’s underwater creation!

Random thoughts…

Impromptu dance party in my room with Enrich and Richen = most favorite thing to do!