Hugs and Fingerprints

Dear Friends,
I'll attempt to give you a re-cap on our last few days in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye (Key). I hope these pictures can fill in some of the gaps.

The Thunderbolt
Friday morning at 7:00, Presh and I took off with our backpacks to catch the “Thunderbolt,” which began our weekend adventure in San Pedro (aka vacation:). The rest of the group chose a short flight. What is a Thunderbolt you may be wondering? Best description I can give is a BIG motorboat with airplane-like seating under the deck. Oh, not to mention, the cruise comes with some very loud Latino music and airplane like windows to see out of. I actually read a book the whole time while Presh had her eyes fixed on the water. Two hours later, as we approached Ambergris, the doo-doo brown water we had grown some affection for was trumped an electric turquoise color. We shared knowing smiles.

The Consul and his wife
Upon landing, we took a taxi down cobblestone streets to check into our hotel. We had a few hours until we had planned to meet Honorary Consul Dr. Ed Paul and his wife, Laura, for lunch. We connected with Dr. Paul through a family friend of Presh’s and he just so happened to be in San Pedro that weekend. Dr. Paul is an eye surgeon in Wilmington NC, who first came to Belize on his honeymoon 9 years ago. After repeated short term medical mission trips, (unknowingly with the Prime Minister’s wife), Dr. Paul was appointed Honorary Consul of Belize. A consul, we learned, is like a mini ambassador, who is responsible for caring for Belizean immigrant needs in the US, promoting US- Belizean relations and advocating for Belizean development in areas such as education, tourism, health care, etc. We informed Dr. Paul and his wife about what the Belize Project, especially Sports Servants and the Education Project, is seeking to do in Belize. He and his wife could not have been more gracious and it was just really neat to get to introduce them to all the relationships and work being done through the Belize Project. I have a feeling our paths will cross again.

Snorkeling with "Chocolate"
Friday night was winding down and our attempts to secure a snorkeling guide for the next day had not been fruitful. A family friend of mine who is a realtor in San Pedro, Robert Cunningham, recommended a guide named “Chocolate.” So, at 10 pm, I connected with Chocolate who agreed to pick us up at 8:45 the next morning. After eating the best Banana pancakes I have ever tasted for the second morning in a row, we headed out to meet our guide. This trip would include all the girls, Abby, Courtney, Presh and I and one of the guys, Kirk Brown.

My only regret is that we did not have an underwater camera. Our first stop was a famous part of the reef called Hol Chan. I could have stayed underwater all day. Chocolate had me on one side and Presh on the other pointing out and naming fish and coral. It was easily one of the top five coolest things I have ever done in the outdoor realm. We then went to Shark Ray Alley where we rode nurse sharks and floated belly to belly with stingrays. By the way, the stingrays belly feels like firm rubbery velveteen but not hairy. The back of a nurse shark feels more like sand paper. We even got to sit on the back of the nurse sharks and put our arms around them. No words can really describe what I saw but I couldn’t help but think that in the new earth there will be endless exploration of the seas and playing with sea creatures. I didn’t want it to end.

Group Dynamics
The afternoon was spent relaxing on the beach, reading, writing and just talking. It was a great time to just be together and I feel like the girls’ team really came together in a way I haven’t felt until this weekend. The other two girls are living in the village of Cristo Rey so we haven’t had very much relational down time with them until this weekend. The guys are all great, each bringing their own unique personalities and gifts to the fullness of the group. Though they are younger, they each have depth, enjoy reflecting and writing, care about worlds and people outside their own 4 walls, and all appreciate and respect each other’s differences. If I were a guy, I would definitely want to be a part of that comradery.

Robert
Robert is a realtor made friend whom my parents met several years ago while looking at land in Colorado. They have kept in touch with Robert since his move to San Pedro about 4 years ago and visited him last fall. Robert works with San Pedro’s most exclusive resort community called Sueno del Mar. It’s like a paradise within a paradise, a little bit remote (about 12-13 miles from the hustle bustle of San Pedro). We finally caught up with Robert on Sunday before our departure via the Thunderbolt. We discussed his life in San Pedro, the culture of the island, the ups and downs of island life, and all that is going on with Sports Servants. Robert, a believer himself, was very encouraged by the work being done through Sports Servants. He encouraged us by telling us how vital the work with soccer is in Belize as it their national sport and they don’t even have a soccer stadium in the whole country that is fit to play in. He also spoke about the importance of kids having opportunities to play organized sports in Belize, especially soccer. He asked for our website so he could introduce Sports Servants work to his friend whose office is right upstairs from his. Robert’s friend also happens to be Director of Immigration in Belize. Robert seems to think Sports Servants work will be a great encouragement to his friend who has been very disheartened about the state of youth culture in Belize. Oh, Robert also is friends with the Consul. He sold them their place in Sueno del Mar. Belize is starting to feel a lot like Mississippi.:)

A Little Nervous
Well, I’ll let the picture of Presh in the life vest suffice to say that the ride home was a little scary. What you don’t see in the picture is me crying because I am laughing so hard, partly because I am scared and partly because Presh just asked the passengers on board for a show of hands of those who were also nervous. Besides me, she got ONE shout out. I guess the Belizeans are used to boat rides where the left side passengers are horizontal with the water. Call us crazy for feeling a little uneasy.

Hugs for Presh/Fingerprints for Mel
We have a two blank sheets of poster size paper taped up in our apartment. We decided one would be used to record “Belizisms” and the other to log what Presh calls “Hugs from God.” Well, that phrase was about the most Presh description she could have used to describe her experiences of the Lord’s hand of care, nearness, and involvement in her life. It’s a phrase I have often heard her use back in Nashville, so it was no surprise that she wanted to entitle our second poster as such. Quite endearing actually. Funny though, it did lead us to talk about the different ways that we describe our relations with and experiences of the Lord. The same type of experiences of the Lord’s sovereignty, his detailed care and provision, his personal love for me, I’d be more inclined to describe as “fingerprints of God.” Maybe she’s more touchy- feely and fingerprints connote more of an analytical/detailed experience, but either way, our weekend was marked with His fingerprints and an abundance his hugs...as has been our entire time in Belize so far.

Presh’s biggest hug in San Pedro:
As Presh and I were headed back from a late afternoon walk on the beach, I looked up to see an expanse of sand with TWO hammocks hanging from palm trees, one blue and one green. I didn’t even have to ask Presh what was next. We bolted towards the hammocks with smiles spread across our faces. It really was TOO perfect, esp for Presh, as you might remember she has been quite OCD about hammocks. By the way, in the last hour of our beach time, guess who walks by? Yep, a Belizean man selling hammocks. Presh finally got her very own hammock, which she is tucked into taking a nap as I write.

Mel’s most distinct fingerprint of God
While the relational connections orchestrated for us have been mind blowing, I’d have to say that the things I saw and experienced under the sea left me speechless. The intricate detail of the multi-colored fish, the design of the nurse sharks mouth, the sting ray’s harmlessly soft belly, the way the water broke at command over the reef in the middle of the sea, the perfect ordering of the schools of fish, the natural defenses of the coral which keep its beauty protected ( I learned first hand)..all of it just left me with a deep ache for more...one of the aches I recognize as an echo of the fullness of things to come.