Twists of Life

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my All in All

Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I’d be a fool
You are my All in All

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame
rising again, I bless Your name
You are my All in All

When I fall down, you pick me up
When I am dry, you fill my cup
You are my All in All

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is your name

Sometimes, the best days start off in the worst ways. I opened my eyes, and I immediately got the impression that I just shouldn’t get out of bed. We’ve all had those days; you pry your eyes open only to have your body beg you not to get out quite yet. In my case, that was followed closely by a chaser of a cold shower. Not the most enticing mix.

Normally on a Friday morning, I go to the Airport School to teach Scripture in school. One of those few days that I really look forward to in a week, because you have smiling faces and eager hearts. What more could you ask for? This morning, however had a twist to it. We normally leave about 5 or 10 after 9 to get there in time to teach the first class. I started getting ready about 5 after, and was packing my stuff up when I remembered I forgot to brush my teeth. Nothing worse than smelly breath for an entire day. So I quickly brushed my teeth. Josefa, the man who also lives in the BDC, must have been having an impatient day, because when I came out of the BDC (at 9:07, I checked) he was rolling out of the BDC at walking pace. So I walked briskly towards the van... no worries. He sped up. Then in the street he yelled out the window, “Run.” Now... if this is a friend, it’s a laugh, because it’s done in good spirit. This wasn’t one of those moments. Jackson was sitting in the back of the van looking at me, and told me to go back to the BDC and shut the door, which I’d forgotten to do. Josefa drove off. It is worth noting though that this evening when I came home, we had a good conversation about it, and he apologized, and now I'd like to think our friendship is stronger because of it.

So I walked! It was about 45 minutes to an hour to the school up and down hills and in some very hot sun. But God and I had a lengthy chat, so can I really complain about that? When I got to the airport school, I was hot, sweaty, smelly and a little more than angry. Jackson and I talked for a bit, and when I explained to Josefa that what happened was unacceptable, and that I was in no condition to be teaching now, he told me to have the day off. So Jackson took my classes, and I moved on.

Interesting story in itself, but the rest of the day was filled with different twists. While I was waiting for a bus, I got talking with a lady there. She was a believer (meaning she believes she’s a sinner and Jesus died on the cross for her sins, I didn’t probe much deeper) and was going to pray. Apparently her church has been praying 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the past 7 years. That’s an impressive feat no matter who you are!

In the evening I went to the Lautoka church again for their youth program. Have I said how much I love this church? They are free, they are ... well, a church. The kids were fun, and that in turn allowed me to have fun talking with them. We talked about being counter-culture (see yesterday’s post!), which is challenging for them, and challenging for me.

And then the ride home on a mini-bus. All the buses had stopped about an hour or two before, so the only way you can get a ride to Nadi from one of the other towns is via mini bus. A few twists on this trip... I was sitting next to a ... feminine male.

There are quite a few of them in Fiji, just a litmus test of the state of the culture itself. And the last twist is that when it came to my stop, I asked for him to stop in English, and he didn’t hear me. But when I made the sound all the locals makes (“Sssss”) he stopped immediately. I think I’m getting the hang of it! 