In HAWAII!

Ok so this blog is going to be short...maybe. Right now I am sitting in Ohana court which is where we have worship. Because we don't have internet in our dorms yet we have to venture out and find other hot spots. The best place would be to head over to the Banyan Tree cafe, but it is currently raining and I can't get over there without getting soaked. So here I sit in this big open space with my new friend Prisca from Switzerland.

So on to update you about how things have gone so far. My plane ride here was pretty nice except for the fact I had to spend 12 hours sitting next to a man who insisted I hear all about how he had been abducted by aliens. lol! When I arrived in Kona I began the 2 hour long process of registration. It was pretty ruff and by the time I made it to my dorm room it was about 2 in the morning in Indiana time. Needless to say I was pretty exhausted.

The next day was spent in different orientations and meetings. During one orientations they were talking about beach safety and told a story about how a girl had been at the beach and stepped on a sea urchin. This is very painful because of the poision in their spikes and the only way to relieve some of the pain is to.... well pee on it. Haha! Well anyway no matter how hard the girl tried she just couldn't go. Well no one else in here group was willing to volunteer except for one brave young man. Funny enough right? Well it gets better two years later they got married! So great!

Saturday was so much fun! We spent the day at the beach and had a BBQ! We played in the water for hours! I got talked into playing goalie during a game of beach soccer. Supposedly I do pretty good :) We ended the day by jumping off of some lava rocks. Of course I was the one who got pushed into the rocks by the waves. I got kinda cut up, but nothing to serious.

 Sunday was kind of our day off. In the morning my roommates and I tried to catch the shuttles to church, but there were to many people and we weren't able to go. Instead I spent about 2 hours in the prayer room and it was so amazing! You know it's kinda sad but I never have really spend a chunk of time just praying and reading and listening to God like that. It was so fantastic! I had been having a really ruff morning and wasn't feeling really good so it was just amazing to just take a moment and sit and remember why I am here and what God was doing in my life. If ever there was a time in my life for me to be stressed and worry now would be it. I am in a place where I don't know anyone and thousands of miles away from my family and friends, but I know that God is in control and is taking care of me. He kept leading me back to Philippians 4:6-7 which says, Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all that He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." So that's exactly what I did and am going to strive to do. Especially in those moments when I don't think that I can keep on going.

Obviously I didn't keep it short and because I don't have the time I am not going to go back and check spelling and what not. So I apologize! Lectures start tmrw and I am so excited! Keep the prayers coming!

Also continue to pray about my finances! I still need a little over $3,000. I know that God will provide and I am NOT going to worry about it. Thank you all so much for your prayers I love and miss you soooooo much! God bless! Maggie

P.S. I have lots of pictures but I won't be able to post them until the internet is working!