Perry Lives His Best Life

Perry wasn't in enough of my Facebook pictures, so I needed everyone to know he's been living his best life.  

We recently had a hotel stay in Guam for the youth retreat.  Perry had some quality lazy river time. 

He enjoyed playing referee to the Ping Pong tournament. 

He loved having such a big fluffy bed to sleep in.  (He wasn't very happy when he had to share it with two other people.)

He watched cartoons. 

And found slippers in the closet! 

See....Perry is having a great summer!  (With the exception of two new girls, the other Guam teens have been around Perry for years and years.  I hardly even saw this platypus the last few days. They grab him when I arrive and take charge of him.) 

VBS Day 4

Day 4 of of Vacation Bible School is always the most important.  It's the day we share how Jesus died for us.  

Here the kids were drawing pictures of things they did wrong.  Then we wadded up the paper and threw them in the trash, because Jesus can forgive us of all the bad things. (An 8 year old girl sat there for a really long time.  Then she said, "I just can't think of anything. I have never done anything wrong." 😂  If you have ever read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever--this girl is just like Alice Wendelken.  She wants to read everything...and be in all the pictures...and well, maybe she's a little like me.)

I was finally able to snag a picture with some of the kids and me.

We made window clings for crafts.

And finally it wasn't raining at the end of VBS so we could play!

Catch the Wave Saipan

On July 6-7, we had our annual youth retreat, Catch the Wave.  For Saipan this was a two day event with three sessions.  

Our theme was Catch the Wave: The Great Exchange.  We talked about you don't trade/exchange down. You wouldn't trade your iPhone for an old cd player or your new car for an old car.  It just doesn't work that way.  Until it did.  We went through three sessions learning how Jesus made an incredibly remarkable exchange--for us. (He exchanged heaven for earth. Who does that?) We discussed God's rescue plan and how we can live the exchanged life (aka a life of holiness). 

We kicked off with Session #1: Death for Life at the church followed by small groups.  

Of course, there are always games!  (I'm not exactly sure how many balls we have lost this summer to the neighbors' yards.  Usually they are thrown back in a day or two.) 

Then we headed to Marianas Beach Resort for some fun activities.  This was a great deal!  For $6/kid they got a smoothie and admission to the pool and games.  We played water basketball, water volleyball, and swam. Outside of the water we played ping pong and foosball.  (We enjoyed making up our own games of "ping pong" so we could all play.) As you can see Perry enjoyed his time playing games.  

Session #2:God's Rescue Plan was held at the hotel under a pavilion.  (We actually had an audience of some kids and teens for a while which was kind of neat.) After the session, we had individual reflection and prayer time.  

Session #3: Living the Exchanged Life was back at the church the following day. We learned about how living an exchanged life included living a life of service and sacrifice and that it wasn't always easy. We also discussed ways we can live a life of holiness.  This was followed by another small group session.  

We were going to go to the beach for pizza, sunset, and a beach prayer walk. But by the time our session was over, it was throwing down rain. (Again.) So, I went to Plan B.  We watched a movie called Faith of Angels and enjoyed pizza at the church.  

When Life Gives You Lemons, Saipan edition

Saturday was Saipan ladies retreat! It is always a favorite of mine. It was the same retreat theme that I did in Guam last year.  (This year Guam has to have an evening event, so they were going to be different anyway.)  When Life Gives You Lemons, God Makes All Things New. 

The first lady that walked in the church is new to the church/island. (Well, they came in October.)  So this was her first retreat. I think she was so excited to see a totally transformed church with decorations and goodies.  That's what I want--for the women to feel special.  For the expats that live here, they get a taste of home.  For the local islanders, they get a taste of something truly special.

We sang songs, ate food, played games, ate food, colored, ate food, made scarves, ate food, and studied the Bible.  (Did I mention we ate food?)  I think the prayer stations area always a highlight. 

I have more pictures from our crafting, but my Google photos is full and need some pictures deleted (meaning pictures stopped uploading).  So you'll just have to use your imagination. 

All the women went home with not only their participant guide, but a lemon necklace, a women of faith tote, and a handkerchief with a verse.  (Thank you to a special donor who gave me the totes and handkerchief for the event.) What a special day!

American Memorial Park Museum

In honor of Independence Day (or Liberation Day on the islands), I made a trip to the museum. I hadn't been to the museum in years.  I rarely see many there, but of course there would be a school field trip the day we decide to go.  (And these middle school kids probably thought I was a little crazy carrying around and staging my platypus around.)

The museum takes you through the sugar cane farming days of the Japanese occupation...through WWII....to the internment camps after the war...

It all so awful. First many locals believed the propaganda of the Japanese and committed suicide instead of being captured by the US soldiers.  But all the locals were put in internment camps when the US took the island.  They remained there almost a year after the war was even over.  Deplorable living conditions, not enough food, malnutrition, so much death.   They at least go to bring back Catholic Mass.  And eventually, they were let out during the day to fish and grow food.  

Well, here are a few pictures of Perry in the museum.  

 

 

Score!

Yesterday, as I was dropping kids off after Bible school, I heard a commercial on the radio that said if you bought a drink at Marianas Coffee in Marianas Beach Resort (formerly the Hyatt that closed while I was here last summer) then you would get a free pool pass.  I did some internet digging last night, and it appeared that it was a March promotion.  I was a little disappointed, but not overly surprised that I could have heard a three month old commercial.  

However, I went into the coffee shop this morning like a fool asking if I bought a drink would I get a pool pass or was that an expired promo--and it is back for July! SCORE! 

Now if you know me, I think it's ridiculous to buy drinks out. They are over priced (and calorie filled).  But a $6 pool pass for the entire to day to the former Hyatt--totally worth that expensive-calorie-filled-drink. So I got my island coconut frozen coffee and lived the dream. 

Literally.

The first year I lived in Saipan, you could pay $25 which came with a massage, lunch, and a Hyatt pool pass.  During year two, the spa had a "remodel" and that promo went out of my price range.  Occasionally I would walking longingly through the gardens, but could never get in the water.  It wasn't one of those places I could sneak in to.  (If you remember from a few years back, Hyatt Guam was my last island hotel on my list to sneak in to.  But Hyatt Saipan was too small not to get caught.) So it had been twenty years since I had swam in these pools.

After Perry and I got our drink, it was pouring rain! (Of course it was. Sigh.) So we found this cozy spot overlooking the gardens for Bible study.

Eventually, the rain stopped, and we made the walk through the gardens, fountains, and fishponds to the pool.  

Once I got to the pool, there were only four Korean tourists in the water.  But soon they left (it was probably the platypus), and Perry and I had the place to ourselves with out own private lifeguard for the next two hours. Eventually, another family (also sporting the drink from the coffee shop earning a pool pass) joined me.

It was a great several hours.  I took all my upcoming lessons: (Sunday's sermon, 4 youth retreat messages, 5 sessions for the ladies retreat this Saturday).  I would review one of the lessons and swim two laps around the place (under the bridges and through the waterfalls).  I'm sure I will be back!   

VBS Day 3

SCUBA Vacation Bible School Day 3 has concluded.  We were sooooooooo fortunate.  Apparently there was heavy rain and power outages over most of the island, but we had no idea.  I think God was protecting our power today so we could carry on exactly as planned. Thanks God!  (We say Thanks God a lot in this VBS--it's part of the program.)

Lack of power and rain wouldn't have stopped us from having dolphins for dessert. :) 

But it would have been a little harder to make pancakes for all without power.  I am so thankful we have Lisa helping out.  

Here's a few kids pretending they love each. 

After it was over, I bribed three girls to help me stack all the chairs in the church and drag tables from downstairs as I prepare for the women's retreat this weekend. They even swept the floor without being asked!  Bribery speaks in all languages and cultures. 😆 (On the way home they each got to pick out a snack at the grocery store.  That's how my bus driver bribed me to clean the bus when I was in school. I see the method continues to work 8000 miles away.)