The Escapade Continues...Wed. and Thurs.

On Wednesday we went to Universal Studios. It was pretty neat and the weather was decent too. It was a bit chilly but I'd rather have it be a little cold than 85 degrees when waiting in long lines. I definatey found out that the express pass is the way to go (this pass gets to the front of the line and you don't wait more than 20 minutes). We chose not to buy this pass so we waited in line with everybody else. Lines were about an hour long sometimes longer for most of the day but we saw some of the main attractions. My personal favorite was either the Shrek 4-D show or the E.T. ride. Shrek was diffinitely better, but because I've been wanting to ride the E.T. thing since I was 10, it was pretty cool too. Wednesday was free from random nonsense for the most part I think..but Thursday was full of it.

Thurday the weather finally got really nice. We were able to stay by the pool and soak in some sun for a while. My mom and went to this cute little European Village not too far from our place. It had lots of fun little shops, however we didn't buy anything significant, which was probably a good thing. We had lunch at a English Tea house which was wonderful and I did get some really great tea.

The escapade began in the evening. My brother and my Dad wanted to go on this Sun Cruise boat for the night. My mom and I really couldn't have cared less if we went or not. We knew the boat was like casino deal and we didn't want to lose any money. The boat trip went from 7pm to 12am. We left the condo around 5:15 because we didn't know exactly how to get to this boat and boarding starting at 6:30. The boat was supposably about 45 minutes away. We got in the car and started following the directions. So far so good...that is until the directions stopped working. We found the right exit but then the directions must have been missing a few steps. We drove around for a while to see if we could find the roads on our directions but to no avail. My mom and I just let the boys drive and we finally stopped for directions. Well ended up stopping twice and we ended up getting many different directions. Eventualy we did find this boat and boarded around 6:45pm.

Everthing was going just fine until the last hour and a half. The boat anchored in the ocean so the wind blew the boat around quite a bit and made it really hard to stand in one place or keep balance. Now I'm not one to get sea sick, in fact I've never gotten sea sick in my life and I grew up on the water. There's a first for everything and this was my turn to get sick. In fact, my mom, dad and I were all green behind the gills so to speak. The only one of us who was able to walk around was my brother. I was just praying for the moment when we would arrive safe and sound back on land. At midnight we did, praise the Lord. My brother drove all of us sea sickies home and we descided it would be ok if we didn't set foot on a boat for a while.

Another escapade has come to and end but we still have Friday and Saturday for more fun filled adventures on the Dekker Family Christmas Vacation.

The Dekker Family Vacation

Well...where do I start. I am on yet another Dekker escapade. We started out on Saturday night by driving down to Chicago in order to catch our 7:00am flight on Sunday morning. We had a really nice dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. So far, this has been the most normal part of our family vacation. After taking a bump on our flight, getting some ticket vouchers, and then arriving in Orlando we took off for our condo in Palm Coast. On the way to the rental car place, my brother realized that he gave the shuttle guy a really nice fifty dollar tip on the way to the airport that morning (oops! Merry Christmas shuttle guy). Then it was off to Palm Coast to the Celebrity Resort. We found it after driving in circles a few times and stopping to ask for directions. This Celebrity Resort was found behind a bunch of construction on a gravel road with no lights to help us identify the place. Now, remeber this is Christmas Eve, so there is nobody to check us in. We were told to use the phone to get a code to open a box and get a key that would open our place. However, when we arrived we were met by a nice young man who I'm sure was very knowledgable about this resort, he just didn't know how to tell us anything in English. I think he was from Somewhere in Eastern Europe.

We found our room, unpacked our luggage and realized we needed to get some food. We then tried to rush over to Wal-mart and Publix for groceries before they closed. We didn't make it. So we went to Walgreens and bought groceries! Let me tell ya, it was all the entertainment one could ask for in one night. We came back to the place and made a frozen pizza and watched, "A Christmas Story." On Christmas day we went up to Daytona Beach to see what there was there. We ate Christmas dinner at a great B-B-Q place called, Hogs Heavan! It was hilarious, it was rainy and gloomy but the BBQ was great. Then we went over to the beach. (Remember it is about 70 degrees and dropping). There were a few tourist on the beach who were determined to have a nice Christmas on the beach regardless of bad weather and a few die hard locals taking advantage of the surf conditions.

While we were wondering around the beach a little bit, I noticed a truck coming down the beach. It happened to be the beach patrol telling everybody to get off the beach. "Everyone off the beach and out of the water, servere weathere is approaching!" So, I made an executive descision that my family was getting the heck out of dodge ASAP. So we got in the rental car and headed back up to Palm Coast. When we got back to the condo and turned on the TV, we saw that we had just driven out of a Tornado! There was tons of wind damage done in Daytona Beach, just after we got out of there. Evidently it was a weak F2 tornado.

As of Tuesday, we are still safe and the weather is still cold, but today was not rainy so that's a plus. I'll keep you posted on our next adventure as it unfolds.

Wrapping Up

I've finished my studies at IWU. I am totally excited and nervous at the same time. I have open doors to walk through as far as what to do for the next part of my life, the challenge is picking what's best over what's good. What an amazing blessing to even have choices. Today, I was talking with the aid in my first grade classroom. (I'm subbing in first grade right now). We were talking about how long it is taking for the kids to grasp some of the concepts that we are trying to teach as well as some behavior issues. She told me that these students needed a very special person to stay with them and get through to them this year. Then she told me that she thinks that God sent me as that person. I'm not sure what to do with this. It's an incredible encouragement because she has 25 years+ experience as a teacher and really knows how to reach children. At the same time, I don't know if the school will want me to teach this class for good period of time next semester. I am sending a letter of interest to the principle tomorrow. I've already talked to her about it and she told me that I don't have to apply, just send her a letter with my contact info. We'll just have to pray and wait through this. Please pray with me and praise the Lord for His faithfulness and sovereignty in our lives.

What is a Missionary?....

This was a question from one of my students today. There are a few classes that I will not see next week because I finish up on Wednesday. Though I am totally ready to graduate, I'll miss "my" kids. Some of the kids were asking me where I was going and what I'll be doing. I told them that I was going to be a missionary. One student shouted out, "What is a missionary?" then I had about seven hands go up saying, "I know, I know!!" So I called on "Sally" and she said (with the brightest smile ever) "A missionary is some one who travels all over the world telling people about Jesus!" Obviously there is a ton more to it, but in all reality, it's true. A missionary tells people about Jesus through word and deed. There are missionaries all over the world, here and overseas. Even if you are a Christian who does not have a call to over-seas missions, you are a missionary in your own neighborhood and workplace. "Blessed are the feet of those who bring Good News!"

Deep Breath

It's Over...I uploaded my e-folio this week and now I am on the home stretch. Just two more week until I am an official graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University. The last big think I have to do is my portfolio defense. I'm not too worried about this right now. I might get nervous in a week or so, but for now, life is good. I am so thankful for all the prayers that have been getting me though this. The other day, I was so frustrated with my e-folio because I had been up all night and then taught all day. Needless to say, I was somewhat of a basket case! I was driving home from school and just talking to Jesus. As I was talking, I was reminded of the so many ways He has been faithful to me this semester and the ways I have been strengthened by the Holy Spirit. At that point I was able to take a deep breath and say, "Everything is going to be ok, I am going to get through this." Right now I feel like a huge burden has been lifted from me. Now I actually have some time to catch up with some friends and invest in the lives of those I love. Praise the Lord. No doubt, I will need the strength of the Lord to finish this out, but I am confident that his perfect grace will see me through.