The blessing of sisterhood

Cruise ship day today…like me, several traders were out early with their wares to peddle, and I suppose, like me, were also disappointed that the 1500+ people, both crew and passengers, didn’t want to throw their $$$ around. It wasn’t a thoroughly disappointing day and I did fairly well, but really, with so many tourists milling around, it could have been better! As one gentleman said it, they are a bit jaded - they've been cruising around the world and have shopped in Hong Kong, South Africa, and every other port - so they're a bit shopped out. Quite understandable.The day was fun though and I met and chatted with a great many interesting people. I met one particularly wonderful woman who asked if I know the book The Purpose Driven Life… “Oh, Rick Warren”, I said – to which she replied that he is her pastor; they attend his church which is one of the biggest in the States with 50,000 members. And truly, her life is filled with purpose – not only to win people for Christ, but also to aid those in less privileged circumstances. She and her husband have raised vast sums of money to build orphanages in Central America and Africa, and she is involved with HIV/AIDS awareness, education and care in her community and abroad. Even sailing on a cruise ship with the rich and wealthy she has a ministry – she does a bible study with the crew between the hours of 11 am and 1 pm when they have finished their duties! After talking with me she sat on a bench in front of the canister (in the center with the purple top) and chatted to some of the local ladies. Oh, what a blessing to have met someone who oozes Jesus out of every pore, and displays such a genuine concern for those who are suffering. It was a great day just to be in town anyway, besides selling stuff – it was simply buzzing with so many people about, and the museum lost count of how many Jacob’s Ladder certificates they sold.

Meanwhile, on the homefront, Nick and the boys had been temporarily evicted today while our plumbing gets redone. All the Piccolo units are having new toilets installed and all the pipes are being redone – something to do with draining and sewerage, and old systems. This is what all the digging over the last few months has been for – now that all the external stuff has been done, the internal piping must be changed. So one by one the residents have had to relocate. Our turn came today and we were given the use of the Police Unit where they do interviews, medical examinations etc.