Dangerous animals on Guam

When I first got here, I was terrified of the island's dangerous animal population. It's not enough that I've swam amongst sea urchins, laid down in the road with brown tree snakes, and have been bitten by a boonie bee, I have to watch out for these things on a daily basis. Take precaution when coming to Guam.



This is the jungle crab aka hermit crab. Very dangerous; could take your finger off with one swipe of the claw.







This is the monitor lizard. It can grow up to the size of a small vehicle. Has been known for running off with small children in it's claws.
















These are our ocean's equivalent to piranhas. Don't wear your shiny snorkel or smell like bbq.




These are our starfish- once they latch on, they won't let go until they have eaten your hair, finger, or whatever body part you put them on.








This is the most ferocious of the island's animals. One must take all precautions when encountering these. Don't let them smell your fear.

impact

I have been here for about 7 months, and I am now starting to get the gist of what it's like to see people come and go, and if even here for just a short time, make a huge impact on our school and our lives. From left to right we have Steve and Anne Stinnette (long, long term missionaries in Micronesia), Perry Web, and then Joyce and Dave Owen (long term missionaries like Anne and Steve). I can only imagine how The Stinnettes and Owens are really inspirational to me about living Godly lives here on the island. They are so supportive and encouraging, to say the very least. I really admire them (and I'm not just saying that because they read my blog!).

Perry, in the middle, was only here for a few weeks. He is a pastor, educator, and many other things, but he came out here to just serve. He assisted Tim Plaxton in maintenance, built new mailboxes for the office, worked in the yard, and a number of other things. One thing about Perry had a big impact on me. Every day that I would see him on campus, he was eager to work and always had a huge smile on his face or in his voice when he greeted me. We would chat, but it wasn't just small talk. He was genuinely interested and enthusiastic. I look forward to coming into the office early because of the quietness, but coming into the office when Perry would be there was a great way to start my morning. The attitude and caring spirit of someone else can make a huge difference in someone's day. Perry's light, love, and serving heart was a blessing to me and others each day he was here. I hope and pray that he can come back again soon, and that others like him can come to Micronesia. I am thankful for the ones who are already here, and I hope to grow to be more like Christ...more of what Christ has done in them. God gives us each different gifts, and we are called to love and serve. That's what Perry did.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

The Semester So Far at PIU

My classes, so far, have been awesome this semester. I am teaching a class in Study Skills (which is just as much for me as it is for the students) and a remedial English course using biblical coursework on martyrs, saints, monks, etc in history. This is also just as much for me as it is for them. One thing I always pray about for my English class is that we can be a group of people who get together to discuss things, to learn together, and to have a platform for expression. Even though we are doing some basics, I try to use my experience in creative writing as an outlet for all of us to be able to express ourselves. I want to use the term "we" because I don't see myself as someone above them, but as someone who is there to facilitate and guide rather than to lecture and talk at. I am praying that because of this, we will have a class of students who are not afraid to speak in public, who aren't ashamed of their English speaking, and who can express themselves when appropriate, and work academically. We all come up to the board, read out loud, open our dictionaries to look up words, and share what we've crafted in our writing. I wish we had more time together every week but what time I do have is amazing to me. They blow me away with how they open up, share, write, encourage one another and work together.

If you pray for me, pray for me to be wise in the way I teach, to be open minded to my students, to keep professional boundaries while also being supportive, and to encourage creativity and a love for learning. We have to get our work done, but I don't see why we can't do it this way. The TOEFL scores last semester were awesome, and prayerfully, they will have gone up even more by the time we take the test again toward the end of this semester. I am so thankful for these students and opportunities at PIU. We're all growing and learning in awesome ways.

Coffee Shop Culture

Even though I miss Starbucks, Coffee Bean/Tea Leaf, Coffee Depot, and Back to the Grind, I am loving my favorite coffee shop here on the island. Barista Blends has good (pricey, though) food and they make one of my favorite Tazo teas, Om, iced. I have been able to explore other awesome coffee shops, too, like a good broke twenty something girl should do, and have found some great places to keep things exciting. I was just able to Skype with my friend with this picture as a background (although it was way too bright outside for him to actually see the ocean).

I want to do more of this kind of stuff with students from PIU. If you're a student and you're reading this, let me know- we'll go. If you're back home, remember me in your coffee shop adventures. I miss the culture. I'll recreate a little of it for myself here.

Blue Starfish

Last week during a swim, three friends and I found over ten of these gorgeous bright blue starfish. They were everywhere along the sea floor. We wouldn't have seen all of these if we kept swimming against the unusually strong current to go to our usual spot in the Fish Eye (Piti bomb holes) preserve, as we were trying to reach bigger fish and the deeper water. Instead, we let the current take the four of us down the beach into soft and live coral grounds, scattered with sea stars, purple and pink sea cucumbers, a large clam, and other beautiful fish.

If I had continued to swim against the current, I would have been worn out and only have seen the same stuff I had seen many times before. By allowing the current to take me down the beach, I saw more beautiful coral and fish in a more natural setting (consistently) than I could have ever imagined.

I really feel as though life could be like this at times we are left to our own devices. We work for the same thing: consistency, normalcy. When we let life run its course,we are often challenged and inspired in ways we could never imagine. I learn the most from being meek during times when I really want to be loud and lead. I see the most when I let other people show me things.

I also know that, in nature, we often have to work (swim, hike) out to the beautiful places, but then the beauty within those places will then be revealed to us. Even if we have only heard of our destination before in a guidebook, or through others who have maybe been there or experienced it. In life, we have faith that our destination will be as promising as we've heard it to be. Sometimes, we can walk out our front door and see a perfect rainbow or sunset. This is our faith. We may be blessed with the brightest sunsets when we least expect it, or we may have to hike up steep cliff sides or through swordgrass for a promising destination that we may have only heard of. Either way, through God (Jesus) we will be amazed and fulfilled by whatever it is He wants to show us or teach us (even when we try to make our own way or wander off the path). This is what I believe sets us apart.

Psalm 23

Proverbs 3:5-6

Wednesday Night Devotions

Last Wednesday, I was able to lead devotions for the on campus women in creative arts. We paired up with our roommates and started to craft pictures based on the friendship relationship that we each had with each other. Devotions ran overtime with girls still cutting, gluing, and working with their amazing creativity. We didn't have a lot of fashion magazines, but they found beautiful pictures in the ones we were able to use. Joyce supplied glitter glue and scissors, and Leeman provided glue and poster board. We had a great time working together to create beautiful representations of our relationships and blessings.

Ridgeline Hike

I recently went on a hike up Mt. Lam Lam with a group from the Lutheran Church of Guam and it was an incredibly challenging, painful, yet rewarding day. We started at 6am with a moon-set over the ocean that was absolutely incredible to watch. Around 6:30 we all took off to drop off people and cars in the various places we needed to be. Our first stop was the top of Mt. Lam Lam, which happens to be the top of the tallest mountain in the world (even though most of it is under the sea). How cool is that? We continued along a 7 mile ridgeline hike along the south of the island. The trail disappeared, it started to rain (chilly), and we were in swordgrass that was around 9 feet tall which was so thick that it made our hike impossible in parts without the help of people using their bodies to try to flatten it. There was mud, steep drop offs next to us, the sun, blisters, and swordgrass cuts. The views, however, were amazing. The day ended with all of us being dehydrated, tired, covered in grass and dirt, and wiped out. I love the hike looking back at it, but honestly, I have no desire to do it again until the swordgrass gets cut back. (photos by Wes Willand)