Bermuda, Bahama, Come on Pretty Mama…

This may be my last post of the contract. As the weeks are flying by I may or may not have time to post again. I’m getting pretty excited for vacation. A few weeks…maybe even days…ago that was not the case. I’ve actually lived in one place (sort of) for 6 solid months now. As much as I wanted to fight it, I can’t deny that my ship feels like home. Don’t worry, I’m sure that I’ll quickly adjust to being back in my home home soon. I also received my next contract offer this week. I’ll be returning to the same ship in early July. Knowing that also makes it much easier to leave- I know that I’ll be seeing almost everyone again in a few months. There are also no new itineraries while I’m gone and we’ll keep doing those same runs once I get back- I’m really not missing anything.

The past few cruises have been good, but getting harder now the closer I get to vacation. I have a new boss and the other guy on our team has only been around for a couple months, so needless to say, I’m pretty busy. A few days ago I really didn’t care too much about what happens to all the broadcast stuff here- I was just trying to do my job and keep us afloat while I’m here. However, now that I know I’m returning, I’m making an effort to impart all of the knowledge I can to them so the place isn’t a wreck when I return. It took me 6 months to get things to the point they are now…I don’t want to start all over again in 3 months.

We’ve switched back to doing 5 and 9 day cruises instead of 9 and 12. I really like the longer cruises so I’m happy to go on vacation during the short itineraries. We now do 4 cruises a month: 5-night Bermuda, 9-night Bermuda, Nassau, CocoCay, 5-night Bermuda, 9-night Bermuda, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, San Juan. I forgot that I like Bermuda so that was a nice surprise. A 5 night Bermuda was my first cruise back in October and at the time I didn’t know anyone and was overwhelmed with everything going on in my life. Now that I have friends and am used to my surroundings, Bermuda is really fun. The great thing about Bermuda is that we overnight there. In the fall I was new to ships and didn’t realize how nice that was. Even if I have to get back onboard to work in the evening, it’s just nice knowing all day that the ship isn’t going anywhere. For once you’re not rushed to see what you want to see and run back on board. You can take your time and go around the island or just relax. Last cruise we took about 40 people to a beach/park and had a barbeque. We all commented on how it felt like we were real life friends now- it seemed like such a normal, regular-people activity. We had a bonfire, made smores, and grilled hamburgers. It was wonderful! This cruise I went out with a friend, had ice cream, sat outside and talked for hours, and stopped for coffee before we both had to get back for rehearsal. The next day I sat outside and read a book for a few hours. Relaxing. Such a nice change. I’m sure that part of it may be that I’m just tired after 6 months and no longer have the same energy to run around and see as much as I can every time I’m in port. Again, having my next contract has made me relax a bit on that as well since I’ll get to visit these places again.

I’ve also been having some really good conversations lately and God’s been teaching me a lot over the past 6 months and I hope to write about that more while I’m on vacation. One of the main things that I’ve realized is that, in general, people don’t hate Jesus, they hate Christians. When questioned about it most people are pretty ok with Jesus and what he taught, but they have a problem with how they’ve been treated by Christians. Interesting. Could it be that as Christians we’re actually accomplishing the opposite of what we set out to do? I think this is a question and idea that has always been in the back of my mind and that has shaped my ministry more than I realize. It’s certainly still something I’m working through, but I’m pretty excited to see where this idea may lead.

I’m in Nassau today. I found a Dunkin’ Donuts with wifi, so this may become a regular stop for me when I return in July. But for now I’m going to go explore a bit more and may go hang out at the Hard Rock for a minute. Thanks for reading!!!