The North Sea

I officially despise the North Sea! I guess it is notorious for having rough waters and the voyage from Gothenburg, Sweden to Harlingen, Netherlands was no exception.  I will definitely be taking sea-sick pills for the voyage from the Netherlands to Scotland as we will be on the North Sea once again.  I was lucky enough to have my day off yesterday but sadly it was mostly spent on my bed in my cabin.  It is the only place where I didn't feel dizzy.  Anytime you got up to walk around, you couldn't walk straight and you sometimes had to hold onto something to keep yourself from losing your balance and falling over.  All through the morning and the afternoon, if you looked out the window all you could see was water and the very next second all you could see was sky.  Its a strange feeling to try to describe to someone who's never experienced it.  The best thing I can come up with is this....You know that silly silo ride you find at six flags, the one that spins you round and round till the floor drops out and you stay against the wall?  Well, it kind of feels like stepping off of one of those.  Your whole world is spinning and in constant motion and there's nothing you can do about it.  I have never been quite so thankful as I was this morning to be outside on one of the upper decks and to have the waters calm and to watch us pull into our port, feeling so much more like myself again.  LAND!!  One of my favorite things is to watch us pull into each new port and to see a little bit of the city waiting to be explored and thinking of all the people that we will have the chance to reach with the gospel. Its what makes the rough voyages worth it.  As I was laying in my bed yesterday, I spent a little bit of time reading thru the last few chapters of Acts, when Paul was out at sea and they got shipwrecked on Malta.  My experience made that whole story come a little more alive for me and I felt like I could understand his journey a little better.  The last 2 verses of the book read this, "Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him."  As I am dwelling on this ship(my home) for the next two years, I pray that we will receive all who come to us and that I will be able to preach God's truth and love with all confidence not letting anything hold me back!

Maiden Voyage

Yesterday through a miracle of God, we were able to set sail and we began our maiden voyage, leaving Denmark and headed for Sweden. It was about a 15-hour voyage and thankfully a smooth one. Every one was so distracted through the afternoon and evening as this is the first time ever sailing for most people. All night people would randomly run over to the window to see what we were passing by or passing under. No signs of seasickness for me on this voyage, yah! We’ll see how I survive on some of other ones. Most of the time I couldn’t even tell we were moving until I laid in my bed for the night. It wasn’t anything too extreme but every so often I could feel a slight movement, it kind of felt like I was being rocked to sleep. It was actually pretty relaxing and I slept wonderfully. This morning in devotions we were entering Sweden and we passed by so many rock formations and lighthouses, it was beautiful! I think I’m going to enjoy being a sailor!

A Quiet Sunday

I have a day off today and it was so nice to sleep in and take my time getting up and around. They decided to cancel breakfast today and do brunch instead and to move the sunday morning service to this evening so that all of ships company could get a little extra rest.  It has been such a blessing so far.  I met up with a couple girls after breakfast that I haven't got to spend much time with since we all started our jobs and we went for a walk to the beach. Its about a 15 minute walk from the ship and even in the middle of winter, the beach is beautiful!  It was so calm and peaceful and good to allow God's creation to speak quietly into my heart.  One of the girls said she felt like we should pray.  So right there, sitting on the beach the three of us shared how things have been going for each of us...what's been good and what's been difficult and we spent some time praying for each other and made a pact to get together regularly and to help keep each other accountable.  It's so nice to have found a couple girls that I can really be myself with and share things on a little deeper level.  God is so good and always gives us so much more than we deserve!  Take some time today to thank Him for all the ways He has blessed your life and shown His love to you!

The Slaughter

Today was the big game. PST Birkedal vs Logos Hope in a battle on the soccer field. It's tradition for each new PST joining the ship to play a soccer game against the Logos Hope team. The last PST lost 8 to 0 and we decided to keep the tradition with a final score of 11 to 1.  It was horrible! They killed us!  But in our defense it was a very muddy and wet field and the opposing team had uniforms and soccer cleats and we came just as we were; a definite disadvantage.  We were slipping and sliding all over the place and I think the only thing we really accomplished was getting covered in mud.  But even if we did embarrass ourselves, it was still fun to get outside and get some exercise!  Maybe we'll get another chance to prove ourselves when the conditions are better.

My New Job

After almost an entire month of training the new group joining Logos Hope, known as PST Birkedal finally received our job assignments on Wednesday. We have all been waiting for this day for a long time. Not everyone was placed in their first choice of a job but everyone seemed pretty happy to finally be working on the ship. I am officially a galley girl. I will be spending my days in the kitchen and dining hall cleaning, doing dishes, and helping prepare the meals for all of ships company. Yesterday I helped get some food ready for a fancy dinner they had onboard this evening which included making 10 gallons of caesar salad dressing and some homemade ice cream, both turned out quite delicious! I had a very encouraging conversation with the executive chef my first night of work. He had asked me what I was doing before coming to the ship and I shared with him that I had been working as a shift manager at Starbucks for the last 2 ½ years, to which he replied “would you be interested in working at the I-Café onboard?” The I-Café is our onboard coffee shop that is used when in ministry. It’s not open except for special occasions right now, but once we set sail it will be open just about everyday. I was very excited about this opportunity and told him I would love to work in the café instead. Would appreciate your prayers for that to come together for me. He said he thought I could count on getting the job; it was just a matter of timing. Yah!! Until then I will enjoy the time I have in the galley. It’s a fun team of people to work with and a fairly laid back atmosphere. We get to listen to music and often sing and dance along to the song as we prepare the food. So far most of ship life is a blast!

Basic Safety Training

Tomorrow is my last day of basic safety training.  I can't believe that I'm almost done! I thought the time would never come.  The last couple of days have been pretty fun though.  We had a day on fire safety and we got to go for a little field trip to the middle of who knows where and got to practice putting out fires with all the different kinds of extinguishers.  Yesterday I spent 3 hours at the pool doing all kinds of drills. We did a 5 meter jump into the water, had to climb onto and flip over a capsized 25 person life raft, put on and swim in an immersion suit, practice turning our clothes into a floatation device, and some other survival things.  I felt very accomplished after flipping the raft over.  My partner and I were determined to do it fast and we showed up a number of the guys.  You know me...I have a bit of a competitive spirit!  Hope you enjoy the pictures. The first one is just the fire we had to put out. The second is of me after I climbed up onto the raft and then had to pull my partner up. The last one is the two of us in the process of flipping it over.

       

                        

Welcome!

 

Well, I have finally arrived to my new home!  After almost a month of training and feeling like I might never reach the ship, I am here and received quite the welcome as you can see from the video. It was a good time. All the ships crew were waiting for us when we arrived and lined the hallways and staircases as we came in, it was crazy!  We all gathered in the logos lounge where we were officially greeted and received our cabin keys and everything.  After dinner the party started!  We all met back in the logos lounge where the percussion team did a routine for us, we had cake and ice cream, watched a short drama, had some music, watched a group do a stomp/hip hop routine for us, and then everyone prayed for us. The crew lined up around the room and put their hands together up in the air creating a tunnel for us to walk through. As we made our way through the tunnel of people they prayed for us as we walked by.  It was really cool, and then we ended the night with a dance.  I have determined that the Logos Hope culture is a culture that loves to dance, all the more exciting for me!  We spent the rest of the evening doing all kinds of irish dances.  The only one I remember the name for was the Virginia Reel and I only remember it because I had done that dance before many many years ago at a soldiers ball.  The night was very tiring but we had a blast!  We are finishing our last week of training right now onboard the ship.  It is our basic safety training where we learn things like first aid, CPR, the different ship alarms and emergency procedures, fire safety skills, how to flip a life raft, how to turn our clothing into flotation devises in case of falling overboard or having to abandon ship, and all that other kind of fun stuff!  At the end of each day we are tested on the material we covered.  I actually have a day off on monday, one more day of training on tuesday when we will actually be getting into the lifeboats and lowering them down, and then I will be finding out my job and starting work on wednesday!  Be looking for pictures of my cabin and news on my job assignment in the next couple of weeks.