Greece Day 8

The morning began at 5:00 – actually  I was awake all night waiting for the sun to rise.  I had put on some background noise in the room because the hotel was deathly silent, and 5 minutes later the hotel watch dog – yes an actual dog – began barking outside my window.  So much for ambient noise.  I turned off the noise and tried to sleep.  The snoring of the guys in the other room was constant but not extremely loud, and then Tony started this wild breathing/coughing/hacking thing that seemed to wake him up, and then he would stop breathing for a few seconds.  Gotta get some sleep, so I put an earpiece in and began the background noise again.  Almost hourly I checked the clock to see the time – it was a rather long night.

Anyway, at 5 I headed down to the beach (it was light out and I thought I had missed the sun rise), but actually 30 minutes later a deep red sun rose from the depths of the sea – it was very beautiful.  I took pictures at 8 second intervals – don’t ask me why, I really don’t know.  After the sun had cleared the water by some distance, I began walking down the beach.  Alone with my thoughts, I couldn’t help but think of my wife and how much I wish she were here to appreciate the sunrise with me.  The air began to get warm and the glow of the sun turned from red to orange.  I thought about getting older and how I really do not enjoy being alone.  It was a very solemn time as I contemplated the late years of my life and what they might look like.  “Only God knows” was the conclusion, “and He is a loving Father that knows what is best for me.”

Two other times during the day we were given the opportunity to swim in the Mediterranean – what a wonderfully refreshing experience – I am hoping to jump in first thing in the morning tomorrow, but we will see if I wake up early enough.

The bulk of the day was spent doing odd jobs preparing the camp for the missions conference.  People began coming, but most of the people will arrive tomorrow.  We put up tables, cleaned chairs and tables, prepared the kids area for our part in the conference, we helped with lighting and sound preparations and set up, etc.  Whatever was necessary to prepare for the conference.

The day ended with a trip to the supermarket – on our own.  We purchased coke, oreos, candy, water – you know the essentials for the hotel.  Then we drove around the area and found the center square.  We parked the car and went looking for ice cream.  There were a bunch of souvenir shops, so we checked some of that out as well.  Gina found someone who would take American money – and although she paid twice what the euro cost was, she was thrilled with her purchase. 

Tomorrow is another day – working with the kids in the morning, going to Thessaloniki and Berea in the afternoon and then returning early enough to work with the kids in the evening.  It is going to be a full but exciting day.