First Day

WYAM Kona: Day One

There are so many rumors floating around campus about what wildlife gets into your room at night. So far what Iv'e seen... Beetles, ants, and lizards. I walked in and thought the lizard sticker above my bed was goofy... it wasn't a sticker. All the colors are so vibrant! Green has never been so dominate. I can see the ocean from my bed, its perfect.

I have 6 roommates. Sarah is the only one I know really well so far. She is from CA, she is really outgoing, and extremely generous. If I didn't have all the brothers and sisters I do, she and I would be exactly the same I think. We have a lot in common. One of the girls is from Japan... i am not even close to being able to pronounce her name. She doesn't speak any english, so me and the other girls communicate through hand motions and smiles. There is one girl from Mexico. She has an elaborate name as well. Jessica sleeps across from me. She seems really nice, I think we'll get along just fine. The girl under me is not around much, she has kitchen duty in the morning and she seems like she knows exactly what she is doing... as for myself and the other girls... we don't have a clue. 

The homesickness settled in 10 min before I had to start saying goodbye to everyone. Its extremely difficult for me right now, knowing my family is all together and I'm not with them. I cried most of my way on the plane and a good part of my first day. I had to get water last night (we need a Brita in our room so bad) so I was walking around trying to find some when I ran into this girl Alexis (every staff member here wants to know your name and wants you to know theirs... I'm not even trying to keep up at this point), she asked me my name and wanted to know if I needed anything, I told her I was looking for water and she pointed me to some about 7 feet away from me. I said "thank you" and started to walk away when she asked if I needed prayer for anything... I thought to myself... "oh gosh, please just let me get my water and go to bed." So I said "sure, I have poison ivy, we could ask if it could go away." She walked me to this concrete area where we sat down and she asked me again if there was anything weighing on me... I had been crying about the same thing all day, of course there was, so teary eyed I said "yeah, I miss my home." She started praying about things that were tugging at my heart and told me that it helped her when she had homesickness to pray for each family member individually. I thought... "oh goodness, you're going to be here a while, sister." But I did, I prayed for each one and the worries I had for each one. It helped a lot. So I went straight to bed last night feeling calm and went right to sleep.

Everyone is praying the same thing over me... that I don't just have the head knowledge of God, but that he is my best friend, that he becomes a part of me. Is it that obvious that God has been the one I pray to and talk to, but don't feel reciprocation from all the time. Is he supposed to reciprocate all the time? I have a lot to learn and even though everyone is saying these 6 months will go by fast... I still miss home.

A Warrior for the King,
Bekah