Well yesterday was the last day of project and boy has the time flown by like crazy! I remember the first day when we all met each other and we moved into the Cabana. But now I’m sitting in the Orlando International Airport ready to board a flight back to the west coast. I haven’t slept in 20 something hours…
The past few days have been a flurry of emotions. On Sunday after church I had a really great conversation with a coworker who had been coming to church with us but is not a Christian. I went through the gospel message very clearly and slowly, making sure that he understood everything. The part that I reinforced over and over was that our salvation in Christ is not about “doing good” but rather the faith in Jesus as a savior for all of the screwed up stuff that we do. By the end I told him that if his heart was not 100% sure that he wanted to accept it as truth, he shouldn’t do it; it wouldn’t be real. God knows where his heart is at. I’m glad that God could use me present the gospel to this guy, probably for the first time.
The last days of work were sad. Having to say good-bye has never been an easy thing for me. We’ve gotten to know a lot of the fellow Adventureland workers pretty well, and they were very sad that we were leaving. My last day of work I worked at Aloha Isle all day. I worked right up until park closing at 11pm. I made my last pineapple float quite large! I will miss the swirling, the guests confused about our menu, and the busy atmosphere for the small, tropical soft-serve place.
For our last day we had a free morning/early afternoon. I went and turned in the last of my costumes. We started to clean up the Cabana. I packed all my stuff…sad day. At 4:30 we had one last project dinner. It was a really good time and an awesome time of sharing stories about how God has worked in and through people’s lives. After dinner we went back to our resort and watched a FANTASTIC slide show and video that one of the teams created. It was a great collection of pics and clips that truly wrapped up the whole project.
We then rushed over to the Polynesian Resort (which is the hotel across the giant lake from Magic Kingdom) and, as a project, watched the fireworks (Wishes) from back there. Then we boarded the monorail and went into the park for a little bit. I purchased a Pineapple float, said good-bye to the Aloha Isle, and rode on the last Splash Mountain boat of the evening. We all met up as a project at 12 (the park officially closed at 11) to watch the “Kiss Goodnight” where they have a little closing speech and they change the castle lighting. It was the perfect ending of a wonderful day. It would only be appropriate for us to end our project at the Magic Kingdom.
Getting back from Magic Kingdom a little after 1, it would have been a waste of time for me to sleep because I left for the airport at 5:30AM. So I went around to all of the condos and said my good-byes. I cried. A lot. I hate good-byes. But one thing that gives me peace and that I love about Christian community is that it’s not good-bye forever. It’s “See ya later”. We have that hope. Doesn’t mean it’s not sad, but it makes it a little bit better. Said my last good-byes at the airport about an hour ago, and my flight should be boarding soon.
I’m going home. Through despair and hope. Through faith and love. I experienced it all this summer. It was a great experience. I would not trade it for anything else. Don’t worry I got 1 more blog on the way in a couple days after I reflect (hint hint) about what I’ve learned from this summer, so keep looking for another update. Thanks again for everyone’s support and prayers.
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