9:30 am – Bzzzz. I wake up to my cell phone alarm vibrating. I love Saturday, and not just because I get to sleep in! It's Girls Party day! I rolled myself out of bed to get ready; little did I know what the day would hold.
10:30 am – Sinking into my favorite chair in our living room, I join the other three girls in my house for a time of prayer and worship. Together we spend time praying for our friends and inviting God's presence in our apartment. Even though it's just the four of us singing along with a worship song playing on a laptop, we sense God's presence in a very real way.
12:30 pm – My roommates and I share a quick lunch at a restaurant around the corner from our apartment. It's been a couple weeks since we ate here, and the restaurant owner seems really happy to see us again. We rush back to make sure we are ready for our guests.
2:00 pm – Ding-dong. The doorbell rings and our first girls have arrived! More girls keep coming until we have 15 girls standing in our living room attempting to unravel a Human Knot. Something must have gone wrong when we grabbed each other's hands in the circle, and after ten minutes of trying to work together to get untangled, we had to call it quits! This knot was just too hard! The girls are laughing though, and after all this up-close bonding we pause to learn each other's names. The next hour and a half is spent playing games and eating snacks.
3:30 pm – Time to go deeper… We split the girls up into small groups and spend the next hour talking about today's topic: LOVE. Each girl answers a question. “What is love?” “Have you ever felt like no one loves you?” “Who in your life has shown you the best example of love?” The girls in my group talk about their mother's love, God's love, loneliness, and boyfriends…good things are happening throughout the house as the small groups go deeper. (Stay tuned for 11:00pm)
5:15 pm – Pinky and Blondie head right out for dinner with their friends after the party. Ivy and her friends help us tidy the apartment and then invite Ellei and me to join them for dinner.
6:30 pm – After dinner one of the girls treats us to some “special” porridge. The taste is okay, but the texture, well…the gooey-like consistency seriously looks like mucous! It's all I can manage just to down a few spoonfuls without gagging. The girls think it's really funny when they realize the reason for my discomfort. On the bright side, I give them a couple good suggestions for April Fool's jokes and sneezing tricks they can try with a little of that porridge in their hands.
7:00 pm – After the porridge incident, the girls invite us to visit their dorm rooms. I have known some of these girls for over 6 months and this is the first time they have invited me to their dormitory! I can't believe how little personal space they have. The room size is about the same as mine was at college. The main difference is that I only had to share with ONE roommate, but each of them has FIVE other girls sharing this small space! We visit three different dorm rooms, meet some of their roommates, and stay for awhile to chat. Ellei and I get hooked into watching our very first episode of Prison Break (our friends here laugh at the fact that they watch American TV shows more than we do!)
10:00 pm – Hungry again, Ellei and I stop on our way home for a snack of barbecued vegetables. The owners of the barbecue stand recognize us from a couple nights before, and are excited their food was good enough for us to return! (He even remembers how we like it cooked – mine spicy, Ellei's without spice.) We sit at the small table, enjoying the food, and talk about the day. I am continually thankful for my partner, and what a sweet person she is. We have only known each other for 2 months, but we're already fast friends!
11:00 pm – Finally back in my apartment, it's time to wind down. At last, some long-awaited alone time! I crash onto my bed to read and journal before I fall asleep. No sooner do I pick up my pen when Pinky enters my room, a huge grin on her face. “TA-DA! Guess what happened this afternoon…right here on YOUR bed?! Dun-da-DA! (drum roll please) …Ellen prayed to accept Jesus!”
“WHAT?!” That woke me up! I sit straight up for the full story. Apparently, while we were in our small groups this afternoon, Pinky had been doing some serious sharing in my room! Excitedly, Pinky talks about the weekly study she plans to start. With two new family members to disciple now, she's got no time to waste! My tired face was beaming at the quick work God is doing, and how He is using Pinky!
11:30 pm – Pinky is just leaving my room after sharing her exciting news, when her partner Blondie comes in and takes her place. Crawling into my bed, Blondie cuddles up next to me, in desperate need of a hug. She's tried to keep up a good front and be strong, but weeks of homesickness and other hurts are hitting her hard tonight, and she finally opens up to me. I just hold her and let her share and cry until the tears are all shed.
1:00 am – I am so tired I can feel myself drifting off to sleep with the lights still on. Blondie had left my bedroom a few minutes ago, but apparently not for good! She returns shortly, with pillow in hand, and crawls into my bed again and makes herself comfortable under the covers. My roommate Ellei crawls into her side of the bed, and we sandwich Blondie in between us. Thanking God for our king-size bed, I pray for all of us to have a good night's sleep!
I LOVE MY JOB!