El Viaje de la Facultad

This past Friday we loaded the buses and headed to Casitas, Veracruz for a weekend staff and family retreat. I was beyond excited about going to the beach, because I had missed the annual family vacation to Galveston this past summer. I was stoked when Dan told me that I was going with them and also very curious to see what it would be like to go on vacation with these great men and women of the faith. During the ride, most slept while I listened to a podcast of Dr. David Platt from the Brook Hills Church in Alabama (I definitely recommend listening to him if you are into podcasts). We arrived at our hotel which was right on beach and headed straight to the white sand. Man, I loved the beach… The water was so beautiful and blue… And I loved watching the waves… And I loved standing on the seashore, letting the water come up and cover my toes only to digress, as if the water had fingers that were teasing me to come in…. Dan made it clear that our agenda was in fact no agenda at all…. We were to relax and have fun and this we did with great joy…. We ate like kings and queens at each meal with a feast of Mexican finest cuisine including deserts with each meal… The food was utterly delicious, the fellowship couldn’t have been better, the sand was hot to the feet, the water was cool to the skin, the sun was beaming down making the ocean look like “a thousand diamonds strewn across a blue plain”*, the palm trees blew in the wind, and the continuous roar of the waves entranced one to a deep peaceful sleep. As I hope that you can conjure up from my imagery, the weekend was nothing less than wonderful and refreshing. The verse that Joaquin used in a devotional Saturday morning was the following found in Psalms 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” And yes this past weekend we tasted, some reluctantly, the saline of the sea and although salty to the taste, it was good to the soul. And yes this past weekend, we saw the majesty of the Lord, as we arose, once again some reluctantly (due to the time), to see the incomparable beauty of a sunrise over a vast ocean with an endless horizon. Taste and see that the Lord is good today. You might not be surrounded by a breathtaking landscape but God is just as magnificent and His taste just as addictingly sweet as it was there as it is where you are. Enjoy God today.

News about the school: All the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students are arriving today!!!!! Classes begin tomorrow! All the 4th year students will arrive Saturday to find out their placements for the year. We already have six new 1st year students. Please keep all of them in your prayers. Thank you. To God be the Glory.


* Incubus “Wish you were here”