A Moment in the Sun

Hello faithful blog readers!  Sorry it has been a while since my last update.  Between a busy week and patchy internet access, I haven't had the chance to update.  No worries, my friends, I've got two for you today :)

The first update takes us back to last weekend.  All week Ann Elizabeth and I had been planning a trip into Monrovia with two of our friends from the Ricks staff.  We were finally going to do some site seeing, learn about Liberian history, have lunch in town, and make a day of it.  We were really excited about this as it had been a while since our last trip into town for anything other than groceries.  So you can imagine our disappointment when we found out late Friday afternoon that our friends would be unable to go.  The reasons were legitimate, and we understood, but were disappointed nonetheless. 

After an uneventful Saturday, we stopped by the Menjays' home to talk to Ottolee for a few minutes.  Somewhere in the conversation, Ottolee mentioned that she would be going into town the next day to go to a hotel pool and enjoy the sunshine and buffet all day, and asked if we would like to go.  Um, yes please!!

The next day, we headed into town as planned.  Although it was rainy all the way out to the hotel, we pressed on, girly pop music blaring, anticipating a day of fun, whether or not the sun decided to show its face.  It seemed to stop raining almost the minute we arrived at the hotel.  We enjoyed an all you can eat buffet (and I really feel like I ate ALL that I could!) and then decided it was time for a swim!  Ann Elizabeth, myself, and Mia (2 years old) hit the pool and had a blast.  It was so relaxing (and cool!) to just be in the water, floating around and having fun.  We even had a chance to walk down to the beach... our first moment stepping out into the Atlantic from "the other side."  The beach was beautiful... the sand seemed to be a little "thicker", with a little bit of a clay-like quality.  It was different from the white sand of Florida I am accustomed to, but it was great all the same.  After more swimming, more eating, and even some delicious ice cream, we called it a day.

One part of the day that amazed me was the weather.  It literally rained the whole drive out to the hotel, and the sky was a dark, ominous gray all around us the entire day.  Yet we never felt a drop of rain, and the sunshine stayed out for us the whole time.  It felt like a little gift to us.  We needed a little break and a day to relax, and that is exactly what we got on Sunday.  I can't exactly put it all into words, but it was the perfect Sunday - a true day of rest and restoration.