Floridian Fun!

We have spent the entire month of January in Florida and it has been a blast! During the first two weeks in Lehigh Acres (Fort Myers area), the pastor and his family took us on several outings of nighttime spearfishing. Some of the guys and the kids speared some huge fish! They tasted so good too! Another team favorite from the time was 4-wheeling along the canals and in the “brush”. The Vances showed us some awesome trails to explore, so during a few afternoons and days off, we loaded up and went exploring for several hours. The guys also enjoyed a morning of shooting guns.

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We had a few evenings free, so the team crashed the Clemons’ trailer for some fun nights of games and fellowship. Monopoly Deal is the team’s favorite game right now. Each week has consisted of at least one visit to a local beach (Barefoot Beach, Lido Key Beach, South Park Beach). The whole team is loving the game Spikeball—a great beach game! Between swimming, boogie-boarding, and spikeball, we haven’t gotten tired of the beaches. It’s so fun being in God’s awesome creation and seeing His handiwork. The skies truly do declare the glory of God (Psalm 19). In Bradenton, Pastor and Mrs. Nicholson and Alan McNaughton took us on an awesome kayaking tour through the mangrove tunnels in Lido Key. We were overwhelmed at the beauty of seeing all the sealife (starfish, jellyfish, and all sorts of other fish) and cool plants and trees. It was a blast! One of the last team adventures we did on the beach was an activity called “late- night sand crabbing”. The Coffeys do this on their vacations, and they introduced us to their “family beach tradition”. After sunset, we all took flashlights, nets, and buckets, and scoured the beach for sand crabs. As we spotted them, we ran to catch them with our nets. Everyone caught at least one, even Jobe! At the end of the night, we dumped the bucket in the middle of our “Circle of Terror” and tried to stay in place as they crawled for their freedom. It was hilarious watching everyone’s reactions! Such fun memories as a team!
We also celebrated Matt and Carol Anne’s birthdays in January. We are so thankful that they are traveling with us and the incredible blessing they have been to us. It is such a privilege to give them physical gifts, but even more special to give the gift of words. God is doing an awesome work in their lives, and it was encouraging hearing the rest of the team speak of God’s grace evident in them.
​We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Florida and are excited to see what other fun things God has in store for us this semester! Check out all the pictures and videos from our Floridian Adventures on our Facebook page!