O...O

whoo whoo... I am wicked physically tired today. Just finished my work after 12 exhausting hours. I havent even change my cloth and I went off board. Never done that before, you see, in a little bit more than an hour the ship set sail and usually after finishing working I go to my cabin change cloth and have dinner, but today I just felt that stressed that I just went out to have some fresh air, but my friend Mexico is sooooooo hot, its 8:30 pm and I am sweating like a monster and I am just sitting here doing nothing else but typing. There is a lot of people out here, and a lot of crew fellow members who doesnt speak spanish and I dont feel like to speak english now. So I went just walking and walking to see someone familiar but nothing. So I met a couple of guys from here and start talking about everything and nothing. I feel definietely better now! I am just going to drink a coke and I make my day or the rest of it.!!!

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Couple of days ago, to be exact on wednesday of last week I got real bad. I woke up to an intense pain in my lower abdomen. It was 3:00 am and I was very unconfortable in my bed when I woke up and I knew right there what it was. Kidney stones. I went to the infirmay and beeped the nurse on duty. I was almost dying of pain, I couldnt be on my feet or sitted, there was no position that made me kind of confortable. And this veterinarian....I mean, nurse wouldnt give me something to ease my pain. She insisted on me peeing first to examine it and then determine what to do, so after a while of insisting and complaining (If I could had sweeped I had done it, but even that hurt me more) she gave me a shot of who knows what and told me to go to my cabin and come back at 8:00 in the morning. I went back to my cabin but 20 min. later I was back in the infirmary with the same killing pain. This time she had to call the physician to see me. She came and I told her that I really needed something to kill the pain, I felt like if I was to pass out any time there. So she put me an IV and gave me a stronger drug. Almost in that same second I did feel better. End of episode. Next day I didnt show up to work and 4 days later I went to a hospital in L.A. Now, until this same moment I dont know how I got out of that hospital in good shape. First thing I see when I entered it was a gangaster lying in a bed, he was huge. When they assign me a bed, 5 min. later a 22 girl comes to the next bed, and she wouldnt stop talking. The curtain was close, so I thought that there were two persons next to me. She was talking and talking and I was sure that it was two persons having a loooooooong 4 hours non-stopable converstation. Shen I stood up to go to the restroom and I saw next bed, it was only her talking to herself and she even made two differet voices, the one who was actually speaking and the one who was listening and answering to herself.....I was like....OH MY GOD. I was in shock. Later on I learned that she was squizofrenic and had run from her house and ended somewhere around the hospital. To end my terrific story I had a CAT and it revealed that I had no kidney stone at all which is an excellent news. Doc says that I did pee it already. So here I am. God taking care of everything.

Important Lesson

The other day I learned something that changed my perception of what blinded and total obedience is, even if I don’t get to know the why of it sometime soon. It happened when I was making sure that some stuffs were properly done where I work at. This guy who is under my charge, I told him to pour some cleaning chemical out of its recipient into the floor so we could brush it, however, what I didn’t knew was that the recipient was sealed with a thin and almost invincible paper to protect the chemical to come out accidentally. And I was telling this guy, to put the recipient upside down, and I was rushing him; he tried to tell me that I was wrong, that he needed to take out that little piece of paper first, but I was on a rush and I wouldn’t listen to him, so he obediently and without complaining about my lack of knowledge did put the recipient upside down and started simulating that the chemical was coming out, then and only there I realized about my mistake and I was in shock. Later on that day I thought about it and it impacted me that he wouldn’t even question my decision and wouldn’t even complain and get upset with me because I was making him lose his time doing something useless. I am a supervisor where I work at. I get to make a bunch of important decisions that will affect a lot of things. So people have to follow my instructions no matter if they are wrong or right, I expect them to follow and not to complain, I accept suggestions, but If I don’t agree with them they still have to do what I say, just to find at the end that I was wrong. Jesus Christ is our chief in command supervisor, he definitely takes the most important decisions on the whole universe, however he never is wrong, he sees things that we cannot see. And he knows what is good for us. He wants the best for me, he has got a perfect plan for my life and in order for me to reach it, I have to obey him what he says in the Bible. He wants me to be obedient always, blinded if you wanted to call it that way. When people follow my instructions there will be always a doubt if my decisions is correct, but when we obey whatever God tells us to do, we can be infinite sure that its is a wise instruction and that at the end we will enjoy the result of our obedience. He won’t make us lose our time following useless things. And even though today I don’t get to understand fully why I am here, He knows the why, if I don’t get to know it sometime soon? I don’t mind, my heart and mind is in peace because who I am obeying to, will not fail and be ever wrong.

Talking About Safety

It is so common to hear nowadays everywhere about terrorism and how to make our world more safe. This is the very truth. No other way to find ourselves more safe than in Him. Think about it!!!

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SAFETY IS NOT FELT IN THE ABSCENSE OF DANGER
BUT IN THE PRESCENSE OF GOD
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Tough Week

Uff....its been crazy, so many pressure and stress togueter I can barely stand. However things are not all bad, God has given me the chance to talk about my faith to some people I ve met recently and I ve found out that, that is so refreshing, at the end I feel like new, I don´t know exactly why, but thats how I feel. Couple of hours ago, I went to downtown Mazatlan, Mexico with a guy I barely know from the ship, and the one thing that he told me was that b4 going to eat somewhere, he wanted to go to the local catholic cathedral, so we went there. After I while, he was done and he was just there quite. I felt that I had to talk to him. At the beggining I was puzzled, cuz I mean, I want to obey to God when he gives me an order, but we where at a temple where it is supposed to be quite and not to be talking, so I was thinking, ok, as soon as we come out I will find the opportunity and talk to him, but then a second thought hit my mind and it was, maybe God want you to do it right now in this very place. So I put all my braveness together and sat by his side and started talking, and eventually I felt how God took control of the situation and put the words he needed to hear...I am glad I did it. I dont know if he will ever listen to this again, but he´s heard about it now. I will keep praying for him so he commits his life to Him, the more important decision ever to make.

Welcome to Long Beach California

First days at Pride, Carnival has been quite and normal. I came on board last sunday (jun. 6) Something that is freaking me out is the fact that on this ship we change time twice a week, like when we are at L.A. at 12:00 am we have to go one hour forward and then on friday same week when we arrive a port in mexico we go one hour back at 12:00. I dont want to forget that, otherwise I could arrive one hour late or before to work! It would be bad to arrive one hour late, but it would be way worse to arrive one hour before. Anyway, the Hotel Manager was saying that we need to be more hospitable so he challenged us to be as friendly as we could, smiling all the time and greeting everybody either passangers or crew members. I thought of it, and of course that it´s not mandatory, you dont have to if you dont want to be smiling like a beauty queen to everybody, (I am not the kind of person whois very sociable, so dont expect from me that) however, I did give it a second thought and realized that in that way I would get to know more ppl withouth having to go to the crew bar which its meant to know ppl. Now crew bar, I tell you, its just a dense cloud of smoke, so being there its not healthy at all. So I have been practicing the smiling and greeting stuff since couple of days, and to tell you the truth since I am not use to it, in some cases I just feel like stupid lol, but I guess its working.

The Day After Tomorrow

I ve been hanging around with two peruvian friends during the last previous days. We ve been spending a lot of time getting to know each other and sharing stories and anecdotes of our previous contracts on board (Carnival Cruise Line). Its been fun. Yesterday we were just talking about nothing and everything by the pool, and suddenly I saw the opportunity to start talking about God. I had been praying the whole week about having a space to talk about Jesus. And yesterday that moment came. So we started talking about God existance. One of them calls himself atheist, and the other two catholics. So nice panorama did I have. They started insisting on why to give money to churches, and said that they were thefts. Conversation turned pretty tough, and I found myself indefense in many areas, I couldnt have an accurate answer to their questions, like how can you be sure that Creation was made by God, and it wasnt product of Evolution. I could sense that they were just hanging off the branches, so I dediced to go all over the story from the beggining of Creation, Gods perfect relationship with Adam and then the rupture of it, and then over to Jesus first coming and establishing a path to Him again, and how easy is just to accept his forgiveness and love and start living according to his great plan for ourlives. So I insisted on that. Unfortunately they didnt want to listen to it and they just went around trivialities. At the end of those 2 hours I felt frustated, and I went to my room and began to pray about it, and I God told me that I made my part and He is the one who changes people heart. So I did cast away evil thoughts about failure. And I began feeling way better. Now I have three more persons to pray for. My list is getting bigger, but I feel that I am doing what God wants me to do!
Next sunday I'll be flying to L.A. to take my ship. 5 hours flight. Pray for me

PD. Blog Title??? lol I dont know, I saw the movie and was so so

Short Vacations at Miami

This is crazy, I came from Panama last sunday, I arrived at the hotel where I was supposed to get my air ticket to my final destination in L.A. My ticket was there, but was scheduled to be at 7:00 am same day....and I arrived at 11:00 am...Weirdo huh. So I am being punished here with not to much to do really. I´ve met some people at the hotel, we rented a car and tried to get to know some. Not to mention that none of us is absolutely familiarized with american adress system and streets, avenues and all those stuffs...what it was intended to be a 40 min. trip to Dolphin International Mall, took us almost 4 hours! We were so lost, we were in agony, stressed and getting mad, but finally with two maps in hand and millions of questions to people around we made it, and it worth it. Back to hotel? same story lol, but I think we are having some fun. Late at night we went to south beach, its beautiful no question. My friends even went inside the beach at 12:00 am. Then we had some banana and strawberry milk shakes at one of the cafes. Tons of people hanging around in discos, stunning last models cars, fashion clothes and famous people. Later on that night I thought to myself how empty are all these people. If I just simply look at them, I will see that they have got all the imaginable success in world. But then, if I look closer, I see unhappy people, with no worthy goals to reach other than getting more and more money which is not bad, but make them slave of it. I so many times complains about not having all the money I wish to have to do what Id like to do. And I start making plans and strategies of how I could get that money, how long will it take to, and I start daydreaming about it. At the end I find myself spending more time daydreaming and planning than fasting and praying to the One who has the best for his son, Me. And He tells me, to spend more time with Him looking for His will for my life and He would bless me in an awesome way. Jabez was a man, you wont find to much about him in the Bible. (2 Chronicles something. He was in disadvantage regarding to everybody else. But one day he thought there should be something else in this life. And he claimed to God and ask him to bless him, to expand his territory, to keep him from evil and temptations... and the Bible says God granted his prayer and Jabez was more than his brothers. That was Jabez little but effective prayer. God may help me to understand better that piece of gold.