Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I want to take you...

Seriously, if I could, I would take you down to Aruba. If I win the lottery and become independently wealthy, we're going. But seriously, the way our luck's been running, it could happen -- except that we don't play the lottery. So we'll have to become indepedently wealthy some other way. I'll get back to you on that one.

Anyway... back story: Naomi and I entered a contest through our local newspaper and some car dealerships when we were car-shopping last summer and Naomi won the grand prize: 7 days/7 nights in Aruba, hotel and airfare. Boo-yah!

We had a year to take the trip so we booked it for the week of our anniversary and my birthday, which happened to be last week (#s 3 and 30 respectively -- yikes). It was ... wait for it...

AWESOME!!!!

In summary: sunny, mild, windy; nicest people you'll ever meet; small (~25 miles long and ~5 miles wide); Dutch territory, so lots of fun European influences; laid-back.

We saved up from last summer and didn't have to worry about hotel or flights, so we were able to do a lot of fun stuff and not worry too much about what it cost. So we rented a car to explore the island, went off-roading on the rocky north coast, rode horses through the national park, shopped in the city, snorkeled by a sunken German freighter from World War II, parasailed to usher in my 30s and spent a lot of time sitting in and by the beach and the gorgeous pool at our hotel. (Our room was pretty fabulous too: kitchen, living room area, jacuzzi tub, flat-screen TV, huge balcony overlooking the pool and ocean)

We were active and did lots of fun stuff for sure, but it was the most restful, refreshing week I've had in ... I can't remember how long. I really needed it as the stress has been mounting for a while at PI. I feel recharged now and ready to re-enter ministry with fullness.

There were many points last week when I just stopped and praised God for His goodness to us. This vacation would have been way out of reach for us normally, so it's just a huge blessing that we won it. It may seem like luck, but it's really just the grace of God. He's really been good to us and we thank Him for it.

Enjoy a couple pictures now...