I see white people.

We entered the airport at Port of Spain and I was overwhelmed with the number of white people! Of course, they were all flying American Airlines. We walked right past those counters to the Caribbean Airlines desk where I am once again in the minority. This is so much fun.

"Toto, I have a feeling we are not in East Greenwich anymore." :)

I’m also beginning to realize how small some of these islands are. Stitchie, the Christian Reggae artist I met over the weekend is sitting in the row in front of me on the plane (I was NOT expecting to see anyone I knew on here…). At one point over the weekend, I called one of the Trinidad pastors. The woman who answered the phone told me I had the wrong number. I apologized and was about to hang up when she said, “but you’re only off by one number. Pastor Griffith’s number is 686-…” Not only did she know the pastor, she gave me the correct number!

This is a good place. There’s no doubt we’ll be back and I’m looking forward to it.

I'll be at the pool

Today is a travel and rest day. We flew from Port of Spain, Trinidad to… some other island (?) to St. Maarten and finally to Kingston Jamaica where we checked in to the hotel. Miles has an early morning TV interview (6:15am) followed by a press conference before we fly to Montego Bay to join the 280 people from the Rock Church who are going service projects before this weekend’s Crusade. This is my first and possibly only chance I’ll get to put on my bathing suit and hang out at the pool. Sure we’re in the Caribbean, but wow, is it a lot of work! It’s exciting but is far from the vacation my friends seem to think I’m taking.

The hour-long vacation I’m taking this afternoon will be more than enough for me. Then it’s back to work at press conferences, media appearances, service projects, VIP dinners (including one with the Prime Minister of Jamaica) and meetings with other local business, church and government leaders… I never said the work wasn’t fun an exciting!

When God Says, "Go Take a Hike"

Miles is working on his next book, and it tremendously exciting to see the process and work that takes place behind closed doors. The theme of the Rock Church is “Do Something” and Miles inspires every day to put their faith into action and step out to transform our communities and society with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I haven’t said anything to him yet, but this is right in line with the book God has put on the hearts of a few people very close to me. The story of my hiking the Appalachian Trail at 17 and trusting in God to carry me through the 2,168-miles of wilderness is exactly what we want people to do. We don’t have all of the answers. We don’t know why we’re supposed to be in certain places or situations but that isn’t our job. Our job is to listen to and obey God.

There are times when others will oppose what you feel God is telling you. That’s normal. But the exciting thing is, others that are in tune with God’s Will, will come out of nowhere and affirm what is being put on your heart. Before I moved to San Diego, I knew God was calling me to go there to work for a Christian leader making an impact on the world through San Diego. In my limited understanding, I thought that meant I was to work for Ken Blanchard (at the time, he was the only person I knew who fit that description).

But when things didn’t come together with the Ken Blanchard Companies and I was presented with an opportunity to connect with a major consulting firm in LA, I turned it down. I didn’t know the details, but I trusted God wanted me to be in San Diego, not LA. Three days later after telling thanking the firm for their interest but turning them down, Miles called me and said he wanted to talk.

The really cool part is that Ken has mentored Miles for a few years now. I have met Ken and talked with him a few times on the phone. Miles will be co-hosting the Lead Like Jesus summit this October in Georgia along with Ken Blanchard (I’ll be going). I’ve been told that working as Miles’ assistant, I have better access to Ken than if I were hired as one of the three-hundred-something employees at the Ken Blanchard Companies.

We don’t know what God has in store. But that’s the cool thing, we don’t have to because He is God and we are not.

"No Cause for Alarm"

We just took off from the airport in St. Maarten, heading to Kingston, Jamaica. Before “blast off” the pilot came on the PA system and warned us that this was a full-throttle take-off with a sharp and immediate banking turn to the right. He assured us that it would be a rough ride, there was no cause for alarm. Somehow, the caution didn’t make me feel any less apprehensive about what was about to happen…