A Bigger Picture

Usually when I sit down to type up how we are doing and what we have been up to it feels like the time has just flown by. But not so much this time. Our last few weeks have had days of physical sickness, home sickness, and bits of discouragement. But these moments are real life and we might as well face them and not ignore them or try to act like life is a dream! Because some days are hard!

A few weeks ago, on Sunday evening I noticed I had a headache as I went to bed, I hoped it was just because I was extra tired or hadn't drank enough. Monday I felt off and by that evening I had a fever. Tuesday I spent most of the day in bed with the hot and cold chills, a throbbing headache and some very sore muscles. Wednesday we went to get tested and I tested positive for Covid. Thankfully I had stayed away from the children at school on Monday and Jared also had a few other responsibilities and had been in and out of school. The rest of that week I recovered and until the weekend Jared had a headache and a bit of a fever. After almost 14 days of quarantining we were feeling better and felt comfortable to get out again. There were some long discouraging days in those two weeks but it did cause us to be thankful for health!

After we returned back to normal life it felt like we were paid back for the time we had at home with the amount of business we faced! I got back into a routine of helping in second grade from 9am until noon. The class couldn't read well coming out of first grade with all the canceled school and it has been a slow process to get them in order. The teacher is also new to the school and new to the curriculum. The 5 boys need lots of motivation to speed up and it has been a challenge to get them to work quickly and stop wasting time sharpening pencils with their teeth, eating erasers, or making paper airplanes! We also have mothers doing the homework that is sent home. So between laziness in the students and unsupportive parents, it has been some work! But I am seeing progress and that is fulfilling. Jared continues to spend most days at school doing the duties of a principal.

Recently there have been some visitors around. Jenna Yoder who had lived here our first year came back as a surprise! It was fun to see her again and to have her help out in school. She was able to public bus, go visiting, and do many other island things on her own! Observing her reminded me how much I desire to have a servant heart. She still goes the extra mile and finds small ways to be a blessing that can easily be overlooked. Emily Martin, the 3rd grade teacher had 2 siblings come visit her last week. It is always interesting to meet the family of those we serve with.

Last Friday was colors day at school. All the children came dressed in the bright red, yellow and green colors of Grenada. Some of the teachers had put together independence quizzes, poems, and songs. Three parents came to help cook a pot of oil down. It was a fun day! I also had to think back to the independence day 2 years ago when my family had been here to visit us. The memories are still very special to us. I remember how unfamiliar we were with Grenada, how I was handed my first plate of oil down and couldn't even tell what it was! Much less enjoy the taste! And this year I took my plate of oil down filled with breadfruit, dumpling, fig, callaloo, chicken, pig tail, and carrots. And I could even enjoy the pig tail. How I've changed in two years!

On Independence Day we went to the pasture here in Laborie and had a time of fellowship with the church. It has been fairly rainy as went enter into dry season so we were hoping for nice weather. There was a lively game of kickball and domino going as a pot of lentil pea soup cooked. It was good to fellowship with believers.

The men spent a night camping on Hog Island for a brothers camp. The men attending Limes and Laborie churches went and I think Jared said there was 11 men in all. It sounded like they had a good time of memory making and fellowshipping together. It didn't sound like sand made the softest bed! The ladies got together in the evening and since we had been so busy I decided to turn down the teachers offer to sleep at their house and come home to my own bed. I wasn't scared, but being at home by myself isn't my favorite thing! Thankfully Ginger slept right outside the window as a good watch dog would!

This week we went to a funeral of a brother to one of the Grenadian Laborie teachers. Funerals are not fun to go to and in a different culture you never are sure what will come next. It was good for us to go to reignite the burden for the lost. This man that died was a drunk who was never saved to the best of the families knowledge. 2 months before he passed away, he stated that he is not ready to receive Christ yet. This was said at the funeral by a brother. Soon the pastor of the church was reciting prayers how this unsaved man is being welcomed into heaven and singing with the angles. He sprinkled lots of holy water over the coffin, crossed himself and continued on to say that we can find comfort in knowing we will see him again. I want to stand up and say wait a minute. But I already stuck out as the only white woman in the audience so I kept silent. It sickens me to think that the people in the church are filling people with a false reassurance. God give us wisdom to respond as Christ would in situations like this.

The last few weeks have been really hard for us. We decided that the adjustment with moving wasn't as hard as we anticipated but the enduring is harder then we expected! I feel sad and quick to cry while Jared tends to feel more frustrated. Exactly why we feel this way is the question. And we aren't even sure ourselves! We have been really busy, I counted up and it had been over two weeks that we had an evening at home to spend time together. Seems Jared is up till 10 in the evening doing business administrator work or studying to preach on our evenings at home. And often we have evening plans throughout the week. That can be frustrating. The month of January marks a year since we have been back to the States. As google photos reminds us of all the special memories we made we can't help but miss home. A whole year seems like a long time to not see family and friends. It has also been two years since my family came here and I think back on those times and it feels like my heart is being torn in two! Another hard thing is the reality of the school closing. Jared talks about this several times a week. It is a hard thing to watch, no man (or person) ever enjoys slowly watching their business close down and that is exactly what we are doing. While we know it has to be done, we question...what will happen with the building? We would love to see the church grown and recently it has felt like we are getting nowhere. If we would be sacrificing to see a church growing, Laborie souls having an interest in God, it would feel like something is happening, like God is working. But that isn't the case and faithfulness can be hard. So even through the hard days, the sad days, the discouraging days we choose to trust that God is working and we choose to trust that He has us here for a reason. Don't you ever wish you could see the bigger picture in life? We sure do!

I'll share this poem by Corrie Ten Boon, may it bless you as it blessed me. God sees and He cares. All that I am going through is part of His plan for my life. God bless you this week!

My life is but a weaving between my God and me, I do not choose the colors, He worketh steadily. Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride, Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.

Not till the loom is silent, and shuttles cease to fly, Will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why. The dark threads are as needful in the skillful Weaver’s hand As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.