As Christmas approached, Jared and I kept asking each other 'how is this our third tropical Christmas?" Where is the time even going? Most days we do the same old thing over and over again, but each day is a gift and each day takes us a little closer to the next year of life. That makes it feel a little closer, today really does matter! What did I do with today, what am I doing with tomorrow?
First off, we need to thankyou for your prayers while we were at GBI. We had a very good and refreshing time there. I was cooking all the food and that went very well. There wasn't any food that flopped although there were a few times when it was very close! Over and over again I seen God come through and cover something I had forgotten or over looked. It was a faith building experience. One of the biggest frustrations was having no water for the first few days. A pipe had burst since it had rained so much so there was no water coming to the kitchen. But we got by the first few days and then we really enjoyed running kitchen water when we had it!
On Saturday, the day before we were leaving, I needed 9 dozen eggs for the week as well as a few other fresh items. As I turned the corner into the produce isle my heart sank a little to see no eggs. Oh well, I thought, we will get them from the egg farmer in Laborie. As we drove home we kept an eye out for anyone selling some beside the road with is something we often see. But not today! As we pulled off the road at the chicken farmer, I read the sign, sorry we are closed. Since we were so near to home, we stopped and dropped off the other groceries and talked about what to do. By this time it was getting late into the afternoon and we knew shops would be closing soon. We decided to head out and persist a bit harder. Before leaving, we decided to give it to God and asked Him for help in this dilemma. When we arrived at the next store, we headed inside. Jared smiled and said he is going in with faith and grabbed a wire shopping basket, trusting there would be eggs. But soon we stood in front of the cooler with a defeated sign of no eggs. By this time I was getting worried. I know what island shortages are like and sometimes you just simply have to do without. But no eggs was a big deal. The menu ran through my mind, I would have to change 3 or 4 breakfasts, a few different suppers, dessert items, snacks and the list went on. This was going to create a tremendous amount of time crunching work if I had to change up the menu so last minute because of no eggs. Jared decided to call pastor Ron from the Limes and get him to start looking at some shops and local people down their way and we headed for town. As we were speeding along, Jared had a last minute thought of a small super market on the way to town. He quick slammed on the breaks, pulled off along the road into a parking spot waiting for us and we ran in. There on the shelf was 9 whole dozen eggs. This time we stood in front of the cooler and beathed a sign of You did it, Jesus!
This was my week of GBI! And that story is before we even left! The one morning we were having sticky buns for breakfast. I had made them and froze them before I baked them so that I could bake them fresh for breakfast. Jared got up early and got them out, by the time I got up they were ready for the oven. All was going well and my few faithful early risers were coming into the kitchen to help with the breakfast prep. I am not much of a morning person and I prefer to work quietly. I did mention to Jared that I was worried because it smelled like smoke. We kept checking the oven and it was only the sticky bun sauce that was cooking over so we thought it would be fine. It continued to get worse and it got more and more smokey in the kitchen and eventually we decided that maybe putting foil on the bottom of the oven would help catch the buttery sauce and keep it from burning. It wasn't long and enough sauce had pooled on the foil that it caught on fire. I quickly grabbed out my sticky buns and called Jared. He raced over and pulled the foil out but when he did that the sauce spilled off and the oven started on fire. I didn't feel to worked up until that moment! There is Jared, trying to blow out an oven fire, twice as big as his head. Thankfully someone thought to turn the propane off and when we did that, the fire inside the oven soon went out and it was only the buttery foil burning in the middle of the tile floor. When everything calmed down, I hated to look at the sticky buns but to my surprise, they were finished and only the top on one corner piece was slightly burned. We cut the top of that piece off and a half hour later we confidently served a breakfast that had been saved by God!
Jared's church history class doesn't come with quite as many dramatic stories! But he would testify that God was a faithful provider though the week. He enjoyed the week and it was good for him to stretch himself in this way. We both enjoyed each of the classes and it was really good to be spiritually filled.
After we got back from GBI we went right into the Christmas festivities. Christmas caroling, cookie baking and so on. Holidays are harder times for us. But we know these Grenada days won't last forever and we want to make the most of them and grow from them. So we tried to keep busy and enjoy these warm Christmas days. Christmas Eve we did what every Grenadian does and we went in town! The other teachers wanted to go so we decided to take them and enjoy the outing. There were people everywhere and Jared couldn't get done saying how this event was a 'super spreader.' We didn't last long since we didn't need anything and you couldn't get anywhere very quickly. We came home and started a Christmas puzzle my mom had sent for us which was relaxing and enjoyable. We decided a Christmas puzzle needs to be a tradition that we start! Christmas day we went to one of our favorite spots for a cookout picnic meal and enjoyed a Christmas meal that probably looked much different then yours! In the afternoon we were able to video call family and spend some time together through technology. Watching them open gifts made us feel right there with them but yet even further away at the same time! It was a good day and we were thankful for those who remembered us through the holiday season.
Recently we had a baby dedication at church. This is a cultural thing here and we have come to love these special services. Ronald and Kenisha gave baby Rajay back to the Lord. It has been so special to walk this journey with Kenisha. We dreamed of babies when we taught Kindergarten together last year and then I was able to walk along side her and help her out when the pregnancy was hard and teaching was overwhelming. Talking about names and all the baby stuff with her, in between teaching numbers and letters. It was special to be able to plan her gender reveal party and see their surprise when the cake was cut and it was a boy! Trying to encourage her through her week long hospital stay over the birth and being a listening ear when it was almost more then she could take. Then the joy of being the friend that she asked to care for her baby when she was sick with Covid and couldn't care for her newborn. All the feels of bringing a newborn home and caring for him for a week. And now the ongoing title of God-mama to baby Rajay! I want to treasure all these things in my heart.
Here and there time allows for something special with the youth in Laborie. One of the girls had a brother that visited so we took an afternoon to hike Hog Island. The island is very tiny and at one point a nice big concrete bridge was built, possibly for a resort on this little island. But money must have ran out and nothing more happened. There is a nice spot where a shop or bar may have been at one time. We hiked with hotdogs and stuff to make a fire and made an enjoyable trip out of the hike. We invited two local guys along with us and they helped keep things lively!
As we stepped into January we looked back at the last year and took time to reflect on what we are doing with our lives. In some ways if feels the same as the January before, just me and Jared, living in Grenada, trying to take one day at a time. But then I think about the happenings of the last year and different things come to my mind and I know I've grown and God is still working in my life. Last year I tried to become better at hosting guests. I don't know if I became better but I did do it several times a month and over time I really learned to enjoy it! This year I want to continue growing in that area. This year I would also like to learn to cook a few Grenadian dishes. We will see how that goes!
As we look back it can almost be discouraging. We still serve in this tiny little struggling church, in a community of people who are all 'Christian' and in no need of a deeper relationship with God. We can look back and ask ourselves, what have we even done? But we choose to trust that God is working in our tiny ways of faithfulness here in Grenada. God bless you in the year ahead as you serve in tiny ways in the area He has called you.
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