Island Living....

We are now on the countdown for leaving Jamaica. In less than a year we will pick up and move to the next assignment. Just tonight Denny said, "One of the things I will miss is the weather." While we have lived here we always have open windows, except for the hurricane winds, of course. The home, the car, the Bible College, Renee's school, the breeze comes through the windows and gates. We haven't missed ice and snow at all, Renee misses the fall temps and pretty leaves but the ice and snow is something we will have to get used to again.

We live in the center of the island and in the mountains. We do not have the extreme high temps that Kingston and Montego Bay have, although it gets very hot here, but in comparison those areas are much hotter. When we have the chance to go to the beach we all get excited because we do not live near the beaches. For Renee's birthday we had planned a weekend in Montego Bay, it was cancelled because of the horrible weather we had that weekend. We rescheduled our getaway for the end of Renee's school year. So we combined birthday and completion of 4th form and went away! Sunset Beach had a great price and has a wonderful resort. Great fun. Water, kayak, dominoes, skipbo, sunbathing, swimming, good food, chess, checkers, pool volleyball, sand, beach, all around fun!

Here is a pictorial blog!

Bible College Ministry

Tonight I saw a photo on a fellow missionary's page and Denny and I are in it. A photo from 1988. Is 1988 really that long ago? Where have these past 23 years gone? We look so young in the photo. Let's see that would put us in our thirties. Yes I guess it was a long time ago!




Seeing this picture took me way back in my memory bank. We didn't have Ryan and Renee yet, we had just left a successful youth pastor position, we had been through a very rigorous 11 month itineration cycle to raise the budget and we had spent one year in Costa Rica to learn Spanish. We were finally in Spain. Denny's original plan was to work with teenagers in France. But in December of 1987 we very excitedly landed in Madrid.

As I am thinking about our history tonight, I am trying to figure out why Spain, why the Bible College? Why missions? How do all the life puzzle pieces make sense? We certainly had no idea when we left Zion that we would be in Jamaica today at the Bible College.

All the things that you dream of don't always come to be, other things come in and take their place and new dreams are realized. Denny was not going toward a ministry of education way back in the early days of our marriage and then suddenly Spain changed our direction. Because of that one decision to go to Spain the rest is history! Today Den is coming down the home stretch of completing his doctorate of missiology. Teaching in the Bible College is where he is most fulfilled. I wonder if the professors he had in Zion would be surprised! I don't have to wonder, I KNOW they would be surprised, shocked would be a more appropriate word!

....busted...!

Anyone who lives in Jamaica can appreciate this post! Driving is crazy, pedestrian traffic along the road is massive, taxi's go at breakneck speed and pass in the most dangerous places. Dodging goats, cars, people, and taxi's is ....well... let's say hair raising! The depth of the potholes are amazing and one of the driving techniques is to dodge the holes at any cost! It doesn't matter if something is coming at you are not. Rain puddles are treated the same way. Learning to drive here could be the greatest risk taking experience in one's life!

With the driving brings another element...policeman. It didn't take us long to find the spots that will get a whole lot of attention!

One day Denny was driving to the college and nearly threw himself through the windshield when he saw what he thought was a real, live, breathing officer of the law!

When we drove into Kingston this week Renee and I got to see Den's friend!! Whoever created Mr.Policeman was really creative. I suppose when Mr.Policeman goes for his job performance review he will get a raise for a job well done!

the funny things you find.....

When we moved to Jamaica we brought all of the half used school notebooks from the kids previous years. We didn't know if the spiral bound ones would be easy to find in a developing nation. Renee has been in the Jamaican school system for 3 years and has used almost all of the recycled notebooks. So much so that the supply shelf looks kind of bare!

Being the student of all students she went into the closet to start her collection for September! She never gives learning a rest! I think that is a good thing. She pulled out a notebook that belonged to her brother. Opening the first few pages showed his drawing abilities, specifically his cartoon character drawing abilities! Wondering which school year this was, I flipped a few more pages to try to get an idea and came upon another treasure!







When we went to the children's parent/teacher conferences or school open house, I would always examine their desk and pull out a notebook to leave them a note. I would forget about it and one day later in the year, Ryan and Renee would come home and say "Hey Mom, thanks for the note!" Who knows, maybe they came upon it when they were feeling alone or having a tough day.





Seeing the artwork and the note would make me think it was one of Ryan's notebooks from Horace Mann Elementary School in Springfield, MO. When we moved to Missouri, Ryan went right into 5th grade. He went there for one year only and then moved to Carver Middle School. That was a long time ago! Today he is a college graduate! That notebook has been around for awhile! Funny the things that get recycled.

One of the difficulties in having children is not being able to recoup long ago days and actually having their hands in mine. Going to the playground, pool time, and moments in their lives when children do "children" things with mommy beside. Seeing the notebook has taken me back a few years!

I think I will add those pages to my scrapbook pile! Precious pages from long, long ago!

It's a new season.....

Today is Father's Day. One of my favorite songs of all time reminds me of my dad. There are many reasons why I love my dad, but the greatest one is that he never rubbed my nose in wrong choices, wrong decisions, mistakes and all the negative things a kid does.
Once it was dealt with, it was over, not to be brought up again.



I wasn't a bad kid, just not a perfect kid. I wasn't a rebel rouser, just not a compliant child. I honor my dad today not just for who he is but for who he isn't.

My dad isn't a negative voice. My dad isn't a person prone to depression. My dad isn't lazy. My dad isn't a nitpicker. My dad isn't a man of unbelief. My dad isn't an angry man. My dad isn't impulsive. My dad isn't explosive. My dad isn't hateful.

When I was a kid I had terrific nightmares. The kind that would wake an entire household. I would always find myself in the hallway between the bedrooms. I would "come to" with the sound of my father's voice praying and pleading the blood of Jesus over my life. I became so dependent upon his prayers. When I became a young adult, the sound of my father's prayers soothed every crazy fear and dart the enemy would throw at me. Now that I am older, I am dependent upon his prayers......still. His prayers give me faith, they give me "a new season" hopefulness. His prayers encourage me to hold on, all negative things will cease.

My dad loves me. My dad loves Jesus. I love my dad. I love Jesus. I honor them both today.

I left my heart.....

Funny thing.....I still find myself reliving our time in the states last month. I just can't get it out of my mind. It was a tremendous, uplifting, exciting, proud kind of month. Ryan's recital, VFCC Music Department chapel, Baccalaureate, Graduation, being in New England, Brooklyn Tab, Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. It was such a great time.

I heard a song in the Music Department Chapel that I had never heard before. It is so good. A guy's ensemble sang it. Gloria Gaither wrote it. I want to forever remember it. It is just one of those songs!

In 33 years of full time ministry we have experienced some real highs and some really, really low lows. Like everyone. It doesn't matter if you are in the ministry or not. If you are alive and breathing, you will experience crazy times. The rain falls. The sun shines. The clouds overtake. Hurricane winds blow. Floods drown. Fires burn. Rainbows appear. Earthquakes shake. This is life. This song reminds me that God takes us through all of it. The good and the bad. The pretty and the ugly. He is my "through it all" God. I am in His grip. I am safe.

seriously...how do they do that?

On my trips to Africa I would see people carry things on their head much more than I see here in Jamaica, but you still see it, especially in the rural areas. Mandeville is not considered rural but even here in town you will see people with their heavy load.

It is interesting that you don't see the young or middle-age but always the older citizens with their head load....seriously how can they do that?

Yes I know about the cap that makes it easier but I have seen many people without the cap, how does their neck handle it? How do their shoulders feel? How does their back stay up straight?

I think this will always amaze me.




This makes me think of the scripture in Galatians, "Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ." I wrote a sermon one time, making the difference between a burden and a load. The Greek word for "bear" is baztazo. It means to "to hold" or even to physically embrace. How can I physically embrace someone's burdens?

There is also a difference between burden and load. The load is the everyday stuff we all have to handle, like paying bills, feeling lonely, bad weather, the things everyone endures.

However a burden is different. Burdens are those unexpected things that get added to the everyday load. Like a tragic accident, loss of a job, death in the family, the things that come along suddenly and very unexpectedly.

Well, the sermon gives some how to's, but suffice it to say, whenever I see someone carrying their load I think of Galatians 6:2 and wonder how I am doing with carrying my own load and the burdens of others. Just a little something to think about.