King of the wall!

We live on a road that should have a sign, "Goats Crossing!" Of course most roads in Jamaica should have a sign like that. Wherever we go we see goats. Rural roads, town roads, city roads, the main highway that has a tollbooth, cow paths or your own driveway!

Goats everywhere. I never see bunny rabbits, nor do you see squirrels, but goats you will see everywhere!

Curried goat is quite tasty but that meal falls in the same category for me as eating rabbit. I just don't like to eat the animals that to me are pets.

My sister has had many a goat as a pet. So cute! I have had many bunny pets. Just can't eat um!

I think the goats should put up a sign that says "Don't choose me for dinner!"

Some surprises are so pleasant!

There is a really neat thing about life and that is all the people you meet. My mom used to tell us "it takes all kinds to make the world go round." How dull our lives would be if we didn't have people in it!

We had another wonderful experience last night. At the beginning of the week we received an email from a gentleman who was in Kingston this week for his work. He wrote to the 3 A/G missionaries here on the island and asked if anyone would like to have dinner! What a pleasant surprise!

If you know anything about us you know we love to do dinner and we love to go to Kingston! His email explained why he was on the island, who his pastor is in the states, the church he attends and so on.

Den responded to the email and said that we would love to meet him and told him that we have a 15 year old, would it be okay to bring Renee. Denny also asked if had anywhere in mind to eat. Here is his response....let the girls choose! Now that is a real gentleman! I was so impressed and we were so anxious for Thursday to come and to meet Greg for dinner.

We chose the Devon House. One of our favorite historical sites and located in Kingston.

The Devon House Mansion is the architectural dream of Jamaica’s first black millionaire George Stiebel. Stiebel was among three wealthy Jamaicans who constructed elaborate homes during the late 19th century. Daniel Finzi and the Verleys were the other families that resided in the area, however, both homes were eventually demolished to make way for development ventures including the construction of Abbey Court Apartments. Stiebel’s legacy lives on with the beautifully maintained Devon House, which was declared a national monument in 1990 by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. (http://www.devonhousejamaica.com/StoryOfDevonHousepg1.htm)

The restaurant was fantastic, the food delicious, and the company terrific. Greg told us his story of travelling for his work and making it a practice to contact missionary families and blessing them. He is so special. We absolutely loved our time together! He treated Renee so very special and made her laugh. We learned about his family and his church. We enjoyed Devon House ice cream! The night ended too quickly!

Taking a Leap....

I took this photo as we were waiting at a red light in Grant's Pen the other day. It is a picture of where my mind has been for the last couple of months.

Ryan graduated from college May 6th. He had his resume out there, spent lots of time in prayer and meditation, pondered this way and that, but ultimately put his guitar and suitcase in the car and drove to New England. What did he have to go on? Sheer faith.

This photo reminds me of Ryan. Taking a leap from the last step into the unknown. He followed God's prompting. His ears heard walk this way and he did. The only thing he had to go on was what he felt in his heart. He had nothing to go on but God's leading. He is with a pastor's family that has open arms, open hearts and a wonderful ministry. He is happy. I am happy.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

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!