The Last Sunday in February

It seems that I write a lot of posts about Sunday! Lot's of things happen on Sundays here!!

Every Sunday morning at 5:45 the little man that sells pineapples down at the open air market starts calling out his wears....I can hear it all the way in my room!! Pine ap-PUHLLL!!! Over and and over...I usually am up at 6 and Nathan and I walk down to the market and get fresh fruit for the week. Sunday morning is the best time to do the market shopping, but since it is Sunday, and buying fruit and vegetables for 9 people for 1 week would take way to long.... we do most of the shopping on Saturday. The Saturday market may not be as varied but, we find what we need, and finish a quick trip on Sunday.

This morning Dad walked me down because Nathan hurt his foot the other night kicking the football barefoot...poor guy! :( We got a watermelon and bananas...and just as we were heading home it started pour rain! It's amazing how fast a little squally rain cloud will blow off the ocean and rain for 5-10 minutes and be done! You could tell we were outsiders 'cause we were the only ones on the street! Dad carrying a huge watermelon and I had a bag of bananas...the Trinis all duck under doorways and under the booths! The market can be teeming one minute and deserted the next! But we were headed home and to the showers so we just ran through the rain!!

We worshiped with a small congregation about 20 minutes drive North East- Williamsville church of Christ. It's a small congregation, but old, 40 years and that's old for this island. Dad preached the sermon on how a church is to function...it was good! He's getting more and more comfortable preaching. For someone who used to be an auditor, he's doing a great job! But of course I'm not partial!! ;)

The people at Williamsville are so sweet. They are a truly friendly congregation and we loved worshiping with them. We saw an old friend from several years ago- she's married to a great guy and going to have her first baby in June...so that was a sweet reunion. The people here are so loving...it's easy to love these people.

I wish every one of you could hear and join in the singing down here...it's a wonderful experience. They sing with their heart and soul...we could all learn a lesson from that!

The rain cleared off, like it usually does! And the drive home was beautiful! The sun was warm and lovely...everything was fresh and clean! :) This island is so beautiful. The bamboo groves are fascinating, the flowers are exotic and the sea breeze is always there! (as are the mosquitoes, but that's another story!)

The local churchs don't have Sunday evening worship so the rest of the day is quiet and relaxing. We had a nice lunch, (I made roast goat; not bad at all!!) we took naps, played games, had a "scrounge the fridge and popcorn" supper then we all watched The Princess Bride. That has got to be the funniest movie! We all laughed and quoted it the whole time!! I love my family and how we always enjoy each other. :)

Today was a good day. God blessed us with another day to worship Him in safety. We are blessed beyond measure and my life is daily blessed by my family and time here. What a wonderful God we serve!

Have a beautiful week and count your blessings! :)

Mayaro

We are really getting settled in and started here. It's good to have our own vehicle so we can move about on our own. We've attended two small congregations and have met lots of neat people. This island is beautiful, teeming with personality, history, traditions and culture. You can sit in one spot and watch and listen for hours.

This past Sunday we went Mayaro. That's on the east coast and it took us about an hour and a half of hard driving to get there. We passed through some rain forest areas...very lovely and cool. We followed one of the local preachers, Bro. Clarke. I'm very glad we did! The roads are not as well marked! But we made it safely. Bro. Clarke taught the class and Dad preached. It was good to worship with these brethren. There were about 15 that meet there. These young congregations need so much teaching! They meet in the community building there in Mayaro....right on the sea. You could hear the surf and smell the ocean breeze. It was a quiet and peaceful hamlet. I am so glad we went.

We had a delicious combined picnic with the Clarkes- let me tell you...their version of a picnic is hot food from a styrofoam cooler! We had sandwiches! But all together, it made a good meal. We then had some time to enjoy the ocean. It was beautiful. I love the ocean...there's just something about the waves. Or maybe it's that constant scented breeze (ok, sometimes it's less than savory, but this time it was just that pristine salt breeze), maybe it's the sound of the breakers, the constant movement...I don't know. But I'll just have to keep going back so I can find out! :)

My sister Anna forgot her camera battery :( I urged her to use my camera so these are hers. I felt really bad for her...But she's good!!