Another snapshot....

"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:9-10

Living on this island with so many new to my eyes examples of God power in creation, has truly influenced my perspective. I grew up in the middle of the US, far far away from any ocean. And now I live within a kilometer of ocean and it effects our everyday life. I'm still learning about appreciating all this.

Holiday Memories, Part Two

This holiday season last year I was sitting pretty cozy in my house in Arkansas, with a lovely fire and hot tea. This year we are sitting in our nice house, with the windows open and the fans blowing! With iced tea! Well, I still drink my hot tea, I know...I'm a strange old bird! ;)

You see, the Trinis spend their Christmas Day at home, with their families, and since we spent Christmas Eve at home as a family we took advantage of the almost clear streets and went to the almost clear beach! It is very difficult to find a beach that is not swimming with indecency, so it was a treat to go and enjoy a rest.

(This is a photo I found online) We went to Maracas Beach on the North edge of the island. It's a beautiful spot.

There was a rain cloud that kept chasing us and it was so lovely coming over the hills. Have you ever seen the ocean during a rain shower? It's beautiful. Especially when your dry towel and clothes are sitting high and dry under that yellow life guard station! :)

The waves were boisterous and fun to play in and mesmerizing and lay-out-on-the-pallet-and-veg-izing too!

Mmmm....Have I mentioned how much I love the ocean, how beautiful it is?

Here's what Nathan did for the longest time...his finished work was really quite impressive! I helped by digging a hole for him, which he turned into a lake. Playing in the sand must be a universal joy.

Silas enjoyed himself, he was the last one out! But he's more the stay on the edge, closer to the beach type. I just loved watching him play. :)

We had a delicious local sandwich for lunch. It's called Shark and Bake- a fried shark in a flat naan type bread. It's part of the whole Maracas beach experience, so they say!

After lunch we headed back home and had a nice evening relaxing. It wears you out having a nice break at the beach! What a fun day and a great memory! I'm thankful we had a safe trip...we'll be treasuring those memories for the future!

I hope you had a great holiday yourself!

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!!