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!

Holiday Memories, Part One

Our first Christmas holiday in Trinidad was so much fun! As I mentioned in a previous post, we each made a gift for the next younger person. So that made Anna my gifty person. And let me tell you, I had fun making this! I was a little afraid she might not like it, but she loved it! :D

I made a camera strap sleeve! It was very simple, in essentials, but you can really dress it up and make it neat! I didn't go for the ruffles, Anna just isn't ruffles! She loves black and white so this is what I ended up with! I did little tiny one inch black and white blocks, just like you'd do a quilt block.

Merry Christmas Anna! She's a great sister, she's a great photographer and I love her! :)

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Every one did such a great job! Emily made me a tiny tatted tea cup! It's precious! Nathan made Naomi a woven wall hanging and it's so beautiful! Definitely hope chest quality. And he's making me one too! ;) Maybe, well, I wish! Hehe!

All the gifts were great, but more importantly, we had a good and fun time together as a family.

And that was only Christmas Eve! I'll be doing the next post on what we did on Christmas Day....

Begin With the End in Mind

“Begin With the End in Mind”

This principle was part of a secular article on rearing children I found in a magazine the other day. It went on to different points of which some were rather weak and others dumb-founding.

But that’s not the point. I was struck by that first line- Begin with the end in mind. How very important and profound!

As Christians, we should have this mind every day of our lives. When we first became Christians, we made that act of faith (baptism) with Heaven, the end, in mind. But do we spend every day with that same attitude?

“Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14

Paul’s words, inspired by God are both a challenge and an encouragement. Every day we have the opportunity and obligation, as children of God to spend our time with the end in mind. What end? Living as a faithful child of God. That is the most important end. Any day where you were faithful to God, is not a wasted day. Maybe you didn’t get all your goals accomplished, but if you were faithful, if you strove to be pure, then your day was not wasted.

-Begin the day with the end in mind with your personal life- Bible study and prayer, attitude and outlook.

-Begin with your children, with the end in mind- Train their minds early in both the Word of God and good attitudes and habits.

-Begin with the end in mind with your marriage- I love to meet and talk with couples who have been married for so many years. There is a couple here in Trinidad that just celebrated their 50th. Start your marriage with 50 and 60 plus years in mind! Do what it takes to be the spouse you have agreed by marrying, to be.

Begin with the end in mind as a single person- Prepare you heart and mind for God’s use, whether it be marriage or single-hood. Be active, be aware of time, and use it wisely.

“Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against himself, that ye wax not weary, fainting in your souls.” Hebrews 12:1-3

The first part of this passage is referring to the faithful men and women in Hebrews chapter 11- they lived their whole life with the end in mind. We can have the same confidence and drive to live similarly. We have their encouragement and example to follow, and the more importantly we have salvation through Christ making it possible to live forever with Him in eternity. We will have the prize of Heaven when we have lived our lives faithfully, each day, with the end in mind.

Ohhh the weather outside is frightful...

...and a fire would make me have heatstoooooke...but since there's no place to go...let it snow, let it snow let it snow (in the areas of the world where it can!) Ha!

Happy Holidays from Trinidad! We are usually very low key around this time of year, and this year, we've done things very simply and we are loving it! Here is how we did the presents this year: Mom made Dad's gift, Dad, Emily's, Emily, mine and on down the line to Silas making Mom's! It was so much fun! All the little secrets and don't looks and please go to the other part of the house and don't look in that one closet! :)

We brought one of our outside plants in and decorated it just a little...it was cute and nice, even if it was a little pathetic! Hehe...I love my family, it's not about things being perfect, it's about being close and making do. :)

We're making a yummy dinner this afternoon: we found a turkey so we are having a turkey and dressing dinner! :)

Merry Christmas, friends! Have a wonderful day and enjoy your time with your family. :)

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!!

Just a little sewing project!

We have been looking for some good kitchen towels and have yet to find any! So Mom found some good bathroom towels in some bright cheery colours and I turned them into tea towels! It was very easy! Here is what I did...

Full size towels, neatly folded, awaiting their transformation!!

Cut in half, right down the middle....I did short ways first.

Next, cut in half again, long ways, so to speak.

Like this.

(Can you believe I took the picture and acted like I was cutting all at the same time?!)

That's the size of the towel, ready for the sewing machine! You see, you only have to sew two sides this way; one end and one side! =)

Because terry cloth is so fuzzy and the size of towel on the small size, I zig-zagged the edges.

Next, I ironed over about 1/4 an inch and pinned it. With the others, I just turned it over as I went, but it may be easier to iron and pin, just depends on how you want it.

Sew hem the hem right along the edge of your zig stitch.

Tada! Finished dish towel!

Now we have 12 handy and colourful tea towels!! Very easy and very economical! :)

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I love sewing! It was a real treat to do these! Even if there were a couple snickers coming my way as I struggled with my camera!! Let me know if you have any questions, or comments!

A little Tennyson..

Flower in the crannied wall,

I pluck you out of the crannies,

I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,

Little flower -but if I could understand

What you are, root and all, and all in all,

I should know what God and man is.

I saw this little plant growing in the corner of the beam under the back stairs. And I immediately thought of this poem. Now, I don't profess to know all about this poem, but it just struck me- how often do you see a little plant, growing in such an odd place? It was blooming yesterday. . . blooming under the stairs, in a little tiny corner. This is something I've been thinking about- being happy, content, productive and beautiful, no matter where you are. I may write more about it later...but for now, that flower makes me think.