One Heart: 2014

We can't believe Christmas is almost here! The past weeks have been crazy for us! We had lots of exciting events and some special visitors too! I will fill you in!
Our first visitor who came to deliver Christmas gifts to the students here at Maranatha and visit cherished friends here in Jamaica was Rodney Knepp. He and his family served here at Maranatha for 3 years. It was great for us to spend time with Rodney, hear his wisdom and hear about their journey here in Jamaica. We were really blessed by his time here and are thankful for our friendship with him and his family. It was so nice to have someone to relate with and be real with knowing that they understand. We are very thankful for the time he was here.
About a week and a half ago we got to experience Maranatha's Christmas program. It was a very special time. The kids and teachers decorated our eating area and we even had a tree! The teachers and a few parents prepared all the food for our lunch and we all fellowshipped together and listened to Christmas music. It was neat to see the kids with their parents and meet their families. After lunch we had a small program where each class presented something that they put together. The kids and teachers all did so great! After they all presented it came to the time all the children were waiting for.......gift time! We watched them open there gifts and saw big, happy smiles everywhere! It was a special time and made us feel the Christmas spirit!
This brings us to Saturday (of last week). Caleb and Brenton drove Rodney to the airport so he could fly home and Caleb's parents arrived. It was a crazy, busy week but we were glad that they got a taste of what life is like here in Jamaica for us. We took them to the beach, to the grocery store, Junction, to visit our friends in Ridge and introduced them to some Jamaican foods. They had a great time getting to know our good friend Brenton and got to visit Brenton's families home. Brenton's family is so warm and welcoming and showed Caleb's parents their farm and all the plants they have growing! Let me tell you, they have a LOT of plants growing and work very hard! After the visit Brenton cooked some Pop-Chow for us and Caleb did some Jamaican fried chicken! We also had some fresh mangos that we picked from some trees near us and Caleb's mother Shirley made some mashed potatoes. Caleb's parents loved the meal and fellowship with Brenton. It was a great week of being together and we enjoyed the time we had with Jon and Shirley!
After all this craziness me and Caleb are thankful for this time to slow down and enjoy Christmas in Jamaica. Right now we are on Christmas break from school and it feels very nice to have some time off to reflect on life here so far and our journey. Christmas is so different here! We see a few Christmas lights around but nothing like back home! It's also HOT here and me and Caleb have been reflecting on how the cold gets you in the Christmas spirit and how its hard to feel that because its so hot here! We have seen a few Christmas trees on top of stores or on peoples porches, but very few. It's a whole different feeling here! We have been singing lots of Christmas hymns at church and that has been really great for us. We also play Christmas music any chance we get at our own home! One thing I have been realizing is that for us there aren't as many distractions here during Christmas that blind us to the real reason of Christmas, Jesus. It can be so easy to lose sight of celebrating Jesus when there are so many things that distract us. We both have been feeling this deep thankfulness for Jesus and excited to celebrate his birth together! Our plans for Christmas eve are to go into Junction for Grand Market and see what it's like. Everyone is talking about Grand Market and we want to see what it is! We heard that it's music, and eating, and lots of shopping! People dress up and they look NICE! So we will see. Our plans for Christmas day are facetiming with our families, having lunch with a family in Ridge and having some of our friends from Ridge over for dinner and games! We are excited for this time to celebrate with our family here.
A verse that I have really been feeling is a picture of our life here is Matthew 5:14, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." We both feel that living on this house on top of this hill we are a beacon for Jesus. We feel our house is a place of refuge for people where they can just come. We definitely feel that even though our journey has been full of wonderful times and really hard, challenging times, our light for Jesus will never burn out. We want people to see our passion and love for Jesus and we want that to shine above anything else. He is our everything and we hope to become more like him each day.

Here are some pictures!! They are not quite in order! Enjoy!

Brenton cooking some fried chicken!

Caleb peeling some mangos!

Christmas cake that one of the kid's mom made for the program!

Cavel enjoying some ice cream!

These guys!

Fried chicken

Mangos!

Chicken frying!

Pop- Chow!

A great night of bible study and card playing!

Me and Caleb and Patty hiking Lover's Leap!

We could see a storm in the distance.

We made it to the bottom!

What an amazing view!

Patty!!!

The waves always amaze me! Right where they are crashing is a cliff and I know they don't look to big in the picture but they are massive waves!! I love just standing in the water as close as I can get and watching them! A few times I almost got knocked over by them rolling in!