One Heart: Officially here! Yay!!!

We are officially in Jamaica!!!!! Woo hoo! Praise the Lord! :) Our flights went smoothly yesterday, we made it through customs at the Jamaican airport(which was a little intimidating) and we arrived here at Top Hill! It was a long day yesterday but it feels so good to be here! I will share about our car ride from the air port to Top Hill and also share about what we have been up to today! It stills feels so unreal and crazy but we are SO excited! OK, so yesterday after we picked up our luggage at the air port we were picked up by Gloria and Galen. They have been coming to Jamaica ever since they got married and are very connected, loved and respected in the community here. They know Jamaica and are guiding us along as we learn how to live in a new culture! The drive from the airport was about two and a half hours maybe a little longer and it was bumpy! There are tons of pot holes and everyone drives a little crazy! We learned that beeping is the way to communicate with other drivers which is funny because where we live its considered rude. We met our first friend and his name is Omar. He graduated from Maranatha and now works there. He is deaf and was teaching us sign language during our long car ride! It was awesome and we feel even more confident that we will be able to learn it! We are very thankful that he was along to teach us! The island is absolutely beautiful and we quickly learned this as we drove across it to get to Top Hill. We drove through lots of small towns and there were LOTS of little stands alongside the rode selling fruits, vegetables, sodas and many other things. As we drove along one minute we would be seeing huge, beautiful homes and then the next would be areas of poverty. The dynamics changed so quickly. We made a quick stop at a beach along the way and the beaches here beat ALL the beaches back home! They are breathtaking. God creates such beautiful things! When we finally arrived at the school the kids were so excited and greeted us with big smiles and waves! They are all so cute! We got settled into our house and have seen some lizards, lots of ants and some other creepy crawlies! I think we are adjusting pretty well to the heat and I am realizing that I will always be sweating! Even though it is hot I am learning to appreciate no air conditioning, and I like it! We can feel the breeze from the ocean which is so refreshing when it blows through the windows, and I am very thankful for that! God is good, all the time. :)

Today began a whole new adventure! When I woke up I still felt like I was just in a dream! I felt nervous and afraid for some reason. I was reading in Matthew about the birth of Jesus and just feeling so thankful for him and his love for us and that he is walking with us each step of the way! Our confidence is in him. The sun rises at about 5:30 A.M. and so does everyone else! It was so beautiful to wake up to the sun coming through the windows and the sounds of the children outside. We hear someone playing the harmonica and we just had to smile. We began the day by joining all the children and teachers for chapel. We got to meet the other teachers who are all so sweet and so kind and got to meet the students who were also very sweet! I spent the day with Gloria doing things at the house like dishes and learning how to use the washer correctly to save water while also playing with the children, learning their names and building relationships with the other teachers. Caleb is already being put to work and says, "It was good to get up and have something to do again!" Haha, this man loves to work! We both agree that we feel an overwhelming peace and we can feel God all around us. He truly takes care of us. Tonight we traveled with Precious who is the principal at the school. We tried our first patties which were amazing. Patties are like a hamburger that is ground up and wrapped in a flaky pastry. We also ate dinner with Precious family and met "Nurse". Nurse who's name is Karen is a missionary who was called by God to move here and serve here for life! She is the sweetest lady! She manages an Eye Care office and she nurtures children who live on the mountain with her, gives them work to help them raise money for school, loves them dearly and teaches them about God. We were so blessed by her and her story! So many things happened today so I hope you can get a feel and picture of our journey so far! Pray for us as we continue to learn sign language and that our minds would be opened to learn it! Also pray that we can love these children and teachers and show them God's love! :)