A long, overdue post.....

Yes, it is now December…and this post is long overdue. In September Anna and Nathan started the local preaching school. Nathan is now out of high school (my sweet little brother all grown up?) and he has always wanted to go through a preaching school. Anna likewise has always wanted to do something like this and so they set off on this journey together. But to add to that, Lydia and I are going as part time students, where we take classes as we want and the topics we are interested in. Needless to say our schedules got really busy…but…that is only the beginning! One the second day of school, Mom left to go the States for a few weeks to be with Wade and Leah for the birth their first child. Isaiah was born the day after Mom left here…but she made it just fine! Her time was spent being with them and then helping them move. She got home the middle of Oct. During that time we spent 5 days a week going to classes and doing homework…and keeping house while Mom was gone. We all are enjoying the classes so much! We have enjoyed getting to know the first year class as well as continuing a good friendship with the second year class. It is so good to be digging into the Bible and finding and applying the truths that are in it. It’s amazing to me that the words of the Bible never change but we don’t always notice every detail when we read it once. This only shows that one must be constant in the word to get the most out of it! We must be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11)!

In November, we marked our one year in Trinidad. So much could be said because so much has been learned. Here are some random things that I have learned while living here:

The joy of sharing my lunch at school

Smiling IS important

Measure your words…they will be remembered by someone

Someone is always watching you

Visiting those sick or in the hospital is worth the time

Attitude makes a day what it is…good or bad

If you are not flexible…you will break

Stress only makes a mess

Learning new games (all-fours is my newest favorite game!)

Having late night limes are worth losing sleep for

Life is short

Making people laugh…will result in a good laugh yourself

Because of our busy schedule, we decided to not have Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day. We postponed until the 3^rd of December. It was totally worth the wait…because we were able to have a very like-minded family join us for our traditional thanksgiving. We had our normal spread of turkey, dressing, cranberry salad, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, 5 cup salad, sweet (and unsweet) tea, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and banana pudding. Our Trini friends had never had an American thanksgiving before and we enjoyed sharing with them. The afternoon was spent working puzzles, playing cards, learning new games, laughing a lot and loving the time with faithful Christians. I love my family….American and Trinidadian. I am so thankful that God saw fit to bless me with this kind of family…that you can find in many places in the world.

And now December…well the rest of it that is. December is a short month in the school with the classes being 2 ½ weeks instead of 4. On the last day of class, which was the last final for this year (yay!) we had a lime by us (a lime is like hanging out) for all the students, the teachers and the dorm mother. We had 47 people here in our house for a meal…including the 9 of us! We had chairs and tables everywhere…and it was lovely to hear our house full of laughter and see the smiles! We cooked, learned how to make sorrel (a drink), ate, laughed, played games, laughed, played music, laughed, played football, laughed, played with the kids, laughed, ate 200 cookies, laughed, played more games, laughed, and went to bed at 1:45 AM! Needless to say, it was a fun filled afternoon…evening…and night of great fellowship…and did I mention we laughed a lot? If laughter is a medicine…we all got a HUGE dose last night!

To wrap this up, I can happily say that the last 3+ months have been great! Yes, busy and stressful at times…but it is part of the growing process. I have learned so much, been given so much to be thankful for that it’s hard to count. But above all, I am thankful for our God, Who has made all this possible through the wonderful blessings that he gives us EVERY day, ones we don’t even stop and thank Him for.

Thank God DAILY, spend TIME with family, don’t take your BLESSINGS for granted and enjoy life DAILY!

Oh…and DON’T forget to SMILE!!!