Where is the world is....our mail?

Where does it actually go?...I mean, we just received a Christmas card today (Feb 22)....where did our Christmas card get to travel to on route to our home here on St. Barths?

We have learned that our mail gets to travel to exotic & far-away places that we can only dream of visiting one day.

Our Christmas card that arrived today came stamped with a message on the front of the envelope to us that read, "Missent to Jamaica."   What sights do you think our Christmas card got to experience in Jamaica?  Did our card get to experience some of the Jamaican cuisine that our family loves?  Think about it, maybe the mailman in Jamaica had just eaten some Jerk Chicken and his greasy fingers smudged our card...did not our card get to "taste" it?...Maybe a taste of Jamaican Patties or Pidgeon Peas & Rice.

Our other mail have taken trips from places in India (did I smell a hint of curry on this letter?) to Australia.  One piece of mail even took 1 year to get here!...I can only imagine what far-away places & foreign foods that letter got to experience!

Tropical Updates...

We have been enjoying the outside temperatures very much!  It has been a consistent 82 degrees and breezy for the past couple of months and we can actually go outside and not sweat profusely!  

One afternoon this past week, we went outside to let the children play in the yard and to just enjoy some time in the afternoon together.  We have two chairs with cushions outside and Brenna lifted up the back cushion which had fallen over and then tried to sit down....then we heard her scream!

(She almost sat on this little guy!..okay, maybe not so little.)

(I do have to admit, it would have been kinda funny if she had sat on this soldier crab!)

(Micah turned 10-months old on the 11th.   He is growing so quickly and took his first step all by himself this past Sunday...why do we celebrate so much when they begin to walk?...it only means that they can no get into stuff they couldn't get into before!...he has now figured out how to open cabinet doors and that there are new treasures inside each door!)

Being that Spring is starting to bloom here, the girls and I are starting to really suffer from our allergies.   We are now living off of allergy medicines and there is a lot of sneezing, watery eyes, sniffling and coughing going on right now.  Today we are going to leave our windows closed and the bedroom A/C on so that we can try to get some relief from our allergies.

Kami's file, with the government here, is officially "closed"!  This is the file that caused us to pay so many taxes and trips to St. Martin for government classes that Kami needed to complete to be able to get her long-term VISA.  Now that her file is officially "closed", we are now just waiting for her VISA to be made and for a phone call telling us that we can come and pick it up!  Praise the Lord!

Please keep praying for our family and for lost souls here on St. Barths to come to know Jesus Christ as Saviour!  Until next time...

Our "Spiritual" Conversation w/ a 4-Year Old...

This evening, Silas and I were sitting at the kitchen table (Kami was in the kitchen) and our conversation turned to a teaching moment about Heaven & Hell.  We were discussing what is a sin and some things about the Devil. Then Kami made a statement from the kitchen and this conversation commenced:

(After talking about sin and the devil...)
Kami: The devil is one who is not going to Heaven...but Daddy and I are going to Heaven...
Silas: I'm going to miss both of you...
(At this point, Kami & I are giving each other the "where did that come from look"...and Josh is laughing of course...)
Kami: Why are you going to miss us?  Where are you going when you die?
Silas: Hell...
(Now I'm thinking..."Oh no!  We are raising a heathen!")
Kami: But hell is an awful place that is full of fire...you will cry forever.
Silas: Fire?  Yes, but when I will cry I will get a band-aid.
Me: No, there are no band-aids in hell.  (My way of trying to convince him that hell is really awful because there are no band-aids there!)
Kami: But in hell, you will be lost forever, you will never see Mommy & Daddy again.
Silas: Yes, but they will find me and take me to a policeman.  Then I will find you.
Kami: But it doesn't work like that.  You have to have Jesus in your heart to go to Heaven.  
Silas: But I just want to stay here at Daddy's house and live with you and Daddy. Can't we just stay here together?
"...yes Silas, that sounds great...we love being with you so much!"

Don't you just love the philosophy of a 4-year old?

A Praise & A Need...

I love progress...seeing a job come to fruition...especially when you can physically "see" the job coming together.

That's why I have always loved construction...siding a house is wonderful as you see the house slowing being enveloped in siding and getting a glimpse of what the final product will be.  The same thing with installing flooring...stepping back and looking at the job and getting excited about the finished product.

We have been distributing door-hanging bags that include a French Gospel Tract, French John & Romans, and a French invitation to our Bible study into mail boxes around the island.  As we come home, I sit down and mark a map in black as to where we have completed distributing and what total number of bags have been.

(It is always fun to step back and see the progress and get a glimpse of what the finished product will be!  We look forward to the day when the whole map is colored in black!)

However, we have a major need...for you see, we are almost out of Door-hanging bags, French Gospel Tracts, French John & Romans, and our French Invitations.  

We probably have enough to finish another 100 mailboxes and then we will be out of supplies.  But to be able to finish our "project", we will be needing enough supplies for another 1,500 homes.

Please pray along with us that the Lord will provide the funds to purchase these much needed supplies to be able to further the Gospel to every home here on St. Barths.