🌴 Island Time

 

Hello to all!

It really takes some discipline to settle into this chair and put the things we want to share with you into an update. There are the inviting distractions of the island calling. “Yoohoo! Come out and see what I have for you today.” Come visit. Come walk. Come share. Come out. It’s Island time. But we are at the halfway time of our season. It’s time to reflect on what we’ve seen and done and share a bit with you. So, sit down – feet up – it’s island time.

Over the past two weeks we have been excited to see the parade of kids as they wind their way to and from school. A few of these kids are ours – kids we’ve been given to encourage and cheer on. We were able to help 10 public school kids with backpacks (don’t try to go to school until you have a backpack – it can be empty, but there must be a backpack!), uniforms, shoes, and other supplies. It is quite a party with back-to-school shopping since no one really does it before the last week. Families scramble to get what is needed.

We were able to connect 9 other kids with sponsors so that they can atend private school. These kids have been registered, had tuition, uniforms and other needs paid for and are off to a good start for the school year.  We are always amazed to see the progress these kids make.

I think because we know we are here in Roatan for a longer time, we are not feeling rushed with our visiting. We have connected with many – those we always want and need to visit, as well as those we haven’t recently had time to visit. Our little condo unit is one of 10 units. Frequently in the mid-afternoon, we meet others at the gathering place – the pool. We have had time to join for celebrations – Laura celebrated her birthday; Mason and Jeanie celebrated their 25^th anniversary. Long time friend, Peggy has recently retired (sort of…) and we have been able to visit back and forth with her. We have had the opportunity to attend three churches so far. Each connection is a time to provide mutual encouragement.  Each opportunity is a special gift.

The weather here has been cooler than usual. We know that soon we will wish for this kind of cool again. Rainy season is ending. We had some shaking a few weeks ago. There was a strange “crack” followed by a rumbling noise and about 10 seconds of shaking. By the numbers it was a 4.8 shaker.

We wanted to share a story of how we have seen God moving in His people. One special story is Laura’s story. Laura and Chris could tell you of many ways God has blessed them since they have become Christians. Recently, Laura felt she had been specially blessed and in turn wanted to share with her neighbours. Laura’s business is a second-hand clothing shop. Two new shipments of clothing arrived at her shop, but she had nowhere to hang the new items. Laura’s solution? - bless others by giving away items that had been in her shop for a time. Laura asked me to invite friends to join her neighbour friends so that many could receive. What a day! Women came and shopped choosing things for their families without the worrying about the cost. Bags were filled and carried away by happy shoppers. Blessed to bless. I love how this is!

Lately we have been going our separate ways during the day. Larry has spent time with Elias in his role as car/van consultant. Sometimes Elias calls and asks Larry why his car is making this mystery noise – and he puts the car on the phone.  I have had an opportunity to assist in the kindergarten class at the Adventist school. Since they have had more students enroll this year, some class reorganizations were made with the result that there was no K teacher. We discovered that the director herself was wrangling the 23 students, so I offered to be an extra set of hands. Like riding a bike, right??? The extra challenge in this is that only 3 of the students understand English. (Well, actually – the extra challenge in this is that it seems children are much shorter than they used to be.)

The last story I want to share with you involves a recent visit to see Ashley and her boys. After a bit of back-to-school shopping, we went to her house. As we were talking, my eyes landed on an Operation Christmas Child box. Soon all three boys pulled out a box and were bouncing on their bed with excitement as they showed me their treasures. Ashley showed me the home book and Bible that had been given to the kids at the church when the boxes were distributed. In turn, I opened my phone and showed the pictures from our home church during shoebox packing. Each of us were bound together by this full circle event. How good is God to give us these special moments!

In your prayer time we ask you to remember us. Our prayer requests:

1.      For safety as we are out and about. The never-ending road construction continues. Many drivers are impatient, so traffic is hazardous. Pray that we are attentive as we are out walking.

2.      Pray for the students as they begin their school year. Pray for their teachers as well.

3.      Pray for opportunities to share God’s light and be light to those in need. 

There are days we do nothing! Is that a terrible confession? Blustery, storm days are good to stay home and catch up with our own activities. Bright, sunshine days call us to spend time at the beach or exploring as tourists. And, when we start feeling like getting our hustle on, it is good to remind ourselves – slow down.  After all, we are on island time!