We've made it! We're here! We still don't have internet or home phone...hopefully that will happen soon! (I'm soooo ready to keep in touch with my family again!) Patrick dropped off me and the kids at Mariane's (his aunt) while he went to get the car inspected. (Yay! It finally arrived today!)
But, I think I should rewind to last Tuesday, May 3rd.
It was hard to say good-bye to my sweet family. We all woke up at 4 am to be ready to leave by 5am. My Dad was up, (Of course, he's always up way before the sun!) and said good-bye to me at home. I miss my Dad already. :o( Then, me, my girls, Silas, my Mom, three sisters, and four of my nieces piled into the Edman's Van. Thank you to the Edmans! We finally managed to fit everyone and everything in the van and headed out to drive to the Miami airport. It was actually a very nice ride over. I was worried it would be hard for me the whole way over, but we talked and laughed and just enjoyed a great trip together. I love my family! Then, came the time to part. Of course, I boo-hooed with my nieces (they're going to grow up way to much without me!) then I boo-hooed even more with my 3 sisters (they're the best) then, it was time to say good-bye to my Mom. I always cry the worst with her. But, it was actually amazing. She'd been talking with our missionary to Honduras, Lois Howells' Mom. Lois's Mom has been such a blessing to my Mom. She said it's going to be hard, but God will give you peace. And it's so true! It was hard to say good-bye to Mom, but God does give peace. And she was trying so hard to be strong for me.
Then, the girls, Silas and I made our way through security and back to our gate. We were so excited! We tried our hardest to find some mini reeses cups that Beth wanted, but there weren't any to be found! Instead, we ordered a few slices of pizza for the plane, and some coke of course! (The coke that Silas spilled right before time to get on the plane, then, he got on his hands and knees and tried to lap it up like a dog! Talk about embarrassing!) Then, we boarded the plane. We kept heading further and further back to the very last row of the plane! Wow! I've never sat in the back. I turned around and glanced to see if the girls were behind me. Brenna was carrying Silas's carseat and was hitting every shoulder along the way! It was sort of funny, but I guess not very funny to each and every passenger being hit!
It was a good flight to St. Martin. Callie fussed a little then her and Silas took a nap. I was able to witness to a sweet lady next to me... Ms. Charlene. She listened to the whole plan of salvation and I was able to share so much her. She said she's really going to take time to think on this. She was coming on this vacation for that exact purpose, for some answers! Please pray for her!
It was interesting trying to go through customs and get all of our baggage. (4 large duffels, 3 backpacks, 2 strollers, 2 babies, and 2 carseats...all of this for 3 of us to carry! interesting to say the least) Once we finally arrived at our gate we learned out flight "no longer existed" (the words of the Winair employee) So, we waited an extra hour, took the bus to the runway, and boarded the teeny, hot plane. It was a little scary, and I think I'm more of a ferry-type girl, now! It was funny, though, Once we got in the air, I said, "Brenna, look that's St. Barths!" She had a very scary look on her face! Then, I realized she wasn't looking at St. Barths, but a small deserted island, that's more just like a big rock sticking out of the ocean. When, I showed her where St. Barths really is, she calmed down a little. She said, "I know it's small, but that really scared me!" We landed, with a little sweat on our brow. It was good to see my Josh and Patrick. I'd missed them so much! They were so proud to show us our home, and our island. But, I'll post more on all of that later.
Thank you for all of your prayers! Please keep praying for us! Hopefully we'll have internet soon....
Another thing we didn't realize that they have here are wells. And we have one on our property! It's not a freshwater well, it's more brackish water. The landlord said we can water the plants with it. (We live off of rainwater here, so water is very precious!) So, one day we decided we HAD TO cool off! So, we went out for a little time to play in the water from our well. We turned on the hose. Hosed each other off. Let Silas and Callie play in their tub. And we had a wonderful afternoon! Ahhh, relief!
I love this picture of our yard. I know it looks like we've left poor Callie out in the middle of nowhere. Where did everyone go!? She definitely was not ready to come in!
So, the mosquitos and the heat...two pretty tough things. But, everything else is going great and we are settling in quickly. The Lord is blessing and working and giving us oppurtunities to serve. We really do love the place that God has called us to and are so excited to see Him work! What a mighty God we serve!
