Saying Goodbye

Well, it's about that time. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says: "There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven." This has been and will be particularly applicable to our lives this month. God has made a special time for everything, and our time down here is almost over. We are saying goodbye to many of our friends, which is very hard, since they have been our family down here. Everybody who comes to live down here leaves all family behind, so your friends become your new family. You spend a lot of time together and learn so much about each other.

We said goodbye to a couple last weekend, Barend and Annami, that were the mature, wise, God-centered couple that you could go to for prayer, guidance, advice, or help of any kind. I worked with both of them at school, and will greatly miss our conversations, as they had a way of turning any moment into a laughable one. They are off to Panang, in Malaysia, to work at a Christian boarding school.

On Monday, we will say goodbye to a great couple, Richard and Tamryn, who have been the "opposite" couple; he is very outgoing, sporty, and adventurous. She is shy, sweet, caring, gentle, and loving (basically what you think of when you think of a great Christian woman), but they have something great in common; they are both fiercely devoted to God. She is also pregnant, so there is added sadness at the thought that we will not see their up-coming baby. They are off, back home to South Africa, where she can become the amazing mother we all know she will be, and he will be a sports coach (mostly tennis, although he excels at others, such as golf), which is a huge passion and gift for him.

We say goodbye to another wonderful couple on Wednesday, Alan and Cristal. They are going away for the next few months, but will be returning to the Cayman Islands. However, we must say goodbye to them now, as we will be gone by the time they come back. They are the cuddle couple, who love to spend almost all their time together. They are kind, considerate, and accommodating. They are also great listeners, which is a rare gift to have, and are always there when you need someone to talk to. I worked with Cristal at school and Kelly worked with Alan. In fact, Cristal and I worked right across the hall from each other, so we were able to see each other a lot, or on busy days we at least got to pop in and say hi. That will be a hard thing to get used to next year.

Our friend, Marius, will also be staying in Cayman. He is our super runner of the group, participating in all the runs on the island, where he always manages to win first place. We see him running or biking on the side of the road more often than we see him hanging out for the weekend. He is also an avid cliff jumper, loving to jump off one of the highest points of the island (30 - 40 feet), climb back up, and do it again. He has a straightforward personality, and will tell it like it is. You never have to guess what he is thinking, because he will tell you. Good to have around! He is also from South Africa, and we will miss his health centered (except for the binges where he eats a whole bag of family size Cheetos by himself) outlook on life.


And we will say goodbye to Josh and Rebecca last, at the end of the month. They, too, will be staying on Cayman. They are an energetic, outgoing couple who also happen to be having a baby in November. They are our "double couple." Kelly and Josh have very similar personalities, and Rebecca and I have very similar personalities. It is so fun to listen to Rebecca tell me a story about Josh (how he hates any leftover condiment, like dressing, not eaten off a plate), and it is exactly the same as something Kelly has done (why did you take more ketchup than you needed?). We have quite the good laugh over these though. And the boys have similar tales to tell about us. Like the way we always forget something in the house (I forgot my sweater, wait just a second!) or do silly, inefficient things (having to backtrack when shopping, or waiting until getting to the front door before getting our keys out of our purses). I'm sure a lot of husbands and wives can relate to these kinds of things.


So this month is a month for goodbyes. We just hope that we will all be able to stay in touch over the next few years, and hopefully see each other again sometime in our lives. But as this season is growing to a close, a new season is beginning. We will be starting new jobs in a big new city, looking for new places to live, new vehicles, starting new friendships, and finding a new church to call home. And most importantly, we will be closer to our families, which will be another good change. We just need to remember to trust God for our growing list of needs in the next month. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." says Proverbs 3:5. A lot of things will be changing, and we need to make sure to trust in God's plan for us, and not on what we understand to be the best things for us. Your prayers would be appreciated as we start this new journey in our lives! Blessings!

Learning to Laugh

These last few weeks have been a blur of activity! School is winding down (only 6 days left!) and we had two graduation ceremonies for our graduating class of 40 (the largest the school has ever seen). We had a Baccalaureate (good-bye from the church) and a Graduation ceremony two nights in a row, not to mention I was sick during one of them, which made the 2 hour and 45 minute ceremony almost unbearable. But they went really well, and now the school is turning its eyes towards finding new students and new staff for the next year. The school desperately needs high school math and biology teachers, so if you know any Christian teachers that match the description, let them know the Cayman Islands might be the place for them to move next!

I've also been busy organizing a surprise baby shower for one of our pregnant friends. She isn't expecting until November, buy many of us will not be here when the baby is born, so we wanted to celebrate when we could all be together. Those of you who know me know it's hard for me to keep an exciting secret like a baby shower, but I did it! She had no idea, and was so shocked when she walked in to my house, expecting to come work out, and here there are a bunch of people, gifts, and decorations waiting for her. She had to wear an adult diaper and a soother and bottle around her neck. We also had name tags for everyone, and she was 'nipple,' so we enjoyed calling her that all afternoon. Plus, she is one of the hardest people I know to embarrass, but her face was definitely red while she was climbing into her huge diaper! We played some fun games like Baby Food Testing (you have to try different kinds of baby food and guess what they are), Dough-tionary (like pictionary but instead of drawing you make it out of play-doh), and Diaper Food Testing (edible food put into a diaper, and you need to taste it and guess what it is), and trust me, eating melted chocolate out of a diaper definitely warps you mind as to what you are eating! Also, try eating oatmeal, mustard, mushed carrots, crushed beans, and strawberry yogurt out of a diaper! It was very fun, and thank goodness I didn't have to do any of it!

Living down here and hanging out with our great friends has taught me a valuable lesson - laugh at yourself every chance you get. I used to sometimes get upset or really embarrassed when people would point out or laugh at the MANY stupid things I did, but since living here and having such good friends, I've been able to put aside my ego and laugh at the dumb things I do (which happen to be very numerous). For example, running through a parking lot at night and tripping over a speed-bump, which skinned my shoulder and gouged my toe open, had me laughing so hard I had tears coming out of my eyes. Not to mention my friend had, just two nights earlier, stepped onto a moving treadmill and skinned her shoulder in the exact same spot as me. We had a great laugh looking at our matching patches of missing skin. So learn to laugh at yourself every chance you get and not take things so seriously - your life will be much happier!