Pulling it together

We had a fabulous time celebrating our anniversary! What a great gift marriage is when God is in the middle of it! Snowshoeing was amazing - we lost the trail twice! Once for a couple of hours and the other time for about an hour. What a trip to see our hiking poles sink into a yard of snow and to be (mostly) standing on top of it in snowshoes while walking along a ridge. Wednesday afternoon it was snowing hard and we enjoyed the comraderie of fellow showshoers and cross-country skiers on the trails as snow melted on our faces and clung to our eyelashes and eyebrows! We love the snow and it was great to have a chance to play in it! We arrived home physically exhausted from the workout but more emotionally and mentally rested :). See photos below!




We must be honest that we are scrambling a bit to get ready for Jamaica...

Last night we had the team over and spent an extended time in prayer for eachother and the upcoming fieldwork, ate enchiladas and beans, played a game, and watching Cool Runnings, the old Disney movie about the Jamaican Bobsled team. It was fun to think about Jamaica and get ready for it a bit, mentally. We haven't found ourselves falling in love with the Caribbean culture as a whole (blame it on the heat and humidity, probably) but we also find people along the way that encourage us and who we can encourage too! We've yet to be on a trip that wasn't worth the time and effort put into it, and we doubt this one will be any different!

We would appreciate your thoughts and prayers, though. Jamaica (not the Jamaica you are thinking of with the all-inclusive resorts and miles of white pristine beaches but the one with abject poverty, crime, and English that is hard to understand!) is not the safest place in the world. Murder and rape crime is quite frequent, especially in the cities (where we will be going). Looking back, though, we know God's been protecting us as we go through strange lands and unknown dangers. We trust it will be the same this time, but please join us in praying that we will not be paranoid (God has not given us a spirit of fear) but that we will act in wisdom and discernment (but of power, of love, and a sound mind).

Christie, our new intern, has been doing a great job pulling together the background research and setting up contacts in Jamaica. We are glad to work with her and have her on our team. Please be thinking of her as she experiences her first survey - it's always the most stressful with all the unknowns of the first time! Pray too that we'll be communicating well as a team each step of the way, and that Jason and I will balance time together with working together as a team of 3!