grensave food festival and other notes.

I'm sorry that it seems as if I can only write blog posts on the weekends...but currently, that seems to be the trend.  It's probably a good thing too, since I feel as if I am running out of new things to say.

This weekend, the organization that Marieke volunteers with [Grensave] hosted its annual International Food Festival.  I was recruited [along with other friends] to take photos, work the US table, and be there for any extra help needed.  It was a lot of fun, but it was also a looonnng day and I was so happy to sit down at the end of it.  The brain child behind our table decor was Becca, and another SO named Scott was the point man for recruiting the baked goods for the table.  I just made some brownies [Grenadians LOVE brownies, by the way!] and helped sell the goods from 12-5:30pm or so.  

The event covered three areas: an outdoor pavilion, and two large convention center-like rooms.  One room had the "opening ceremonies," some dancing, the Children's Village and arts and crafts for sale.

The outdoor pavilion had a bunch of different food vendors from places including: India, Grenada, Trinidad, Belize, and many others that I have now forgotten....meanwhile, China, Brazil, South Korea, the US and some others had the only air conditioned building for our tables :)  The Lord knew we would need it ;)

It was a huge event, and I took a bunch of pictures, but since I don't have my camera handy at the moment, I am posting some pictures one of our friends took and I will post mine later.

The main crew [minus Becca, who had left at this point], from L to R: Jon [a Peace Corp member], Natalie, Marieke, me, Scott.  

Scott and I suffer from the same photo-face malfunction disease...or we're both just hams...whatever.  By the way...this table had been FULL before...this was at the very end, when all of us just wanted to get home :)  But you can also still see some of Becca's awesome decorations!

 This was my Miss America pose.   I had to represent our culture, you know??

They thought we were crazy ;)

Our table was able to raise a little over $660EC for Grensave! It was a lot of fun to hang out with friends and support a great local organization that works for clean water and bath house projects, builds preschools, and organizes and sponsors after-school programs and camps for children and youth around Grenada.  

In other news, I had to go to the doctor on Friday to have some blood work done because the topical cream that they gave me to "cure" my fungus backfired and made it worse.  They then said that I would definitely need an oral medication, but needed to check to make sure my liver functions well enough to handle it - sounds great, right?  Well, of course my blood work was a bummer, as it always is [I cried...a little, but still...stupid natural reaction] ...but I was also given some advice from a local to try one more cream before I decided to take the oral med [which sounds scary anyway, if they needed blood work] so I took the advice [couldn't hurt, right? and this was a local lady who said she had often had this issue/used this cream] and bought the cream.  Within one day, my arms started to clear up and stop itching quite so much.  Three days in: significantly better, diminished, and significantly less itchy.  PRAISE THE LORD!!! Hopefully this means that I can avoid the scary oral pill, and keep this cream in mind for the future.  I'm just praying that this is the end of this FOR GOOD!

We are still feeling quite starved spiritually here - especially J, who doesn't have the same amounts of time that I have to read/listen to additional sermons/study, etc.  Please be praying for him, but it is a constant reminder of our desire/need for refreshment this summer, and we are so ready for it!

Midterm studying is in full-swing, which means J doesn't get home from school until about 11pm every night.  Please be praying for him [and us] in all these things, but mostly that we will keep our eyes fixed on the Lord and the glory of the gospel [although the Lord is pleased to hear all things...we just know He is so much more abundant in grace than simply answering the "please help me pass this test" prayers - and for THAT we are eternally thankful, and desire to know Him more fully! :) ]

I can say without shame that there have been many tears shed as I think of all the blessings we have in you, our friends and family, and the blessings of "home" that far surpass Target, Starbucks, and all the conveniences we can miss here on the island [I'm kidding a little about missing all those things, but you know what I mean ;) ] and we can't wait to be back face-to-face with all of you!!!!  

Much love from Grenada.

just thought i'd share...

One of our friends posted some pictures from Phil's birthday dinner before I got there, but I wanted to share this one because I thought it was a really cute picture of J :)  Don't tell him I called it "cute" ;)

Here it is:

Be praying for him!  He is feeling slightly overwhelmed right now, but wants to be fighting anxiety.

Much love to all!  9 weeks til I am HOME! :):):)

honors night.

Here are some pictures from Saturday night taken by the new found friends at our table :)

Our view :)

Chattin' while we wait for the ceremony and food :)  I look bored, but really, it was a really fun night and I was glad to get to spend some time with my man all fancy-like :)

 Oooohh...artsy :)

Dr. Brahim giving his speech

 J receiving his certificate :)

 Yay, boo! :)

 Saying his pledge :)

Not my plate, but a sampling just the same :)

SO glad someone thought to bring their camera and not be ashamed :) Thanks, Grace!!!

valentine's date night.

So we went to Dodgy Dock last night and used our wonderful gift of a free dinner for two!  We were so ecstatic to get a night away at a restaurant we would normally never eat at on our own [except for $1 wing night, haha] since the bill ended up being over $100US!!!  It was a huge praise to the Lord and a glorious display of His infinite kindness - ALL good things come from Him! :)  The meal was wonderful, and we sat at a little table for two right on the water's edge, able to take in the steel drum/dancer/singer group that was supposed to start at 6:30pm, but finally began at 8:30pm...so we enjoyed them for about a half hour.  I'm actually glad they started late because it was more difficult to talk while they were playing [loudly].  It was really a wonderful dinner with my husband, and we loved the food.  We were able to talk about a lot of things, praise the Lord for the many kindnesses He has shown us, and get full on a very delicious meal :)  This one will go down in the books :)  Here are some pictures of the night...sorry they are a bit out of focus - I didn't want to turn on my flash because flash bleaches everything out ;)

 Some left over flowers from J's HSO Valentine's Day flower sale to benefit repainting a local elderly home.

 Our menu!!

 Mini beer stein!

 

J's starter: the fish taco :)  I started with the cream of corn soup...not as pretty, but oh-so-good!

 Guess J was in a seafood mood:  he got the Fisherman's Soup!

 Mmmm...this baked chicken was DELICIOUS!!!

 The band/dancers...slightly awkward, but talented none the less.

 My desert: Iced Black Chocolate cake with a Mini Rum Muffin - it was AMAZING!!!

 J's desert: Guava tart with Guava Ice Cream and glazed guava on the side :)  I liked mine better...

 

Happy and well fed patrons :)

What a great night :)  Much love to all.

ravioli & a milkshake date.

Currently, I am sitting and waiting for J to call in order for me to pick him up from campus so we can have our much-anticipated date night :)  I'm really excited!  

I am surprising him tonight with a ravioli dinner - they were a steal at the store, so I stocked up on three packages [unbeknownst to him] and the first package is being made for tonight :)

He finished his first two classes of his second term today, so we are having a little time to ourselves before his "real classes" begin.  It's been a great two weeks, though!  He has been home for the majority of meals [lunch AND dinner] and so it has been a great start to the term :)

Today he went cliff jumping after his final, but I opted out this time due to the fact that the SOs were having their Start of Term Sale and I wanted to sell a few things.  I only ended up selling some flash cards of J's, but that was ok with me :)  

After dinner tonight, we are going to venture down to Rick's and grab a nutmeg smoothie - a new favorite, but also something that is for "special occasions."  I'm PUMPED!  

Marieke and I went to Bel Air today and worked with our girls, and our new friend Becca will be joining us starting next week. Becca actually has her Master's in Education, so she will hopefully be able to help some sistas out ;)  Our 1 Peter Bible Study starts tomorrow, and we are kicking it off at our house - complete with cookies :)  Pray for us!

Beyond that, I am busy organizing a couple fundraisers and things have been going well so far :)  I'm looking forward to a great [albeit busy] term.

Much love from Grenada.

the 'stache.

And now, a little goofiness, courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. V.

This morning, J woke up in dire need of a haircut.  Actually, he had been asking for one for about two weeks or so, but I tend to be lazy about them, and I actually like his hair longer, but it really was getting a little too Mountain Man-y, and that combined with his No Shave November facial hair...yipes.  

Anyway, I proceeded to give him what he deemed to be "the shortest haircut of his life," which he likes, and its not so bad, I guess...plus, even if I hate it, I have no one to blame but myself.  Poor guy is outside in the heat [sometimes] so I figured the shorter I cut it, the less hot he will be...plus, it will give me more time in between cuts - ha! :)

Well, as I was finishing hanging up the second load of laundry, packing his lunch, and cleaning up from breakfast [applause, anyone??] he sauntered into the room with a goatee.  I didn't think it looked so bad, and I said he should leave it, but he looked at me like I was crazy and went away again.  Two minutes later, he comes out like this:

Wow, well hello there, Pedro!  I was cracking up and he thought it was pretty hilarous himself, but he wanted to go finish the job.  I told him he should wear it to school to show the guys...give everyone a good laugh...this was his reaction:

 Not really, but it did take about 5 minutes of me convincing him that it was funny enough to keep for a day, and reminding him that he could shave it off later for him to finally agree to do it...

And here is a prime example of the face I often get that means, "Awww, poor baby, you gonna whine/mope/complain about it?"  HAHA...it works.  And as ridiculous as he looks here, I really do hope our little ones get those big, blue eyes :)

Well, I gotta admit, this is not my husband at his finest, but it was hilarious to get on the bus with him looking like that...and to think, I used to do weird stuff on PURPOSE to get reactions from people...poor kid, he's never known how it feels...Can't wait to hear about the day later ;)

happy birthday, boo.

So today ended up much different then originally planned.  We were supposed to have one of J's friends over for dinner, but he ended up having to cancel.  I had been planning on making J's favorite dish [pot roast] for dinner on Tuesday for his birthday, but since there was an opening for tonight [a less stressful, not-in-the-middle-of-the-study-week night] I saw the happenstance as a great opportunity to try to pull off the birthday dinner instead. 

I called Marieke to see if she and Ryan would be able to join in and surprise J, and they were able, so Marieke came over earlier bringing ice cream and supplies to make a couple birthday signs :)  Ryan caught a different bus, and J came home to me "cleaning the dishes" [not unusual] and was able to walk totally surprised into a full-fledged birthday dinner - a big feat in Grenada, I think - and the Cappas popped out of another room to complete the surprise.  He was very pleased - many "Mmmm, roast is so good! Thank you!"s throughout the meal :) We all chatted for a bit, and then he and Ryan reviewed a few study things while Marieke and I cleaned dishes [again, haha].  Now the happy, well fed guy is watching his favorite football team [Steelers] for a bit.  Hooray for birthdays! Praise the LORD for my granting my handsome man life and breath and so much more, and for the simple ability to surprise him tonight :) I'll let the pictures tell the rest.

 The spread...like our 70s decor?? ;)

 The signage, courtesy of Marieke.  Check out that cake!  Guess what candles she used...?? :)

 Mmmmm...my new weekly bake of whole wheat rolls with butter - I LOVE yeast now! Haha...

 Mini avocado and cheese salad.

The roast...white wine, fresh basil and garlic, carrots, potatoes, onions and a long life in the oven make it A-MAZ-ING!

 A VERY happy almost 23-year-old :)  Clarification: "Very, very happy" - J

 Marieke with desert...

 Fresh, hot pumpkin bread with vanilla ice cream!  Also wonderful!

The men, discussing something very important, that obviously [looking at Ryan's face] had nothing to do with the taste of the food... :)

I was so excited to be able to pull this off :)  Happy Birthday, Hus! I Love You!

the meaning of marriage.

Apparently, Tim Keller is out with yet another great apologetic book...on marriage.  I haven't read it, but the reviews and interviews were compelling enough, and I wanted to quote some of them here for anyone's encouragement.

From an interview on The Gospel Coalition, John Starke interviews the Kellers:

You observed that during the Enlightenment, social attitudes began to shift: “The meaning of life came to be seen as the fruit of the freedom of the individual to choose the life that most fulfills him or her personally.” How has this affected the Western view of marriage?

The older Western view was grounded in both Catholic and Protestant views that marriage was instituted by God for the common good. It was therefore a public trust. How you conducted your marriage affected everyone. Marriage was seen as the union of a man and a woman who make a permanent and exclusive commitment of each other. It was in the public interest that marriages would last, that divorce would be rare, that adultery would be punished. But the Enlightenment view—that marriage was for the fulfillment and happiness of individuals—essentially "privatized" marriage. It gave rise to the belief that married couples should be able to define and conduct marriage in any way that they found satisfying, and that if they found their marriage unsatisfying it should be easy for them to dissolve it. 

In order to put your spouse’s happiness in front of your own, you argue that we need to have good “love economics.” What do you mean?

It’s a metaphor. Philanthropy means investing money in a charity that does not pay you any dividends—you get no profit out of it. You give money and get no money back. So economically, you can’t be philanthropic—you can’t give away a lot of money—unless you have a good income from somewhere else. 

In the same way, I argue that you can’t do a good job of loving your spouse unconditionally unless you have a strong love relationship with God through Christ. Loving your spouse unconditionally means that, for a season that may be short or long, you love your spouse when you aren’t getting much or any love in response. Your spouse may be deeply discouraged or have become ill or troubled in some way. At a time like that you must serve and love your spouse without expecting much affection, service, or love in return. That is love "philanthropy." In any long-term marriage there will be times that require this. You will be giving a lot more love than you are getting. But if your spouse is the main or only source of love in your life, it will hurt too much to love without getting any love back. You won’t be able to do it. You will just blow up and attack your spouse or look elsewhere for love. God and his love must be a spiritual reality in your life if you are going to be able to love your spouse steadily over the long haul.

What’s wrong with merely looking for compatibility in a wife or husband? 

It’s not wrong if you define compatibility first as a common commitment to Christ and similar ideas of how to live out the Christian faith and minister in the world. Second, it is right to look for many common areas of delight—including books and art, landscapes, avocations, and so on. In the book, however, I resist the idea that dominates the contemporary notion of "compatibility"—namely that if you find a compatible partner, neither of you will ask the other to change at all, that each will completely accept the other as is. If there are conflicts and fights, or if there are calls to change, many people today just walk away complaining of incompatibility. The Christian view is that both spouses are sinners and, as such, have the deep incompatibility that any two self-centered human beings must share. The Christian understanding takes this fundamental incompatibility as a given, and even holds that, if addressed with the gospel, it becomes the occasion for revolutionary Christian growth in humility, self-knowledge, love, and grace in the marital partners over the years.

 

The cover story of the November 2011 edition of The Atlantic says this:

Recent years have seen an explosion of male joblessness and a steep decline in men’s life prospects that have disrupted the “romantic market” in ways that narrow a marriage-minded woman’s options: increasingly, her choice is between deadbeats (whose numbers are rising) and playboys (whose power is growing). But this strange state of affairs also presents an opportunity: as the economy evolves, it’s time to embrace new ideas about romance and family—and to acknowledge the end of “traditional” marriage as society’s highest ideal. 

What would you want readers of this article to consider?

It sounds like the author is assuming that “traditional marriage” meant, mainly, a husband who worked and a wife who stayed at home to raise children. But that is not the essence of traditional marriage. For centuries, husbands and wives labored together on the family farm, or in the family craft. Before the industrial revolution neither the husband nor the wife had to leave the home to make a living. Since then, they have, but it is wrong to identify the essence of marriage with one particular form of human economy. The essence of traditional marriage is one man and one woman uniting the entirety of their lives in a covenant relationship that is permanent and exclusive. Of course, this view of marriage is found in the Bible, and for Christians that is what matters, not cultural trends. But empirical studies (some of which I point out in our book) continue to amass evidence that traditional marriage is enormously beneficial to everyone—men, women, children, society—in multiple ways—economically, psychologically, sociologically.

And one more little quote from a review of the book:

"Never before, he argues, have humans held such selfish, idealistic visions for marriage. We want to marry someone who makes us look and feel good, so we set unattainable standards for potential mates. No wonder, then, that marriage has come to appear so oppressive and hopeless. Marriage is for “two flawed people coming together to create a space of stability, love, and consolation” (35). We have lost God’s meaning for marriage. Keller explains:

According to the Bible, God devised marriage to reflect his saving love for us in Christ, to refine our character, to create stable human community for the birth and nurture of children, and to accomplish all this by bringing the complementary sexes into an enduring whole-life union (16)."

In general, you should explore The Gospel Coalition - they have all types of articles, videos, book/music/art reviews you could ever hope for - all weighing the world around us in light of, and pointing to, Christ.  It's been a big source of encouragement for J as he has been here to hop on during a study break and watch a ten minute video or so to renew his mind, or get him thinking about a certain topic that he hadn't thought about before...and then he passes it onto me :)  Hope everyone is having a great Thursday in some glorious weather!  Today, Marieke and I head back to the orphanage to work with our other girl :) 

Much love.

a tribute to marriage.

Today marks my parents' 26th wedding anniversary.  

To me 26 years is a long time, but I asked Mom if she felt like it had been that long.  She said no.  I've decided that in life you will never really believe how old you are, or how long you have been married, but I guess that's a good thing - it reminds us how fleeting life is, and how a "long time" is really very short.

But I wanted to post a post in honor of my parents' marriage for a few reasons.  

One:  They are my parents.  I know no other marriage [outside of my own] as intimately as theirs - I grew up watching them interact, share joys and sorrows, happiness and burdens, and raise their kids to know obedience, love, and fear of the Lord from day one.

Two: It is an awesome thing to see a marriage that is still flourishing in a time when marriage and family are quickly losing value and "societal norms" are up for grabs.  

Three:  It is even better to see a marriage rooted and grounded in the eternal truths of the gospel, having been established through and for God, and still honoring Him years later.

I think it is important to glorify marriage in general versus marriage specifically because it wouldn't make much sense for me to say something like, "Hey, congrats, Mom and Dad, for keeping it together this long!" because [and I know they would agree] it is all the work of the Lord.  There are plenty of marriages that are just "lasting" based on "old-fashioned" societal standards, or religious rules that prohibit divorce, when in reality the "married couple" are living like a functionally divorced couple...but at least they live in the same house.  That is sad.  That is not what God intended, and that is not what marriage looks like if He is intimately involved.   Does this mean that every Christian couple will have a perfect marriage, or that they are guaranteed an "easy time" if they prioritize God? No.  But they also certainly won't be functionally divorced. 

One of our pastors back home always includes this line in his marriage sermons: "The God of the Bible is no prude."  He created marriage to be enjoyed by man and wife - no ball and chains here! Marriage was meant to display His glory by reflecting the glorious truth of Christ and the Church.  Just as Christ is the head of the Church, nourishing and cherishing it - giving His life up for it - the husband is to so cherish and nourish his wife, seeking her good in every way [Ephesians 5:29, paraphrased] and wives are to love their husbands and to be self-controlled, pure, kind, and submissive [Titus 2:4b-5, paraphrased].  When husbands and wives realize their God-given assignments, they are free to live out the gospel in these roles for all the world to see.  Realizing the  different roles men and women are to fill in a marriage brings about a harmony the world is still trying either to fight or hopelessly figure out.  Only God knows how to bring about peace in marriages that otherwise would be marred by futile attempts at 50/50 contributions and endless debates over every mundane circumstance that might threaten the happiness of either person.  God allows a marriage to operate in the realization that they are, in fact, one flesh under God's authority, and are therefore about to seek the good of one another, nurturing their marriage, and ultimately glorifying God by showing the world how it was always meant to be.  

This harmony is impossible, of course, for people who have not submitted to Christ as Lord of their lives - meaning, whatever shots He is calling, you're obeying.  If there is no recognition of the authority that God has over everything [including the very details of marriage], then there is no desire to please Him, no power to obey Him, and no willingness to lay down a life for another.  The ability to do any of this comes when Christ's sacrifice for sin has been accepted personally - realizing that no human efforts can earn eternal glory, but only the cleansing blood of God's only Son - the only thing that has power and authority before the throne of God.   Once this realization hits, your life takes off.  There isn't anything you wouldn't do to obey God, and loving people is a liberal display of what Christ has already done for you - if you've been forgiven of all sin, how can you not freely forgive anyone who sins against you?  If Christ gave His very life for you, how can you not deny your own desires and wishes for another in love?

So let's get this back to marriage.  Marriage is meant to display all of that in a nutshell:  two sinners living under the same roof, if they realize the authority of God in all areas of their lives, will freely serve, forgive, cherish, nourish and love one another out of the overflow of the Love they have already received.  

My parents know this Love and honor this ultimate Authority, and even though their marriage and child rearing has not been easy, they have kept God at the center, and they have taught it to their children.  I'm sure that if you ask them the success to their 26 years of marriage, they won't tell you about how keeping Friday date nights is pivotal [although I'm sure it doesn't hurt ;)] or how having kids fulfills all your hopes and dreams [HA!].  But I am sure that they would be able to tell you of the grace they have received that allows them to be gracious to one another.  That the ultimate Sacrifice by which they have been freed from sin allows them to serve one another, give preference to one another, and sacrifice time and energy to do what the other wishes.  There is no "secret" to marriage - it has been laid out clearly in the Word of God, and if your life is ruled by Him, your marriage certainly will be as well.  

I leave you with this encouragement:

"For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  And He is the head of the body, the church.  He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent." 

Colossians 1:16-18

So Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!  May God grant you many more as you continue to seek and honor Him with your lives together, being held together by Him, and making Him preeminent in all things :)

Scary what Google can give you, eh? Haha...