Small Up Yuhself

A follow up to my prior blog.  I begin by showcasing one of my favorite WalMart items - the plastic drawers.  I LOVE plastic drawers for organizing everything.  So, naturally, I went to get some when we arrived.  The conversion rate here is about $127 Jamacian dollars is $1 US.  So that equates to this small stack of drawers costing $45.70!!!   So I decided not to organize my stuff. Let's move on to the fun stuff.  About once or twice a week, I get to drive the windy jungle road to our surgery center.  I had the privilege of operating with a wonderful corneal specialist from Columbus, OH - Dr. Schumer - who taught me the ins and outs of pterygium surgery in Jamaica.  (For those of you that don't know, pterygia are grows on the cornea caused by UV light - so wear sunglasses!!) Driving through the sugar cane fields Small town I always make a pit stop at my favorite "Rasta man" who sells me the best...

Welcome back!  We have now officially been in Jamaica for 1 week.  The first week was crammed with activities.  We started out by lugging our 9 tubs full of stuff to Portland.  I had called the airport ahead of time to confirm the cost of our baggage - Jer gets 3 free bags for being military.  When we went to check in, miracle of miracles, the boarding passes all printed out and said they were free!  What a blessing!  Our kids were awesome on the flights, although not much sleeping happened.  Once finally on island, we spent 2 days recovering from a sleepless night and my parents arrived to help out.  We quickly realized that living in Jamaica is not going to be cheap.  I went to get a set of plastic drawers - the kind usually sold in Walmart.  They are charging $80 USD for them here!  Maybe I can do without...  Work started bright and early Wednesday with a 1.5 hour drive out into the jungle.  On the way, we picked u...

Well I figured I should participate in sharing some thoughts about this upcoming adventure.  Please have a bit of grace when reading. I’m not as good as my better half with this whole writing thing. :) Moving overseas has quite a few challenges. From deciding what to pack to attaining a work permit and preparing kids to start school in another country.  Not to mention selling a house, selling/giving away most of our possessions to fit what’s left into a 10x10 storage unit. BTW, Eileen is a master at keeping track of what goes in which pile, and what  heads off to another country or stays.  So just a few things have fallen into place for this move, other stuff we have awaited anxiously to come through. However, we have no room to complain- our house is nearly complete in the selling process, of which has gone more fluidly than we could have ever anticipated(thank you Jesus for your complete answer to prayers). Our possessions are nearly packed up or dispersed thro...

So we knew it would be a adjustment for the kids to move, especially to move to another country.  Poor A has taken it the hardest as she is finally at the age where she understands.  We are doing our best to explain to her all the great things that are waiting in Jamaica - tropical beaches, a swimming pool, wonderful new friends - but she is not buying it.  I can't really blame her, she has never been to Jamaica!  As we were discussing this in small group last week, I was reminded that as adults, we are very much the same.  We have our little world where we have our friends, our places, our routines, and anything outside of that is scary and daunting.  There may be something better but since we won't take the step to meet a new friend, go to a new place, or mix things up a little, we miss out on something good.  I am constantly impressed by how much good is in our world.  God made the world and it IS good.  Yes, there is a lot of bad out ther...

In Jamaica, the unofficial language that is spoken is Patois which is an English-based dialect.  "Small up yuhself" means "move over", as in "small up yuhself and please let me pass".  I like to think of this adventure as a way of letting ourselves move over so that God can move in.  It is so easy living in my American conveniences with my comfortable American church to forget just how impactful the Good News is.  We get comfortable and accept our salvation, but we don't really understand how much it changes life.  I can't say I really comprehend what Jesus did for us on the cross, and I will spend my life trying to understand, but never really knowing.  Because it is so much bigger than we can imagine.  But I don't want to get lazy and take it for granted.  I want to be constantly leaning in to the Father, and if that means I need to get uncomfortable, than I am all in.  I have found over and over that in those moments where I need God, He d...

"You're moving where?!?"  That's the typical response we have heard for the past month.  Yes, we are moving to Jamaica.  Yes, we are crazy.  But sometimes God calls us to crazy things, and experience has taught me that the crazy things God has in store are better than any crazy things I could dream up.  It all started this past fall as we were taking a hard look at what we wanted to do and where we wanted to live.  My mother made an off hand comment (although she now denies it) about considering additional training or mission opportunities.  That is what rekindled what originally fueled my drive to go to medical school - having the opportunity to serve overseas.  I jumped on the internet and found a few mission opportunities, but the one in Jamaica seemed a great fit for our family.  Within a week, I had contacted the individual running the organization and booked a flight for Jeromee and I to visit Jamaica later that month.  I presented...