E'ryting Irie

I woke up this morning to Sarah's beautiful singing in the room next to me. Good thing she was a wall apart or I would have thrown my pillow at her (just kidding, Sarah. Your voice is as pure as the wind driven snow). Honestly, I forgot what she was singing, but it reminded me to be joyful.

It has been difficult to maintain a sense of joy knowing that our loved ones are suffering great loss back home in the city of Joplin. But we know that prayer is powerful and it is all we are capable of doing right now. And while we are here in Jamaica, our mission is to keep singing.

Let's backtrack a bit to yesterday. Yesterday's church service is one of my favorite moments that we have experienced as a group in Jamaica. The children are not shy at all and, in fact, showed much interest in us, which was endearing. A little girl asked me if my hair was real. Upon saying yes, she responded by pretending to faint as if she couldn't bear the thought of my hair being real. "It looks like the hair you buy at the store," she said. Judy, Sarah, and Abby all had similar interactions. They also liked Jordan's hair. They thought he had Justin Bieber hair.

What was even better was when all the children (about 20 or more) came to us after the service to take turns learning to play our instruments. What a blast! Little Jamaican boys were sitting on Patrick's lap while Patrick observed the small child banging away at the drums. Lewis was passing his shaker around while attending a small boy at his bell set. Sunshine's guitar was a hit! They pretended to be rock stars attempting to sing Justin Bieber's "Baby, Baby, Baby Oh..." or whatever that song is. Sarah's bass guitar had a lot of attention as well. There is something beautiful about sharing music with these kids. The pastor spoke with us later about the kids. Apparently, the only other place these children hang out besides the church is the streets. They were thrilled to be playing music. The Pastor told us the kids would have been there playing music with us until midnight if it were up to the them.

Later that day we swam in the Caribbean! The water was warm. By the end we ended up throwing Elijah, who was trying to avoid swimming, in the water. And then Sunshine picked me up from behind and plopped me right in the water. Aaron was being quite the marine biologist by inspecting the sea floor and coming up every now and then to share his findings. All the while, Damien was offering horse back rides along the shore. We passively declined the opportunity by not approaching him at all. It's a romantic idea, but ultimately we decided that one horse would not suffice for the whole group.

Wayne, our 6'1" tall, 18" arm bus driver who can bench press twice my weight, has been such a pleasure to get to know. Because he was born and raised on the island, he knows quite a bit about safety, food, Jamaican lingo, Jamaican people, tourists, sights, history, and Jamaican folklore. It's so good to have him along also to help us understand Jamaican culture. His Jamaican accent is so enjoyable. His response to the whole "Judgment Day" fiasco was "No mon need to know when He comin' back." Party on Wayne!

He also explained to us the phrase "Irie" which apparently means "e'ryting's gonna be alright, mon." But only Rastafarians use the phrase. It's just so much fun to say, and it get's a laugh out of the Jamaican people when we say it.

Irie. This is one of the many lessons God has been teaching me since arriving here in Jamaica:

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11

Everything is going to be alright.

Our heart goes out to the Jamaican people and to our loved ones back home who are struggling to find peace in the midst of the storm. We are reminded to cast our burdens to the Lord and to walk alongside him.

Goodnight, everyone. And happy birthday to Bob Dylan.