The Plattners visit the Plattners

On Tuesday night, I traveled down to Montego Bay to pick up the Chad Plattner Family. They are coming to visit for a couple of weeks and we have just begun the adventure. The Chad Plattner family consists of Chad (Patriarch), Laura Lee (Matriarch), Jesse (10 and wise), Javan (8 and inquisitive), Jared (6 and active), Jolene (5 and little matriarch), Jubilee (3 and happy), and Jonas (1 and squirt). We are excited to have them and you can check out the happenings from their perspective at The Plattner Ranch. I am sure that we will have some pictures up and stories from our time together. As far as our family is concerned, we remain in transition as we will return to MoBay this weekend for one more work team. I dont know if its keeping us young or making us old, but we rejoice at His goodness.

St. Paul Baptist

We enjoy work teams. But, not all teams are created equal. The St. Paul Baptist team from Peoria, IL was exceptional. They hit the ground with energy and passion. We thoroughly enjoyed this team as they worked well together, had some dynamic personalities, and lived their passion for Christ. Our good friend, Amy Blough, was in Montego Bay for the spring semester of last school year. This group is from Amy's church. It was great to hang out with Amy again for the week. We were aptly challenged to live life in the world and not of it, always pursuing a "salty" lifestyle. Praise the Lord!

"A Piece of Paradise"

Jamaica Driving





For those of you who have been to Jamaica before, you know about Jamaica driving. As Jamaicans travel around their paradise, they do it quickly. It is not just the speed at which they drive but the speed is added to narrow, curvy roads. It keeps us on our toes and it causes us to Praise the Lord for His protection after every trip to town. In reality, the driving is not as crazy as it seems as it feels that you are going faster than you really are. The speed limit in Jamaica is 50kmh on regular roads and 80kmh on a highway. This means that when we are squealing around corners, we are actually only going about 30mph. This picture was taken last week along a road and I am guessing that the vehicle was stripped by thieves, but we will save that issue for another "Piece of Paradise."

New Prospect Work Team

We moved down to MoBay last week to host some work teams. We are planning to be in MoBay for 3 weeks total with a break in the middle. It is good to be back in Montego Bay and spending time with our friends here. Last week, we were blessed with the opportunity to host a work team from near Atlanta, Georgia. The team was from New Prospect Methodist Church. Being a bit southern, we enjoyed some Southern style friendships as we always marvel at the interesting differences between work teams. The team did good work and we were blessed by their efforts on behalf of the school. But, after a whole week of work, I forgot to take a group picture. So, I posted some of the work pictures on our pictures page.

ONE WHOLE YEAR

On October 20th, 2007 we moved our little family to Jamaica. And, in case you havent heard, today is October 20th, 2008. That means that we have been in Jamaica for one year. Even after writing that I need to do the math again in my head to make sure it is right. We just cant believe it. One year ago today we were filled with many anxieties and excitements. Today, we are filled with many anxieties and excitements. Just different ones and actually we are thankful they are different because we would not be interested in going back and reliving our first month here. We can now sometimes laugh at our first days, but more than anything we are rejoicing that He carried us through. It is times like this that give us the opportunity to measure growth and we praise the Lord for growth in so many areas. While our sign language is still slow, we have improved so much. While we still feel so clumsy, we have grown in the Lord. While we still make lots of mistakes, I think we are making fewer. Growth is exciting in spite of growing pains. Thanks for your prayers and support over the past year. We are humbled and we rejoice. Praise the Lord!!

P.S. -- We had hoped to have a podcast posted to commemorate our anniversary but we will have to post it later.

4 Years of Bliss!

Kirk and Keri Plattner -- 10/17/2004
I grew up with a Dad and Mom who were in love and expressed love to each other. My life was "normed" with the understanding that God's design for marriage is not only attainable, but expected. Contrasting that to today, we are immersed in a cultural norm that places God's design for marriage out of reach, unattainable, and even unreasonable. The contrast and consequences between these polar opposites is stark beyond belief while simultaneously providing proof that makes it easy to believe that God's way is best. We are daily confronted by the pain, depression, and poverty of life and soul that is exhibited from ignoring God's way and refusing to live a life of purity and commitment. After four years of marriage, our life together grows sweeter and sweeter. Similar to the growth with the Bridegroom as the Bride, we priase the Lord that the Joy is in the Journey. While the honeymoon was sweet, we are discovering that living life together day in and day out is to be savored even more. As we have been blessed with children and have relished the Joy they bring, we are reminded that our children are His and we have been entrusted to raise them to fear Him. And, while we have been blessed with opportunities to travel, vacation, and even live in another part of the world, we are continually reminded that the sweetest times are found when we are mutually agreed that we are in the center of His will and serving Him. While the past 4 years have been immeasureably blessed with joy, we look forward with thankful hearts that we know Who is carrying us. While knowing that we are not promised anything, we walk on in excitement, praising Him as he upholds us and gives Grace that we may experience the Joy in the Journey.

Grandma Kaeb's Visit

Last Tuesday, we picked up Keri's mom at the airport. She spent the rest of the week with us at Knockpatrick and we celebrated Drew's birthday. We all loved having Grandma visiting but Drew and Truitt especially ate up all her love. Our kids being away from their Grandparents has always been one of the most difficult aspects of our move and so we always love seeing them connect. While we have been blessed by Skyping, there is no substitute for being together, reading books, laughing, and sharing life. We are so grateful that Mom Kaeb could come and the kids will be talking about our week until we get to fly back at the end of November. We praise the Lord for Grandma Kaeb and are thankful for a wonderful week of fellowship. There are more pictures up on our pictures page.

A Piece of Paradise #4

Shirley Cookies




We have found some wonderful little cookies that have been great snacks and have also managed to add a few pounds to our frame. These small packs of cookies cost about 50 cents and go great with coffee or for an afternoon pick me up. On your next trip to Jamaica, let us know and we will be sure to pick some up for you.

ACWR tour #2

On Monday, Chad, Erin, and I took another ACWR tour. The tour consisted of several ministries that ACWR already supports and several others that have specific interest to us. There are many fantastic ministries operating in Jamaica serving many different people groups. Erin did a great job of summarizing our trip on her blog and so to not be redundant, you can visit her blog if your are interested in the experience. Apostolic Christian World Relief has built many strong relationships on the island and has done a fantastic job locating and serving people on the island. One lady reminsced back to the old days, maybe 20 years ago, when ACWR representatives would come down to distribute aid. It was also interesting as the primary school we visited and ACWR has supported for many years is the school that Usain Bolt attended as a child. We visited the school and it was evident that they supported their alum as pictures and newspaper articles were posted everywhere. Anyway, it is a fantastic blessing to be able to represent so many people with giving hearts on behalf of the church.

Happy Birthday Keri!

Happy Birthday Keri!!!


29 years old!!

We rejoice at God's provision and it is at these milestones that we are reminded, we stop, and we give thanks. While we are "getting old," we are also seeking His grace to continue "Growing Young."

Look Out Michael Phelps

This is a pic of Truitt at the beach the other week. It was up on our picture page, but you must agree that it deserves some special attention.

Wrong Kind of Convert

Due to the large Apostolic influence and therefore many supporters from Illinois, it is not uncommon to see someone walking around supporting the Fighting Illini. Several of the boys at school have shirts that reminisce of Illinois championship run or just old shirts. Anyways, the other day I was walking by Delroy, the man who keeps the yard, and I asked if I could take a picture of his hat. The funny thought that maybe this is not the type of disciple I am supposed to be making went through my mind as I tried to explain to him that is where I went to school. Anyway, Go ILLINI!