Traveling Mercies!!!

We are traveling today! Thanks for your prayers as we venture from MoBay to Chicago and then from Chicago on to Bloomington, IL. The munchkins are excited. The kids usually do well in the airports and on the plane, but every trip is an adventure. To God be the Glory!

Lets Talk Turkey!!!

We have never roasted a Turkey. Actually, I am not sure either of us have ever even helped someone else roast a Turkey and therefore we had no idea what we were doing. We hadnt even planned on doing a Turkey. Turkeys are not real plentiful and while we like it, for us it is not necessary for a Thanksgiving dinner. But, a friend had grown some Turkeys and asked us if we wanted to buy one for Thanksgiving. We decided to get a Turkey. Come to find out, it was a $100 turkey! So, we took our golden 17 pounds of Turkey goodness, did a few google searches, and dove into the process. The results are below. We took the turkey to a dinner on Saturday night with a bunch of friends. It was a nice addition to a night of sweet food and fellowship.

Keri preparing "Goldie"

Truitt posing by her golden goodness!

The family's best "CaveMan" impersonations with one of her golden drumsticks

Chicken Little

warning: graphic content

Drew loves the farm. It doesnt matter if we are pulling carrots, feeding pigs, collecting eggs, or picking coffee. And, come to find out, it doesnt even matter if we are butchering chickens. The last few times we have butchered chickens, Drew has asked to be involved. Every time, I had told him "no" as I was unsure if he was ready for the "facts of life." But, this time, he convinced me. So, several weeks back Drew learned the process of how to butcher a chicken and he has been begging to do it again. He did a good job. At the beginning, he had big eyes and a tepid spirit. But, I think he categorized the realities of life and death and joined in the process. Below are a few pictures of the Caveman and his prey.

Dad and Drew plucking feathers

Drew showing off his plucked chicken

Checking to see if chicken little had a heart

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a weird time in Jamaica. Obviously, Thanksgiving is only an American holiday and so we have none of the pomp surrounding this time of year. Therefore, there are times that we lose touch with the fact that it is time for Thanksgiving. Our Jamaican friends sometimes remember and will comment about eating Turkey or say "Happy Thanksgiving," but beyond that there are no reminders. We are planning a big meal with our team here, but it isnt the same. But, as we always say on Thanksgiving day, the giving of thanks is not bound by dates and it certainly is not bound by geography. So, with no chill in the air, no driving to an uncles house, and no national holiday, we will be giving Thanks. We are joining you in giving praise to our Lord who is worthy.

"Jamaican Idol"

A good friend of our family is in an "American Idol" competition with her school choir. They have made it to the final 5. Every Thursday, the competition happens on a show called "All Together Sing" in which local high school choirs compete. The show is complete with text voting and judges. We thought you might enjoy checking out her school choir. The competition involves doing songs in different categories. The first video is a gospel selection and our friend is the young lady on the far right of the second row. The second video below is a Jamaican folk song and our friend is the 3rd girl back in the right row of girls. We hope they continue to do well. Enjoy!

Best Friend

This is Lauren. She has been working at CCCD as a "short-termer" for the past 10 weeks. From the first time Truitt met Lauren, he has called her "best friend." For the longest time, he didnt even know her name and would only refer to her as "best friend." If he heard her voice outside or the door open to her apartment, his eyes would light up and say, "that is my best friend." We still dont know why he started calling her "best friend" from the moment they met, but maybe it was prophetic. They became good friends. Actually, she became a good friend to all of us. She has been a friend to us and has served our family in different ways. Her primary role at CCCD was working with several of our special needs students. She served by giving them focused attention and special time outside the classroom. Lauren is flying home today and she will be missed. Please say a prayer with us for her safe travels and "re-entry" back into life in America. We thank God for her service here and pray that He will bless her journey.

A Recipe for Disaster

Allow me to explain this confusing picture. This is a picture of what you get when you pack determined focus, a competitive spirit, and mathematical prowess all in one little 6 year old boy. These ingredients are a recipe for disaster. As we have stated many times before, Drew loves numbers. He loves talking about numbers, he loves hearing about numbers, and he loves doing math. For example, a simple statement like, "It will take 5 years to finish that job," and the boy will be off and running with questions about why it wont take 4 years and you could fulfill all his dreams by converting that length of time into days. Anyways, you combine that mathematical prowess with a competitive spirit and the trouble begins to brew. Now, any competition that involves numbers is dreamland. A basketball game in which we shoot both 2 point shots and 3 point shots is great as it involves a nice competition and great math problems. Now add to our concoction a uniquely determined focus. The boy can really zero his brain around one thing and he is captive. So, why is this a recipe for disaster? Because, the result of these ingredients when mixed with a dad who likes sports is a manic little 6 year old sports fan. It doesnt matter the sport, just put a set of numbers on a screen which represent a competition and he is hooked. As a result of our limited access to sporting events, all it takes is a couple of numbers on a website updating to captivate his attention. It doesnt matter the sport or the teams although he has began to gravitate towards his dad's allegiances. This is where the above picture becomes more clear. One morning a little while back, Keri went in to Drew's room before he was awake and was aghast that there was some writing all over his chest. She called me, but I had no idea what it was and I said, just snap a picture. Then, after Drew woke up, it all became clear. While trying to get to sleep the night before, his focused little fanatic brain decided to write in marker on his chest his favorite teams. We couldnt believe it. The top marking is "Chi," presumably for the Chicago Bears. The next is "ILL" and represents all sports at the University of Illinois. The bottom hieroglyphic is "Card" in representation of the St. Louis Cardinals. This was over the top. Oh, the stories go on and maybe we will add some more later, but this was just too good to pass up. We are actually to the point now in which we are beginning to implement some measures to cool his jets. But, in the meantime, his adding skills by 2, 3, and 7 are becoming increasingly deft.

October 2011 Update

October 2011 Plattner Family Update

The word of God is powerful and wields that power in so many ways. But, there is a certain shock value in those specific scriptures in which our Righteous God is brought into clear contrast with ridiculous humans. It is these scriptures that our hearts might glide over when we are on a mountain of self-righteousness, but in a valley of humility they shock our soul. This recently happened to us with a scripture that I am certain we have read many times before, but this time it began dividing the thoughts and intents of our heart. We have alluded to our family struggling through some things over the past months and in the midst of that malaise, this powerful encouragement has lifted our hearts. It was the apostle Paul, in conclusion of some very important but intricate teaching. I am guessing Paul was certain that our flesh would confuse this teaching and struggles would ensue. Therefore, I think he finished this teaching with a doxology to focus our hearts back on the central issue and proclaimed the following statement/questions. Consider the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! His ways are above our ways! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has been His Counselor? Does He owe us? For of Him, through Him, and to Him are all things. It is all about His glory!

The clarity from this encouragement helped bring our October into perspective. We were blessed by a team from the states in the beginning of October. The team came to deliver shoes to our students. They washed each students feet and gave them a new pair of shoes. The rest of the month of October was spent working around the school. On Saturdays, several kids, a local volunteer, and some of us who were available have been putting new tile down in our workteam dorm. This has been a great learning experience for all of us. The farm continues to roll on and the work is never finished. Coffee harvest has begun and we reaped a hundreds of pounds of carrots. The rainy season continues to shape our days and we are thankful for the rain.

The month of October is a month of celebration for our family. We celebrated Keri’s birthday, our anniversary, and the anniversary of our move to Jamaica. Keri’s birthday was a time to celebrate all that she is and what she means to our family. Our anniversary was celebrated with a day to the beach. We had a quiet day exploring Jamaica’s south coast, topped off with a pizza over a sunset. Then, just a few days later, we remembered 4 years of living in Jamaica. If the calendar didn’t confirm it, we would never believe it. Time marches on and our brains can’t seem to catch up. And, when we consider the blessings and faithfulness we have witnessed, we are in even greater awe. To God be the Glory!

Our family continues to do well. The kids are growing fast and we continue to experience many “firsts.” We are looking forward to a trip home to the states in late November. Our plan is to arrive back in time to celebrate and witness my brothers wedding. We rejoice with him in the work God is doing in his life and in the foundation of faith being built into his new family. After the wedding, we are anticipating time with family and friends coupled with a getaway and many Christmas gatherings. It is our goal to see and connect with many of you and we look forward to the fellowship. Please don’t hesitate to contact us to see if our schedules can match. Thanks again for all your prayer and support.

A Weekend Away

A couple of weeks ago, we went down to Montego Bay for a funeral. It is always a tough trip for our family and so we decided that if we are going, we will stay the night. The kids had been begging to go swimming and so we got a hotel. We had a great afternoon of swimming capped off by a pizza for supper. The kids were even up early in the morning to go swimming before church. The trip went well and great memories were made!

A Harvest of Praise

This past weekend, all three deaf churches on the island got together for a special service. Deaf Bible Church in St. Elizabeth hosted the gathering, while New Life Church in Manchester and Calabar Deaf Fellowship in Kingston closed their doors to travel to St. Elizabeth. We loaded up a bus and 2 vans and trekked to St. Elizabeth. The service was good as different people did special songs and testimonies. It was exciting to see hundreds of deaf gathered together for encouragement and fellowship. One of the major assets of the community is that they are very interconnected. It is our prayer that the gospel takes root and utilizes that interconnectedness to permeate the deaf community. The day also provided a reminder of the hundreds of deaf adults not represented who have no access to christian fellowship as this gathering essentially represented the entirety of the adult deaf outreach in Jamaica. The day was blessed and we gave thanks.

Free Church?

Children are a parents most honest critics. So, we are going to have to review our strategy for teaching our kids the principle of giving at church. We realized this the other week when Truitt came home and said, "Sunday school was free today, I didnt even have to pay."

Ummmm, back to the drawing board.

We don't do Halloween

We dont really have any soapboxes to stand on, we just dont do halloween. Actually, I can distinctly remember our first halloween after we got married. We were in our new house in Leo and halloween was not in the plans. As the trick or treating started, we turned off all the lights and hunkered down inside of our dark house so that nobody would ring our doorbell. And, the shameful part is that when they did ring the doorbell, we didnt even answer the door. How weird would it be for us to answer the door of a entirely dark house. Anyways, halloween is just not our thing and it was not on our radar as they dont really do Halloween in Jamaica. So yesterday, we were reminded that it was halloween and the issue came up at the supper table. We discussed it around the table as a family and then in 5 minutes, we had each kids costume ready and a trip to Erin's, our neighbor, planned. I ran ahead to warn her and to offer her candy in case she had none. The kids were ready and Erin was willing. So, our "little mommy," our "baseball player," and our "Jamaican farmer" were ready for their candy conquest and they were victorious. How cute is that crew?