August Update

August Update

When I go to say goodnight to my boys, my heart commonly floods with emotions of love. One of the most common phrases that comes in the midst of all of the other gushy things we say to kids as they go to sleep is, “you are my best buddy.” This was great for the first 17 months of fatherhood, but then came another little buddy. The thought still commonly comes to my mind, but when the other one is in the room, I stop and think twice not wanting to ever get in the habit of expressing favoritism. I do love Drew and Truitt the same and I love them for who they are, BUT they are different. Drew is my best little buddy as I relate to his gentle winsome spirit that thrives on hugs and playing tackle. And, Truitt is my best little buddy as his quirky little independent spirit with a touch of melting smile steals my heart. It has always felt wrong as I stopped myself from expressing my pure “favoritism” to my best buddies but I could never find words to reconcile this dilemma. The other night I was listening to someone discussing this subject and all of those thoughts were finally put in order. I have come to understand that this is not a logical contradiction, but just that there are no English words to properly put these feelings in perspective. The speaker was explaining God’s Abba heart for us in this same sort of way. It seems more understandable as we put it in the context of an omniscient being, but I believe that these feelings can make the jump to mortality. God loves us supremely, to the extent that we should not be ashamed to claim ourselves as favored sons and daughters. His favoritism may similarly be placed in our quirky faith or our winsome passion for worship as His heart draws us to the place where his favored children give Him glory in the way he desires glory. Similarly, God’s heart yearns for the nations and for all the people of the world to give Him glory. This glory is not homogenous either; Jamaicans certainly express God’s glory in very different ways from Americans. It is Gods heart for His favored nations, all nations, to give Him glory. We not just equals, we are above equals as a result of being purchased, we are favored. Again, I don’t think the word favored does this concept justice as it tends towards some type of superiority and I have not been able to come up with an English word to understand our being loved supremely, equally, and specially. But, I believe it and also believe that we can apply this truth to our lives. Now, I have been freed to say to Drew as I put him to bed, “you are my best buddy,” and to Truitt, “you are my best buddy.” And, I can relish the day that they ask me how they can both be my best buddy and I will have the opportunity to express God’s unfailing, special, unique, supreme love for them, for me, for Jamaica, for America, and to the ends of the Earth all at the same time.
The month of August has been another month of transition as we said goodbye to our last work team and we returned to “normal” life here in Jamaica. This is an exciting transition for us as it is a very different aspect to our ministry. We have enjoyed working along side our Jamaican friends as we support the school. Kirk has taken several trips to Kingston to assist in preparing that campus for the start of school. We had the opportunity to attend a deaf leadership seminar that was aimed to rally leaders to action in the deaf church of Jamaica. It has been exciting to be a part of each of these endeavors as we begin seeing more and more clearly how our roles could develop here in Jamaica. It feels funny to still be talking about our ministry roles developing as we have been here for 10 months already, but we have come to understand this more clearly as well. Similarly to most people who might inquire about our ministry, we would have assumed that our roles would be clear 10 months into this adventure. But, as can only be understood by having experienced it, there is a “whole heap” of things that need to be taken into account when switching cultures and languages. I am afraid that we understood this in our heads as we arrived, but now we understand it better in reality. We underestimated the harsh realities of culture and language learning as we had set our expectations to high regarding how soon we could start “ministry.” But we rejoice as we sense the Lord working all things together.
The boys continue to make our days and ruin our days almost simultaneously. They have been doing great but can become quite a handful. It is exciting to see them begin playing together more and more, but as we all know, playing together also brings fighting together. Truitt has been walking more and more and we have been encouraged by his improving skills. Walking has recently become his main mode of transportation and this has helped as it allows him to go outside more often as he does not need to crawl in the dirt. Drew continues to mature and will be having his 3rd birthday next week. He understands what birthdays are all about and is excited to get presents and is most excited about getting ice cream. Our good friends, Tim and Christa Wiegand, are planning on visiting this coming weekend and helping us in celebrating Drew’s birthday. As stated earlier, our boys are such a joy and words fail us as we try to give our God thanks for these blessings.
As I say often, I cannot believe August is nearly through. The summer has flown by and the school year is starting again on September 1st. We are excited to have the kids back on campus and begin that aspect of our ministry again. Ultimately, the past month has probably been our best month in Jamaica in regards to our level of comfort. We pray that we can continue to say that month after month as we continue to grow into our new lives here. Life here is certainly not without its bumps, struggles, and confusion, but we give those things up to Him and march on. We pray that this letter finds you recognizing God’s blessings as you pursue being a blessing. Thank you for your love and support.

Blessed and Highly Favored,
Kirk, Keri, Drew, and Truitt