The End is Near

It's interesting to me that the end feels a lot like the beginning. We have no car (thank God it sold), the Newcomers aren't here, and it's stifling hot!
We are completing our last 2 weeks here at the school and on the island. I thought I was attending my last Esther Bible Study this past Monday, but the ladies decided to meet again tonight and Memorial Day evening to finish up. Always be flexible. Pastor Sunni and Jane (interim at Cruz Bay) are taking us out for a farewell dinner this Friday night. A sweet couple has offered for us to use their little villa this weekend to get a break from the Ranch, so we will stay there Sat. and Sun. nights. Our last Sun. here (June 6) Dickie will speak at Bovoni Baptist on St. Thomas in the morning and do teacher training on Sun. afternoon. Besides all of this, we are preparing for an end-of-year school program and packing our classrooms and the Ranch!
We are so excited about returning. We can see God preparing us for the next step; He does that in subtle, but clear ways.
Hope all of you are doing well. Let me hear from you!!

Tonight we will eat at Maho Bay Campground with the Newcomers and Scott Drennan. Scott is a 28-year-old friend who came here 7 years ago to work with our school. He also did Christian Ministry in the National Parks and now works for Maho. He's a very special young man from the Nashville area, and I always tease about needing to find him a girl!! Any ideas?
We will be at Three Sail church at the Newcomer's house this Sun. morning and the Newcomers will be out at Calvary.
The children had a Field Trip today for Earth Day. It was lots of fun to be outside for the day after giving achievement tests all week.
The heat here is stifling. I thought I was used to it, but it really takes a toll. We need to find more time to jump into the ocean!
I can't believe we are on the countdown to come home. About 6 more weeks. It will really be interesting to adjust to the States again. Everything we do down here is on a small scale, and everything we do in the States is not!
Please pray for the Monday night women's Bible Study I am co-leading. It's a very diverse group of women - should be interesting!

The only place to get pizza on St. John is at a local place called Ronnie's. Claire's youth group met there each Wed. night until recently (now they are at Episcopal church) and the Rheas and rest of the Newcomers enjoyed pizza a distance away from the youth. A couple of months after we were here, Ronnie (owner) and Glen (worker) called Claire to the kitchen and told her they noticed something different about her - that she really paid attention to what her youth leader was saying.
Last night, Glen removed the movie, Armageddon, from the DVD player and struck up a conversation with us about books he has read recently which state there is deity in everyone. He was interested in the concept of people reaching out to the god in each other instead of to God above. The Lord has opened a door for us to continue to talk with and pray for Glen.
This just confirms to me that no matter where we are, we are witnesses for Him. Sometimes we fail, but thankfully he restores us back to a right place with Him.
If you are reading this and are experiencing guilt and failure, I pray that you will find your way back.
Have a wonderful day. Let me hear from you!!!!!

We've been really busy lately. Last Sunday (4/11) we attended a 35th anniversary of a church on St. Thomas with lots of singing and praising! A man from the D.C. area who is with NAMB brought the message. This past weekend we spent Friday night with Terrence and Sharon Jones on St. Thomas. He is pastor of Grace Baptist. Had a nice visit with them. Tonight is the second night of the Esther study - about 11 women will be in attendance.
Can't believe it's time to start talking of returning home. We actually bought a For Sale sign to put on the jeep. Dickie keeps hinting at bringing it home, but that ain't going to happen! It's a mess, but will be great for someone here on the island.
Leaving for Birmingham on May 13 to attend graduation at Samford, and will come back here for 3 weeks to finish school year. Fly home to stay on Monday, June 7.
Daniel has to have minor out-patient surgery on his foot May 5. Chris Maynard is caring for him for one day and night. It's hard not to be there but we have discussed it with him and he agrees that it's OK.
It's interesting that several of the things we wanted to see happen down here are happening during our last few weeks (women's Bible study, concert in the park, etc.). God's timing is certainly better than ours! Will try to blog more often. Thanks for reading.

Flexibility has been a key word for us. The boys left Atlanta on Saturday to visit us and Joseph apparently got on the plane with a stomach virus. By the time they reached Ft. Lauderdale, he was dehydrated and had to be hospitalized. The CT scan showed an irregularity at the base of his spine, so Joseph and I are in the hospital now awaiting results of his MRI they did on Sunday. He is feeling fine. Stephen, Rebecca and Daniel flew down to St. Thomas last night and arrived safely.
This is such a shock. We aren't expecting anything serious, but should get the results in a few hours.
I have stopped trying to figure out why things happen and am learning to deal with things as they happen. God's plan is big, and we are not to understand all things, but walk in faith each day.
His ways are not our ways.
We expect to be a plane this afternoon to join the rest of our family! Please keep Joseph in your prayers, and I will let you know results soon.

Started the day with one of my boys standing at the screen door of the classroom and burping very loudly. So it goes...
Dickie and I have given up trying to dry clothes on the line. I now go the laundrymat each Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. Last Friday Dickie went with me and we were sitting outside reading while our clothes washed and dried. Will and Teresa passed by on their way to Youth at Calvary and saw us out there. They got a real chuckle out of that sight.
We have new neighbors at the Ranch. Ms. Grell (Kindergarten teacher) and Ms. Hunt (1st grade) have moved in with their daughters (6 yrs. and 4 yrs.) Needless to say, the apartment bulding has come to life! We are one big happy family! I told the little girls that if my door is open they are welcome to come in. The other afternoon I was cooking bacon and eggs and they knocked on the door and said "We smell bacon! Do you have any extra bacon, Mrs. Rhea?!" So I let them come in and have one piece each and told them the rest was for Mr. Rhea. They are really cute and a joy to have around. I even got to read them a bedtime story the other night.
The boys and sweet Rebecca come to visit 4 weeks from Saturday! I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!

The Lord knows how to encourage us just when we need it! This was brought in by one of my little girl students this week:
"Jesus is great because He has done a lot of things for us. He saved us from our sins. He helped us wake up in the morning. He helped us sleep in the night. And He helps us do our work. He is strong and He is the Lamb of God. I even believe in Him so much that I will never forget about Him. And He's my Savior. And He created the world. I love my christian school. We talk about Him every day."
That pretty much says it all!!

We are receiving a lot of information about relief projects in Haiti. It seems there are many aftershocks occurring, and the conditions are still dangerous. A cargo ship is coming by St. John in 2 weeks, so our island is in the process of collecting needed items to go over. We are also aware of a flotilla of yachts going to Haiti soon. These boats hope to reach the parts of the island not receiving help from Red Cross and others. Check out Good Samaritan Haiti online.

It's been somewhat of an adjustment to return here after being in the States for over 2 weeks. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at home seeing family and friends. The time away from home has put a lot of things into perspective, and caused me to appreciate more about my life than I did before. Like I've said before, God is certainly using this time to teach me about myself, other people, and Him. One thing has been on my mind lately: I don't want this time of special service to become mundane and routine. I call it "special service" because we left home to serve here for a very specific time; however, wherever we are living at the moment is where we should serve Him. So, even though we "come down the hill" each day to work at the same job, I want to remain fresh in my outlook for opportunities to be a witness, and to keep the same attitude when I return home. Hope some of this makes sense.

I want to go to Haiti! I feel so sorry for those people, especially the children. We are off 5 days at Easter, and if there were any way to get there, I would go. God will lead.

If anyone wants to come down for a visit, let us know. The Newcomer Motel is open to all!

Wow! So much has happened since I last wrote! We enjoyed a wonderful trip home to see friends and family. Stephen and Rebecca had an engagement party in Birmingham, and we met all of her family - very large and wonderful! Since we have returned to St. John, it's been mostly school and more school. We did meet this week with some folks God has brought to this island who have the connections and resources to build a sanctuary - very exciting! We attended a movie (my first here) on St. Thomas last Saturday with youth from Calvary and had lots of fun. Dickie is teaching at Three Sail church each Sun. morning in January and anywhere else he is needed. We will go Sat. to help Calvary members clean up the piece of land they have on the beach. There will be a community family outreach there at the end of this month. We will make visits for that this Sun. afternoon. Tonight, Pastor Terrence Jones and his wife, Sharon, are coming up to the Ranch for dinner and a long overdue visit. He is pastor at Grace Baptist on St. Thomas. So, I must get to the store to find something to eat tonight!!
We are very burdened about Haiti. Would like to go there someday to help out.

So much happening...Had a nice relaxing Friday night with Claire and Stuart. After Will and Teresa left us at dinner to head to Calvary, we took the kids for ice cream, rented movies, then went to their house to watch movies and last episode of Monk. They are dear children! I slept most of the day Saturday...not feeling 100%. Still have health issues but am having some testing done this month. I'm sure it's minor. Thoroughly enjoyed the AL and FL match but didn't expect FL to perform so poorly. TX game was good also. Sun. morning Dickie spoke at Three Sails. We met at a nice home out on the deck by the pool. Dickie kicked off his flip-flops and taught the lesson barefoot. Next Sunday he will be back in long-sleeved shirt and tie. Ya gotta go with the flow! Like I've said before, flexibility is the key. Sunday evening we attended Cruz Bay then went out to eat with Will and Teresa. It was a good time for us to regroup, compare notes, and discuss some things we need to commit to prayer. Dickie and I will attend a pastor's meeting on St. Thomas Tues. night to make 2010 plans with them. We hope to have some ideas and dates for Calvary Tupelo people who are interested in coming down between January and May. Can't wait to come home in 2 weeks!!!!

We had a beautiful sail to the British Virgin Islands over the Thanksgiving Holidays with the Newcomers. They are so generous to share their boat with us and it was a neat experience. We attended the "Singspiration" last Sunday afternoon at Calvary Baptist Church. Mark this down - the Newcomers and Rheas (Rheacomers) were asked to get up and sing a song, and we did! Life is an adventure. Had a good first Advent Bible Study with Three Sails group on Tuesday night. Teresa led and did a great job. We will meet on Tuesdays during December. I'm trying to get into the Christmas spirit, but it's hard when the temperature is in the 80's, and we can go swimming any afternoon. Must get my Christmas list out and get started soon.
It's interesting to be this close to Christmas and not feel the stress of it. Our decorations consist of a red bow and a string of lights. There is no Christmas baking to do because my oven doesn't work. Maybe it's better to focus on the real meaning than on all the "extras" we pile on ourselves during the holidays.
Counting the days till we go home on the 21st. I can't wait to see my boys!!!
Spent some time in the clinic last night and this morning. Been having chest pain but we've ruled out heart and lungs. Probably just gas! Will wait and see what develops.
Please pray for patience with my second-graders at this time. They are all worked up about the holidays and discipline problems seem to escalate.
Thanks for reading!!

Still very hot here - supposed to be high 80s - 90 this week. We are excited about going on a Thanksgiving sail with the Newcomers. They didn't want me moping around missing the boys, so they are taking us to the British Virgin Islands nearby. Looking forward to seeing the sights - just hope I don't get seasick!
Dickie is speaking at Three Sails Church this Sunday. They're the church I told you about before that met on the beach, but now Park and Rec has asked them to leave that area. They have met in 4 locations in 4 years! Now they are meeting in the home next door to Will and Teresa. How awesome is that!! God definitely has a plan. The Newcomers will begin an advent Bible Study in their home on Tuesday nights beginning next week. We have met so many people and it's nice to have someplace to invite them to worship and study. Can't wait to see where God takes this.
I have a quote I use down here at times: "Where am I?" I use it when things happen like driving down the road in the dark and almost hitting a huge cow by the side of the road; when I see a large iguana at school; when I see a head of cauliflower that costs $8.50; when I try to understand people who speak at least 3 different Caribbean dialects!

We had a great weekend on St. Thomas at the Paradise Pastor's Conference. I attended a session on Intentional Community Evangelism led by a member of the North American Mission Board. It was really convicting, and gave us and some of the church members on St. John some good ideas for future ministry.
Dickie was asked to go look over a mission building to see what condition it is in. It's located on the East side of the island and is co-owned by Calvary and Cruz Bay churches. The women at Calvary have been praying about re-opening the mission and about how God wants it used in their community. Teresa and I are working with that women's group to help them get some things going. We will go out to the mission building this afternoon after school, and we are very excited about the possibilities for ministry there!!
Dickie was also asked by Three Sails Church (anglo and meets on beach) if he would consider speaking for them sometime. This church is struggling because their pastor has left due to personal problems. Please pray for Dickie - that God will lay on his on heart what to share with this congregation and how to encourage them during this difficult time.

Things I hope I will never take for granted again: walking to the mailbox and visiting with a neighbor, my laundry room, clean water from the faucet, my church family, the morning paper.

Stephen and Rebecca spent 6 hours shopping for their wedding gift registry in Birmingham on Saturday. Yes, he survived!! I can't believe it's actually happening. So exciting!

We are going with the Newcomers to a Pastor's conference on St. Thomas this weekend and are really looking forward to meeting with several of them to nail down some ministry plans. Calvary Baptist on St. John should hopefully begin building their new sanctuary soon. Will keep you posted on that.

Dickie and Will have gone to the British Virgin Islands today to bring the sailboat over. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it!

I'm sure it will be something else Dickie can add to his repertoire.

Really enjoying spending time with Claire and Stuart. We pooled our food together last night and then played a game. Great family time for the "Rheacomers," as Claire calls us now.

We picked up a young lady who was hitching a ride the other night - a darling twenty-something-year-old who told us she has lived all over. We dropped her off in the dark night in the woods where she asked us to, and I wondered "Whose daughter is that on this island hitching rides in the night?" I worry about her. I pray that each person we come in contact with will prayerfully remain in our minds and hearts.
We gave a ride to a man on Sunday morning who moved down here with his mother from Mass. After her husband of 60 years passed, she couldn't get over the depression, so they came here to their house on the water. We will pray for them to find the real Source of peace.
We are attending a Pastor's Conference on St. Thomas the last weekend of this month. It will be a time for us to meet with them and nail down some ways t0 help their churches. We will let you know what groups/individuals can do down here to help soon. Conference planning has consumed much of the pastor's time, and we look forward to it with much anticipation. Pray that the Lord will lay out plans for us.
School is out, but 2 second-grade boys are still hanging out in my room playing with a tennis ball. Feels like old times!!

THE NEWCOMERS ARE HERE!!! We are so happy to have familiar faces around us!!! Met them Saturday at the airport, helped them unload luggage at new home (very nice), and then went to J.J.'s in town to get Stuart a cheeseburger. He's a growing, hungry boy! Sunday morning we took them to Three Sails (beach church) so they could meet some of their neighbors. After the service we enjoyed the water for a little while. Then we attended Cruz Bay Baptist where Dickie brought the message about church members finding their place of service, whether it be out front or behind the scenes.
Will and Teresa are taking care of business today (computer, phone, bank, etc.) Please pray that they will find a vehicle that is safe and affordable.
Chris Maynard arrives on Thursday. We are really looking forward to her visit. She will prayer walk with us, share with some ladies at Teresa's home on Saturday, help out at the school, and sweat off 20 pounds! It's incredibly hot down here!!!
I've told you about the hog that visits our yard occasionally. Dickie looked out the window the other day and said, "Well, the whole family's here!" It was mom and dad hog, and 8 little piglets. I'm telling you, it's wild kingdom!
Keep us in your prayers as we seek God's will for our ministry here with the Newcomers.

We now have cable TV! Can keep up with what's going on in the world, but especially with SEC football.
Dickie will be leading Wednesday evening services at Cruz Bay Baptist during the month of October. The pastor asked him to lead a study on the end times. He has also been working on some physical improvements at the "Ranch." He is greatly missed on the days he isn't here at the school, because people have learned to depend on him for so many things.
We are excited that the Newcomers will arrive this Saturday to work alongside us! We have already scheduled a ladies' lunch at Teresa's house for Saturday, Oct. 10. I'm not sure much fellowship like this takes place, so it will be a lot of fun to get some folks together.
My boys are doing well. Joseph is enjoying Seminary. Stephen is finishing up his senior year and has his future father-in-law for a tough computer class. Daniel is happy at State and has become a houseboy for DeeGees. He gets to eat lunch and dinner there.
My future daughter-in-law, Rebecca, e-mailed me a picture of her wedding dress and the bridesmaids dresses! It makes me feel included in the plans although we are far away. So thankful for her!

Churches in the Baptist Association on St. Thomas met together in one church last night and we attended there. Met several of the pastors' wives and we had a good time of worship together. We rocked the house! Sun. morning we attended Three Sails on the beach and had a long conversation with the worship leader following the service. He shared with us how difficult it is to live here at times, and that marriages are often attacked and threatened. He shared that this is a place to come to where there is great tolerance for many things; he also shared about the feelings of darkness he encounters. I'm grateful that we can encourage one another and hopefully we will get to know some of these folks better.
Will, Teresa and the kids arrive this Saturday!!! Chris Maynard is coming for a visit next week. Can't wait to see some familiar faces from Tupelo!
Learning that some of my kids are from home situations that are much less than ideal. I guess this is true anywhere there are children. Pray that I can get to know the parents better. Some of these kids get picked up by somebody different each day.
Miss all of you!!

Words to a song we sing at Thursday night Bible Study which have been meaningful to me:

Oh, let the Son of God enfold you with His Spirit and His love; let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul. Oh, let Him have the things that hold you and His Spirit like a dove, will descend upon your life and make you whole.
Oh, come and sing the song with gladness as your hearts are filled with joy; lift your hands in sweet surrender to His name. Oh, give him all your tears and sadness, give Him all your years of pain, and you'll enter into life in Jesus' name.
Jesus, oh Jesus, come and fill your lambs. Jesus, oh Jesus, come and fill your lambs.

Acts 20:24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Just completed reading through Acts. Oh, to be as bold, confident, and persistent as Paul!!

Still on wi-fi in town - very difficult to get computer service at school and the red tape is very long!!
We discovered a church on the beach this past Sunday morning called Three Sails. Very nice people. We met their youth leader who graduated from Auburn about 5 years ago and he reminded of the precious ones in our Sunday School class back home. It was good to find this group of folks to identify with in many ways.
This Sunday we plan to attend the church on St. Thomas which wants to begin an outreach to farmers in that community. Please pray for those doors to open for Dickie.
Hearing good things about revival services at Calvary Tupelo. We sure miss all of you, and are overwhelmingly blessed by the many letters and contacts we receive. It just blows us away and makes us feel very loved and supported!!
Personally, most of my days are going well, but occasionally those ol' tears fall and I get physically homesick. But it passes, and I move on. Following God's leadership is always the right thing to do, but sometimes it leads over rocky roads. Guess that's the only way we can grow and change sometimes. I'm sure I'll look back on this adventure someday and say, "Oh, so that's why He had us go there!!"
A little girl at school who gets on my last nerve writes me the sweetest notes but she can't get her work done! God blesses me through her each day.
Praying for you all!