A Promise to Joseph

Words & Music by Allen Peabody (Joseph's dad, my cousin)

I can't stop the rain from falling
It's been raining for so long
I can't take your pain away
Or find what's right inside the wrong

But take my hand, we'll go through this together
And I can help you to stand
I don't know what tomorrow will bring us
But you'll know where I am

I can't stop the night from coming
Or turn the darkness into light
There's so much I cannot do for you
But I can give you the strength to fight

But take my hand, we'll go through this together
And I can help you to stand
I don't know what tomorrow will bring us
But you'll know where I am

There is one who can do all things
Can stop the rain and end the night
He'll bring you peace and restoration
And make this wrong into a beautiful right

So take His hand
You'll walk with Him together
Before His throne you will stand
We'll be fine with the peace He will bring us
And I'll know where you are

Joseph passed away Thursday afternoon. He turned 4 years old on Wednesday, and died on Thursday. As awful as this is, I'm so thankful that Ryan and I were on a plane on our way home so that we could be with our family. Allen sang this song at Joseph's funeral. Several posts ago I posted a video of the song Held, referring to Joseph. Natalie Grant came to the funeral today and sang Held. Please continue to pray for the Peabodys. The funeral is over and everybody will go back to their normal, everyday lives, but they will be faced with a new normal. Prayer and the peace God gives are the things that will carry them through this.

"I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." 2 Tim. 4:7-8

A few Dominican moments...

1.) Yesterday I was driving down Moo Cow Trail and all of the goats were galloping (galloping? I don't know what you call it...faster than walking, but not running) in front of my car. There is one goat that has a bum leg. He only walks on 3 legs. He was hobbling along the best he could, but could not keep up. It was extra hot yesterday and the poor goat kept stopping to catch his breath, but then when he saw how he was being left behind he would try to hop even faster down the trail. I felt so bad for him! And I was so mad at the other goats for being so stupid and not realizing that their buddy couldn't move that fast. It wasn't like I could offer the poor goat a ride, and I didn't know what else to do... so I prayed. I said, "Lord, I know that it's strange to pray for a goat, but will you just help him since none of his friends seem to care?". Maybe I've lost it...that was the first time I've ever prayed for a goat...well, maybe the 2nd. :) I prayed for Wilbur, the newborn goat, one night when we had a huge thunderstorm because I was afraid he was scared or that he was going to die in the storm. Anyway, I know it's weird...you don't have to tell me!

2.) I was driving down Banana Trail today and came to a screeching halt because somebody parked right in the middle of the road and left just enough room for my car to pass with about 1/2 a centimeter in between us. I couldn't run off the road at all because there was a ditch on my other side. To make matters worse, a local was standing about 2 feet away peeing. Gross. Just talking on his cell phone and somewhat attempting to hide behind a palm tree trunk for his privacy (he was about 3 times wider than the palm tree).

3.) Yesterday we were enjoying our Sunday lunch at Subway and all of a sudden a huge black iguana came running towards the area we were seated in. When they come straight towards you, they really look like small dinosaurs. It ended up crawling up a tree and not coming any closer to us.

4.) This morning I watched as a new spouse hurriedly jumped in her car in a rush to leave. Only, she jumped into the passenger seat because she forgot we drive on the opposite side here.

5.) Ralna and her family were invited by their landlord to a village feast in Pinnville. It's maybe 30 min away. So on Sunday Ralna loaded her kids up and went to this big feast. Craig couldn't go because they have tests and finals this week. Ralna, being the smart lady she is, made spaghetti to contribute to the feast (because she knew her kids would eat that, but probably wouldn't eat anything served at the village feast). She said when they got there, at 1:00 on a Sunday afternoon, the man who greeted them was a little bit drunk. He was trying to show her around and told her the kids would be fine where they were. She was a nervous wreck. Then her landlord showed up (a nice lady) and was so excited that they were there. She said a man put a plate full of breadfruit and pig snout in front of her. Then she said "He put about a cup of vegetable oil on top of everything, smiled, and told me to enjoy my meal!!". Ha ha! Ralna said she didn't know what to do, so she choked down some breadfruit and stirred the pig snout around on her plate so it would look like she had eaten some. She whispered to the kids "Eat your spaghetti and don't dare comment that you're hungry!".

Some Bays...

Today I went with some spouses to snorkel at Douglas Bay and last Friday we went to Jungle Bay. This picture is from today before we got out of the boat to snorkel.
This is Liz and Larissa. The water was very clear and I saw more fish and plants today than I ever have before! There were tiny little jellyfish everywhere. I don't think I have any stings.
We had to take a boat over to Douglas Bay.
This is Fort Shirley.

And this is how we got from the dive shop to the boat. Not safe! When they said this is how we were getting there I said, "But I'm not allowed to ride in the back of a truck! My mom would spank me if she saw this!"
Ralna had a lot of ladies over for breakfast Tuesday morning. It was a going away party for Heather (in the dark green dress).
That white car is ours. Mad cows all around it!
This is Jungle Bay. It took about 2 hours to drive there from campus. It is on the southeast end of the island. I had never seen that part of the island before. The drive was beautiful. Jungle Bay is a vacation spot/resort. You can look at more pictures of it at http://www.junglebaydominica.com/. The water was a brighter blue than it is at campus. This is the Atlantic Ocean side of the island and we are on the Caribbean Sea side.

This is where I had the best massage I have ever had! It was a cottage on the side of the cliff overlooking the ocean!
There was no relaxing music playing...just the sound of the waves crashing loudly on the side of the cliff. I got a massage by the beach when we were on our honeymoon, but I could hear children yelling and playing, so this one was better because it felt like I was the only person for miles and miles.
View from massage room window. I was worried about privacy when I saw that all the windows were wide open, then I realized I was on the edge of the mountain and could see the ocean for miles and miles. It was so relaxing and I loved it!
This is our "code rock". Our cell phones didn't have a signal, so Kyle and Andrea were going to leave that rock out for me if they were at the pool so I would know where to find them. The resort is big. If the rock was gone, that meant they were in the gift shop.

Pool at Jungle Bay.

Sad to say "Goodbye"...

slideshow - Powered by Smilebox" src="http://www.smilebox.com/globalImages/blogInstructions/blogLogoSmileboxSmall.gif" width=386>

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Kyle and Andrea leave Dominica (for good) bright and early Monday morning. Ryan and I threw a surprise going away party for them and they were so surprised! You'll see some pictures from it in the slide show. Then they turned right around and surprised us by mailing a gift card to my parent's house to the Melting Pot!!! I am so excited for us to have a date there in a few weeks! I made this slide show to show just how many memories we've made in one short year! (It's kind of a long show!) When it gets to the video, just click the center and the video will play. I can't even imagine what our Dominica experience would have been if they had not been a part of it. When you are on a tiny island, thousands and thousands of miles from family, your friends step in and assume the role of being your "family" on a day-to-day basis. Even though we've only known them for a year, I'm certain we are going to be life-long friends! I know that they stayed on Dominica an extra semester because it was best for them, but I honestly feel like it was a present from God, handed just to me (with a big bow on Andrea's head). :) Ryan and Kyle did not get to hang out as much as Andrea and I did (simply because they are busy becoming doctors), so we can't wait to hang out when the stresses of studying are behind them. We're so, so sad to see them go (that "no tears" saying is a bunch of bologna), but we've already planned to go to Disney World one weekend this coming spring when Ryan and I will be living in Miami. We're just so thankful for them. Please keep them in your prayers because they are waiting to hear where they go next for Kyle to begin rotations. Please keep us in your prayers too because we're left on the island for another semester without them!!! Well, as they say in Dominica, "Ovwa, Morgans"!!! (but NOT for long, ok??)

*** The slide show is not over until you see the sunset that says "Ovwa Dominica". You may have to push an arrow after the video plays to get the slide show to continue. Also, once the show starts you can select "full screen" at the bottom. Enjoy!

Bookin' Time!

There was a transport driver standing on campus a couple of weeks ago yelling "What time is it? Bookin' time!!!'". He was trying to get people to book him to take them to the airport at the end of the semester. That's right, it's the end of the semester!!! Today is Ryan's last day of lecture. :) He still has tests and finals, so please keep him in your prayers over the next 2 weeks. We will be home 2 weeks from tomorrow! YAY!!! This is our schedule:

Thursday, Aug. 21: Travel Day/Nashville P.M.
Friday, Aug. 22: Ryan to Gatlinburg, Ashley to Jackson
Saturday, Aug. 23: Ryan in Gatlinburg, Ashley in Jackson
Sunday, Aug. 24: Back to Nashville in the P.M.
Monday, Aug. 25: Nashville
Tuesday, Aug. 26: Nashville
Wednesday, Aug. 27: Middleton A.M., Jackson P.M.
Thursday, Aug.28: Jackson
Friday, Aug. 29: Jackson, Nashville P.M.
Saturday, Aug. 30: Nashville
Sunday, Aug. 31: Nashville
Monday, Sept. 1: Nashville
Tuesday, Sept. 2: Nashville
Wednesday, Sept. 3: Nashville/Jackson
Thursday, Sept. 4: Jackson
Friday, Sept. 5: Jackson
Saturday, Sept.6: Jackson for Will & Jenny's wedding!!!
Sunday, Sept. 7: Travel Day to Dominica

Of course, this schedule may change, but we wanted to go ahead and have a plan so we could start "bookin'" y'all for lunches, dinners, and hang-out time! Can't wait to see everybody! Please pray for a safe trip and for us to make all our flights! What time is it? Bookin' time!!!

A little dental work (house call)

One of Ryan's fillings popped out several weeks ago. We had a little consult on Skype with my dad and I held a flashlight while Ryan attempted to show Dad the tooth with our computer camera. Dad sent us some temporary filling and that little dental tool that looks like Captain Hook's arm. Dad said that I would be able to fix it myself (just a temporary fix - till we get home for an office visit). I was a little nervous and one of my friends (and also a spouse), Sarah, is a dental hygienist. She came over this week and fixed Ryan's tooth and I got to be a dental assistant. Basically, I just held the flashlight and took pictures. :)

Ryan is good to go for the rest of the semester! It's great to have friends!

We had a "Goodbye" surprise party for Kyle & Andrea last night, so I'll post pictures from that later. It was tons of fun! They leave one week from tomorrow (Monday)...so this is our last week as neighbors! :(

Ryan and I will be home in 17 days and we just can't wait. We won't be home for long, but are just so thankful for the small break that is coming up!