Hello and welcome to the February blog! Our weather continues to complicate life. The "dry" season has not made an appearance yet. February was mostly cool and wet; a far cry from the drought we experienced in the two preceding years. For the first time in the last four months the cumulative rain fall caused quite a bit of damage. Rock falls and mud slides were quite common; no one was seriously hurt but life became more uncomfortable and awkward as roads were blocked and cars were caught up and damaged in nature's chaos. On the 4th of February the Island provided us with our first experience of an earthquake. It measured 5.3 on the Richter scale; however, little or no damage was done across the Island. The manse hardly moved and we were duly appreciative of that! I was invited to take part in the National Church Service to mark the Grenadian Independence Day Celebrations on the 6th of February. The service was held about a twenty minute drive from the manse in the newly renovated Anglican Church in Victoria. Lovely church, lovely service! We also had company from Sutton ON – Denver and Brenda Dickie – who came looking for some tropical sunshine and some beach time. They were here for just over a week and experienced only two days that were beach type days. To our rather spoiled temperature gauges the sea water was as cool as we have felt it since we arrived – it was bordering on being cold. How would things stand if we were to compare it to Lake Simcoe, even in the summer time? No contest would have to be ruled!
Belair P.C. had a quiet month. Plans are underway for our harvest on the 5th of May. Tickets have been printed for the afternoon tea and will be on sale this week. Two of our youth are going to a pre-Lenten weekend in Trinidad from the 4th – 8th of March. This is their first time off the Island and their excitement is high. They will be the guests of the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad and Tobago. It will be interesting for them to reflect on how a larger church than the PCG serves Jesus Christ.
The work at Belair Primary School continues to grind along. The three boys who are "out in front" of the group continue to lead the pack. This, the second part of a test programme with the CALS, is not proving to be as positive as the first. The issue is beginning to centre on the CALS programme's suitability to handle children who experience different degrees of Attention Span Deficit. There are also issues around the need for simple self-discipline. If body language is any indication of what is tripping through the mind then the minds concerned are on what could be described as a permanent vacation! Ann has been told that the children in this group have issues with attention deficits; are lazy with no known motivation (from them or their parents) that they do any better. The school was hoping the CALS programme would provide them with an opportunity to stretch them to a new place but, sadly this has not happened. Nor, unfortunately, has their confidence in themselves improved. And that, for me, is heartbreaking. We have three months left in which we might make a difference. Help us pray for Alex, Deszim, Dezra, Jade, Josh, Kemron, Leonson and Seon. Life is hanging in the balance for them.
On our school calendars this is sports season. Part of the Caribbean Culture is based on athletic ability, particularly that of the male. Primary School Sports Days are fun; as well as the athletics there are sack races, (plastic) spoon and lime races and blind man races. The last event is a hoot! The starters of the races and the judges who determine the finishing order have a much easier job that than those who officiate at the Senior Sports! Belair Primary asked that I do the Prayer of Invocation for their sports day. Another day in our lives when we were surrounded by excited children and their cheering families. Lovely! MacDonald Sports are in March. They will be much more serious. If you make it to the showcase that is Sports Day for Senior Schools from across the Island at the stadium in St. George's you will run before talent scouts from some of the major U.S. Universities. It could be your ticket off the Island. It could also improve your family's lifestyle dramatically. Do academics take a back seat at this time of year? Indeed they do!
The osteoarthritis in my left knee has become a bit more problematic. It is causing more and more discomfort despite attempts to heal it. I am missing the specialist in Newmarket who solved my problem ten years ago. The specialist that I am seeing, a product of the University of Edinburgh, and a good man, took part in an operation a few weeks ago at the hospital in St. George's. They did two knee replacements that day. These were the first operations of this sort on the Island.
In all of this the 2011 Sports Day at MacDonald is being prepared for to the very best of everybody's ability. It will happen on the afternoon of the 4th of March. The main inter-school competition will take place toward the end of March. Will there be much school work done in March? Easter will provide us with a two week break in April. Exams fill the months of May and June. School finishes early July.
In Matthew 7 Jesus teaches that those who hear his words and act on them will be like the wise who build their house on rock. Neither rain nor wind will hurt the house because of its foundation. Then there is the house built on sand, the house of the foolish. When the wind and rain come it will fall easily. The work that we do in the schools causes us to reflect on these words often. Have we built our work here on a solid foundation? Building on the volcanic rock that lies all around us is difficult, challenging and time consuming. Yet it is God that takes the time to set a solid foundation, to measure with care as together we build something that is dependable.
Jesus says listen and act. Join us in the prayer that God will be with us during the time when we act in Jesus' name.
