Until we meet again...not good-bye...

Our future sister that I was privileged to study with while
in Saba.  Clint also started a study with her brother.

We are now safely tucked away in our home in PA.  Unfortunately, the blog doesn't end how I wished, but things in life don't generally end the way you expect.  Canyon got very sick our last week in Saba.  His fever went from 103 to 101 with medicine for our last four days.  We had planned one last visit with all our friends, studies, and calls.  We didn't want to share his sickness.  Canyon begged me to let him go to our last meeting and give his last talk...a Bible reading with a lot of very difficult names that he had

perfected reading with a lot of practice.  With a temperature of 103 though, I couldn't let him be out with others.  I know what you are thinking...mosquitos, foreign country with crazy diseases-OH NO.  I guess we have officially traveled enough because we didn't panic or worry.  We took him to the doctor after 5 days as suggested by our doctor back home and he had a severe case of tonsillitis.  Poor thing, he hardly complained at all...he is a very sweet sicky :) The

visibility seemed endless

 doctor couldn't believe he hadn't complained more upon looking at his throat!  Anyway, my pictures are quite different than I had planned for our final blog.  I wanted to conclude with lots of pictures of our new friends, or perhaps I should say family, that we have now in Saba.  Instead, it will be pictures are of a snorkel boat trip we did the day Canyon got sick...he insisted he felt good enough to go, but he got sick...and it wasn't sea sickness!  He was still happy he went because he got to see lots of cool fish before his temperature spiked!

These little guys seemed to have lights because they were so bright neon colored!

This coral was a beautiful shade of lavender.  It was about 3 ft tall.  All the coral was pristine!

I had told you about the roads and pictures don't do them justice.  This is the best picture I got to show how steep and windy they were, but you still can't really tell.  Let's put it this way for those who have visited our home...our lane seems like a slight slant now when compared with Saba!



 Our last morning in Saba gave us perhaps our clearest views of the entire time we were there...St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, and Nevis...the view from our cottage!



Canyon was missing snow and made this snowflake for his teacher.  Fortunately, there was plenty of snow for him to enjoy when we got home and he has been out playing in it every day!  Though he already admitted that he doesn't like the cold as much anymore.  PA is freezing!  I don't mind the cold that much, but I miss slipping on my flip-flops or just running outside barefoot!

Even Mount Scenery, towering over our cottage, cleared perfectly for a bit the day we left.

McKinney's kindly took us to our ferry for our departure.  It is a bitter sweet good-bye.  We hate to leave our new family, but we have other family that we left behind that we are anxious to see.  It is comforting to know that the congregation is left in GREAT hands.  McKinney's generously give everyone on the island everything they possibly can give.  The friends love them dearly and are very grateful for all the sacrifices they have made to assist them.  We get it...we understand why they keep sacrificing so much to be able to go to Saba and are grateful for our small taste of serving here. 

Saba is often referred to as a rock jutting out of the ocean.  Well, many rocks are precious gems or contain precious gems and it is no different with Saba.  We talked to quite a few people that came to Saba for an organized day trip from St. Maarten to do a preaching campaign.  They laughed and said they would never go back or that they could never live there.  Sometimes it takes some work, time, and patience to mine for precious gems, but once you find one your efforts are worthwhile.  Saba has the same affect.  You WILL find gems if you are willing to put in the time, work, and patience.  After two months we were just starting to understand what a true gem Saba really is...and not for it's pristine diving, medical school, or the beautiful hiking on Mount Scenery that attract the few tourists that make the trip.  It is for its people that love and respect the Bible and our little isolated group at the Kingdom Hall...who we will miss immensely!

Views as our ferry takes us to St. Maarten...

The 5 square mile 'rock' that changed our life and gave us a lot of perspective on life and how we want to live it!

Good-bye....Saba...we will never forget you!
We took a weeks vacation in St. Maarten to rest up and reflect on our 2 months in Saba. We were exhausted emotionally, mentally, and physically.  Clint was asked to give two public talks at two different halls on Sunday...in St. Maarten!  How could he turn down a congregation of 150 that only has two elders?  So much for getting a break :)  Now we understand why the brothers in St. Maarten just can't get to Saba to help.  They are completely spent in there own congregations.  He was happy to give the talks for them.  A sister asked if we would please come to her home Monday night and we agreed, though to be honest we were a bit ready for some family time.  Another vital lesson learned...and we thought we had left all our lesson learning behind in Saba for the week.  Think bigger when you think 'family'.  It can be narrow minded to feel that you need blood to connect you to be 'family' and you miss out on many blessings.  It turns out that 9 sisters get together for family worship at her house on Monday night...and we were their family worship for the week!  It was an amazing exchange of fellowship and encouragement.  These were widows, single moms, wives of unbelievers...that had all worked that day and were visibly exhausted.  Yet they saw the importance of having family worship and decided to organize doing it together.  No matter how tired they are, they view it as a priority and don't miss it.  They agreed that it is their most looked forward to day of the week.  They no longer feel isolated or lonely because of there situation in life.  They could just sit at home, pity themselves, watch TV, surf the internet, and be depressed...but they deserve better and have chosen better!  Lesson learned...there is no reason to be lonely...reach out to someone else who is lonely and you'll be better off for it and so will they!  Widen out and MAKE your family if you don't have one :)

Thank you for your interest in our trip and following our blog.  We truly enjoyed serving in Saba and hope you keep us posted on your spiritual adventures!