Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas

Happy New Year!

We are thankful that we could spend the holidays with my family in the Bahamas on a little island called Green Turtle Cay. It's only accessible by boat and most people get around on golf carts.

We live on an island here in the Dominican Republic but it's nothing like this island. In Green Turtle Cay there are only about five hundred people and no natural fresh water. There are only a few shops and groceries are very expensive. It was relaxing though! We enjoyed boating, fishing, swimming, snorkeling, and more!

Turtle watching was my favourite. I stayed away from the sharks.

We also enjoyed lots of time playing and snuggling with cousins.

and a New Year's Parade called Junkanoo.

The kids especially loved Sunday School and couldn't wait to go back.

Thank you, Mom and Dad! It was a great trip!

Marcie

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Just missing one brother and sister-in-law

We love our little actors!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David 

a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:11

Marcie and family

The Missing Blanket

Hello!

You will be happy to know that we found the missing blanket!
Let me give you a little bit of history.

When we had our little girl, she was given more blankets than I can remember but didn't really get attached to any of them. She often liked to have something soft with her but it was usually whichever stuffed animal was newest.

I thought that our second born was really attached to his blanket. From the time he was very tiny, he loved knitted or crocheted blankets with holes to put his fingers through. I packed a couple of different ones when we moved to the Dominican Republic when he was a year old and he quickly decided which one he wanted. He went everywhere with that blanket but, after a while, could sleep without it if we couldn't find it.

Then came this boy.

He goes EVERYWHERE with his blanket. It's a hand-me-down from friends and we have no idea who made it or how we could ever get another one. He cries if we don't bring it to church and asks for it if we leave it behind when we run errands. One time it got left in a store and he had to go without it for a night. It took him FOREVER to get to sleep. He was not ready to give it up and neither was I.

So you can imagine my worry when we couldn't find blankie right before our first evening session on a missionary retreat this week-end. I thought he would stay awake and we could go home and get it after our session. (We only live about ten minutes from the camp.) But the session went late and somehow, with the help of his big brother and a wonderful babysitter, he fell asleep. We decided not to drive out late at night and hoped that he wouldn't wake up. It was all fine until five o'clock in the morning when he caused such a commotion that none of the rest of us could get any more sleep. We were sure that blankie was left at home and made an early run to get it (and sneak in a shower because the camp's water wasn't working.) We searched the house from top to bottom but it wasn't there. Had he dropped it when he played with the neighbours while waiting for us to pack up the car? We didn't see it anywhere. Had he left it somewhere outside when we first got to the camp? We returned but no one remembered seeing him with it there. Could it be on the top bunk where we forgot to check when we were home? We somehow got him to take a nap and then wore him out and prayed that he would make it through the night. He slept until 8:30 and we were much more awake for that morning's session!

When we drove home I noticed our overflowing garbage cans and complained, "Oh, they didn't pick up our garbage!" They often come on Fridays (occasionally Thursdays which I think is the actual assigned day) but there was a holiday this week so I was hoping they would come on the week-end. You never really know here. Then I noticed a small section of a tattered green blanket sticking out from under the lid. Blankie was in the garbage can! Good thing the garbage truck didn't come! We had one VERY happy little boy who could not stop checking the washing machine to see if it was done yet.

And our Linus is back!

Goodnight! I hope we will all have a great sleep tonight!

Marcie Cooper

P.S. Our sessions were part of a Peacemaker Seminar based on the book The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict by Ken Sande. I highly recommend it especially for missionaries. Did you know that the number one reason for leaving the field is conflict with other missionaries? Please pray for us and for good relationships with our fellow workers!

Summer Update

Hello!

Since it's been a while since I've written, I thought I'd give you an update on our family and ministry here in the Dominican Republic.

1) Paul has kept busy as Director of ANIJA with hiring, scheduling and planning for the fall. We've also attended a couple more graduations.

First Grade Graduation

High School Graduation

Our school only goes through Grade 8 but students can continue to be sponsored through high school if they get good grades, are part of our high school club, and continue to attend church. 

2) I am relieved to be done planning Bible curriculum and doing training sessions for our summer program. I have been on antibiotics for two weeks for a painful cyst in my nose and haven't had a lot of energy. Prayers are appreciated!

3) Our three kids have probably been watching too many movies but have also been enjoying the summer.

Our bookworm has opted to attend the summer
program every morning at ANIJA. They're studying Oceania
and learning about Daniel and Esther.

Our little climber is still at it!

We build with blocks and trains EVERY day with this boy!

4) We have been quite discouraged by the Chinese adoption process. We haven't had any news from China for a couple months since, apparently, they've had some bugs in their new computer system. Please pray for us as we update our homestudy in Ontario again this summer. We just applied for International Police checks today so our paperwork has begun once again!

THANK YOU to those of you who are praying for us and supporting us financially. We cannot adequately express how much we appreciate you!

Marcie Cooper

Powerful God

Dear Friends,

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. 

Isaiah 40:28

We didn't quite go to the ends of the earth last week but drove six hours to the end of the island to spend a week with Paul's family in Punta Cana. It was beautiful!

After a couple days, it got really windy and I was reminded of God's power through the crashing waves.

`

 Isaiah 40 talks about God's power but doesn't stop there. He GIVES his power to the weak. Many of us know verse 31:

But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

We continue to pray for strength for Paul's sister, Lisa, who has not been well but was finally given the OK to travel to visit us. It was great to spend time with a wonderful family!

Marcie Cooper

Summer Kids

Hello!

As promised, here are some cute kid pictures instead of museums and ruins. The summer has flown by but we have had lots of fun!

I hope that you've been enjoying your summer too!

Have a great day!

Marcie Cooper

Father's Day and Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness

Hello and Happy Father's Day!

I have been trying to write a message about faithfulness for a few weeks but the ideas were just not coming to me. Then I started to think about Father's Day and I knew that the two had to go together. My Dad is a faithful man in so many ways. Here are a few:
- He is faithful to his Detroit sports teams no matter if they win or lose.
- He is faithful in his work at which he has excelled for over thirty-five years.
- He is faithful to his church where he has been a member since I was a baby.
- He is a faithful son and visits my Grandma and cuts her grass regularly.
- He is a faithful husband and, in July, will celebrate forty years of marriage to my Mom.
- He is a faithful father and loves and supports me and my brothers no matter what.
- He is also a faithful, loving, and giving grandfather.

Thank you, Dad, for being such a faithful father. You demonstrate God's faithfulness in so many tangible ways and I appreciate you very much. I love you, Dad!

Love, Marcie

Cucumbers

Hello!

I love cucumbers! I especially craved them during my first pregnancy but it's my second child, my little monkey-boy, who loves them about as much as I do. He's a picky eater but loves to fill his plate with cucumber slices and arrange them like a happy face. So we buy cucumbers all the time. But for some reason, today when I picked up cucumbers at the market they reminded me of my Grandpa. There are lots of greenhouses where I grew up and Grandpa would often bring us bags of skinny, irregular shaped cucumbers when he came to visit. They tasted even better than the ones that looked perfect! He didn't like tomatoes even though he lived in Leamington, the Tomato Capital of Canada. The Heinz factory made it's famous ketchup and the tourist information booth looked like a giant tomato but for my Grandpa it was always cucumbers.

Big cucumbers with lots of seeds are always available where we live here in the Dominican Republic. People use them (along with my Grandpa's awful tomatoes) on top of lettuce and cabbage to make a simple green salad they call "ensalada mixta" or "mixed salad." But certain times of the year we can get smaller, skinny ones that, today, reminded me of Grandpa's.

My Grandpa died two years ago and, while he is remembered for much more than cucumbers, it was cucumbers today that reminded me of the blessing he was in my life. I'm so thankful for the time I was able to spend with him.

Thank you, Lord, for my Grandpa and for his home in heaven with you. Thank you that I'll be able to see him again someday!

Marcie Cooper

Passports

Hello!

This week we went to Santo Domingo to renew a couple of passports. Dominicans often just refer to Santo Domingo as "La Capital" which you can probably figure out to mean "The Capital." The word looks the same but is pronounced a differently. The i says "ee" and the emphasis is on the last syllable.

We went to the Canadian Embassy and had to go through security twice and leave our cell phones in a tiny locker before we could get in. All of our papers looked fine so we should get new passports in a couple weeks.

There are lots of sites to see in Santo Domingo since it was one of the first cities established in the New World but we'll have to save that for another time.

Right now we have my parents here visiting for a week and it's like Christmas all over again with all of the special things they brought from "home."  I'm enjoying hearing my Mom read some new bedtime stories to the kids in the other room.  They sure do love their Grandparents!

Have a good night!

Marcie Cooper

Baby Tan

Hello!

I just can't help but show you this cute little guy who snuck away after his bath and jumped into a pile of blankets and cushions his siblings were playing with.

Look at his little arms. My baby has a tan!

He had sunscreen on at the beach but we don't put it on every day when we're outside. He LOVES to be outside!

Have a great (hopefully sunny) day!

Marcie Cooper

Cousins

Hello!


Do you have many cousins? I grew up with a lot of them around my age and had fun playing and having sleepovers with them. My kids have two cousins and enjoyed being with them over the holidays.

 Meeting a new cousin

Ready, Set, Go! 

Wrestling with Grandpa

My Favourite :)

We are expecting another cousin in June and can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl. We'll let you know!

Have a great day!

Marcie Cooper