Why We Came to the Island...

It isn't a long story...
and there are days when I do wonder...
how did we come to be here on this Caribbean island?

(our seaside cottage)

my husband, Don, is an island boy...
born and raised on this particular island far south in the caribbean sea

(our cottage seaside view)

and although I was born American...
I was raised in South America by my missionary parents...
little knowing that not so far away...
my island boy was growing up

we met in America, married, had two children
we visited my husband's home a few times...
and after the children left home to go out on their own...
we talked of going back to the island on a permanent basis

(an island of mountains and valleys)

we had grown tired of the rat race and the noisiness of "civilization"...
the gated communities, the materialism...
the complicated system of regulations and laws that dictate...
even the very color of one's own front door...
what you can have in your yard and how one can use their land...
the taxes that seem to get higher with every year...
requirements by law that keep a person bogged down living from paycheck to paycheck
and the laws against healthy foods, such as raw milk

(a view from my husband's boyhood home)

it took a few years to get to that point...
and in February 2008, we made the big move...
living in a seaside home before moving to the farm where the location...
is more conducive to having animals and growing crops that otherwise...
didn't do well by the salty air

this island is low on taxes (no income tax, in fact)
has very few laws and regulations that strangle farmers and homesteaders...
instead, encouraging people to eat healthy from their gardens and own animals
does not require us to live by laws that sap our monies
we have freedoms here that Americans have lost long ago

(lovely beaches)

in saying that...
Don and I know that truly the Lord brought us here...
for whatever reason we had...
God has His own for bringing us to this island

we do not know if we are here till He takes us home to Him...
or if perhaps, He may take us elsewhere
it doesn't matter

I know that the Lord does all things well...
and His will is perfectly suited to His children's welfare
we wait on Him to guide

May your day, or night be blessed in the grace of God.
jean