Day 14

Every day began to feel the same and today didn’t feel like Sunday without going to church.  I think we were both beginning to prepare for our homegoing.  We had a leisurely coffee in our room, went to breakfast later and meandered our way by the ponds to feed the fish.  Our last full day would be a beach day.  Walter had a novel to finish –his fourth- and I was working on my fourth, as well.  Away we went, ready to do nothing but stare at our books, the boats, parasail, swimmers and the insides of our eyelids!  In twenty-four hours, we would be on a plane flying north.  Hard to believe two weeks could go by so fast!

We kept looking out for our buddy, Louisjean, and I thought I saw him talking to someone near the pool, but he never did come by our spot under the thatched shelter.  Too bad, we hoped to say good-bye and even pray with him.  He had been a real encouragement to us and seemed to value his fellowship time with us almost every day since last Sunday when we got to know him.  Oh, well, Facebook will be there for us to link with our Haitian brother.

Our last evening’s dinner plans were for the “La Perla” restaurant near the beach, which specialized in seafood.  Already our thoughts were on packing: how to fit the souvenirs into our luggage and how to squish the laundry in an orderly fashion.  It is way more fun packing to go on vacation than at the end of it!  I needed to find bags to contain our sandy footwear within our luggage…enough of that!  Let’s just stay in the moment on our last dinner in paradise.

So we dressed up again for dinner and were pleased with the seaside view and candlelit environment.  We were greeted with deep-fried fish on a skewer and drinks again as we were seated.  I had salad to start with the garlic shrimp and rice for the main course.  Walter decided on shrimp cocktail as his appetizer and the calamari for the entrée.  We were not disappointed again with the presentation and the taste of the food.  Dessert was French pastries for Walter and crème brule with fresh fruit for me.  Coffee finished off our meal.  The open restaurant was a bit cooler being on the beach, so I was glad I chose a three quarter length sleeved blouse to wear.  As we were about to leave, we realized the wind picked up and it began to rain.  We didn’t stroll our way back to our room but it was only a few drops and we were under cover!

As we looked over the past two weeks, our thoughts and comments were overwhelmingly thankful and blessed!  I had never dreamed of coming to a place like the Dominican Republic.  Many times in the past twenty-five years, we had traveled, mostly for ministry.  We had taken camping vacations and visited family and had the privilege of co-owning a cabin to enjoy family holidays.  We have celebrated our anniversaries with special overnight or weekend getaways but this one had to be the most lavish and extravagant we had ever experienced! 

On this our final evening, we were truly thankful to God for keeping us these twenty-five years, for lavishing on us His supply to enjoy such a special vacation and celebration of His faithfulness.  We will dare to dream of more amazing adventures together and know God gives us more than we can ask or imagine when we delight in Him.

“God is before all things and in Him all things hold together.”  Colossians 1:17