I remember at age eleven when I was sentenced to travel over land and sea to my home country; Jamaica. It felt like a death sentence. I could hear the bitter song of sufferation calling me home. How I cried! How I pleaded to remain living the life in which I was accustomed! However, my whines fell on deaf adult ears and on December 7th, 2007 my younger sister, cousin and I arrived in Kingston, Jamaica.
Looking back I knew why I cried, why I begged. Why I even grew 'facety' (feisty). I was afraid that Jamaica would stunt my growth. See I thought i was doing so well in the Bahamas for an eleven year old. I had completed Primary School with honours and found placement in a private High School. Life was great. I was on my way to success and then Jamaica got in the way. Jamaica, the land of my parents, grand and great grand parents. I was told to run from it les it latches on to you striping you of joy, riches and fame. Jamaica as I was thought was where the mountain top people went to suffer. I was living the mountain top life, I wasn't willing to step down and into the valley.
Back then I had no faith in the GOD of the impossible, the controller of past, present and future. I relied on my limited wisdom, knowledge and strength. When I came to Jamaica I was re-enrolled into Primary School for six months. Didn't sit the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), but was admitted into High School. The Jonathan Grant High, I will forever sing of your greatness.
I left Jamaica for the United States December 13, 2017 and this time I cried to stay. There I found Christ, a friend closer than any brother, friends and neighbours that became family. In Jamaica I found love, true love. Love that I never want to die. I found me and discovered so much more. I appreciate my Jamaican journey because it thought me this; I can make it anywhere because I serve a God who craves the road of my future. He does it skillfully, masterfully and beautiful.
I know that God is not yet through with me. As my journey continues with Him in this foreign land I humbly wait to appreciate.
-January 29, 2018
Chantol Aspinall
Looking back I knew why I cried, why I begged. Why I even grew 'facety' (feisty). I was afraid that Jamaica would stunt my growth. See I thought i was doing so well in the Bahamas for an eleven year old. I had completed Primary School with honours and found placement in a private High School. Life was great. I was on my way to success and then Jamaica got in the way. Jamaica, the land of my parents, grand and great grand parents. I was told to run from it les it latches on to you striping you of joy, riches and fame. Jamaica as I was thought was where the mountain top people went to suffer. I was living the mountain top life, I wasn't willing to step down and into the valley.
Back then I had no faith in the GOD of the impossible, the controller of past, present and future. I relied on my limited wisdom, knowledge and strength. When I came to Jamaica I was re-enrolled into Primary School for six months. Didn't sit the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), but was admitted into High School. The Jonathan Grant High, I will forever sing of your greatness.
I left Jamaica for the United States December 13, 2017 and this time I cried to stay. There I found Christ, a friend closer than any brother, friends and neighbours that became family. In Jamaica I found love, true love. Love that I never want to die. I found me and discovered so much more. I appreciate my Jamaican journey because it thought me this; I can make it anywhere because I serve a God who craves the road of my future. He does it skillfully, masterfully and beautiful.
I know that God is not yet through with me. As my journey continues with Him in this foreign land I humbly wait to appreciate.
-January 29, 2018
Chantol Aspinall