Whew! Goin' Home...

We are now in Florida, with Haiti ahead of us for tomorrow and Sabetha, Kansas behind us from yesterday. We had a WONDERFUL time in Sabetha...Matt got to fly with Martin in his plane and play 9 holes of golf with Martin, Tim and Brian. I ate at LEAST 1/2 gallon of Charlie's ice cream, and we were blessed by some downtime at their house while they're out of state. We met a wonderful team of people that are coming to Haiti for a week in August, and many other friends that we have been anxious to meet. Thank you SO much Northridge Church for all of your prayers and support, encouragement and family-ship!

We also had a bit of time with Sam's family-pictured (one of the missionaries that we serve with in Haiti) and with the Mishlers.

Ah, it was just an awesome trip, and a great end to this time in the States.

Lily, new tooth and all, has been SUCH a trouper through flights, hotels, rental cars, long trips and an ever-changing schedule.

We continue to be asked, "Are you ready [to go back]?" and to be honest, we have no idea. Sitting here alone in Florida, we are missing our family and feeling a bit depressed about how long it will be before we see them again, and are remembering full well the most difficult part of this adventurous calling: missing family and friends, not just for us, but now for Lily as well.

We're also trying to decide if our "last meal" will be pizza or Indian, a very important decision because we won't have that luxury of deciding what we "feel like" eating for quite some time :)

At the same time, we miss home, and are very anxious to be back about our "Father's business" there and back to some normalcy....our scheduled devotional times each morning, cooking in our kitchen, being back in our bed, being out of suitcases, giving Lily back a bedtime and a bedroom, our "couple hour" each evening...

More than that, we are missing our family and friends in Haiti, too, and are so excited about being back with them tomorrow and catching up on their lives and on what God's been doing there the past 7 weeks.

Most: We want to be where He wants us. And every time we come out of Haiti, we are so anxious to enjoy family and food and freeways again that we don't think twice. But after we've been gone for a while, our hearts begin to long for what He has made us to do: for now, live as redeemed people in the widely unredeemed place of Haiti.

We LOVE it, love the work, love the people, love the challenges and the growth that they bring, and love the opportunity to DO just what He's asking us to...no more and no less.

And so? YES. We're ready. Thank you for joining us for another year of pouring ourselves out to reconcile God's people to Himself!