Happy New Year!

This New Year's Eve has my family safely back in the States, Lily finally off to bed, parties all around us (tomorrow is also the day of Haiti's Independence), guests coming in at midnight, and Matt and I praising the Lord in wonderment as we think back through the past year. It's unbelievable that a year ago, I was still pregnant, and as we think through all the transitions and transformations of this past year, we can so clearly see His hand keeping us...We are so thankful for His faithfulness and for the ways He has drawn near to us and we've sought to draw near to Him.

We've seen a lot of articles and news tidbits lately poking fun at the "New Year's Resolution", and while it's true that "Lose 30 pounds by February" or "Wake up an hour earlier every day" would most likely end up in the trash can by January 4th, we can't help but think that it's an important tradition.

What an awesome chance to search His heart! Where have I fallen short of who He made me to be this past year? Where has my pride or my grudge or my comfort or my selfishness or my laziness or my fear or my stubbornness or "the ways I've always done it" or "the way I've always thought" kept me from drawing closer to Him? Kept me from representing Him well? Kept me from being in godly relationship with others? Kept me drinking spiritual milk instead of dining on solid food?

How can I be more like Him this year? What can I do to make Him better known in my relationships with others? What disciplines do I need to embrace in order to become Holy so that my Holy God can be near to my thoughts and desires, speech and actions?

It's not just about what I hope for, or what I want...but what I commit to...what I lay down before Him as promises because of my great love for Him, in response to all of the promises He has given to me out of His great first love for me.

It may not take many days until I slip up on one of those sweet promises to my God, but as I've seen for years, His grace and unwavering faithfulness are more than enough for me to stand on this coming year. We don't have any idea what the days ahead hold, but if they are in Him...We have so much to look forward to.

"Do not call to mind the former things,

or ponder things of the past.

Behold, I will do something new,

Now it will spring forth;

Will you not be aware of it?

I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,

Rivers in the desert.

The beasts of the field will glorify Me,

The jackals and the ostriches,

Because I have given waters in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert,

To give drink to My chosen people.

The people whom I formed for Myself

Will declare my praise."

Isaiah 43:18-21

days "away" and a new year...

We've had just a fantastic few days with my family, continuing to find some much-needed rest and Godly encouragement in them. We've been some beautiful places: to the beach, and the pool in town, and spent a few days at home, enjoying each other and the joy of friends and family.

begging for Coke on tippy-toes :)

Haiti may not be a "dream vacation", but as you can see, there are some beautiful places, and Dad and Lisa have been awesome sports about the roads (which are particularly bad right now following some rain), the ants (their must be 8 billion ants just in our home, despite Lisa's many efforts to exterminate the species) and the cultural differences (they have by now been hugged and kissed by at least 6 dozen strangers).

Because January 1st is Haiti's Independence Day, the largest holiday of the year, everyone is getting very excited for the big day. Small, skeletal bamboo and wood-slat stands are popping up everywhere, and already groups of people are holding parties and dances in them. Loud disco-type music is playing loudly far into the night, and you can feel the excited buzz around town.

Add this excitement to the joy of a new year and the anticipation of the new Emmaus Biblical Seminary site opening, we are waiting on the Lord with eager hearts, anxious to see what His hand will unfold. We are so grateful that He is on the throne! God has proven to us countless times His faithfulness, and we are overjoyed to head into this new chapter resting on that faithfulness and on His Lordship.

Merry Christmas!

This blog is for all our family and friends that couldn't be here with us this Christmas! It was such a joy for all three of us, as a new family, to be HOME for Christmas this year, but we missed you each! Hope we can share with you some of the joy of the day... Thank you for all the wonderful books, movies, toys, clothes, candy, cards, gifts, prayers and love!

Grandpa and Aunt Lee got Lily a singing walker for Christmas, perfect for the stage she's at!

Lily and her new bunny-chair from Grandmom and Pop-Pop.
Lovin' bubbles!

Lily was being a SQUIRM trying to get pictures before the Christmas Eve party.

The Hubele's gave Lily a babydoll and a stroller...she LOVES them and has been dragging all her new toys around in her stroller.
Matt got a new watch from his parents...
And I bought a Haitian chair for Lily and painted it...This was our "big value" gift at 85 CENTS plus paint :)

We LOVE the new grill Matt's brother and sister-in-law sent us....
and had just a LOVELY Christmas Day!
Cannot believe it's been almost a year since this little Candy Lover joined us. This candy cane was gone before 7 am...


Aunt Lisa brought Lily this AWESOME Christmas dress and bow, which she proceeded to play with throughout Christmas Eve. She wore it for our OMS Christmas Eve celebration, and had such a blast with the other kids playing ball and eating awesome snacks.

Much love to you each, and we continue to pray that we are all filled with the joy and awe that comes with realizing what He did for us in sending His Son...the PERFECT gift, everyday.

home for Christmas

We've made it safely, with Dad, Lisa, a microwave and a huge bottle of Hershey syrup in tow, back to Haiti...arriving home tonight around 7. Lily was AMAZAING on a 30 minute taxi ride, 6.5 hour bus ride and 1 hour car ride, and it is BEAUTIFUL to be home and with family and friends around us!

The BEST news of the night, however, is that I am posting this from HOME! John H., bless him richly, got internet happening down here in Sakenville today, and it is WONDERFUL.

Here's a few photos from the last few days, which included a women's Christmas breakfast at our house, Matt and Lil chillin' in their new chair (Christmas present from Aunt Lisa!) long-awaited date night, touring Santiago, McDonalds AND Baskin-Robbins (OH, MAN), shopping at a store JUST like Sam's Club, etc....We felt like we 'got away' for a few days, which was exactly what we had needed! Nonetheless, it was lovely today to arrive home to a warm greeting from friends and neighbors, to be able to communicate again, and to be where He's put us!

We have made it safely to the DR and are enjoying rainy but precious happy time with family. Lily is thrilled by everything...the elevator, McDonalds, carpeting, candy cane oroes...LUXURY :) Photos and stories soon!

death of a laptop...birth of our Everything

My poor computer has bit the dust...It began dying on Monday and by Wednesday took its last breath. Its last hours were so fleeting that I wasn’t even able to back everything up, and desperately tried to save all recent changes to zip drives. Hopefully, not too much was lost.

I am admittedly terrible on computers. Photos are my problem, and with tens of thousands of them tucked away with tons of Lily and Seminary videos, Power Point presentations, brochures, documents, logos, music, and episodes of The Office...yeah, they generally can only keep up with my multi-tasking-on-steroids ways for 2-3 years before quitting on me.

Thankfully, my father is coming in on Sunday, and will be able to carry one in with him...saving in trying to ship (and pay for shipping and customs) a laptop to Haiti. Until then, I’m blogging from Matt’s very theological, media and art-free computer...no photos for a while.

Thursday Matt and John headed to Limonad because Matt had been invited to be the guest speaker at a conference on discipleship. They had just an AWESOME day, and were blessed to be a part of a conference involving 75 young people, mostly men, ages 18-30. This is an age-group often missing from church-life and often involved in nothing and all the problems that come from doing “nothing”.

He was able to work alongside of some really godly Haitian leadership, as well, and able to see some truly indigenous ministry happening and see God doing some new things with His people here. The audience was engaged and enthusiastic, and it was really encouraging for Matt to be able to be a part of Holy Spirit-inspired ministry efforts and not be at the core of it himself.

Based on Jesus’ model, he was able to teach on love and faithfulness being at the heart of Christian discipleship, and this approached sparked some great discussion and growth.

The longer we are here (not just in Haiti, but on Earth) the more we realize that this is ALL about relationships...This is an extra difficult concept for me, who gets much joy, order and stability from task accomplishment and efficiency and for Matt, who is energized by solitude and uninterrupted focus.

It is our relationship with Christ that enables us to be agents of joy and healing and healthiness in our relationships with people. It is our relationship with Him that enables us to get OUT of our own way and be in humble, sacrificial, honest and loving relationships with others...

It is because of Him that we can be turned OUTWARD, and build the relationships that make TRUE differences...transformations that no amount of task-accomplishments can create. It is HE that transforms, first us, and then our approach to others.

I get overwhelmed by praise for HIM. Praise the Lord for the Lord! Praise Him for this miracle of relationship, that turns the human heart away from itself and onto Him, and therefore pours Him out, The One Thing That Is Needed, on Haiti...on the World.

All in the form of a wrinkled baby, a skin-kneed child, a rough-palmed carpenter, a plain-faced teacher, a hush-hush healer, a painfully-honest preacher, a spit-covered King. OUR King. Forever Emmanuel.

Praise the Lord.

more change...

Today marked the final day of class, AND the last day Emmaus Biblical Seminary held class at it’s previous campus!

Pretty crazy to think about, all the hours of class, hardships and joys that have taken place in these halls, these classrooms, these dorm, for the last 40 years…all the men and women that have come through, all the different men and women who have taught, who have led, who have come and gone…all the services that have been held in this chapel, all the meals eaten in this cafeteria, all the soccer matches on this yard! (I’ve warned you: I struggle with change!)

It is an exciting time to be a part of EBS and all that God is doing here, and as my students bombarded me with questions about the new campus this morning (they’ve never seen it), I caught their excitement for something NEW, for hope for the future, for change.

They can’t believe the top bunks will have railings (Yay for Masson, who has fallen and hurt himself more than a few times J)…that there are NEW mattresses and NEW beds, not just new to them, but NEW…that there is a room in the library just for studying (versus studying at night in the classrooms)…that there is a large level green yard for soccer clear of large trees…that there will be projectors in each classroom…and that’s just the beginning.

Selfishly, Matt and I are also VERY excited that we won’t be commuting with Lily back and forth 1, 2 or sometimes 3 times a day anymore. In order to have internet access for a master’s class yesterday, Matt was gone from 7 am until 7:30 pm, and in order to share the truck, have Lily home for naps, have meals ready on time, be on time for class, etc., Matt frequently has to find creative ways home and I frequently have to make extra trips. Running Lily back and forth 6-10 times each M-F has been a lot, and we are more exhausted from this past 5 weeks than we ever thought we could be.

It will be a JOY to start teaching in our front yard in January! We may also get internet at this compound one day, cutting out a few more trips . It has been a CRAZY semester!

We also taught our last class in town this week for the year, led our last women's Bible study in the cafeteria for the year, and are starting to see things wrap up for the year! It will be nice to have a change of pace for a few weeks and some time to do those things we're always going to do...soon!

Thursday Matt is the main speaker on a conference on discipleship in an area church, and Sunday we head to the Dominican Republic to pick up my dad and sister, who will be coming to spend Christmas with us!

Lily took SIX steps on her own this morning, and will be running by the time they get here!

Enjoy the snow and all things Christmas for us today!

winter games...

It’s that time of year again! It snuck up on us, and suddenly there are 2 more days of class until Christmas Break! The annual Emmaus Biblical Seminary Christmas Party was Thursday night, following the big Staff vs. Students soccer game.

This game is a BIG deal. After weeks of practice and “Pastoral trash talk”, the building of two goals out of pieces of wood and rice sacks, and choosing of captains, forwards, goalies, refs and DJs, the match began.

Neither team had enough shoes among them, and it was almost comical to watch players go in and out of the game, rapidly swapping out shoes of all types and sizes. (Notice Matt is in socks in half these pictures ☺ ) Every time anyone almost got a goal, the students would go WILD, and Lily, sure that something was wrong, burst into tears each time.

However, NO one ever scored, and a rather pitiful and debatable shoot-out ended in victory for the staff (for the first time…probably EVER.) Pitiful or not, you would have thought the staff won the World Cup, and proudly paraded a tiny golden trophy for all the young whippersnappers to see!

It was a FUN fun time, and a joyful time of relationship between staff and students. It was fun to be FRIENDS and not at all professors and students, missionaries and pastors.

The big game was followed by an annual Christmas program/party, in which the students and staff share devotionals, sing songs, pray together, do some skits and comedy routines, and clap. For everyone. A lot.

It was a lot of fun, though we had hoped to better understand Haitian humor by year three…and that was NOT the case. We rolled with laughter because the guys were rolling with laughter, but man, just like my students never think that sarcasm is humorous, we didn’t get why, well, ANYTHING was particularly funny tonight.

Lily, following our "Arms Up!" command..

Lily and Olie, helping out the cooks...


I LOVE that our God “gets” us each…That our joy is His, that He knows our intricate parts intimately, and that culture is N O T H I N G to Him…just us, His kids. We LOVE being His kids with these men and women! Thank you, Lord, for the gift of being YOURS here in Haiti!