Today's Top 8 Praises!

couldn't do one without the other...

1) Praise the Lord for next weeks missions trip!  

In just a few days, Matt, with what has turned into just under 20 others in tow, will be heading the bumpy 11-hour road back to Port, and everyone has spent lots of time planning, programing and preparing.  Junior headed down there yesterday to check on the church plants and to prepare better for the EBS team.  

Double praise, we have almost all the money we need for the trip!  THANK YOU to those of you who have emailed prayers and/or support!  We are still a few hundred dollars down, but I have a birthday on the way, and yes, I still get "birthday money!"  (you should never be too old for this.  hopefully :)  I couldn't have dreamed up a better gift, so whatever we don't get covered is covered!  Praise, praise!  They are going!

2)  We praise the Lord for the way His Word comes ALIVE whenever we study it, work through it and teach it.

I'm working through Romans with my Biblical English class (2nd year), and the language alone in the first chapter is so powerful that I can't teach through it sitting down. The guys can't help but "Amen!" and "Oh, Jesus, You are Good" throughout the study. 

 Matt's Psalms class continues to be one of the major highlights of the week, not because the students are fantastic (though they are) or that he has been able to teach in English (one of the first classes that has reached this capacity), but because the subject matter is SO powerful.  

I taught the birth of John the Baptist this morning for my Saturday class.  Each time I just "share" the story, it is good.  But when I come to a part that must be exact, and I say, "The Bible says that...", the message is SO much more powerful.  

Tomorrow Matt will preach Romans in the Saccanville church, and we know that if all he did was read the Word, that it will be a powerful service!

There is a lot of "good" stuff out there for people to learn, a lot of things that the Haitian people don't know.  

But we LOVE that our job isn't to teach them mathematics, space travel, world geography or computers, but the Word of God.  There just isn't anything better, because while a lot of other subject matter improves knowledge or improves living, His Word is the only thing I've ever read that CHANGES my heart.  Deeply indwells His peace.  Addresses everything that I am and that He is....

Praise the Lord for His Word and the chance to share it!

3) We truly praise the Lord for The Office.  I know.  A lot of you probably hate it.  But this is the ONLY television show that Matt and I have EVER followed, and season 7 finally started again! Ever since introduced to it by Mia and Elisa in 2006 we have been hooked, always able to forget the realities and burdens of life and find 25 blissful minutes of side-splitting hilarity.  It is just OUR sense of humor.

  

When we moved to Haiti, we thought we were finished, till someone taught us how we could download each new episode from here for $2.99.  Every Thursday, you have a chance to watch it if you're stateside, and every Friday morning, we start the download, pumped for our weekly $3 Friday night date night and a new 25 minutes with Jim, Pam, Andy and Michael.  

Then last week my dad sent us three new movies!  We've only watched the new Robin Hood so far, but we really do praise the Lord for giving us little luxuries like comedies and movies, popcorn, icy Cokes, fans, a couch, decaf coffee, etc. to step out of everyday life in Haiti and into our own culture for a few minutes!

4) Praise the Lord that the generator has been temporarily fixed again.

New engines are on the way, but for now, we are running way better than we were a few days ago.  Also, the students headed off to break today, so we went from 70+ using the generator to 4...it will be much easier to live off little power with just the four of us!  He carried us through...

5) Thank the Lord for His provision.  

Due to the massive amounts of people asking for help each year during this time for schooling, we always commit as a family in advance to be "crazy" generous, as He has been with us.  

Each year, we have had the great joy of seeing the Lord provide for someone through His money that was in our hands.  We commit to saying YES to each person that God really lays on our heart.  No matter what.  And each year, whether that meant our 10% tithe, 30%...50%, EVERY time, the Lord has cared for us in ways that we didn't even miss it AND got to overjoyedly be a part of seeing kiddos off to school, parents brimming with the joy of being able to provide that luxury for their child. 

This year, I couldn't even get through the day without giving His money to Micheline for her four children.  Micheline is incredibly timid, sweet and quite of spirit. Insanely proper.  It is a rare day that she is bold enough to call me Stacey, instead of Madame.  But she was so overwhelmed with joy that she dropped her umbrella and gave me a HUGE hug, something she never does.  It was better than...just about ANYTHING.  HE DID THAT for me.  

James, at 28, headed back to grade school on Monday, determined to finish what his mom couldn't help him do when he was a child.  I mean, how many people get to be a part of sending a 28-year-old to third grade?  

Kesner's daughter died last year, leaving he and his wife in their 70's  to raise a five-year-old, who headed to the Saccanville Church school on Monday.  

One night two years ago, it was SO incredibly hot and our inverter broke in August.  We tried to sleep for hours, but were so tormented by the heat and mosquitos, that finally a very angry and frustrated Matt headed out at 2 am to fight with the inverter.  

One of the night watchmen, who had never had fans a night in his life, spent TWO HOURS with Matt that night, patiently soothing Matt's less-than-saintly attitude and finally helping him fix it.  He has never once asked us for anything, but came to Saccanville last week, just broken over his four sitting school out.  They went to school this week, too.  Such a joy!

There are hundreds of children in Saccanville alone who are hanging out in their mud yards this week, just like always.  I'm trusting God to provide for them.  But we are SO incredibly thankful this week that God gave us gifts that we were able to middle-man for Him to some precious precious people.  What a joy!

6) Praise the Lord for the internet, which has worked beautifully ever since I complained about it :)  We downloaded last night's Office episode in  a record 55 minutes!

7) Praise the Lord for EBS's new sound system!  

As far as I can tell, EBS has never had a sound system, and ever since we moved to Saccanville, it has been hard to hear in chapel.  Also, every time we do crusades, we were putting out big money to rent a sound system.  

However, two visiting professors (whom I'd love to brag upon but will keep them nameless) last year noticed the need, and last month, ordered every piece of equipment we could have wanted.  

Last week, speakers, mics, stands, cables and things-I-don't-know-what-they're-called arrived, right in time for a  great week in chapel AND to head off to Port for the crusade next week.  

Everything is working so well, the students and staff are thrilled, a friend in Port is loaning us a free generator, and for 5 days, hundreds upon hundreds of people will hear the gospel preached because of this insanely generous gift.  We praise the Lord for how He answers prayer in His way and time!

8) Finally, we praise the Lord for Miss Lily, who is a girl in every sense of the word.

She is talking so much, putting together phrases such as "Poppy be back here soon?" and "Mommy, please? Doggie movie?"and best, "Mommy, hold you! Please!  Mesi!"  

She changes clothes 10 times a day and will play dress up or "No more monkey bed", which means that she jumps from our bed to a mattress on the floor over. and over. and over.  

She is healthy, she is happy, and we are overjoyed to watch her become a part of the Emmaus community in her own right.  I LOVE walking with her in the afternoons and watch her wave furiously at a group of student, "HI GUYS!"  I love that she knows all the cooks' names, and "helps" them in the kitchen each morning.  I love that every time she hears the truck pull up, she yells, "Hi, Abel!" and that when she hears the lawnmower, she looks up, grins, and says, "MAXI!"  I love when we pray together at night and she runs through all of her friends, "Gertha, Micheline, Shayla, Junior, Doggie..."

We are so grateful for the sheer gift of Lily.

....and that we have a two week break to catch up on work and family!  

...and that my dear sister got a job this week!  

...and that Matt's mom got out of a job she hated this week!  

...and that He continues to protect us in the midst of so much here-and-there and electrical work, etc! 


 ...and that He has given us such a faithful team of supports and prayer warriors and friends!  

...and that He is gracious when we aren't, patient when we aren't, faithful when we aren't, generous when weren't not, and loving when we aren't!  

...and that Charlie is coming soon!

...and that Fall, otherwise known as "the rainy season" is here!  Though we're not nuts about all the rain and mosquitos, it means that it is FINALLY cooling down a bit!

I have more praises than prayer requests, that is for sure...