Just in Him.

We’re packed and were ready to go this afternoon to Florida…but called the Haitian airline this morning just to check, and discovered that our flight tomorrow morning has been cancelled due to “technical difficulties.”  After our more-than-nerve-wracking trip out  of Haiti a few weeks ago, we’re not going to mess with any technical difficulties this time J

Thanks to Southwest, our flights to Florida are now changed (for free!) to Friday, and then we hope to fly back into Haiti without problem on Saturday. 

Nonetheless, it’s time to get home:  Matt is chompin’ at the bit to get back to work, Lily is asking incessantly for Jacob, Josephine and Maxi, and though we have stayed some wonderful places with some of our favorite people, I am ready to get back to OUR place and our neighbors and friends and students. 

My doctor cleared us yesterday to go, noting again how “crazy” it was that our “Sophie Scare” was now nothing at all and scheduled an appointment in May right at 36 weeks.  

We were finally able to get through to Abel today and talking with him for a bit had us both homesick, something we frankly didn't expect after such a difficult last several months in Haiti.  The longer we are "bi-culture" the more true it is that things don't seem that different WHEREVER we are.  

If you're talking about food and weather and language, sure, big differences.  But when you're thinking about the real things...the real problems, the real joys, the things that really matter, America isn't all that different from our Haitian home.  We as people are mostly all about ourselves: what we want, what's good for us, how things can be better for US.  Money and things are driving factors in much of what we do and live and how we treat people.  Government has a lot to do with what is profitable or power building, church has a lot to do with how it looks, and it seems that most people everywhere are just getting up every day to survive.

The only people we have met in ANY culture that have truly inspired us are those seeking hard after the Lord and seeking to lead selfless, Christ-centered lives.  The only true joy and contentment that we have ever seen captured anywhere has been in Him.  The only truth we're ready to plant our feet on in any language, government or way of life is The Truth.  

And the only hope any of us have...from the man in the mouse at Chuckie Cheese...my sister's angry, vulgar, abusive and drug-addicted neighbors...the smiling strangers at a new church this past Sunday who not-a-one greeted us...to the destitute and lame widow living down the road from us...the men and women at Emmuas Biblical Seminary...the witchdoctors worn out by dedications of the new year to Satan...the only hope any of us have is just in Him.  

Just in Him.  

Praise the Lord we're just in Him.  And that He tells us we don't HAVE to be of this world, just in Him.  That we don't have to be slaves to ourselves or to sin...just in Him.  That we don't have to be OF our cultures, don't have to be slave nor free, Greek nor Jew, American nor Haitian, but just in Him.

In many senses, we find ourselves once again on the move, trying to get to the States, and now trying to get back to Haiti, trying to plan everything, see everyone, do everything, get ready for another semester.  

But in a very real and different sense, we're hanging out where we've been for years now with NO plan to budge and no broken airplanes making any difference...

Just in Him.