family, prayers and updates

We sure are enjoying our time together while we wait!  First, we finally celebrated Lisa's birthday and celebrated her first time home since the wedding in December.

Then, my grandparents and aunt came in for Friday and Saturday, and we had a good time catching up with them, spending lots of time outside enjoying this weather!  

Adam flew in Saturday, and we spent the evening Saturday at our all time favorite family restaurant, The Japanese Steakhouse enjoying finally just all being together!

Lily is mad at us here because she wanted to be with Uncle Adam and Aunt Lisa.  I'm pretty sure she wishes they would adopt her :)

Today, we drove up to the short North because one of Matt's mentor's son's just became a pastor of a church there...great service and wonderful to worship in our own language and to hear some good Truth regarding "the prosperity gospel".

For memorial day we are heading for Amish country and spending the day at one of our favorite places, playing putt-putt, canoeing and eating at another family favorite restaurant.  I'm still trying to get over this cold and we're just trying to soak up the good family time that we wait all year to enjoy!

listen in...

If you are interested, here is a link to the sermon Matt preached in Waco this past Sunday.  (It's the second semon: "God is big enough for our world."  Click on the video icon to watch, or the microphone icon to listen).  I've been anxious to hear it!

He is home safely, and it is wonderful to finally have my little family together for more than 2-3 days at a time while the three of us wait for Sofie together.  My sister also flew in late last night, and today was a wonderful day with a helpful husband, a tireless and ever-so-popular Aunt Lisa, an adoring grandfather who Lily adores just as much, a good friend helping clean the house, extended family coming tomorrow for the weekend and another good report from the doctor today.

blessed.

once was lost, but now?

Eight years ago today my mom traded walking with the Lord here to literally sitting at His feet.  She had been sick for a few months, but somehow her death caught all of us just completely off guard.  For the longest time, I remember feeling like my life was over.  Paralyzed.  I didn't know how to continue, didn't want to continue, and couldn't imagine that He still had a plan for my life without Mom.

But somehow as life continued, ready-or-not, missing mom morphed from a nightmarish event to part of who I am.  Missing Mom DNA.  I miss her now as much as I did then, but the Lord has graciously allowed her life, and her death, to become a part of me.  Because her death has changed me (thanks to a lot of prayer, family, some dear friends and His voice), instead of crippled me, I'm able to not only have her in my life, but am able to share her with Matt, Lily, my family, you and in my daily life.

Because of Him and because they have chosen so, I also  have the joy of now finding some of the best parts of mom in my sister and Dad.  My dad has become an abundantly patient man, attentive to the often seemingly insignificant details of his children's lives, endlessly generous and incredibly thoughtful.  Lisa is a compassionate and caring woman, quick to sacrifice, tirelessly creative and incredibly thoughtful as well, one of mom's crowning traits.

She never got to meet Matt, has missed precious moments with Lily, was noticeably absent at Lisa's wedding, will never get to snuggle future grandchildren, nor do all that stuff that she and Dad were going to do as soon as we all left home (which somehow still hasn't happened, anyway :)!  I will never be able to say, "All was as it should have been."

But there is nothing to be done about that, and we have continued to live out His plan (which didn't end that awful day, after all) and with many of the best parts of mom woven in to who we are.

There is something to that that just seems right.

While Jesus had been telling his closest for years that his death was coming, His death still seemed to catch everyone completely off guard.  Even up to the last moment, his friends were denying death's coming, many didn't seem to be taking the last grave moments seriously, and I can't help but think that after He was buried, and perhaps even after He resurrected and ascended, that His Family was a bit paralyzed.

How could they possibly go on without Him?  Was this the end of His plan?  They hadn't yet learned everything they needed to know, hadn't yet become everything they would need to be!  They didn't know how to continue, I'm sure many didn't know if they wanted to continue, and many probably couldn't imagine what His plan was!

And so there are many, even to this day, that have never moved past the crucifixion.  It wasn't how it should have been, the Father having to send His only Son to die for OUR sin, to make clean OUR stains, but there was nothing to be done about that.  Only death, and only Jesus would do.  And He did.

And we can claim that cross.  That's necessary.  Claiming the blame, confessing the cause, paralyzed by the cost, mortified and overwhelmed and grateful by His gift...all of that is key.

But has His death...and more importantly...has His LIFE, become a part of our DNA?  Made us different people today than we would have been had He never lived, never died?  Are parts of God woven in to who we are today?  Do we have the joy of finding tangible and specific qualities of Jesus in each other?

Or are we still hanging out in the graveyard, lamenting that He died, clinging to the cross, though He spent very little time there?

Has His death changed us?  Or did we kind of stay there...crippled Christians...even content ones?  His death IS a never-ending event in the life of a Christ follower...but His life has to change us and become a part of who we are, too.

When I see or hear something in someone or something that reminds me of my precious mom, I find her...I lose her...I miss her...I love her...I want to be like her...all over again.  Strongly.

Is it possible that we could be agents of THAT on His behalf in this world?  That we so exude Christ, that others find Him...and remember His death...and long for Him...and love Him...and want to be like Him, strongly, all over again?

My mom would have been the first to tell you that the world doesn't need more Susan's.  Just more of the Christ that was within her, and spilled out of her.

Because His death has changed me, instead of crippled me, I'm able to not only have Him in my life, but am able to share Him with Matt, Lily, my family, you and in my daily life.

There is something to that that just seems right.

safe?

Matt has been having a great time in Waco, preaching four times yesterday, going golfing and meeting up with several different friends today, speaking tonight and then again tomorrow.  He's been busy, but sounds like it's going really well and has been a blessing to him to be with our First UMC of Waco family of God!

Got this email newsletter the other day written by Doctor JL Williams, and thought it was worth thinking about, especially in light of the fact that we continue, and probably always will, to get the question: "Is what you're doing SAFE?"

Thankful for His daily presence and waiting for baby!

"Haiti continues to be one of the biggest missiological challenges in the world today.  It continues to have political, economic, educational, vocational and ecological challenges like few other countries in the world.  And right now, everyone is waiting to see how the new President elect, singer Michel Martelly, will do in trying to reorganize one of the most corrupt and inept governments in the world! As a result of all of these factors, people often continue to ask the question: "Is it safe to go to Haiti?"  Let me share a poignant response that someone wrote who has spent over two decades there.  Edner recently sent it to me.  This response really puts things into perspective (emphasis mine in letter): "Often I will hear someone say that they would like to come to Haiti and then they ask if it is safe.  I confess that I get rather irritated when I hear that question. I usually reply back cordially and ask if God has called them to come to Haiti.  And if the answer is yes, then I tell them it is safe.  As safe as it was for Daniel in the lion's den and for the three Hebrew men in the fiery furnace and even as safe as it was for Stephen when he was stoned and ultimately as safe as it was for Christ when He died on the cross. I strongly believe that 'safe' is overrated if it means will I be safe physically.  The better question is, 'Is it God's will for me to go?'  If the answer is 'yes' then how much more safer can you be than in God's will.  This may not mean that harm will not come your way but what is that compared to being in God's will.  Was Jesus safe? But I have recently been spending some time thinking about Haiti and have finally concluded after 21 years of living here, that it can be a very dangerous place.  Some may be saying: 'Ah, it's about time he got his head out of the sand and admitted that Haiti can be a dangerous place.' Yes, those of us who live here can be in great, grave danger.  We can be in danger of... Becoming numb to the cries of the poor, Not being moved to anger and compassion at the conditions in which many people live Looking but not seeing, Hearing but not listening. Seeing what is but not what can be. Thinking that living here is a sprint when in reality it's a marathon. Being so practical about what we need to live that we limit God in what we do. Not totally depending on God for God's work. Thinking that doing is more important than being. Yes, it is true, haiti can be a dangerous place.  Perhaps as dangerous as where you live!" As many of you know, one of my favorite sermons I have preached across the years is entitled: "Living Dangerously For The Kingdom Of God."  It comes from Paul's personal testimony in II Corinthians 11.  It reminds us that ALL of us are called to live dangerously for the Lord Jesus -- whether in Haiti or here at home!  The needs are too great and the doors of opportunity are too wide for us to hunker down and play it safe!  This is no time to "play out the clock!"

the zoo!

What a blast of a day!  In retrospect, going to the zoo at 39 weeks pregnant might not have been a super idea...I thought at one point, "Crud.  I do NOT want to have a baby in the Orangutang Abode."  That was a LOT of walking!  But, we all made it, and Lily had SUCH a good time.  She was on cloud 9 all day, and so were we.

It was finally a beautiful day, the monkeys and bears especially kept her glued for hours, and of course, the zoo's two huge playgrounds kept her busy the rest of the day.

What a blessing God gave us today, just to be together as family and to do something purely fun together and a million miles from our normal reality...talk about culture shock!  Matt and I couldn't help but dream together when we were standing in the middle of it all about how FUN it would be to bring the students somehow to the Columbus Zoo.  Their wonderment would have matched Lily's, for sure.

It's been a full week!  We had a great time Sunday at Livingston UMC and then out to lunch with good family friends (though one of them may have suggested that there was a reason Sofie's head and rear were mixed up!)

Matt got home safely from Delaware after having a great weekend with his family on Tuesday.

We met with a new doctor today, and for the first time since we became pregnant, Sofie got a good report!

His actual statement:  "Everything looks great, and the baby's ready.  When do you want to have the baby?  Today?  We can induce you now, if you want."  Crazy.  and No.

Tonight we had some great friends over for dinner, and Lily had a blast with Erika and Lydia...We're blessed to have good friends down the road!

So, tomorrow, before Sofie gets here, before I get any bigger and before Matt leaves on Saturday for Texas, we are going to the zoo!

Then Saturday morning Matt heads for Waco to be with our friends at First UMC of Waco.   He'll be speaking at their annual missions conference throughout the weekend and into the week, and plans to return on Wednesday.  I hate that I am missing out on this conference again!  Matt had such a great time last year...

pix tomorrow...thanks for your continued prayers!

outside the gate

Living on a compound has been one of the biggest adjustments Matt and I have made over the past years.  Due to the instability and desperation of Haiti in general, OMS Haiti has three different housing/ministry compounds where all OMS Haiti missionaries live.  The compound where we live is maybe 10 acres with a block wall outlining it and a large gate at the front. 

Three homes are in the back corner, and the whole Seminary campus, dorms, etc. are in the middle, and the front gate, the only way in or out, is on the main road of Saccanville. 

Being walled in all the time, being apart from the community, living where we work and being unable to really get away, and not having other little ones within the walls for Lily make compound living difficult. 

At the same time, there have been lots of positives--letting Lily play outside and having a personal relationship with every person that she may come in contact with, living with 70 other people who all have the same focus and ministry, having literally NO security issues (we haven’t had so much as a flip-flop taken since moving to Saccanville), etc.

However, with so much ministry happening WITHIN the walls, it’s easy just to stay there. 

A few weeks ago, there was a young couple visiting EBS for a few days.  They were interacting with students, spending time in the classroom, and loving it.  It was crazy hot, we were both crazy busy, and I was crazy tired.  I found myself telling myself that because of these reasons, it was ok to just work and focus inside the walls for the last few weeks.

“We’ve got to get them out!” Matt said this couple’s second day. 

“I know, I know,” I told him, “but they’re doing lots of good stuff here, and they’re having fun, and things are so busy right now!”

“I know, babe,” he reminded me gently, “But everything good that is happening here is happening because of what’s out there.  Emmaus Biblical Seminary exists for what’s outside these walls.  What we do HERE each day is because of what is out there!  We can’t forget that.”

That afternoon, we all took a walk out in the community, introduced our new friends to Pehpay, walked through the lives of hundreds, and as always, saw Jesus, and the need for Him, all over the place.

I got my hot, tired self out there every chance I got the past few weeks before leaving Monday, each time Matt’s words reminding me why. 

Coming back to the States almost a week ago now, it seems at first that there is no real comparison.  I don’t know anyone here who lives in a walled compound, or who lives at their jobs or ministries.

But the more I think about it, the more I again realize that life is the same everywhere. 

“Outside the gate” is where Hebrews 13:13 says HE is to be found.  “Jesus, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.  So, let us go!  Let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.  For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.” 

How easy is it for all of us to stay inside our worlds?  How much simpler and undemanding it is to just enjoy the ministry within our gates!  We can tell ourselves that we ARE ministering!  We can tell ourselves that we are doing just what He has called us to do right where He has brought us!  Maybe we are working full-time where He’s brought us…in our church, with our family, in a certain ministry, at Emmaus Biblical Seminary. 

But no matter WHAT He has called us each to specifically and uniquely, as His followers, I have to remember that I am ALWAYS called Outside the Gate.  Always called outside of myself, of my life, of my interests, of my friends and even outside of my specific calling to take Jesus places that AREN’t comfortable, to people that AREN’t always accepting or friendly, to lives that are messy. 

What I know for sure about “outside the gate” is this: I’m NEVER sorry.  I have never arrived back home, covered in sweat and dirt and the grime of others, sorry that I went out.  I am instead always radiant, blessed to have been among His creation and fully aware of His presence, always anxious for Matt to come home so that I can tell him about sweet moments of true connection and relationship, of new friends we need to be praying for, of the many ways that He showed Himself to me through many who don’t even know Him….anxious to share with Matt how He met me when I went out to meet Him.

It was what he spent most of His time on earth doing, wasn’t it.  Just being with “outside” people.  And not just smiling at them as they passed or working on being ‘kind’, but spending TIME with people, in their lives, and making sure to tell them, directly, about Himself and Their Father. 

I am now in Ohio, and I am indeed 37 weeks pregnant with a two year old and a husband on the road.  My “compound” here in the States is very small and very comfortable.  And while He is very clearly here with me, I know that He is waiting outside, too.  I had several opportunities just today to “seek the city which is to come” and to “go out to Him”, and choose instead to be content with less.

As I continue to ponder all this, O. Chambers pushes me further…

“Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christians; nor is sin.

The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we live.

Never seek after anything other than the approval of God, and always be willing to go “outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Hebrews 13:13).

In Luke 10:20, Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us DO rejoice.  We have a commercialized view—we count how many souls have been saved, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right.  We finish there. 

We wear His name, but are we going on with Him?”

As with many things, this idea is easier to see in Haiti.  There is an actual gate.  There are thousands of lost people outside.  We can stay in, or we can go out.  We can share Him where we are, and we can get a little more uncomfortable and take Him outside.

What's YOUR compound ministry?  Where's your gate?  Are we going out to Him?  What's HE doing out there that we can bear with Him?  What traps are keeping us homebound? 

I know I haven't lived a very long time.  But thus far, it seems to be that there is ALWAYS more abandonment of self, abandonment of comfort and abandonment of "inside the walls" to be done. As Matt says, we can't forget why we exist.  We may work in different ministry or give to different things.  But we exist to be in relationship: first with Him, and then with others...ALL others.  

"So, let us go!  Let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.  After all, we do not have a lasting city here, but are seeking the city which is to come."

good news

Sorry, all...Blogger has been having some trouble.

WELL, we have great news to share with you...

We met with the same group of specialists today that we met with back in January, and for the second time, the moment the wand touched my stomach: "Everything looks beautiful, I don't know what your doctor is talking about!"

Sofie's boney butt, not her head, is up in my ribs, with her head down perfectly and everything exactly as it should be.  She is 6 pounds 10 oz, and just everything, from her heart to the length of her thigh bones, looked just perfect.

The specialties again are not sure how the bad report from yesterday turned into nothing but good news today...once again, it seems that either the Lord miraculously changed the circumstances in less than 24 hours, or human error created an issue that never existed.  Either way, we are abundantly grateful for a healthy baby, for my health and fully credit Him for her existence and health!

We're also not really feeling excellent about the doctor I've been seeing as delivery rapidly approaches,  and will be meeting with someone different from the same practice on Thursday.

Matt got home late Wednesday night and is off again tomorrow morning...this time for New Jersey to have a few days with family!  Lil, grandpa and I will be working in the yard all weekend and finishing off Lily's playground, and meeting up with some good friends Sunday.

So grateful to have a Solid Rock as our firm foundation, who knows when every sparrow falls and clothes each tiny flower.

"Somehow babies just do all the growing and fixing on their own," one of the nurses said today, and I was so glad to be able to share with her that it's the God of the universe and not a 6 pound baby working miracles each day.

almost there!

I know many of you are anxious to hear...

this morning, almost 37 weeks

Baby Sofie and I are doing just fine!  They thought I was a bit underweight, but if I keep up my three-bowl-a-day ice cream habit that started Tuesday, that won't be the case in a few more days.  Everything looked good with her and I, except (there is always an except, isn't there!) that she's not in a good position.

They would like either to try to reposition her next week and hope that she doesn't just flip again, or wait another week and reposition and deliver her then, around the end of May.  Her head is in my right ribs (could have told you that) and her feet are in my left ribs (could have told you that, too) and her butt is down.  If we wait until I go into labor naturally and she hasn't shifted at all, I'll have to a have a C-section, which we'd rather avoid.

So, after talking with Matt we've decided to leave the girly alone, pray, hope and push her to wiggle flip into the right position on her own, and hope that is the worst of it.  If she hasn't shifted by 39 weeks, we'll go on ahead and let the doctors do do the "inversion" flip thing then, and deliver her then.

He's brought us way too far, completely on His own without medical care, without pre-natal care, without doctors for us to be worried about how she is sitting!  So, if you'll join us in praying for her to be where she needs to be when she needs to be there, we'd be grateful...

Just in case (this doctor is such a worry-wart!) they want us to do a series of ultrasounds at the hospital tomorrow and I have another appointment Monday...something about wanting to make sure the cord isn't wrapped around her neck and making sure I can wait until 39 weeks instead of doing it at 37 (which is Monday or Tuesday, and I don't want Sofie to get here before my sister does!)

Praising the Lord for His very good gifts...those like these that seem good, and the other good gifts He gives that sometimes seem more like a burden!

"We're home! Where are we?"

...was the first thing Lily loudly announced when we got off the plane in Florida, all in one breath.

It had me laughing because it perfectly summarized how we often feel during our time out of Haiti in the summer!  Yesterday was a long day, starting at 5 am and surrounded by good friends sending us off, but we finally made it to Columbus by 11:15 and were home and in bed by midnight.  We had a delayed flight, but no problems, and Lily helped by being in good spirits ("going to grandpa's house!") all day.

Matt has been meeting with a lot of different people about the Seminary, about the summer, getting things closed up and taken care of, and will head for Ohio tomorrow morning.  Thursday, we'll get Sofie and I into the doctor and see how we're doing, and Lily goes on Friday.

Meanwhile, Dad took today off work and has been spoiling us thoroughly...letting me sleep in, air-conditioned, quiet house, yogurt and milk and fruit, a trip to Meijer's, good internet, smooth roads, hospitals all around :), Moose Tracks, and our childhood playground, revamped, for Lil...who is interested in doing little else.

happy mother's day!

We had a LOVELY day...from the start with Lily wishing me "Happy Mommy Day" and bringing me her surprise painted box to a great church service to a relaxing day at the pool.

Lily was SO excited to give me her surprise box that she kept taking it back, saying, "again?", leaving the room, and bringing it back to me over and over.  Then Matt, with my Dad and Lisa's help, gave me the BEST Mother's Day present...my mixer.

Growing up, my mom had a beige Kitchen Aid mixer that we used for everything, and she always said, "I know there are cheaper mixers, but these are the best and they last forever.  When you get married, I will get you one."  I have so many special memories of cooking with mom and that mixer, and when I got married a few years after mom passed away, Daddy bought me a blue Kitchen Aid mixer from her.

When we moved to Haiti, it just didn't seem practical to bring it (because you have to pay so much per pound) and this special gift has been sitting in Dad's basement.  After four years of watching me almost daily kneading dough on my hands and knees on the kitchen floor (the countertops are too high to knead), Matt, Dad and Lisa got the mixer from Ohio to Denver to Haiti (in Adam's suitcase) for Mother's Day.

Very special gift, and I am SO excited by how much the mixer (and bread hook) will make life SO much easier!

Having Lisa and Adam here made the day so much more special!

Then we headed down the road to the BIGGEST church I've ever been in in Haiti, and the nicest, too.  A projector led us through worship, which I have never seen in Haiti before, and there were fans and a sound system and everything!  The coolest part of the service, I thought, was right before the sermon.  The pastor had everyone stand (and does every week), hold up their Bibles, and then they all read a slide together, which basically said, "I believe that what this says is true.  I believe that what it says about me is true.  I believe that I can do what it says I can do.  I believe that He is who this says He is.  I am ready to receive His Word, no one can destroy or trump it, and I am not the same person I was before Him."

 It was a really neat tradition and made me really stop to think about what I believe and why.

Then we, and just about every other missionary we know, headed to the Christophe Hotel for lunch.  Mother's Day in Haiti isn't until the end of May, so the Hotel was full of Americans and Canadians taking out their wives and mothers for lunch.  We had a blast, Lily was a fish, as always, and this evening Dodo and Bubba fed us one last time!

We're about packed, and Lily, Lisa, Adam and I are heading out tomorrow morning.  Charlie, Galen and some new friends from Philly are coming in on the same flight we are going out on, so Matt is sticking around a few more days to have some time with them.  Thank you for your prayers tomorrow while we travel, and for Matt while he works to close things up well.  While most airlines recommend not flying after 27 weeks, many forbid flying after 35 weeks...I'm hoping no one asks :)  

Lisa and Adam will accompany us to Florida, and then Lily and I will head to Columbus and they will return to Colorado.  It still hasn't settled in that the school year is over!!!  

Happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers!

nou fini!

What a great day!  We all did it!  What a great feeling today having a chance during the Thanksgiving Service to think back over the past year and realize how much has been accomplished, how much He has done and moved, how He has put us all together and worked through EBS as His Body.  Taking a few hours at the end of the school year to reflect and praise Him was such a great idea!

A few highlights...

Despite the fact that I am 36 weeks pregnant, COUNTLESS people this week have mistaken Lisa for being me, and she is constantly feeling rude when people start talking to her in Creole, wait for her to respond, and then she can't even explain to them that she is NOT me.

 We had a great turnout made up of students and staff, lots of past students, area pastors and other Christian leaders from Northern Haiti.

 Excellent, Jean Marie and Devicouer all did solo performances....

 ...and Lily fell asleep soon after.  I also got some great pictures of several other people sleeping throughout the service, but I'm saving them for future use :)

 Matt broke the Haitian tradition of keeping formal services VERY formal by joking around a bit and by calling on several sleeping students...

 ...which got laughs from them as well.

 Belony was also able to come for the first time in a long time and take part in the ceremony.  It ended after 2.5 hours with a special communion service...a great way to finish.

Then, everyone shared in a huge meal of goat (poor Speckles was purchased on Wednesday, Lily fell in love, and then eaten on Friday) chicken (which Lily took to the new chicken coop and tried to feed to the baby chickens), spicy pasta, rice and beans, plantain, beets and salad.

As always, we feel so blessed to a be a part of the Emmaus Community, and I personally was really overjoyed and touched today to have so many students come find us before heading home for vacation just to thank us and make their prayers known.  For all the days that we work as teachers and administrators and missionaries, all that ever really matters is that we have real relationships with the brothers and sisters that He has shared with us.

I feel gifted, as well, that He has given us all the strength and endurance and energy, patience, perseverance and good health to finish this year well!  Six months ago with our Sofie-scare, I didn't think I'd even get to be a part of this semester.  To have seen its' successful completion today was a gift and blessing.  He has been, is and continues to be so Faithful, not because of who or what we are or do, but simply because He Is. 

Thank you for all your prayers!

full days, full hearts

I will forever love this picture.  Given, yesterday was a bit overcast and rainy.   But it is May in Haiti, and I was still dripping.  Berthil, however was miserable, and I actually caught him blowing warm air into his hands :)

This is a fun time to be in Haiti...our hearts are about as full as our days!

It's hard to believe that another full year is drawing to a close at Emmaus Biblical Seminary...our fourth! Once again, it was a year of instability in Haiti, with cholera and then all the political excitement, but once again the staff and students endured and persevered and are ready to step into the next stage of ministry and training for their lives.

Everyone is tired and excited for the weeks off ahead, but still buckling down to finish well and test well.  Having fun activities (see the EBS blog for the full schedule) in the afternoons helps, and it really has felt like a week of celebration of all He's done and been this past year.

On the homefront, it also feels like a celebration with a full house of friends and family, friends coming to visit and wish us well for our time in the States and Lily elated 24/7.

She has only asked for Mommy or Poppy one time since Aunt Lisa and Uncle Adam arrived.  Yesterday, when scaling the outside of the bunk beds in her room, Aunt Lisa told her that it was not safe, and put her back on the ground.  Quickly realizing that Aunt Lisa was not going to budge, Lily let out a big sigh and said, "Hey, where's Poppy?"

Are ALL dads known for being push-overs when it comes to their daughters :)?

The staff/3rd year soccer match yesterday was a little sad (while the oldest person on our staff is only 43, we looked...old :), we only lost by one point, and everyone had a blast playing and watching.  Soccer competitions bring out this child-like and joyful side to our Haitian brothers and sisters that rarely show elsewhere, and I always love sitting in the middle, listening, and just enjoying being a part of so much happiness and excitement and comedy.

NorthRidge, Chris also proved himself well during the match (the first visiting professor ever to be allowed to play) and we believe that "soccer skillz" needs added to his repertoire in Sabetha!

We feel blessed to be a part of so many different cultures and surrounded by so many different lives and callings and giftings day in and day out!

(every time the ball went over the wall, everyone would collapse :)