lily's dance

When things got rough, I can still here my mom say, "Common' guys.  We all know that the Lord hasn't brought us this far to abandon us now!"

How true it still is, as I am reminded that if the Lord has called Matt and I to Haiti and to this work, and if He has continued to do so and to provide, then there is  NO CHANCE that He's not also going to provide for Lily.  He intricately knows her heart, her needs and her perspective, and He reminded me this morning that He can, and WILL take care of HER in Haiti, too.  

There is a church in Plaine-du-Nord (the same Voodoo area I just wrote about a few days ago) that we have always loved to visit.  We don't have any staff or students there, and it's not associated with OMS in any way, but it's Micheline's church and we have always found a very earnest, passionate and seemingly healthy group of believers there.  

Over the past months, we've been saddened to hear Micheline share about how the pastor, boldly speaking out against members of the church who are practicing Christianity on Sunday mornings and openly practicing Voodoo in the evenings, was being driven out of the church.  Finally, he was asked by the church committee (with many of it's members being these problem people) to leave.

He was forced out the end of June, and a large number of people from the church, including Micheline and her family, were forced to leave as well if they were not willing to "tolerate" leadership worshipping whomever they chose, whenever they chose (and even tolerate the church yard as a place for Voodoo ceremonies on Saturday evenings.)

She's been visibly discouraged over this after spending her whole life in this church, and so this morning we drove out to her sister Elsie's home, where these "homeless" believers have been meeting, to encourage them and worship with them.

We found over 40 people huddled in Elsie's living room and spilling out onto her dirt porch, and we threaded our way through the sardined crowd to our obligatory seats of honor at the front.  Church building or no church building, time of joy or time of pain, there was no stopping this group from lifting their voices in passionate praise to the Lord.  

There were about a dozen children all packed to the front of the room with us, and in light of Friday's community/Lily disaster, I kept a close eye out for her emotions.  She was given a little woven chair like everyone else, and plopped down, happy to be like all the other kids.  

The seating was hot and crowded, the worship was loud and animated, the preaching was long and passionate (and Biblical and humble and great, by the way), but Lily was completely unfazed.  SO unfazed, in fact, that about 6 songs in, I noticed a lot of the children looking at her and grinning, and I looked down to see her dancing.  

Not ballet-twirling or dancing like any of her kid DVDs, but watching the other children closely and dancing just as they were to the music, sway then rigid to the left, stomp-clap, sway than rigid to the right, stomp-clap.  

It may have been no big thing, but it was a mother's answered prayer to see her, just a few days past traumatized, at ease, grinning, having fun, and completely ignoring her mother.  She didn't want to leave when the service ended (which following a 2+ hour service, is unheard of!), and actually left and walked out to the car with the other children, again, ignoring mother.

She's going to be ok.  

There will be rough moments in this very foreign culture for our children, as there still are for Matt and I.  There will be tears, as there still are for Matt and I.  But today she saw and enjoyed some of the beauty of a passionate, worshiping, community oriented people, whom He loves, on her own...and was content.

to be or not to be

There are some days here that end with me genuinely and joyfully thinking: We have arrived!  I feel a part of this culture!  We get it, we're living it, we're becoming Haitian!


Today was not one of those days.


Yesterday evening, a good friend, Magalee, and her 8 month daughter came to see me.  Her husband Junior has what seems like multiple-sclerosis, and became ill right in her last months of pregnancy.  A God-hearted and joyful woman, Magalee and I quickly became friends through trips to visit and pray for Junior.


This past year has been heartbreaking and difficult for her, and I hardly recognized the gaunt, tired eyed woman at my door.  There was no mistaking Abby-guy-ee (no idea how you spell that) however.  Wide-eyed, chunky, alert and happy, she and Lily played on the floor for about an hour while her mom and I visited.

(Lily goofing with Gertha and Sofie with Micheline)

As soon as they left, Lily was abuzz.  "MOM, I LOVE HER" she gushed.  "I love kids!"


She didn't forget overnight, either, and woke up begging to play with kids.  So, throughout the morning of visitors, dirty dishes and laundry, I promised that we'd go play with "the six" across the street "in a little bit".  Two single mothers split a little block home directly in front of the gate.  Three little girls belong to one, and three little boys belong to the other, a home Lily always loved visiting.


Lily begged and begged and finally could be put off no longer.  We grabbed Sofie and headed off, Lily squealing and clapping her hands.  "The six" were just as thrilled to see Lily, but we hadn't been there but 10 seconds before the yard was suddenly full.  Anxious to see the "ti-blanc" (little foreigner), dozens of children ran over, and anxious to see the new baby, bored adults from up and down the street quickly streamed in.


Extreme curiosity, close encounters and bold questionings are quite often to be found as a foreigner in Haiti, so I wasn't phased, but Lily's happy eyes quickly turned fearful as she clung to my skirt.  With everyone talking and pulling at me at once, Sofie began to bawl, which was quickly met by a dozen mothers strongly urging me that the baby must be fed, NOW.


It is believed by many in this culture that thumb-sucking leads to mental slowness in children, so as soon as Lily became frightened and popped her thumb in her mouth, a dozen hands reached out and ripped it back out...so Lily began bawling and trying to climb up my leg.


A very boisterous and forceful woman, seeing that I was NOT feeding the crying baby as instructed, starting pulling at Sofie and ripping her shirt up at the same time.  "I'm going to feed her!" she kept insisting.  


(Recognize that while a lot of this sounds and seems rude from our cultural standpoint, everyone was only being curious and helpful in Haiti's.  Remember: community, community, community).


Helpful or not, overwhelmed or not, this lady was NOT going to feed by baby.  Trying to comfort Lily at the same time, I said a quick prayer and searched the crowd for His Spirit.  I immediately made eye contact with a woman I'd been to pray for several times throughout the past year,  a woman who won't step in church but loves the Lord.


Whew.


I snatched Sofie back from loud-lady, quickly handed her to Spirit-eyes, scooped up a now bawling Lily, tried to answer as many of the questions as I could in Creole while speaking peace to Lily in English, and waited for thing to calm down.

Was Sofie a boy?
Why didn't she have any hair?
Why weren't her ears pierced?
Why do I let Lily suck her thumb?
Why isn't Lily in school yet?
Do foreigners breastfeed?
Do I give Sofie other foods, too?
Where were we for the past 8 weeks?
Did I suffer much in labor?
Where was Matt?
Were we married, or just living together?
Don't we wish Sofie had been a boy?
Why do foreigners give all their children such short names?
Will we keep having children until God gives us a boy?
Was Matt upset that she was a girl?
Why was Lily crying?
Why couldn't loud-lady feed the baby?
Doesn't Lily know how to speak yet?


When everyone realized that we weren't actually all that exciting, most everyone moved on...but the damage was done.  "Mommy, I want to go HOME," Lily cried, and my heart just broke.


She had been so excited, and now she was desperate to get away from the very kids she had come to play with.  She had wanted to play with kids so that she could play with other people like her, and had come away instead feeling like a lonely object.  I felt equally sad for the other kiddos, who didn't understand why Lily wouldn't play with them or why she was crying.

Our friend Sharon reminded me recently that while Matt and I have chosen to be missionaries in this country, Lily didn't, and she doesn't have to be.  While we want to teach her to be Christ-like in how she treats people, we don't want to forget that she doesn't have to be a missionary toddler.  But today wasn't about doing ministry out in Saccanville, nor did all this happen while I was out evangelizing.  Sigh.


Things did quiet down, Sofie was perfectly happy with my friend, Lily calmed down, and even wandered about a bit with a few other little girls until the whole lot of children ran into the tiny dirt-floor block house, and bizarrely came out with a little DVD player.  A mini movie theater with rocks for seating quickly emerged, and all the children crowded around with the adults to watch a very old and very foul-languaged Jackie Chan movie.  SO random.


Lily looked at me from her rock again with a dozen questions in her eyes, none of which I had answers to but to laugh and draw a small wan smile from her round face.  Once everyone was well captivated, I thanked our friends, scooped Sofie back up in my left arm and Lily in my right and we headed home.


"I'm sorry, Lil" I told her as we walked home.


"That was not fun" she whimpered.


Ah.  Everyone says that life changes drastically with children.  Life in Haiti, all the more!

Please be praying for us as we try to help our children thrive and understand and be a part of their home. Pray for God to help us be extra creative in how we can bring friends into our girls lives and how we can do ministry that is healthy and not harmful for them and how we can live life here in a way that shows the girls the beauty of a different culture.  Pray for wisdom as we take one day at a time, prioritize, and live and minister here!


Praising the Lord again at the end of the day that He is our culture and the Father of not just us, but Lily and Sofie, too.

Baron's Beautiful Crisis

In light of all that's happening in the Voodoo world in Haiti, I wanted to share with you an article I just finished for OMS about what's happening in HIS. 

When Ezekiel Deroses graduated from Emmaus Biblical Seminary of Haiti in the spring of 2009, there was still not one Christian in the utterly impoverished, exceedingly distant and  uncommonly traditional mountain village of Baron. 

 

Determined to bring the Lord of his life to his hometown, Ezekiel increased the amount of time that he spent there each week after graduation, preaching the whole Gospel unceasingly until his prayers were finally answered with the joint conversion of two he loved the most: his mother and father.

 

Turning from Voodoo and choosing to be Christ-followers was so highly controversial that many immediately accused them of no longer being Haitian.  But when Ezekiel returned again a week later to bring them a Bible, he found a small gathering of new Christians led to the Lord by his parents.

 

“We want to know more!” they all immediately begged him.  “Teach us everything you know about our Jesus.”

 

Suddenly, Baron had a church, and Ezekiel became a pastor.  Persecution and resistance was theirs in abundance, but under such conditions their little house church grew, and Ezekiel’s four years of study were electrified.

 

 Coming back to Emmaus once a month for prayer, resources and counsel, Ezekiel was exhausted but overjoyed to be able, and well-equipped, to do his Father’s work in his father’s village.

 

However, in January of 2011, Ezekiel came back to his alma mater discouraged and downtrodden.  A newcomer had recently moved to Baron with the desire to plant a church.  Ezekiel’s excitement for help was quickly smothered when the man’s teaching rapidly strayed from the Gospel. 

 

Before long, a second church had been formed, strongly preaching that sickness and poverty are direct consequences of sin, and that Jesus came to offer only a life of comfort, luxury, wealth and continual happiness.  Anything different being preached was quickly coined “Anti Gospel” and Ezekiel, frequently enduring hunger, persecution and unashamedly poor, “Demonic” and even the “Anti-Christ.”

 

His brothers and sisters at Emmaus listened to Ezekiel’s heartbreak, prayed feverishly for their friend, and with a few bills pressed into his weary hand, sent him back to Baron with what he had already been given:  the ability to interpret the Scriptures faithfully and articulate Its theological message in the face of darkness in a relevant way.

Today, with the Bible alone, Ezekiel is dismantling these heretical teachings, along with the false teachings of Baron’s witchdoctors, all meant to keep the people of Baron in bondage.  He is fighting to faithfully adhere to and teach the Gospel that continues to be found controversial, divisive and dynamically orthodox around the world. 

 

Small groups of staff and students are accompanying him as often as they can, inspiring Ezekiel to be faithful in the midst of fire, encouraging Baron’s Christ-followers to dig through, wrestle with and know the Bible well, and to give Jesus to the many who still don’t know Him.

 

“There will be no lukewarm Christians in Baron when this is finished,” Ezekiel shared a few weeks later.  “God gave us the Bible as Truth, and He gave me the chance to study it intimately and extensively.   And now Baron has to KNOW what they believe, and have to know who Jesus truly is -- Praise the Lord.”

 

reminders

July is a big month for Voodoo in Haiti, perhaps the biggest.  One of the largest and most wide-spread Voodoo celebrations ended last night in Plaine-du-Nord, a zone about 5 miles from us.  People from all over Haiti, the DR and even the States come for this week long experience, casting money and food into the mud of St. Jacques pool, bathing in it, sacrificing animals into the mud, and asking a major spirit for jobs or healing, for money or help. 


"St. Jacques is the Catholic personification of the African spirit Ogun. When slaves were brought to Haiti, they were baptized as Catholics and forbidden to practice their African religions. Yet they continued to do so in secret and incorporated Catholicism into their traditions. Most spirits in Vodou are represented with both an African and a Catholic name. Ogun, or St. Jacques, is the warrior spirit and is associated with fire, iron, politics and thunderbolts." says Frontline.  


"Every year, thousands of Vodou practitioners gather there in honor of St. Jacques, the warrior spirit. The ceremony is centered around sacred waters.


Water in the Vodou religion is multifaceted in significance and use. It is offered as refreshment and nourishment to the spirits and used for cleansing in ceremonies and initiations. Water is where certain spirits and ancestors reside, and its fluidity is thought to offer the lessons of change."


Over 10,000 people are said to have attended again this year, and last night we fell asleep yet again to strong drumming, an ever present reminder of Haiti's great need to be dedicated instead to a God that requires no pilgrimages, no sacrifices, no money and no rituals, yet offers to re-create us, offers New life, offers freedom from Satan and freedom from ourselves.  


There is much to be done in the world, not because we are missionaries, but because we are His. 

"Neither by the blood of goats or calves, but by his own blood he entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption FOR us.


How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the Spirit offered Himself to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" 


Hebrew 9:12,14  

beach

When we were heading back to Haiti, we tried to remind Lily of all the fun things there are to do here (which admittedly, is a list kind of hard to come up with :).  The swimming pool at the hotel in town, the three little girls that live across the street, playing with Shay, running on Uncle Don's sidewalk, collecting mangoes, the beach, chasing chickens, playing soccer with the guys, etc.

 The one she's reminded us of everyday since was "BEACH!" so today, after a bit of a long first week (upon starting my blender yesterday roaches came pouring out of the base...I am bugged out!!!) and continued stifling weather, we were on the road by 8, making the 17 mile trip to the beach in record time...95 minutes.  It was breezy, beautiful and Lily was grinning and laughing ALL day, which means we were to.

The beach is one of the only places we've found in Haiti where one, it's always breezy and cool, and two, we feel more like we can disappear.  There's hardly ever anyone there, and we can just enjoy our day and not think about work, no one stares at us, we're not "missionaries".  We also got to enjoy some good time today with friends Meg and Wilbur.

 Sofie enjoyed sleeping at the beach.  And that's pretty much it.

Tomorrow morning we're off to one of our favorite churches, Vilmer's in town.

home and heart

Ahhhh.

Matt spent all day Monday re-screening all the windows, and now we have good screens! (and an outdoor cat).  Several good friends came yesterday, not just to visit and catch up, but ended up spending the day helping me with laundry, mopping, dishes, everything.  Shay is taking Advil, and our gracious pediatrician friend caught us up on some of the girls weird rashes, we hooked up Dodo and Bubba's sprinkler (miss you guys!), a good friend church is sending us a fan, and suddenly, we are at home again.

Yesterday was just plain beautiful.  In small groups throughout the day, good friends came to see us.  Lily, who I thought had forgotten everyone, started dancing and squealing the moment she saw Gertha walking down the drive, and couldn't keep herself from running to Micheline when she rounded the bend.

When I was giving Lil a bath yesterday morning, she noticed that we were out of toilet paper.  "Mom," she said, "we need to go to Sandy's house...SOON!  I LOVE Sandy's house!"

Sandy is the penny-ride horse at Meijer, and running to Meijer in Ohio quickly was replaced with running to "Sandy's house."

I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach.

Here was my little girl, whom I love so dearly, and she wanted to go to Meijer, and I felt like I had taken that away from her.  Took her away from things that she loves to be here.

But the moment her squirmy butt and bobbing pig-tails ran down the driveway in sheer delight, and as she talked to us all evening about her "friends", told us that "Maxi loves me, Kerline loves me, Gertha loves me..." and as she waved each friend good-bye with a loud, "Where is my friend going?"...I felt the Lord replace the concern in my heart with joy.  I'm not the only one learning that it's about the relationships, not about stuff, and just as He has been faithful through the years to give us so much true joy in being here, He is giving it to Lily, as well.  (Now if only we could get our families to move down!)

We had a wonderful time with lots of laughter with many friends...Pehpay, Vilmer, Belo, Naomi, Sheila, Micheline, Gertha, Luke, Abel...followed by Maxi and Kerline for supper.  Lily fell asleep joyful and grateful, and we did, too.

My devotional time yesterday afternoon when both girls were napping (ahhh) drove it home...

Following the reading of the rich young ruler... "Everything counts as naught until the Lord gets us absolutely remade from the inside--until the disposition of holiness is planted within us...holiness of heart and life.  Jesus is the enemy of every love, every relationship, and every aim that does not aid the sanctification (consecration, set apart as holy) of the soul."  

So exciting that He doesn't just offer us change or a good bleaching, but offers to "absolutely remake" us from the inside...create in us a NEW heart.  Praying for that planting again and asking Him to clean house of whatever He wants to, just as we've been cleaning house these last days!

And not a moment too soon, because there is a LOT to do!

the good, the bad and the ugly

Whew.  I've been waiting for the Lord to help balance my emotions before getting on the blog!

Our return already has just been crazy full of lots of highs and lows, great time with friends and inward struggles.  

It is insanely hot, and pouring sweat 24/7 and being unable to escape the heat is going to take some getting used to again.  Everything in the house was growing with mold due to the high humidity and the house being empty.  Every toy, every sock, every pot and pan, every shoe, everything.  Things you would never think mold could grow on.  Our house didn't have power for long stretches of time, meaning all our frozen beef, all the mayo, jam, etc...yeah, really gross.  

Shay (the dog) is looking really awful (I mean really), and we're trying to nurse her back to health or face the painful reality of having to perhaps put her down...she is in so much pain she can barely walk.  Our cat is really sick, which has included massive amounts of continual diarrhea, and our screens are so worn out and decaying that when we put the cat out to prevent more messes, she just bursts through a different screen.  

Add a thick layer of grime to everything, a million loads of laundry to get the mold out, and the cockroaches and rats (and I'm sure tarantulas) that have moved in in our absence.  Everyone looks to mom for "What's for dinner?" and until this afternoon when we stocked up on food, the answer the last 6 meals has been "mac-n-cheese" and a can of cranberry sauce that somehow made it through the mold storm.  Add the news of a major break-in and theft in the men's dorm a few weeks ago, which included the son of the head of security. 

Picture all this, then a crying heat-rashed baby and a very curious, getting into everything Lily.

I won't lie to you, I've had my quick-to-wimp moments of:  "I don't think I can do this.  Why do we do this?  It shouldn't have to be this hard!  I miss grandpa's house and Meijer and carpeting and air conditioning and restaurants.  Someone get me a shower and take me out to dinner and a movie in a cold dark theater!"

So our re-introduction to this land and life and calling that we love has been a little ugly. 

But then there was church yesterday, where we discovered a major burden has been miraculously taken care of (Thank you, Lord) and a few dozen dear friends whom we were SO glad to see and who were SO glad to see us.  A great phone call with Gertha.  A great visit with Kerline last night.  Catching up with the community yesterday afternoon.  A good talk with Belo this morning.  A great meeting with Lucner and Paul a few minutes ago.  So much confidence and excitement in those two!  Good friends all around us, all anxious to hear about our families and our time out, anxious to meet Sofie and catch up with Lily.  Good news of lots of good ministry happening.  Good news about lots of different students.

And as we walked around the campus last night, trying to find a breeze and get out of the house, seeing the buildings and praying over them...just brimming with hope.  I can almost hear the guys playing soccer, laughing uproariously.  I can almost hear Lucner, Guenson, Matt teaching the Word loudly, can almost hear the students singing bold praise in beautiful harmony to the Lord.  I can't WAIT to see what the Lord has in store for this upcoming year and can't WAIT to hear more stories and testimonies of what He has been doing while we've been out.  His faithfulness and trueness to being Himself remains.

It's just rats.  And sweat.  Diarrhea and mold.  Not going to flower that up for you.  But that's why we're told to store up our treasures in heaven, huh.  No moths or dust or thieves or rust, but beautiful things that bring Him glory and that truly matter....kingdom things.  

I'm committing (and probably recommitting at least a few more times today alone :) to let go of the earthy crud, to deliberately let go of the materialistic longings, and store up all these beautiful moments and allow Him to use this to bring us closer to Him.  

And there goes another roach. 

Recommitting.  

Thanks for all your love and prayers!

Lily, happily rediscovering her "bathtub".

Sophia, the daughter of Matt's highschool friend who was born exactly 2 hours earlier than our Sofia.  Alex and Jenny so graciously housed us in Fort Lauderdale Friday night and took us to the airport at 4 am Saturday morning.

Lily finally got to spend a bit of time with Sarah and Becca while we ate with Dave and Ann the day before leaving for Haiti.  Lily had SUCH a blast that she bawled when it was time to leave.  Ahhh, this picture makes me want Panera.   

Recommitting.

We've arrived safely home with very uneventful travel...Praise the Lord!

We're feeling just a tad overwhelmed by all the "news" and all that there is to do...Things don't hold up well for 8 weeks in such a dusty, humid, buggy country when no one is home, and Matt's got some things on his plate he wasn't expecting.

Still, we have had and still have many sweet reunions ahead of us this weekend...more soon!

here we go...

...for a guaranteed 'nother exciting year in Haiti!  We are packed (mostly), prepared (as we can be) and ready (95%).  These past 8 weeks you have given us good food, lovely gifts, your time, good conversation, help, hospitality, great emails and blessings.   THANK YOU....we have had such a great 2 months!

What we're most craving now isn't ice cream (for once) or a round of golf (though he wouldn't mind!)  These next days and this upcoming year we're craving your prayers!  Being our fifth full year in Haiti, we know that we don't know what to expect.  But we DO know that we greatly need Him to be a part of us, our every moment and our work!

Here are a few specific things we're asking you to pray about these next months...

Lily and Sofie...
    -through these next few days of travel.  We fly to Florida on Friday afternooon/evening and into Haiti at 6 am on Saturday morning
    -that they would continue to grow in wisdom and in good health with God and with the community
    -that God would continue to protect them and keep them safe and healthy and help us to protect them the best we can
    -that they would adjust well to returning to their home culture
    -that God would help us as we strive to foster their relationships with Him
    -school starts at the end of August and we do not yet know what we'll be doing in regards to child-care. What we've been doing in the past isn't going to work out for this semester, and we are very much so in need of clear guidance and a godly, trustworthy, sensational person to help us walk alongside of the girls while I work at Emmaus everyday from 8-noon.  As a mom, I'm asking Him to help me trust Him with this and to flee from anxiousness.  (sidenote: If you are interested in this very fun position, it pays $100 US per month and includes steaming cow organs for breakfast at least once a week)

 Matt and I...
     -that God would continue to protect us and keep us healthy
     -that He would give Matt ongoing wisdom, patience and joy as he continues as the Vice-Director at Emmaus Biblical Seminary
     -that He would help us manage our time well, keep our priorities in line with His priorities, and help us carry out our daily lives through a process as Godly as the outcome we are seeking
     -that He would give us His energy as we work alongside of extreme heat and two little ones
     -that He would allow and direct whatever He will to make us hungrier for and walk closer to Him in all circumstances (we don't take that lightly!)
     -that He would provide family and friendship for our family members in our absence, just as He has provided family and friendship for us in theirs

Emmaus Biblical Seminary...
     -please be praying for all the staff and students at EBS as they finish their summer's of ministry and return to Saccanville
     -that the Lord will be preparing the currently 12 new students to be an awesome part of this awesome community
     -that EBS’s staff would continue to grow in unity and in Christ and in experience and wisdom, making Emmaus function better for His glory and bringing EBS closer to it’s goal of having well-qualified, well-established, self-dead Haitian leaders
     -that this year would be one of great growth and deepening maturity and knowledge for the staff and students


Haiti...

     -that this year would be one of peace, political stability, growth and good health

     -that Haitian believers would grow deeply in relationship with the Lord and that Haiti would change   because of it, for His glory

     -that non-believers in Haiti would come to not just know Him this year, but to truly embrace Him, give their lives to Him and be transformed

heading home...

We made it safely back to Ohio and finally, finally, finally on the way home got a good connection to Haiti and talked to all kinds of good friends!  It was so good to get in contact with Abel, Maxi, Lucner...and to catch up on how things have been.  Our cat is still alive and kicking (no cat jerky!), Shay is hanging in there, the house and the community are doing well, all our friends and family there are doing well, Lucner found out they are expecting a little girl (Victoria Pierre), and everyone is anxious anxious to meet Sofie.

Frankly, after having so much good time with family and being Stateside, we've been a little chagrin about heading home on Friday.  It's easy to think about all of the work, really missing family, the heat, the struggles, the poor internet, the terrible roads, the instability, the lack of our favorite foods, lack of luxuries, busy busy days and constant ups and downs and have therefore been a bit reluctant to return.

But the second we were finally able to talk to the PEOPLE today...re-enter into the RELATIONSHIPS...we were stoked.  Matt hung up and said, "Let's go home!  I'm excited now!"

Just hearing their playful and intimate banter over the phone made me anxious to spend good time with these friends and so many others.  It's gonna be hot, and we have no expectations that the "situation" in Haiti has improved politically or economically, and there is a LOT to do:  But it continues to be where His heart is for us, where our heart is for Him, and He's given us a heart for the people and for making Him known in Haiti.  It continues to be about relationships, not comforts, and its the relationships we are  excited about.

Tomorrow we meet up with some friends from London, Ohio, go to the dentist, do last minute shopping, and then Thursday is our packing day!

gatlinburg

Finally got to a bit of internet to show you some pix from vacation!  It has been a WONDERFUL long weekend with lots of good family time, 24 hours with two close friends, lots of happy memories, lots of happy Lily squeals and an abundance of things to be thankful for.  Gatlinburg is just beautiful, and I'm so thankful we've had this precious time!

Tomorrow morning Lisa and Adam head back to Colorado, we head back to Ohio with Dad, and then we have until Friday morning to pack everything and everybody up.  Ah, this part is always so hard!

 afternoon in the River with the Bundy's

 Mia and Elisa came up from Georgia!