I can't...He can...and you can Pray!

We had a stellar "last day": finished packing, played at the playground, then spent the afternoon with good friends, riding ponies (Lily is in love!), swimmin', playing with pets, then spent the evening in the sandbox with Dairy Queen, playing in the hose and roasting marshmallows!  Only way it could have been better was if Matt was here.

He had a pretty great day himself, meeting lots of new people, preaching three times throughout the day and blessed with some time with a good friend, Rob, with one of our past professors at Asbury, Dr. VH.  

So here we are.  It's time.  And as always, I feel a flood of a dozen emotions.

Ready.  Not Ready.

Homesick.  and about to be Homesick.

Missing friends and family on both fronts.

Wishing and Thankful all at the same time.

Every time we head into another year in Haiti, it's hard to fight off feelings of extreme inadequacy and weakness.

 "Can I do this?  Rats? No more AC? Back to baking all our bread, cooking every meal from scratch?  Back to speaking and working in another language?  Walking through sewage in the hot sun to church?  Missing family and friends so much?  Living daily in the midst of the struggle of poverty?  The high highs, the low lows? 

Can I do this?"

The overwhelming response is, of course...

NO.

 I can't do it any more now than I was able the day we first got on that plane.  When I think about all those things, I get caught up in what I can't do.

Which might actually be a good start.

His power, perfected in my weakness, from the start.

I fully recognize that I can't do one day without Him, can't even obey without His help and grace.  

So if He continues to have us living and working and serving in Haiti, and after much prayer and searching, we truly believe that He does, then HE can do it.  

He can do it, and He is welcome to do it in me.  That's the best I've got.

And enough for Him.

Thankful that tomorrow, just like today and yesterday, is about what HE can do, and NOT about what I can do.

So here's where we'd love to have your prayers:

1) Please pray for Matt as he continues to drive home from speaking in Michigan, hoping to return around 3 AM and our family leaving for the airport at 9 AM.  Yuck. 

2) Please pray for safe and "easy" flights these next two days, Thursday to Fort Lauderdale and Friday to Cap-Haitian.

3) Please pray for a smooth transition back into life in Haiti, especially for the girls.  We always head back to extreme heat, a house full of un-welcomed critters and a few inches of dirt!  The extreme cultural differences can be difficult for all of us to adjust to, but especially for the girls, who don't always understand these changes.

4) Please pray for the Sharptown UMC group of 18 flying into Haiti Saturday morning to work at the Seminary for the week.  We can't wait to have them, but have to admit we're a little stressed to have so many guests arriving only 24 hours after we do!  Pray for this special team, for their week in Haiti, and for all the details to come together.

5)  Please continue to be praying for Junior, Jodenel, Jean Marie and Jean Baptiste as they work in Tru-du-Nord, and the rest of our students as they work across Haiti for the Gospel.  Can't wait to hear some stories!

6) Please pray for Matt as he continues to step into being the President at EBS...for wisdom, energy, courage and discernment!!

THANK YOU for being a praying family, for coming and going with us in your prayers, for lifting up our dear girls, and for supporting us.  Your overwhelming support this summer has been such a gift, and we have been blessed over and over by reminders of FAMILY.