catch-up and pray!

The team left Saturday afternoon and by Saturday evening, we were all feeling BAD.  Sure enough, when we woke up Sunday Matt and Lily were hacking away with deep coughs, and Sofie joined them with tons of drainage and stuffiness.  We were forced to scrap plans for church and catching up with friends over lunch and instead spent the day resting and drinking Emergen-C packets and juice.  

Things are very quiet without our 18 friends!  Here's a few photos of some other things I missed sharing...

They repainted our porch, which very badly needed painted!

Here, Don and Matt are praying with a woman asking to accept Jesus as her Savior and Lord...

And here is a huge tree, located within the courtyard of a voodoo temple, that was known for evil spirits living inside of it...it broke a few weeks ago in a wind storm and the team used that testimony as a launch for sharing...

with men such as this one.

The tree is now being turned into kindling.

They painted almost all the very dirty doors a very vibrant shade of green (We would NOT give the "take a picture of what color you want with your phone and we will send you that color" feature of Sam's phone five stars.  Lime green was not pale sage green.  However, our Haitian family has been LOVING the new color...so we'll adjust :)

And of course, when I asked Uncle Don if he could quickly throw together a cruddy shoe shelf, he said, "No."  But he "threw" this one together instead...just beautiful!

And everyone knows how to use it :)

This morning, after much prayer, thinking, talking, researching and pondering, we took Lily down the road and registered her for school.  She is a year behind for starting in Haiti, a year ahead for starting in the States, but as shy as she can be, she is anxious to begin.  We visited the Pilatre school (P-ought) several times throughout the year last year, and we are almost 100% sure this is the way to go for Lily.

Today was the last day for registration for her level, and I was grateful Matt was able to go with me, too, so that this is a family decision and not just a Mom and Lil decision.  He felt good about it, too, so she is registered, and while we'll still have to do her English portion of schooling here at home, we're excited about this chance for her to spend her mornings in a classroom setting at a Christian school right down the road with some great teachers, friends from the community, and a head-mistress that we really like and respect.  This will also give her a great opportunity to take her Creole to the next level, making life in Haiti that much easier for her and less foreign.  

Pastor Mano (a long time ago graduate of EBS) and his wife run the school, and we've had some good time discussing things with them as well, and we're all excited about giving this a try...but nobody more than Lily, who was quite disappointed that she didn't receive a uniform today upon registration.  (We will have to make her uniform, and as you know me, that means we will have to buy the material and find someone to make her uniform).

I'm sure I'm making this decision far too big a deal, but please just be praying with us over Lily, her education, and this upcoming school year!  We want her to be right where He wants, whether that be in a variety of different school options or homeschooling, and beg your prayers as we seek His direction!

Meanwhile, course and financial registration begin for EBS classes this week, new student interviews happen in a few days, visiting professors are getting courses prepared and ready to travel...there is a lot happening these next weeks!  We love your prayers!!