Get 'er Don!

Do you know that Matt has to be to England for his doctoral studies on May 21st?  That Graduation is May 17th?  That the 16th is a huge Alumni Reunion/Celebration day at Emmaus?  That we fly out of Haiti on May 18th?  That lots of families from Port are coming for graduation...and staying in our house...next door...across the way...everywhere?  That there is a rat living in my kitchen AGAIN!?

There are three things keeping us from going entirely insane right now:  Micheline, Gertha, and DON.

Micheline and Gertha are coloring pictures, washing dishes, sorting laundry, braiding hair, visiting new baby goats, whatever, everything.  Praise the Lord for these dear dear friends.  They have greatly earned and merited some time without us :)  It's coming!

But Don?  He heads back to Jersey tomorrow...but has gotten SO MUCH DON.  

Our microwave?  Broken.  No good...really frustrating!  New microwave?  Not easy, not quick, not in Haiti, not in our budget.  Don?  He fixed it.  It's beautiful.

The wall and sign, repainted for graduation

The roof's of the men's dorm and chapel were black with mold.  Don?  He built this safety thingy, got up there, and worked for HOURS night after night.   They're beautiful. 

Painted the generator/battery house.  Cleaned up the yard.  Used broken old sidewalk pieces to BUILD a sand box for all the random piles of sand.  Patched the holes.  Replaced the temporary with permanent solutions.  Built a display for graduation.  Fixed the lawnmower.  Got all the under-hang things painted on all the buildings.  Cleaned out the entire shop and generator house.  Fixed a diesel overflow issue.  Painted the garage.  

told you the students painted the trees white!...did I mention ALL the trees?

Started early.  Worked late...REALLY late.  Worked every Saturday.  And will head RIGHT back into work in New Jersey.  

And the guys he's been working with?  Junel, Maxi, Abel, Magloire...they've been right there with him.  Weeding, cleaning, painting, fixing.   When they know he's going to be working on Saturday, they've been coming on Saturday.  Two of those guys aren't even on payroll for maintenance!

  

And as the five of them have been working hard to end the year well and get things looking good for graduation, the STUDENTS have really amped up their work-study time.  I've seen students doing tedious jobs this past week I've never seen them touch before...the better things look, the better the students WANT them to look!

Basically--Don been doing some major serving, with an awesome attitude, from start to finish, giving his best to each task, for many people he doesn't even really know, in a culture that is not his own, for absolutely no compensation, instead of earning money at home, and was away from his wife and daughter for three weeks.  

I don't even get it.

That's some major Jesus.  We've all been inspired--just to give Him the best of what we've got, for no reason other than His glory!

Don, we love you, and not even for ANY of the above things...just for who you are.  THANK YOU for loving on us and Him and the students and the seminary in all these millions of sweaty, smelly, tedious, thankless ways.  What a testimony!

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The rest of these photos have nothing to do with anything...

Our cherry tree is going crazy and we're getting a few liters of juice a day!

Lily's first year at school is quickly winding down!  hard to believe..

Sofie and Micheline have mutual soft spots for each other...Mish is so caring and gentle and soft-spoken, all of which Sofie loves, and Sofie is so spunky and ornery and cheeky, all of which crack Micheline up :)

Mama Honey finally delivered her baby boy kid yesterday...who might be Biscuit or Winnie the Pooh or Bunny or...the kids are going wild with names.  He was born the same day Oreo became the end of the year lunch party, so...that was redemptive :)

Life never slows down!