the ayars affairs: A Powerful Preach, the Phillies, and Pondering "Home"

Our first few days in Delaware-New Jersey-Pennsylvania have been GREAT. Saturday night we kicked it off with a church that just feels more and more like home to us each year, Cornerstone Church.

Not only has this church helped financially support us over the last years, but they have invested in us...sending down a team, the senior pastor teaching 2 week courses at the seminary, and a whole bunch of people who follow our blog and pray for us regularly. The spirit at Cornerstone is always so loving, friendly, and sincere.

If you weren't there, here is Matt's sermon on Saturday and Sunday, which I thought (and I know I'm biased :) was just POWERFUL. If you have a few minutes, seriously. I'd watch it.

Click here.

When we first started speaking at Cornerstone and at other churches, we felt so imposing...hated asking people for help and hated busting Haiti and our call in on people's lives.

But since then, places like Cornerstone have made us so thankful! While we may have wished at the beginning that someone would have just written us a big 'ole check and gotten it done in ONE swing, being forced to come alongside SO MANY people and SO MANY churches has now meant that we have SO MANY people and SO MANY churches, not just supporting us, but living life and doing ministry alongside of us!

These relationships have truly been one of the GREATEST blessings of our past 8 years of support raising and living in Haiti.

There is nothing better than finally meeting the couple in their 80's who sends you $25 dollars every single month for 8 years and seeing the tears stream down their weathered cheeks as they hear what God is doing in Haiti through them.

Nothing better than praying with the pastor and remembering hotter, sweatier, harder days when we all prayed together around our breakfast table in Haiti before all heading to class...nothing better than Matt talking about Junior and having Pastor Paul and members of the congregation say, "I KNOW HIM!"

Praise the Lord it's been such a struggle to find and keep our funding up and the funding of the seminary, because it has enabled us to learn to Trust fully, and to live alongside of the hundreds of YOUS we never would have grown to love, otherwise!

I realized when I got this picture this morning that I was carrying Sofie's Haitian baby doll the entire time I was talking to people. Yeah.

It was a GREAT weekend at Cornerstone. We are just so blessed.

Then Monday was another great day...first, spending some time with Matt's parents, brother and sister-in-law and cousin Nico, taking family pictures, and then, heading with Uncle Don and Aunt Brenda to a Phillies game!

Every time Uncle Don comes to Haiti, he and Matt throw the ball around after work and talk about the Phillies, dreaming of the day they could enjoy a game together!

Last night the four of us went, with seats and company that just couldn't have been better!

I thought I was going to be the only fan in a teal t-shirt, but Uncle Don and Aunt Bren even got me a Phillies shirt!

It was SO.MUCH.FUN.

Felt like the most American, normal, far from Haiti thing on earth. Crab fries, hot dogs, ice cold cokes, baseball. Perfect.

I even got to sit by Aunt Brenda, so while these guys talked baseball the whole game, we got to watch ball AND catch up :)

So much fun, and so blessed after all these years of sweating and working together in Haiti to sweat and relax together! And, yeah. We won!

The girls, meanwhile, are having just a great time with their cousin, Aunt and Uncle and Grammy and PopPop. Playing with all of Nico's toys...out in the sprinkler...chasing the dogs, eating Jersey corn, getting their hair curled, happy!