Hello, hello! So sorry it has been so long since we’ve
updated… I have written at least 30 posts in my head but with all the events lately I have struggled finding time to jot them down.
Here is my attempt to fill you in on the last
couple of weeks. J
*As most of
you know, we lost our truck again 2 weeks ago.
For more on that story, see John’s post here: Thoughts from yesterday
*Although
Kylie was distraught after her visit to Cap Haitien with her Daddy she woke up
the next morning and said, “Mama, you have GOT to go to Cap Haitien… it is
awesome!”
(“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not
consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new EVERY morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations
3:22-23)
*Kylie
turned “6” and she was so excited that her birthday fell on Good Friday this
year!
We had a double celebration that weekend... in honor of our sweet girl and the greatest gift ever… salvation through Jesus and the cross!
*We had our
first group devotional time with the orphans and other kids from the community
the night before Easter. We used Resurrection eggs from my mom that tell the story of the Crucifixion/Resurrection of Jesus
and we ended our devotion time with glow-stick bracelets (thanks to an awesome
friend from MS!) as we discussed that Jesus is the light (John 8:12) and that He calls us to be the light in a dark world (Matthew 5:16). If you look close you can see the bracelets.....
*Easter
Sunday was incredible… start to finish…
it was so packed that we all but fell in the bed that night with
exhaustion but I’d celebrate it all again, the same way, in a heartbeat! Easter has always been special but this year
I was particularly moved at the thought of Jesus literally and willingly being alone and
forsaken FOR me. As I’ve heard and read the story year after
year, I knew Jesus asked God why He had forsaken him (“About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi,
lama sabachthani?’ –which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’) but I think I thought of his question as a
question regarding his feelings… I mean, I think I thought (subconsciously)
that in his pain he just felt like God had forsaken Him but this year it really
hit me that because of God’s character –not able to be where there is sin- He really
had forsaken His son FOR me and Jesus knew going in that he would bear the
weight of my sin and the sins of the world all alone – literally ALL BY
HIMSELF - and he did it... He didn't bail at the last minute... He didn't change his mind when he knew that so many times I would be ungrateful for His sacrifice... He completed the task that has assured me the gift of eternal life with Him. I cannot imagine how much worse the worst pain of MY life (which still doesn’t compare with the pain he bore that day) would have been if I had been all alone but He KNEW He’d be alone
and He did it anyway. That just totally sunk
in this year and I was beside myself with gratitude.
One of my
favorite things from the day (besides the oh.so.cool egg hunts in the rain) was
this:
Caleb and Cabila built the cross after church and we made thank you notes for Jesus and stapled them, one by one, to that cross.
It is now downstairs in the dining room to remind us each day that we always have something to be thankful for!
(By the way,
we all want to say thank you to each of our friends and family for sending us
over 350 plastic eggs and the goodies to go inside! The eggs are always a great picture of the
tomb… empty in the end just like Jesus’ tomb J and we got to share this illustration
with tons of kiddos here!)
*Right after
our terrific weekend, we learned that chicken pox were spreading like wild fire! We've seen 12 cases in the last few weeks. Caleb and Kylie were covered one night at bath time with what looked just like the others'spots and complained about the itching but their spots were gone by morning. Either it was something else that looked just like chicken pox or they had the lightest/fastest case I've ever seen. Whichever, we are grateful things haven't been worse! (Thanks for all the prayers for those that were aware through Facebook!)
*The cookhouse is almost complete.... just need the roof!!!!
*We are
attending actual Creole classes 2 nights a week and we are starting to understand
what we are saying…and saying things the right way never hurts! J
*We had 2 baby
goats and lost the same 2 baby goats all in one week which was terrible… L
Even in my limited knowledge of goats I knew something was wrong but
everyone I asked (and bugged the mess out of for 3 days, actually) kept saying
they were fine… I cried and prayed and
cried and prayed – yes over baby goats!!! - but they didn’t make it.
*It rained
for 7 days straight and then let up a day or so and has rained a little every
day since. The breeze is wonderful but the humidity and mud, not so much…
*We haven’t
gotten any word on the truck except that the plaque is “almost ready” -
whatever that means…
*I received
a letter from a new friend here asking me to be her 5 year old daughter’s Godmother. I was over the moon excited and accepted with
a big smile and a few tears!
*While I was
doing my quiet time one morning last week, I was sitting on the balcony outside
our room and in the middle of writing: ‘God,
I am so tempted to brush by those who are so hard to love but I know those are
the ones we are called to love.’, a
rock soared right above my head. Uh huh….
missed me by a couple of inches. It wasn’t
a huge rock but big enough that I ducked and my heart raced. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a boy run
out of the back gate and it wasn’t long before our boys here took off after
him. Then as I read this, “A heartless Christian must be a terrible
grief to our Lord.”, I thanked God for a great reminder to love instead of
retaliate even when we are a target for some.
*Kylie got
to sing in church this past Sunday. She
has been practicing with the girls for 3 weeks and although we have been
confused for the last 3 weeks about when she was actually going to be singing,
she beamed when the group got up and invited her to join them this past
Sunday. People all over the room were
smiling, she was smiling and I smiled through tears (ha) as she sang the song in
Creole! She may not know what she was
singing and I don’t have a clue what she was singing but God does and I know He
was pleased. J
We'd love to hear how you are and to know what's going on in your part of the world!
Until later...
"Think of whatever you are doing as an adventure and watch
your life change for the better." ~Wilferd A. Peterson
