Monday, December 23, 2013

December Happenings (2)

Just like at your house, lots of things have been happening around here during December.
In this post, I want to share one of my most favorite happenings....

Most of you know that our family grew by one back in April.  (If you missed that exciting announcement you can read about it here:  5+1=6).

I would say that the whole month of December is worth celebrating since it's the month that, as Christ followers, we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.  With that in mind, I can't think of a better time to celebrate the fact that our oldest child made a public profession of his faith in Jesus Christ this month!  Cabila talked with our pastor here on several occasions and he made the decision to be baptized on December 8th.

I can't begin to tell you how excited we were when we found out!!!  Prior to him joining our family, there were obviously lots of things that we didn't get to experience with him but the things that we get to share with him now, as our son, bring unspeakable joy.  This was one of those times!   I am so grateful and so honored that God allowed us to be a part of such a monumental day in his life!



Here are photos (and some descriptions) from that special day:


We had instructions to be at the church at 6:00am that Sunday.  Side note: after late night rain the night before it was SO pleasant and a little cool that morning.  This was the one and ONLY time all 3 of our American children have worn long-sleeve shirts in Haiti (ha!).  By afternoon, they were in shorts and short-sleeves again but the cooler temps that morning were wonderful! (smiles)

After meeting up with the pastor and the other (2) people being baptized, we walked to the river together.  



The 3 guys being baptized are in white.  (That's my boy in the middle of the participants!)  The further we walked, the more children joined us.  You see the child with the tattered clothes?  He followed us all the way...  he and many others.

There are rules in churches (both spoken and unspoken) about dress codes.  Here as a part of Haitian culture, people are expected to be dressed a certain way in order to attend church.  While I understand reasoning for having dress codes, I believe that when it comes to having a relationship with God that He allows us to come just the way we are.  I love this picture because it reminds me of that and it also encourages me to strive to live a life that will lead others to Christ.   I am so proud of Cabila for taking a stand to strive to live life that way.



Crowds formed to watch the event...


The river, in my opinion, is a perfect place for baptism because it truly is public.  I'm not knocking the way baptisms are done 'back home' but as I witnessed my first baptismal ceremony in Haiti, I saw some things from a different perspective.  I love the fact that so many people can see the decision being displayed during such ceremonies...not in a "bull-horn type 'look-at-what-I-am-doing'" display but in a quiet, yet visibly audible display that says to the community that you are ok with professing and being held accountable to a new way of life.  


Pastor Joshua explained the ceremony before beginning and called Cabila into the water.

 

By stepping up to participate in this ceremony, Cabila publicly professed that Jesus Christ is his Lord and Savior.


 


By being submerged in the water he is proclaiming that his old way of life is dying and while emerging he is claiming his new life in Christ.

 

"I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Galatians 2:20

 



Pastor Joshua ended the ceremony with prayer.

Dad video'd the event....


...we got a quick family snapshot,



and I got a snapshot with this handsome guy, too! 



"My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth.  I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit-not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength-that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in.  And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love.  Reach out and experience the breath!  Test its length!  Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights!  Live a full life, full in the fullness of God.  God can do anything, you know- far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!  He does it not by pushing up around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us."  
Ephesians 3:14-20

Merry Christmas!  
We pray you encounter Jesus like you have never encountered Him before!


Sunday, December 22, 2013

December Happenings (1)

We kicked off the month with birthdays and tree trimming. 

Robenson's birthday was first...



 Happy birthday, Robenson!!! 




Decorating the Mission House tree was definitely a group effort...




We sang and played Christmas music,

















the tallest guys worked on the top,
and the girls lined up over and over again for ornaments.









Jeff and Caleb adorned crowns for the party!



Our baby girl is growing up!!

Islande crowned John...




and Dieulanda laughed and laughed as she twirled and played!  She is so sweet and she adores John!


The 2nd birthday we celebrated this month was Betanie's!  
She is the "orphan mom" and she enjoyed having a party, too!

 



Stay tuned for more of what's going on here...


We hope as you prepare for Christmas that you will be blessed and filled with the love of Christ!

.....only 3 more days..........

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Pioneer Woman

I confess.....
A pioneer woman, I do not claim to be.

(pause)

(sigh)

(smiles)

Did you know that it takes anywhere from 3 to 5 hours to make an average meal here in Haiti?  I'm not talking, "cooking for the holidays type meal" but rice, beans, and a couple of veggies (add another hour if you are cooking chicken or beef).  If you are a seasoned Haitian woman with experience then you can probably knock out a simple meal in about 2 or 3 hours.  But for this less-than-seasoned-yet-determined-and-currently-learning-to-cook-in-Haiti woman, it is a long..long..long.....long................ long process.

Until about 5 weeks ago, we had a helper that shopped for us in the open market (since the prices immediately go up when we shop for ourselves) and she cooked our evening meals 6 nights a week.  We had some problems over the last few months and had to make some changes so currently we feel like we are starting all over again in some ways as we are learning how to cook and shop locally.  Occasionally we can find American spaghetti sauce along with canned tuna and even some Pringles at the store in Cap Haitien and we always try to keep local peanut butter on hand but you can only do so much with those when it comes time for meals.  And the people who live here with me (and 7-10 other warm bodies that come hungry each day)  seem to want to eat EVERY day so skipping a day isn't really an option, I'm finding.  (smiles)

We might be lacking in several food groups but what we are not lacking here in Haiti is rice and beans.  Black beans, pinto beans, pwa (don't know the name of it in English) and some other beans...  You get the idea...  there are lots of beans and rice here.  You may think I was exaggerating when I said before that we eat rice and beans everyday but it is the truth.  In some form or fashion, we have them every.. single.. day.  So.......guess what I prepared to make first..... uh huh...



I soaked a million dry beans overnight so they would take less time to cook the next day.  Pretty smart, right?  Ha!  I "googled" ideas for preparation (with ingredients I had access to).  I washed the rice, I washed the beans (yes, even after they had soaked) and drained them, I picked out the bad grains/beans.  I sliced onions, I cut garlic and hand chopped it (I have since asked my mom to send me my Pampered Chef garlic press!), I boiled water and on and on.......

I stirred, I watched, I cleaned, I stirred some more, I prayed, and I stirred some more.

Things started to smell really good and I got excited!  4 hours later everything still smelled really good BUT the beans were not soft.....

Sigh, again.......

I stirred some more, I added some more seasoning, I prayed some more....

Meanwhile, short people were starting to pace and openly speak of how hungry they were.

Another hour went by and I started to fret.....

Mezami!  (that's Creole for 'dadd-gumm-it' or 'oh my goodness' or 'good grief' or 'crap')

I mean seriously, I knew not to expect it to be ready in an hour or two but 5 hours later.... come on!!!!

I apologized and we improvised and ate something else (though not always desired, corn flakes and bread and peanut butter are always a trusty back-up).

While sitting at the table I said, "Well, at least we'll have something to eat tomorrow."  That's about the time that Cabila told me that Haitians use something to speed up the cooking process.......something that shaves off a couple of hours......

Yep, I could have cried.....

Boys..........the same attention to detail no matter the cultural background..... God love 'em!


This whole experience made me think about life struggles in general.  We set out to do something and then all of a sudden things don't go as we had planned.  I'll be the first to admit that many days I am tempted to give up on some people or the possibility of seeing change for the good, etc. but it's at that point that I have to determine whether I will keep going or give up.

We didn't have the dinner I had planned that night several weeks ago but we did have some good beans and rice the next day (Cabila actually ate them later that evening and again the next day!) :).  If I had thrown it all out because it wasn't ready when I wanted it to be ready then all that work would have been for nothing and we wouldn't have been any better off the next day than we were that day.  Throwing out the food before it's ready to eat seems silly but how many times do we do "throw out" under other circumstances?

When God doesn't "come through" when we want him to, do we keep believing or do we anxiously take the matter into our own hands, declaring that we know what's best?  And then blame God when things still don't work out...

When our spouse does that one thing that they know we can't stand (not once but twice in the same day) do we blurt out ultimatums or do we admit frustration and offer grace?

When our boss fails to deliver on a promise he made do we slack on our job to "get him back" or do we continue to work to the best of our ability no matter the pay off?

When our children make the 1200th mess of the day do we scream and tell them how irresponsible they are or do we assure them that we all make mistakes and suggest they try to be more careful next time?

I would love to say that I respond in the appropriate manner when faced with issues of any kind but that would mean I'm less than human.  This last year has been incredible but in so many ways some of the past 12 months has been some of the hardest months of my life.

Some relationships have dissolved while others have flourished.  Some truths have hurt but have made our ministry stronger.  Some ways we've handled projects here have worked well and some have proved less than productive.  We've taken on and succeeded at jobs we never thought possible but we've also failed a lot and learned new ways to do things.  We've lost trust and respect for some individuals but we've gained that much more trust and respect for our God.

So, while I am no pioneer woman, I can say that I am a determined woman:

    Determined to hang on to what I know to be true in times of uncertainty and trials.

    Determined to go out on a limb if that's where God is leading me even when I'd rather 'play it safe'.

    Determined to praise my God even if it means doing so through tears and screams some days.

    Determined to depend on the One capable of carrying me when I can't go any further.

    Determined to learn how to love those that just really aren't so lovable.

    Determined to keep dreaming when situations look hopeless.

    Determined to try to be a better parent tomorrow than I was today.

    Determined to keep believing.

"Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, 
perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it.  
Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before." ~Jacob A. Riis

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Being Away

I am fully convinced that 2 of the hardest times to be away from extended family and the comforts of "home" are:

1) during the holidays
and
2) during times that you are sick

Finding out that my parents spent the night in the hospital in November didn't make being over 1400 miles from them at Thanksgiving any easier.  They have assured me that everything is fine, now, but I still wish I could have personally laid eyes (and arms) on them.

I spent the last 36+ hours in bed after being hit by some horrid stomach demon but once again I have to say that John deserves a medal!  He was caretaker, not only to me, but also to our girls that took turns being sick throughout the night Monday night.  He continues to be my hero!  He found the closest thing to 7up and saltines and has done laundry and dishes and schoolwork, too!

It's really hard to fathom that Christmas is just 21 days away but we have ordered a Christmas tree and are anxiously waiting on it to come in.  I started listening to Christmas music and while Colbie Caillat singing about Christmas in the Sand is kind of relative to where we are, Baby, it's Cold Outside is just too much of a stretch since it's still 80 degrees where we are.  :)

So how are you?

What's going on in your world?

We miss you.....