No other moms...

I grabbed the keys and a mug with coffee.
With the youngest and oldest kiddo in tow, I started the truck this morning.
It felt like old times.
It felt normal.
It felt right.

Kinley and I dropped Cabila off at his school and then proceeded back into the "flow" of traffic.

I sipped my coffee in my favorite Guesthouse ceramic mug and then it hit me...

...no other moms were dropping their kiddos off (not in a vehicle, anyway).

      No other moms were sipping coffee from a ceramic mug.

           No other moms had a young one behind them
             playing a game on their mom's cell phone.


I was reminded that though I am living in a world where I sometimes stand out instead of blending in, I am extremely blessed!

I face challenges everyday that haven't always been a part of my 'norm' and many days I'm tempted to focus on what I don't have instead of thanking God for what I do have.  I've struggled with this lately.  But today I am reminded again that His provisions are indeed provisions, even if they don't look like I imagine them to be.

"God is in the business of providing for us. And He does provide for us everything we need each day. We need to open our eyes to the ways He is providing. Focus your eyes on all God has given you each day."

~Melissa Crutchfield

The Mystery

"The mystery of the dance is that it's movements are discovered in the mourning.  To heal is to let the Holy Spirit call me to dance, to believe again, even amid my pain, that God will orchestrate and guide my life.  

We tend, however, to divide our past into good things to remember with gratitude and painful things to accept or forget.  This way of thinking, which at first seems quite natural, prevents us from allowing our whole past to be the source from which we live our future...

Gratitude in its deepest sense means to live life as a gift to be received thankfully  And true gratitude embraces all of life: the good and the bad, the joyful and the painful, the holy and the not-so-holy.  We do this because we become aware of God's life, God's presence in the middle of all that happens."

~ Henri Nouwen, Turn My Mourning Into Dancing

Halloween and Random Thoughts

Hey y’all!  

(Ann E, the drawl is for you, dah-ling!)  

Alot has happened since I last shared here.  After anpil (many) prayers, some rest and several different medicines and herbs, along with changes in my diet, I am happy to report that I am feeling SO much better these days.  All of the well-wishes and encouragement you’ve sent with your prayers have played a huge part in my healing, no doubt!

Last week marked a month since 3 kiddos and I returned from the States.  We miss our family there a whooooole lot but we are glad to be back home in Haiti.  We hit the ground running and school is now in ‘full swing’.

Learning that God has a purpose for everything that comes our way is a continuing, never-ending, on-going, recurring, lasting, steady, perpetual lesson for us as a family.

Our prayer time together has kind of dwindled away.  Since we share most of our days with a number of other people, it's hard to find time when it's just the 6 of us.  This week we had a couple of nights with no guests so we got to pray together with praise, for things that are hard right now and also for some friends that are going through challenges, as well.  It's so easy to let good things fall by the way-side if we aren't purposefully choosing them but being purposeful is worth the gain.  I hope we will remember this as things pick up and schedules go crazy again and again.

Waiting for a time when things are easier seems like a good idea but what if "when" never gets here.  I've wrestled with the "when's" lately.

Every now and then it's good to let someone know how much they mean to you, even if it's not a special occasion.  When you have a random thought about someone, maybe God's putting them on your heart for a reason.  

Everything... that's the name of a song that means a lot to me.  I blogged a little about it during my first trip to Haiti in NoWay José.  We sang it at church this past Sunday and I was reminded that when we ask the Lord to be our everything, He finds ways to show us that He is.  

No time like the present to stop during a random post and say thank you, so..... thank you to all who come through these doors at Heartline Ministries Guest House and wind up ministering to us!  Thank you to those who follow us on Facebook and on this blog!  Thank you to all who give monetarily to help support our work here in Haiti! Thank you to all who pray for us continually!  We hope that wherever you are today, whether you celebrate Halloween or not, that you have a wonderful day!