thank(full)

I sit with sweat literally dripping off my body onto a puddle on the floor with no power (this computer is running on battery) and I just ate box mac-n-cheese for dinner and my children are mosquito bit and filthy...and I realize how much thankfulness is a choice.

It's not a circumstance.
It's not a condition.
It's a choice.
(nevermind that it's a command!)

Therefore, I choose this day to be thankful.
For I am so blessed.
Immeasurably blessed.

Beyond creature comforts...
I have the creator of the world caring about me.

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18


Today I am thankful for:

Friends who give of their time and sweat to put up screens in every single one of our windows and get our car in semi-working order...

 



The most kissable cheeks ever on sweet little Marc...

New friends for my kids...

Where's Ella?!

 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good and his love endures forever. Psalm 107:1

One week in...

I am cramming to write this before out power goes out at 4pm...my apologies for any typos =)

We are officially one week in this Haiti adventure.

This first week has been (honest as always...) a lot harder and easier than I expected.

Here's the breakdown:

The big kids are doing better than I expected.
The housing situation with no power and feeling safe is a lot harder than I expected.
The feeling of purpose and love for our mission kids is a lot stronger than expected.
Zoe is doing about as I expected. She is struggling with the heat and doesn't like to be touched...which is just about impossible to keep all the kids hands off of her, ha! Baby step by baby step she will adjust (at least that is what I tell myself...).
The expense of living here is higher than expected. And I expected a lot! We bought $350 worth of groceries...and I doubt it will last me a week. Yikes!

The Lord's presence within this week has been so real and strong. It brings tears to my eyes as I even write it...HE is carrying us through. He is filling us with love for this people. He is calming my anxiety. He is giving me energy and strength.

I could go on and on and on...but I have exactly 7 minutes till we lose power and I need to charge up a few things.

Thanks again for all your prayers...they are helping to sustain us!

Settling (sort of...)

It's been 4 days since we stepped off the plane onto the Haitian tarmac.
Feels a lot longer than 4 days.
Has it really only been 4 days?

Anways...

Its been a whirwind and overall I would say things are going great.

Besides the fact that we aren't in our actual house because of power issues.
Besides the fact that Jeremiah came down with strep throat.
Besides the fact that it took an entire day just to go to the grocery store.
Besides....

Well, you just gotta love third world country issues.

Really and truly though, we are all doing well. The kids have been troopers and are acclimating to all the heat and changes well. Zoe is having the hardest time and it breaks my heart that I can't really communicate the reasons for all the changes in her little life...but truly, she is doing great too, all things considered.

Gramma and PawPaw's hammock has been a big hit!

We have been slowly integrating our family into the mission...and it will continue to be a slow process until we actually can get in our house, but we are making the best of it. The mission kids are awesome and have been so welcoming to us and our kids. They are so funny with their questions about our family as some of them have never met a light skinned child. And then we have our Eli and you can just see the wheels turning in their heads, ha!

We are excited to get to know them and pour into them.

Thanks again to all for your prayers and support...as cliche as it sounds...we really and truly can tell that you are praying for us. What an amazing thing!

Some specific prayer needs:

- For the power issues at our house to be resolved quickly so that we can get into the business of really settling in and beginning our work.

- For Jeremiah's quick and full recovery from strep throat.

- Financial provision: We still need to raise about $750 in monthly support and we have some immediate needs that have come up: We need to buy a washing machine $600, inverter batteries $2500, and a reliable vehicle $10,000. If you feel led to give you can by visiting this site.

Haiti, day one

Wow, my first official blog posting from Haiti!

I am still a bit in shock that we are here...life has a surreal halo around it at the moment.  

All the travels went amazingly well. Everything went smooth, the kids did great, and we didn't even lose one piece of all our meticulously packed luggage...thank you Lord!

We ended up spending the first night at Our House of Hope (Jeremiah's parents ministry compound) because our house here in Haiti is not quite ready for us. Jeremiah and his dad have been working there all day and we hope to occupy it sometime later this week. 

What a blessing to have my in-laws here! 

Here's the kids in front of the chapel on the mission...

Obviously, they weren't too excited for me to make them stop for a picture, ha!

Thank you to all who prayed for our travels...again, it is so obvious how the Lord has gone before us and is with us on this amazing journey.

Specific prayer needs for this upcoming week:

- Ease of adjustment for the kids (and us!) to the heat and climate change. 

- Efficiency in getting our Haiti house set up and secure.

- Acceptance and trust from the Haitian mission staff and for all the mission kids to warm up to us.

- Wisdom, patience, and extra measures of grace for Jeremiah and I to tenderly shepherd our kids through this transition.

- And finally, obviously, that we shine the love of Jesus to everyone we come in contact with!

photojournal: vacation (the rest of the week, part 1)

Pictures speak louder than words, so I will let my pictures do the talking for how sweet this week has been...

photojournal: vacation (day one)

We are at Lake Anna in Virginia this week with our Via family...and already it has been such a wonderful time. 

Relaxing, perfect weather, secluded island, and of course...the must have accessory for any successful family vacation...an awesome water slide.

Zoe chilling like its her job. 

Lunches taste better when eaten on a dock. It's a fact.

Love him.

Ella caught the first fish of vacation...but she wasn't so sure she wanted to take it off the hook =)

Ezra and the first catfish of vacation. One proud little boy!

memory monday

Psalm 33:9-11

For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations. 

the week in recap

I'm not sure if this should be a "thursday thoughts" or a "not me monday" or _____________ because I have no idea what today is.

This week has been a blur. A great blur of visiting family and friends and making some serious memories! A blur none the less...

The boys got "Haiti hair-cuts."

My younger sister Molly and I on left, and my only older sister Laura Jeane and I on the right. I rarely get to see these two, so it was a nice treat for me this week to have a little bit of time with them!

We took the three bigger kids to Hersheypark for a day of fun...and they rode their first ever "loop" roller coaster. Which so happens to be my first ever "looped" roller coaster. I kept feeling like a teenager at the park and wondering who these kids were that kept hanging with me.

We made a visit to see my grandparents. My Grampa is a good artist and Ezra was so excited to draw with him. 

For the last 6 weeks it has been go, go, go in my life. This week...all that go stopped. There was nothing I "had" to do, but rather, things I wanted to do. I'll admit I was a bit out of sorts adjusting for the first day. (Jeremiah would tell you I was a lot out of sorts, ha!) But the important thing is that I was able to get into the grove of the week and totally enjoyed all our family togetherness.

The kids are all doing great. They are such troopers and have just gone with the flow all week!

Things with the house keep moving along. Our inspection and everything went well and we plan to close in October. Eli's passport finally came in this week! Shew =)

You might have noticed that the blog is looking different...we are still working on it and it should evolve even more over the next week.

Today we head to Lake Anna for a week with our Via family.

And then...it's go time again.

just cause...

i got nothing. i got everything.

I'm sorry friends if this is random and scattered...my brain is gone. Fried. Mush.

I called my Mom on Friday night and the first thing she said was, "you sound overwhelmed."
To which I replied, "yeah, its been a rough day."
To which she replied, "would you like Dad to come and bring some helpers and bring the kids home with him?"
To which I replied, "YES!"

And so, early Saturday morning my Dad came and brought in some reinforcements and took home some not so helperly helpers this afternoon.

Insert a big sigh of relief.

Big. Sigh. Of. Relief.

The final NC push happens today. The final pack ups and clean ups and close ups.

We had an incredible and very surreal send off from the church this morning.
I am so humbled by the prayers offered on our behalf.
I was completely undone by an elderly gentleman who came up to me after the first service, shook my hand very tenderly with his fragile looking hands, looked me square in the eye, and told me with tears in his eyes that he looked up to my courage.

Little miss "I-don't-cry" came undone.

Because I'm not courageous.

I'm just willing and acting on the character of the One who is worth trusting.

We are still waiting on Eli's passport. All the other kids came in, but they requested further proof of his "lawful entry into the United States." Good thing we only have about 4 million documents (of which we already submitted 2 million, but lets not go into that...) proving we didn't sneak him over the Mexican fence. Geesh. Talk about cutting it close. We did contact our senators office and they are going to step in and expedite on our behalf.

The kids said goodbye to Abby, our dog, this morning. The kids did fine with it. Me...not so much. What is it about this move that has just reduced me to a pile of tears?

On this day filled with goodbyes and see ya laters and prayers and tears and highs and lows...emotionally I am done. Stick a fork in it. I got nothing.

I also realize (once again!) through the prayers and encouragement of our friends and family and gentle reminders from the Holy Spirit that I am absolutely equipped with everything I need for this amazing journey we've been called to. I got everything.

The awesome blessings from Have Faith Haiti Mission that we get to pour our lives into.