Weather! Wow!

Never in my life have I been in a place that I went from sweltering heat to the point of near heat exhaustion for some, to a monsoon type rain and flooding, then chills because of the cold in one day. I have now!

We had a rocky start to the day today. God is continuing to teach me flexibility and patience. (Will I ever learn???) We thought we had a plan and knew what the day had in store for us, but it quickly became apparent that our plans were not God's plans. I had to let go of it. And I'm so glad I did. We showed up at a Children's Home and had planned on meeting up with some people from GA we have talked with on the phone several times since Lance's first trip to Haiti. They weren't there. And we didn't know then what we were going to do. And Lance and I had plans on visiting an orphanage to make some contacts and we found out that we wouldn't be able to do that. I was getting frustrated.

Then, we let go and just went with the flow. And God showed up. (Actually, He was always there, we just got out of His way.) Isn't that how it always is? The team set up a clinic for the community at the Children's Home. Lance and I and Erin (our Thirst No More contact) took a driver and went to meet the folks from GA. We found out we were only 30 minutes from the orphanage that we had wanted to visit. So we took off and met a true man of God, Pierre Prinvil.

It was so hot that when we got back to the clinic and Lance started helping to see patients, he got overheated and was close to passing out.

When we loaded up and started heading back, we got caught again in the same traffic as we did this morning except this time the roads were flooded because of rain in the mountains. What should have been a 2 hour drive turned into a 3 hour drive. And the rain came down the mountain and we got soaked. Then when we headed up the mountain towards our house, it got colder and I was freezing! I had to come in and take a hot shower to warm up. Strange experience!

It has been a great day, and tomorrow holds some special things in store. Can't wait to see what God does next!

What an Awesome God We Serve!

We set up medical clinic today at the same school as yesterday. There were several people that we weren't able to see yesterday because we had to close down. So we saw them and several more others. We were able to treat around 150 people today.

We got smart (or should I say Paul got smart) and instead of trying to share Christ one on one with the Haitians as they left the clinic, he would share with a group of people after we triaged them while they were waiting to see a doctor. That way we didn't miss the opportunity to talk to anyone. And we had 20 professions of faith today.

It's natural to wonder if all of those professions were genuine, but let me tell you that 2 for sure were. There was one teenage girl who prayed to accept Christ. Paul was using a bracelet that has symbols explaining the plane of salvation and after she prayed, she asked him to go over the symbols again because she wanted to make sure that she remembered it correctly so she could go share it with her friends. That is life change.

And there was an older gentleman who came in to be seen. When I was questioning him about his complaints, he was pleasant, but no smile on his face. After Paul shared the gospel he prayed to accept Christ. After he saw the doctor and then went to the pharmacy, he made his way to me with a huge smile on his face and gave me a hug and said, "Merci!" many times. That is life change.

We can only rest in the Lord that He is in control and through His Spirit will continue to change these people's lives. We are referring them to local churches, but God has repeatedly shown me that he doesn't need our help. He just allows us to be participants in His plan.

First Full Day in Haiti

I don't even know how to begin. There are so many emotions surging through me right now. We've set up a clinic today and ministered to over 200 people. It was heartbreaking, amazing, and exhilarating all at the same time.

Most of the children are the happiest things. They aren't used to seeing white people, so we were quite a novelty. Most of them would smile at us shyly while others were brave and smile and wave at us. One little girl said something to me in Creole but my translator had stepped away. She was grinning when she said it and seemed a little embarrassed. When my translator got back, I asked him to ask him to ask her to say it again. He did and smiled when he looked at me. "She said, 'she loves you.'" So sweet. I took a picture with her, but it takes too long to upload here.

We saw several older people. One lady 88, one man 80 and one lady 90! The 88 year old was spunky! Several of our team were taking pictures of her and she was hamming it up! I got my picture taken with her.

And there were so many heartbreaking cases. One lady probably has cervical cancer, one little girl with possible leprosy, one lady with severe edema in her arm, one little girl with a damaged eye who will never see out of it again. It is hard for me to think that if any one of these people were in the states, they wouldn't be experiencing this heartache. They could be treated.

Driving through the country of Haiti is an experience that I can't describe. Even with Lance telling me about it and seeing the pictures he took when he was here the first time couldn't prepare me. I know it's a futile effort to try to explain to people when I get home. There is no way to comprehend it unless you are here to see, smell, and taste it. Utter devastation and abject poverty. The only hope these people have is Christ.

I am so excited to be able to share this with Lance. He is amazing. Even his translator jokingly said he needed a break because Lance was so fast. And the love on his face for these people is evident. God had the best in store when he prepared Lance Faddis for me!

I'm in Haiti!!!

It has been such a whirlwind week. We had an activity every night, plus we were getting ready for the trip. I fell into bed every night and didn't have anytime to blog. The girls' end of the year preschool celebration was Thursday and Sara "graduated" (cap and gown and all!) I'll have to blog about that next week and load some pics.

Right now, I'm in Haiti!!!! Crazy how fast it all happened, once again. We were so incredibly busy preparing. And once again, I'm bursting with pride. My husband is amazing! We spent the day traveling and getting to know all the people on our trip. All but 2 go to our church, but we all didn't know each other that well. That is already changing and by the end of the week, we will have a bond that most people won't understand.

I am anxiously anticipating what the Lord is going to do this week. I feel it in my soul. I don't know what it is, but I know it is going to be big. As we were landing in Port Au Prince, I was praying and just opening myself up for whatever God has planned. As we drove through the city, my heart broke. There is no way to describe this place. Even the pictures can't convey.

We have our supplies organized and are ready for tomorrow. That is, as ready as we know how to be. Each day will be a new day. We are splitting up a little tomorrow. The other Dr. and a nurse and 2 other team members are doing a mini clinic and Lance, myself and a father/son team are going to start construction on a house. And by house, I mean shed. 12x12 plywood building with a tin roof. A mansion for most people living in Haiti.

Momma/Son Day

I have felt badly that the girls and I get to do all kinds of fun stuff during the day, and Luke is at school and doesn't get to do any fun one on one things. So I decided on Tues that today would be his day! I cleared it with his teacher and we had a day! The girls were ate MDO and Mom picked them up and took them to my house to a babysitter who watched them until I got home.

We started the day at Chuck E Cheese's playing games. It was so much fun! We go a lot, but with the girls, it's hard for me to play games because I'm having to keep my eyes on them. It was so fun to be able to play games with Luke and really get into them with him. He love video games!

Me and my Boy!

Next up was lunch at Red Lobster. Lance had been given a gift card so the bonus was that lunch was free! Woo Hoo! I had already decided to take Luke there because he loves shrimp and when I told Lance, he told be about the gift card. Score!

Shrimp! Yummy!

Lunch was great, but the high light was him getting to pet a lobster! We had a great waitress. She took him up front to see them and when he came back he told me he got to pet one! I was bummed I didn't get a picture, so she let him do it again on the way out. So sweet. And Luke was so precious at lunch. We had gone by Lance's office before we started our day and Lance gave him a rubber bracelet that has some symbols on it that you can use to share Christ. He asked our waitress if she believed in God and when she said yes, he proceeded to share his bracelet with her. I couldn't have been prouder of him!

Nice lobster!

Then we ended our outing at the movies watching How to Train Your Dragon. It was GREAT! It wasn't really a cartoon. It's better described as a story that's animated. If that makes sense. It was soooo good. And Luke LOVED it! It was so much fun just getting into his world and doing things he loves to do.

That's a big coke!

Today was the best day. We really needed it. It's been a rough year in many ways. I'm ready for 2nd grade to be over. Just being able relax and enjoy Luke was amazing. And God showed me some things, too. Not to worry about Luke bothering people, just to let him be himself. He has the best personality. I'm worried so much that he will overwhelm people, and I stress him and myself out trying to stifle him. All day today, he was being himself and people loved him. He got to pet a lobster, he played soccer in Old Navy with and employee and he got to hang up clothes hangers and scan clothes while we were there, too! ha! He is an amazing child. Such a blessing and privilege to be him Mom. And I'm so undeserving of him!

Celebrating Mother's Day!

What do you get your Mom when she has everything??? Well this year for Mothers Day I made up a gift certificate for lunch at a local restaurant "The Tea Room" and then cupcakes after at a new cupcake store on the town square. It was a fun day!

The Tea Room is in a neat old building in the downtown area of the town next to us. All the tables have tablecloths and you eat off of mismatched china and drink your tea from mismatched tea cups. It has a great atmosphere! The owner put some toys and dress up things in the hallway that little girls can play with. It is a really cool place! The girls have been a couple times, but this was the first time Mom has been. It's going to be a fun girls outing place in the future!

Mom and her girls

The cupcake store is a lot of fun! It's new and some of my friends (one friend in particular, KELLY!) love it, so I thought it would be fun to try! The girls loved it! It's a little pricey, but a fun thing to do for a special treat. And I have to say, the lemon cupcake was awesome!

Yummy!!

This picture cracks me up! Look at Sara and how she's sitting! And then look at Hope!!! That's my two girls!

No!

Emma's new favorite word. Yep, she's almost 2! Haha! She's not been too ugly with it, but she definately knows what it means. :) She just looks at you and says, "nnno!" It's so funny because I love hearing her actually saying something besides "uh, uh, uh." Her expressive language is starting to take off. She can garble out "I want that one." And she was playing with some rocks today and wouldn't stop patting my leg to get my attention and then she held one up and said, "rock."

It's fun to see her starting to communicate with us! She's growing fast right now!