Here it is September already and for most of you school is fully underway and routines are being established. There is something good to be said for routine. Don’t get me wrong, I am very much a “fly by the seat of your pants” kind of girl, but recognize the value of a rhythm too. We too are settling into life here in Haiti, albeit rather slowly. I didn’t get all of the curriculum issues figured out until last minute so some of our school materials should be arriving via cargo plane Thursday. The plan is to start next week.
So many things are different this year from last. We came back to a home instead of a tool shed, and it really felt like home. It was good to sleep in our own beds again, even if they weren’t quite as heavenly as the one we had in Sully. And no, that isn’t a typographical error. We each have a twin bed here; in Sully we had a king that was the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in! Our inverter wasn’t working properly when we arrived, but Jared was able to fix it right away and we have had power ever since! It is so good to be married to such a handy man.
Of course the best thing about returning to Haiti was being reunited with Jackindy. I was afraid he wouldn’t recognize us or would run away terrified to have to live with us again, but he was great. He didn’t hesitate to come to me and was ready to go with us when the time came. I think he was really more excited about riding in the truck than going with us, but we’ll take what we get! It is amazing to see how much a little one changes in just two months. He is walking and jabbering, half the time I can’t tell if it’s Creole or English, but he understands both. There is also a mouthful of teeth now as compared to just five when we left.
He is back into the routine of waking me up earlier than I want to be up and has decided to become extremely picky about what he eats. It doesn’t matter if it’s Haitian, American or Japanese, he’s just picky! I didn’t have that with Will and Natalie so it is requiring patience on my part that I still don’t have enough of. He will eat the strangest things like Tortilla soup and fried catfish and hush puppies as long as it’s freshly prepared. Leftovers are off limits. Really if it wasn’t for baby cereal he would waste away.
Will and Natalie are doing well and have adjusted to life without TV, bathtubs, swimming pools and mini-vans. They seem to appreciate a fuller understanding of life now, and their prayers are proof. I just love hearing them pray for things like guidance for our future and blessing for our Haitian friends. Maybe that’s just because those are things they hear us pray for. All the sam, they have a better understanding of spiritual things than I did at that age!
Speaking of Will and Natalie, one of the great things for them this year is that mom will not be teaching. We are blessed to have Jordyn Vande Lune living with us, at least for the next few months, primarily to teach school. For those of you who don’t know her, Jordyn is a recent graduate of Pella High and believes the Lord called her to minister to us as a family and to Will and Natalie in particular in lieu of her first year of college. The kids think she is great (remember, school hasn’t officially started yet!), and they are happy to have someone other than mom around. I can see already they are more willing to listen to what she has to say….everyone is always smarter and more interesting than mom!
The plan for now is that Jordyn will be teaching Will, Natalie and two daughters of friends of ours, Alina and Chrissy. Will is in third this year and the girls are all in first, so it will be interesting to see how juggling all of them will go. They have a “classroom” in the Iowa House downstairs from where we used to live. I think this will be a great setup for all of us and will give Jordyn the authority she needs to be a good teacher. She has committed to being with us until December and will re-evaluate during the holiday break whether she wants to come back in January or not. I am guessing after living with us for three months, she will seriously reconsider! No, really I think it’s going to be just fine. I am already grateful just for the help with Jackindy and dishes.
We have a really light schedule until January so Jared and I are trying to focus on taking our ministry in a new direction. He mentioned that he wants to blog about it, so I will let him. It seems his entries are quite a hit and provide entertainment for those who follow us. In all honesty it’s one of the reasons I love him. Even in the midst of chaos and the monotony of everyday life, he makes me laugh.
Please continue to pray for guidance and discernment this year as we wrestle with what our purpose is here. Funny isn’t it, you’d think that with a call as obvious as ours is that we would have that all figured out. I guess just because the call to Haiti was clear it doesn’t necessarily mean that the purpose of the call would be.
Thanks for your prayers and support!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
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