Christmas is in the air..

CHRISTmas is in the air....

The kids had a great day today decorate the Christmas tree, having holiday treats, making decorations and spending all day playing!! They are quite excited for 

tomorrow! On the 25th they will be putting on a 

Christmas program with a play and everything! :) 

Merry CHRISTmas from our home to yours!! Sending holiday wishes and lots of love from Haiti! 
  

3 accept Christ today!!

Today we rejoice as three people accepted Christ and were baptized. What a most 

wonderful Christmas present! God is so good! 

 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.   Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

 (Mark 16:15, 16 NIV)

Lord bless these individuals as they choose to live a life that is honoring and glorifying to you! 

Amen. 

Ofane and his goats

 

A little update on Ofane and his goats...

A couple weeks ago we were talking and he told me that Eve was having babies!! Apparently when we purchased Eve she was pregnant! Ofane was so excited about this!!

So another week or so went by and he had a question for me. He wanted to know if it would be ok if he sold Adam? Um...I asked him why he would want to do that? He Said he wanted to buy another female. Of course me and my silly thinking said to him, 'Don't you need a male so your females can have babies?' Yes he told me (duh of course!!) but he said that there were many males around and that he could basically take them to meet up and then have more babies! What a smart man he is!! :) 

So while out today we ran into Ofane tending to his goats and moving them to the shade. 

I will have to remember to ask him the name of his new goat next time I see him! ;) 

 

Starting to look like Christmas ;)

        It's beginning to look a lot like 

                       CHRISTmas 

                     here in Haiti!!! :)

Back in Haiti

  Well I made it back to Haiti on Wednesday night! It was good to get back to the warm weather! ;) it has been so good to get back and to see all the kiddos and everyone here! The past couple days I have been slowly making the transition back into my life here in Haiti. It has been filled with all kinds of emotions and missing loved ones in MN but also filled with all kinds of joy seeing everyone in Haiti. I am definitely miss all my kiddos ands family and friends back in the states.

                                         

It's a weird feeling to leave loved ones but to come back to loved ones here. My heart is for sure in both places but I know in my heart that Haiti is where God is calling me during this season in my life and I love that. It's a great feeling to be so confident in know that I am living in Gods plan. 

   

There's something about living in Haiti that brings me so much joy. I love the people and the feeling that God is always so present. I will admit that when I was in MN I definitely drifted from my time with God and it made me sad that I could so easily get caught up in the hustle and bustle of being back in MN. Which of course happens here too but I feel like here I have to be in constant communication with Him and He feels so much more present to me here. Of course I am surrounded by Him and also 58 kids who love Him and not to mention all the workers. Around here if you ask someone how they are they will usually say 'I am good, by the grace of God' or if you ask them when they will be back or when you will see them again they will respond with whenever they plan to be back but also add God willing. And it's so true. We can go about planning our lives but its really not up to us and its important we remember that.

It's good to be back and to see everyone here; it's sad to leave loved ones behind. It's great to be back in the warm weather; I don't miss the cold at all!! It's good to be reminded that we are not in control of our lives; we have to trust in Him and His plan for our lives. We need to surrender to His will....

                                  

                          God bless you! And may we all remember the reason for the season this year!

Stateside...

  Second stop Miami....next stop MN :) (actually I won't be able to post this until I get to Minnesota though. It's different entering Miami this time because I don't have a phone...I don't have access to call my friends and family and I don't have access to the Internet...it's actually kinda of nice and has given me time to reflect rather than to sit on Facebook ;) ) 

As I sit here in the Miami airport I find myself feeling like I'm in a completely different world. Upon entring the Miami airport and being greeted with glitz and glam and the opportunity to buy anything from water to fancy jewels I instantly found myself judging. Questioning people's way of life and what they were doing with their lives. Are they really 

making a difference; do they know or even care about what people are living like just 737 miles away--90 minutes away from them. I found myself getting angry at the lives these people--myself included--are living. I may be a missionary, 

but I'm still human and I still find myself falling back into ways of this world and wanting this and that...its a constant struggle. As I judge the peole around me and myself, I quickly brought myself back to the fact that its not my place to judge. People probably look at me and think the same thing. I don't know people's story, I don't know where people have come from, I don't know what their heart is or if they have a passion for the poor, the widowed, the broken, the children, the elderly...I don't know their story and I'm not here to judge. God didn't call me back from Haiti to judge, He called me back to continue to be His hands and His feet. He called me back to MN to share what I have seen, what I have witnessed, what I have touched, what I have smelled, what I have heard...to share with others about the people of a country so broken but who have touched my heart and broken my heart. 

Sitting here I find time to reflect. Taking the time to read my Jesus Calling devotion and just be. The hustle and bustle around me is just that: hustle and bustle. As I consider what this trip is about and how I am going to feel and all the 

emotions I am going to be going through, Sarah Young reminds me that I don't need to worry about the outcomes--I need to leave those up to God. All I am called to do is follow Him wherever He may lead me. I am called to live in the present. This thing we call life is an adventure, I am here to live it with Him as my guide and my constant provider and 

companion. 

I already know the ultimate destination of my life I have nothing to fear. But am I doing my part to bring others to that final destination with me? Will I live my life differently in the states and continue to be His hands and His feet or will sit back and let those opportunities pass me by. I'm not called to be His hands and His feet only in a country that is so poor and broken, but in a country that is rich and probably needs HIM even more than the people of Haiti do. 

My prayer upon retry is that I wouldnt get caught up in all the glitz and glam of this world, but I would surrender to Him and that I wouldn't be afraid to be His hands and His feet in this world of abundance.

Title 3

  It's a bittersweet day here in Haiti...

As I sit at the airport in Haiti my heart is conflicted. On one side I am so excited to go back to MN to see my family and friends and my buddy Murphy! But on the other side my heart breaks for leaving all my kiddos and everything that is my new familiar. I'm anxious about what it is going to be like to go back to what has been familiar to me for so long. 

In it all I know that God is good and I know that He has me right where I am supposed to be. 

I am excited to get back to see all my little munchkins and hug them and squeeze and cover them with kisses!! I also can't wait to do the same to this handsome fellow!! 

God knows exactly how to fill us up when we  need it most...

Boarding the plane...