First Week Back!

It has been one week back in my Haiti home, and I have so much to be thankful for.  I am thankful for my friends and family here in Haiti.  I am thankful for this country.  I am thankful to be back here: safe and healthy.  I am thankful for the people who make it possible for me to be here both through prayer and financial support. 

I am also so very thankful for my time in the States.  Though I did not necessarily know it, the time of rest, respite, refreshment, and reflection was very needed.  I am thankful for the illness that caused this slowdown that God knew I needed.  I was able to spend my time at home with friends and family.  I was able to spend time with Raphael and Margaret’s beautiful family.  I was also able to do quite a bit of wedding planning (which relieved a big stressor for me).  Most importantly, I feel like I was able to do a lot of reflection.  I had time to actually process some of the hard times I’ve encountered in Haiti as well as look back on some of God’s blessings and provisions.  I feel like I have come back to Haiti a new person with a new perspective. 

I’ve spent this first week adjusting back to life here.  I have been so blessed by everyone being excited I am back.  I got back relatively late, but was welcomed by signs taped to my room’s door compliments of the boys.  I was also welcomed back by many cockroaches!  After the power went out my first night back, I was trying to go to sleep.  I kept hearing a noise and thought there might be a rat in my room.  I decided to check, and thankfully I did not find a rat.  Instead, I found about 20 cockroaches in the bathtub!  Yuck!  The next day I set off a bug bomb and have killed around 50!  Hopefully that is the majority of them.  I am thankful for the boys coming to help me pick up all the dead ones – not my favorite part of life here!

Most of my mornings have been spent with Benji.  He’s been pretty sick, but we are praying the medicine will make him feel a bit better.  This boy brings so much joy into my life.  I cannot thank God enough for letting me play a small role in his life.  

My afternoons have been spent with the boys.  They started school this week and will practice reciting their lessons with me.  Before I left, they were really into playing baseball except they were using their hands as a bat.  I brought in some foam bats.  They were so excited and planned a big baseball game for yesterday afternoon.  I was informed I also had to provide music for the event.  It was so funny watching the entire field break out in dance at random parts of the game.  I will say I think they might need Coach Karenbauer to come show them how to properly use a bat, but we had fun nonetheless. 

Wadley's first day of fourth grade!

Baseball game

I have been encouraged to blog more, so I really will be working on it.  My big focus for this next week is the nutrition program.  Be on the lookout for some posts about the kids in this program and what the program is doing.  Thanks for all your help in getting me back here.  It is so good to be home.