February Update

So I’ve spent several days trying to get the team journals posted with no success, so I finally decided to just do an update instead. One of the reasons the journals may not be posting is because the camera they used is of better quality then mine and our internet here simply can’t handle uploading their high quality photos. The other reason may be that we’ve been dealing with a transportation strike which has shut down the city for several days meaning more people are home and using the internet. Anyway, I’ve decided it’s not worth getting frustrated about!

So what’s been happening around here? Well we’ve just had two teams come through which has kept Jason and I hopping. Beside my usual wife/mom role I’ve also temporarily adopted the roles of chauffeur, cook, maid, translator, nurse and general manager. It’s been good though. I always tell people we wouldn’t do it if we couldn’t handle the workload or we didn’t see the value in it!

Other than a few ‘bumps on the road’, (like trying to avoid road blocks due to a city wide transportation strike and one group missing their American Airlines flights out of Port au Prince as it departed two hours before schedule), everything went really well! In the third world you gotta be flexible!

My house looked like a bomb had gone off by the time everyone left, but with the help of Anoud and Denise it was soon put back together again.

The transportation strike due to the high prices of fuel, has caused the city to be shut down several days in a row. Jason, my can’t sit still I’ve got work to do kind of guy, hasn’t let this stop him and instead has been leaving the house very early before the barricades form and coming home late, after the protestors go home for the night.

A city wide shut down also meant truck drivers couldn’t deliver water for us. This had me a little worried as I had a lot of laundry to do before our next team arrives tomorrow, February 12. When one of the drivers did show up in the evening when the protestors had gone home, I was so happy and thankful I almost cried!

The three boys are all doing great!  Jayden is as sweet as ever and told me the other night he loves me sooooo much, but He still loves God more. On the picture below he is burning off some excess energy before school!

The terrific threes are in sight as Justin hopes to celebrate his third birthday at the end of this month! I won’t miss the terrible twos all that much!

Alexander at 8 months is spending most of his days on his feet. He can sit and crawl already, but has decided that standing is so much more thrilling. Just this morning I watched as he kept letting go of the sides of his pack and play to practice his balance. I am soo not ready for my baby to be walking yet though, but it doesn’t look like there will be any slowing him down. He’s determined to catch up to his two older brothers!

As for lessons learned. I’ve been convicted over the last months to be more generous. Whenever I go out I make sure I carry money with me for the car wipers, pedestrian traffic directors, guys who carry my groceries, porters, water truck drivers who come after hours, mechanics who check my oil or tire pressure, you name it; there are plenty of people out there who can benefit greatly from a tip for services rendered. 

You would think that the more I gave away the less I would have left, but it’s amazingly not true!  In God’s economy things work differently.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

The lesson I’ve learned is this: you can’t out give God. And really, how could you? Everything is His!