nou genyen currant!

i was incredibly spoiled for the first few weeks back. i moved into this amazing house; it's beautifully pianted; i get to live in it how i choose; it's well stocked; i have my own bathroom.... not to mention i've been online with a high speed wireless connection!!!
praise the Lord. so i was just a little too spoiled and i think the Lord wanted me to remember to rest in Him. you see, for the last five days we haven't had electricity. (and i've been going to bed early!) all the food in the freezer went bad, my phone was nearly dead, my computer was dead....
i have to remember not to take anything for granted but instead remember that everything is from the Lord. "and what do you have that you did not receive?" 1 cor. 4:7b

grocery store

okay, i really hope this doesn't seem desperate or anything, but some of you have been asking and i can't seem to get my email to send pics right now so here are the products i use daily and cannot seem to get ahold of here. if you're thinking about sending things, contact brendie because she can put it all together and i can take care of shipping charges through her...
okay, here goes:

so late late late last night...
this bird came to see me.
he landed on my computer at two different times, but i couldn't get that shot.
as soon as he left a moth the same size as the bird came in.
that was scarier.
and there was a lizard on the ceiling, but i like the lizards!

remember when your mom taught you to wash dishes? she didn't prepare you for this...

goat man

now, there are those of you out there who have already heard this story, but it bears repeating. gretchen was here visiting with shannon. we were heading out to the market to buy some of our bulk product. we 'happened' to decide to take three of our oldest kids with us. one of whom (angela) is in the process of being adopted but we were having a hang up because we could not find her birth mom. we have to get documents signed by the birth parents, so we have to keep track of them. well, as we were driving steven asked me if we could buy a goat. and i told him that we could look for goats, but when he gets to the states he won't eat goat anymore. (note: he just so 'happened' to start us all thinking about goats.) so, i went to change money with jean nathan and everyone else sat in the back of the truck and watched the life of the market flowing around them. believe me, there's a lot to see. when i got back the kids told me they had seen a man with goats. also, steven said that angela had seen a man who lived near her mom. we have no idea where angela's mom lives and she's only 8 so she couldn't really tell us. anyhow, as we're talking along comes the man with three goats and the kids point him out to me. but not only is he a seller of goats, he also 'happens' to be the man who lives by angela's mom! so jean nathan calls the man over and asks him if he knows angela. he says no. but jean nathan keeps asking questions and sure enough, he knows her mom and where she lives! so i give j.n. some money and off he goes with goat man to find her mom!

a lot of "just-so-happens," hey? isn't our God great?

puddle fun

haitians believe that playing in the rain will make you sick (despite the fact that they bathe outside daily) and so i have to sneak the kids up to my room to let them play on my balcony. the sheer joy of splashing in a puddle can last for an eternity! of course, i had to get both bethany and wilbert into clean clothes before taking them back downstairs so the nannies wouldn't see their wet clothes!

hmmm

home sweet home

thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you
to all of you who contributed to making my home so sweet!

our God is a great God. one of my two friends who were in the motorcycle accident was home the very next day and i was able to visit with him a couple of times while i was home. he was laid up, and will need surgery, but for now he's physically doing well. the other friend was much worse off. he was in the icu until a few days ago. he's had many surgeries so far and is fighting the doctors, nurses, his family and friends as far as i hear. it's really hard for him to be so tied up and helpless. he tries to get his visitors to set him free. at least he's fighting, you know? but i don't know where his heart is. while i was in california they were not allowing visitors in to see him. i've known him for a number of years now and i know he's thought a lot about who Jesus is. however, his life has yet to show that he's come to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior. it's going to be a really long recovery for him.... maybe he'll start rethinking everything. please pray that the Lord will soften his heart to hear His word. pray the same for my other friend who is already going out again! we all need Jesus, no?

why i love brendie

* she will wear a blue, plastic ring from the quarter machine if i give it to her
* she takes words right out of my mouth
* she considers others before herself
* she steps up to the challenge
* she wants to serve Christ in everything
* she is selfless
* she takes care of every little detail for me
* she knows when to hug, when to hang up the phone, when to take over the conversation, when to rescue me from awkward situations
* she knows when it's time to pray
* she makes time for me
* she loves her family more than herself

* she lets bradley live under the stairs because she knows it's really the best thing ever
* she's not afraid to be herself and to always stand up for what's right
* she's maybe the funniest one ever!
* she's much more my team than carol's
* she pours out the love of Christ on everyone
* she's incredibly generous
* she's incredibly gracious
* she sets aside differences and always lends her hand
* she knows everything that's happening everywhere: and if she doesn't she'll look it up in 3 clicks or less
* she loves to take pictures maybe more than i do
* she's one of the best storytellers ever
* she loves babies
* she can memorize a movie during her first viewing
* she knows every song on the radio
* she can parallel park like. . . a professional parallel-parker-woman...
* she doesn't even have to look at me to know what i'm thinking
* she loves me