We never have snow here, so we do not wait for the daffodils to peek their yellow heads up from the sleeping ground or for the dogwoods to flower as we did in Tennessee. Here until a week or two ago the roads (and our house) were SOOO dusty, but since the rains began I do not feel like I am giving the pedestrians on the dirt roads a dust bath as I pass at maybe 5 MPH. :) Last Saturday, I realized it was spring when I had the urge to work with some of my scrawny plants and plant others. May 1 was Agriculture and Work Day here in Haiti. We were ready!!!! :) Although it is always warm, it is getting warmer. We are swimming more and taking cold showers on purpose some days.
Easter comes at such a wonderful time. New life seems to be bursting forth all around us. It was especially easy to celebrate the joy of the Resurrection this year. We are so very thankful for the life and hope Christ gives. We went to the English-speaking church for Palm Sunday and especially enjoyed songs by the children and Haiti’s national amputee soccer team. A neighbor had a little party where we decorated eggs, hunted for treats and heard the Easter story For Easter Sunday we went to our little Creole church in the mountains, and in spite of being earlier than normal we had to sit separately because it was already full. I especially love to hear the singing in Creole when the church is packed, and when everyone knows the songs by heart and sings from their soul. I think God must love that too.
Kyle’s Wonderful Poem
Last week Kyle came home reciting the following poem by Shel Silverstein:
A tree house, a free house, a secret you and me house, a high up in the leafy branches cozy as can be house. A street house, a neat house, be sure to wipe your feet house, not my kind of house at all, let's go live in a tree house.
Reminds me of the HOURS we used to spend in the backyard building forts when we were kids and now the tree-climbing that Kyle and Megan do. They love to hide away “high up in the leafy branches, cozy as can be” reading a book or just spying.
Megan’s Taste Buds
Last Wednesday when we got home from school Megan asked where the beans and rice was...where the sos wouj was. I told her that I had some chicken I needed to use up and did not want them to get tired of the beans and rice every Wednesday, so I was making a mandarin chicken stir-fry dish with white rice. Normally each Wednesday when Crismen is here she makes some Haitian food. Sos wouj is our favorite (Kyle eats it but prefers sos pwa--bean sauce--most of the time.). Megs almost got teary and asked if Crismen could make sos wouj on Friday when she comes. I told her that I was planning pizza. Kyle piped up and said that I could make the pizza on Saturday, but that they would really like the sos wouj on Friday. Blew me away!!! Sos wouj with beans and rice instead of pizza???!! Really??!!!! Cool! It is fun to see the kids loving things about Haiti without me forcing it.
Timing and Growth
We continue to see God's timing and his plan to work all things together for good. MAF-Haiti is growing and changing. The Williams family who has been here for 20 years will be heading back to the States in another month, and we are hoping that two new families, the Rogers and Schandorffs, will be joining us next year. Drew and Shelley Ham from Idaho spent several days sharing about the book of Phillipians with our team at our staff retreat in the Dominican Republic last month. Shelley Turley, also from Idaho, watched the babies during our sessions and helped in the MAF-Haiti office while she was here. Gene and Jan Jones and their friend Terry are here helping with various IT projects and gathering follow-up stories about how earthquake relief funds have been spent. We continue to wait for God's perfect timing for approval from Haiti's civil aviation authority and His plan for the Caravan airplane that we are leasing from Samaritan's Purse. Although we do not know why plans have been delayed and approvals denied to this point, we are trusting that through all of our dealings with Director Pierre and those associated with this situation that God's love and grace would be evidenced, and that God will use this time to prepare us for the future.
Travels
Michael and Todd were able to change the engine on HH-FLY fairly quickly. HH-MAF and HH-LLS will have their engines changed a little later this year. I am traveling to FL at the end of May to watch my little sister Sarah graduate from dental school. :) Then, we are looking forward to visits from other friends and family this summer.
