"How are your kids doiing?" and Miscellaneous thoughts

Everyone askes us, "How are your kids doing?" So I thought I would let you all know, the kids are doing very well. I think they have adjusted into our new life better than Shane and I. In fact, its gotten so routine for them that they are starting to act their 'normal'. 

A typical day looks like this; they wake up anywhere between 6am and 7:30 and have breakfast. Breakfast varies from cereal, toast, breakfast bar, banana, or protein smoothie. Then they begin their schooling. We read the Bible together, do a daily spelling test, math, science, handwritting, Creole, Languag Arts, and independant fictional reading on history & geography. I may have forgotten something in there, but that's the general idea. 

They usually get really squirrely around 10 ish so they will go out and play on the playground for 20 minutes, then they return to their school work. School usually takes about 2 to 2 1/2 hours so they are done about 11. They then play games with each other, play their hour of video games or hang out and wait for the Grace Village kids to get done with school. The Grace kids are out of school between 1 and 2 and my kids like to play with them until the Grace kids eat lunch, usually around 2:30. From 3:30-5:30pm the Grace kids have their lessons and my kids go back to playing around the house. Many evenings they will go and play soccer with the kids or just do kids stuff with them. 

Our old nanny was on a trip a couple of weeks ago and she made the observation of how calm my kids are in Haiti. Its true so it got me thinking why. It could be because we spend a lot of time together (like all of our time), because there are so few transitions that have to be made (we rarely leave Grace), or maybe its food. Whatever it is, its fun to watch my creative kids make up games, play with each other and continue to develope friendships with the Haitian kiddos. 

We have been here almost 6 weeks and already I have some memories. I thought I would share a couple of them. 

My favorite is of my big gentle husband. One of the little boys from Grace fell and hit his head pretty hard. He would not allow any of us to comfort him, touch him, or put ice on the lump on his head. Instead he laid on the ground and sobbed. It was the saddest thing and I wasn't really sure what to do with him. I offered him to sit with me on the porch but he was sad beyond words. Shane comes out of the house because of the crying and asks me what is happening. I updated him and then watched as he walks over to this little sobbing boy, picks him up and proceeds to cradle him in his arms as he cries. He rubbed his back and just held him, man to man. It still makes me cry when I think about it. Eventually the little boy settled enough that we were able to get ice on his head, give him tylonol, and a drink of water. But Shane probably sat with him for 45 minutes. 

This little man is sad a lot, his life has been hard and unfair. However, when Shane sees him, Shane will run over to him, pick him up, and give him a huge hug. This little man's smile gets so huge, its like a ray of sunshine. 

One night Sierra was in her room and heard/saw a big girl hitting a little girl. I went stomping out there to find out who was hitting this little girl. No one admitted to it, but I was able to take the little girl away from the situation. Tell her that no one was ever allowed to hit her and if they did she should ALWAYS get help. I told her I would always be there to listen if that happened again. She settled into my arms and relaxed. At one point we were standing around some of the other kids and she went to hit them, which brought the entire situation to a full circle. She and I discussed how she is also not allowed to hit either (life lessons). 

We have been giving the teams their tour at Grace Village. We walk them around telling about what God is doing through Healing Haiti, what is being worked on, and what the different buildings at Grace are. Shane and I enjoy this so much. We have a heart for the teams; using their energy to make an impact in Haiti and watching how God transforms their heart. I am so glad I still get to connect with them. Plus, since we know many of the leaders, its like having friends visit every week. 

The long term missionaries have been amazing with our kids, treating them as niece and nephews. Hanna brought the kids and I with her to deliver meals to the elderly the other day. Sierra was invited to a pizza, movie , and nail polish night. Austin and Landen were also invited up to their apartment for a movie night. My kids were having problems with one of the kids and Bianca spent the extra time listening and even got the kids together and translated for them. Jessica will listen to them talk...thank you Lord! Skye has brought them down to cut flowers. Kayleen is often in or near the house and helps watch them and gives advice on how making food. Rachel is our resident nurse and always available to ask questions. Elisa brings us Peanut Butter Captain Crunch...she knows the way to my families heart. Its a pretty good team and I appreciate so much how they are feeding into my kids lives. 

When it rains there is one window that the rain always comes in, so it is closed often. Its easy to forget to open it since it doesn't provide a ton of air during the day. But every night that we forget it closed, a small gecko starts to yell at us until we open it. Our God is so creative, even the geckos have personalities. Do you think the cockroaches do too?...nah. 

At times, I am overwhelmed with the life of an orphan. Its not fair. Even in an amazing place like this, they don't have a family. Someone that belongs to you, someone to mess you up in a special way because they love you. I can see why the Bible says;

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for the orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."

James 1:27

I can't fix their problems for them, but I can do something. We can help continue to make Grace a safe place, we can help with job accountability so it is run smoothly, encourage the social workers and psychologist, offer the children a safe place to come, discipline with love, and offer a hug and a kiss when they need it. Its not a lot, but its something. We pray that God does more than we could ever imagine with the 'something' we have to offer. 

Delivering meals to the elderly

Marie says she is 104. She has got lots of spunk...kinda like Sierra. 

Ofan has leprosy but he doesn't let it drag his spirit down. Love his personality. 

He welcomed us into his home with pride and joy. 

The view to Elie's house...its by the orange you see. 

He really did enjoy having us and Austin did have fun...they have the same camera 'smile'. :) 

Elie grabbed my camera to see what he looked like and zoomed into his face right away. Made both Austin and I laugh. 

Sierra jumped on a team and charmed them while they visited the elderly. Lovin some babies.

There is a huge bush behind our house growing a type of pea pods. We picked about 100 of them and the boys and I took he peas out of the pods. It took a long time. To be honest, the boys worked at it for about 45 minutes and then I did it for 30. At the end we got about a cup and a half of peas. We sauted them in oil with garlic and salt and they tasted pretty good. 

Today was Fish Harvest Day at the aquaponics. One of the tanks was harvested of its 350ish Tilapia. To harvest, 10 women from Titanyen are invited up to help gut and descale the fish. They are amazingly fast and hard workers. As payement they receive some of the fish. We got permission to take about 7 of them and fillet them American style. 

And invited ALL the girls over for dinner! Even Jessica tried it and said it was pretty good (apparently she doesn't eat fish).