Fun Friday

Scott and I went to a party today that his English class had.  It was fun!  The food was awesome!  Scott's students love him...it was fun for me to watch them interact with him!  These students are learning more than English...they are learning that there is a God who loves them..I love what God allows us to do here in Haiti!

 

This was the view from outside the classroom where we had the party...I love this place!  I love this picture because it shows beauty in the midst of the trash and destruction...God is truly here in Haiti and these kinds of things I see everyday remind me of that fact!  Happy Friday!

Pictures from the Creche

This is the new boy, Jamesly and little Crista

 

 

This is my student, Audra: an amazing young lady!

 

Here is our lesson time-they are good listeners!

An afternoon with sweet kids...

We love Wednesday afternoons!  I take creole lessons with Susan right after school while Cameron has tutoring and Ethan plays...THEN we go to the Creche.  The boys and I and usually Susan and her girls walk down the streets of our neighborhood.  They are muddy, narrow and littered with trash and yet they take us to an amazingly beautiful place.  On the way there I pick up one of my old 4th graders who has an amazing heart!  Audra is a beautiful young lady who loves to come with me and play with the kids.

When we get to the gate the kids just run to greet us.  We can't even get fully into the gate before the hugs and kisses start...my kind of greeting!  Huge smiles are shining on the faces of kids with no parents.  Smiles beaming from the faces of kids who have lived and experienced more horrors than I could imagine.  These kids are so precious!

While there we help them learn English, we play with them, laugh with them, joke with them, love on them and sing with them.  I LOVE my Wednesday afternoons!

Please pray for these children.  There is a boy who came a couple weeks ago who was severely beaten in his old home.  You can see it in his eyes and yet he is starting to let us in.  He smiles with us and wants us to love on him...we willingly do so!  All of them have their own story...please pray for their little hearts to be healed and for them to truly believe there is a God who loves them with a forever love!

Be Still...

Well, I have practiced this concept this week.  We have been on our spring break this week and we have stayed here in Port de Paix the entire time.  I have stayed here in my home wearing my pajamas most of that time...which has allowed me to do a lot of "being still." 

I am thankful and yet at some moments I felt like I should have been doing other things.  Don't we all feel like that sometimes...when we take a few moments for ourselves (or a few days) we feel guilty because there are so many things we should be doing instead of "relaxing" and "being still."  I could have gone to my classroom and worked in there, I could have gone out in the community and met with people...I could have done a million different things.  Because I didn't, at times I felt guilty.  And then...I realized I am doing exactly what I need to be doing right now! 

During the school week we are busy!  At the school from 7am until 2pm.  Quick lunch and then back to the school to prepare for the next day.  On Monday afternoons I work out with a friend.  On Tuesday afternoons I lead a Bible Study with the 5th grade girls and then teach voice lessons.  On Wednesday afternoons I have Creole class and then the boys and I head over to the Creche to play with the kids and love on them and teach them a few words in English.  On Thursday afternoons I have a Bible Study with our staff women.  After all those things are finished I come home, get the boys cleaned up, start dinner, eat dinner, clean up after dinner, spend time with the boys, read books, then get them to bed.  I don't stop until around 8 or 8:30 each evening.  I am in no way complaining!!!  I absolutely LOVE living and working here!  I LOVE raising our kids here!  BUT, I needed to BE STILL this week!

Even in this stillness, I have accomplished so many things and laughed with my boys a million times.  It has been a week full of fire (my boys love to play on the porch with matches), clean rooms (lots of organizing and simplifying), movies, naps, good food (I had the time to make buscuits and gravy-Cameron said it was the best breakfast ever!), and most of all STILLNESS!  It was good to think, pray, read and plan! 

There are times when God wants us to be still!  This week was MY time to practice being still!