Lost in Haiti time

Wow....it is already the end of Wednesday night. Time has been flying by. The first day I arrived,I immediately thought... It is going to be one long week. I was a bit skeptic of this whole trip at first. Anyone who knows me well, knows how much I am stepping out of my comfort zone. I HATE spiders and any critters crawling around. They just creep me out and have no right to share a bed with me! Already this week in our dorms we have seen big spiders, lizards, and a scorpion! Yep! Lovely sleeping buddies! However, I am loving haiti and all the kids I have met. It has truly been an eye opening experience. Things in Haiti are quite different than at home in numerous ways. Obviously there is more poverty, but in Haiti there are people who have a glowing faith in God. The people are welcoming, caring, and have a since of community. No one worries about what time it is or what item to check of next on the to do list. Things get done when they get done. I don't sense any anxiousness among the Haitian people. We have a lot to learn as Americans from these people. I have enjoyed their company and compassion this week.

MondY was our first real work day and I must admit it was a challenge. The heat is unbearable. We began by moving things from the dorm to a storage room. Then we began painting the church in the blazing sun. It was tiring, but looking at the finished product today made it l worth it the church looks beautiful! We were working outside for four hours. I couldn't keep my waterbottle full! After lunch we worked on putting a purification system together. While it wasn't tedious work, we were all feeling the effects from the hard work we put in that morning. We worked under a tent for another four hours feeling the heat. The heat drained me completly and I was done! I found the rest of the evening to be very difficult emotionally. I wasn't sure I had it in me to make it through the week. I was already missing my boys and drained. It was only Monday! Thankfully, lots of prayers and rest was all I needed because Tuesday morning I was full of energy and smiles!

Tuesday was a wonderful day. We began our day by visiting an IDP camp not far from campus. It was a sight hat broke my heart. There were literally thousands of people living I'm a tent. One tent after another tent all along the mountainside. We hiked up the mountain and were able to look out over all of the homes. Their tents don't have a canvas ground for protection. These people use whatever they can find to build shelter. The floor of their tent home is just the dirt ground. Many of the Haitian people living in these tents may not even have anything to lay on. While up on the mountain a staff member for NVM talked to us he gave us hbe history of the IDP camp and asked us an important questions. Do he poor know you by name? Do you take the time to feed, shelter, and foster relationships with those who are less fortunate. It really made me think. I challenge you to answer that question for yourself. When we returned to camp, we dug a trench for the pipe to our water purification system. It was a hot hot job! I am very proud of our team. We had great teamwork and got the Jo. Dome with only shovels and pickaxes! (unfortunately,we later found out plans changed and we wouldn't be using that trench after all!). : ).
Finally, that brings us to today, Wednesday! It was a very relaxing day. We sorted clothes, helped the Haitian women make beaded necklaces, and I go the pleasure of experiencing shopping for hardware in town! I loved going to town. It was interesting to see the different sties. Oh... They are quite different than our stores. The home store we went into was three levels. Eachebel housing different kinds of hardware and tools. It took us almost two hours in one store to get the items on our list! The parking, driving, and traffic was adventours. People just dart in and out at a fast pace. Motorcycles can be found driving down the middle of the road between two lanes of traffic. People are found at every corner Selling things! We even stopped at a market for some good old American junk food! Our group devoured it. It was a feeding frenzy! All in all, town was fun!

Time in Haiti is winding down. Tomorrow we will install two water purification systems. One here on campus for the school and one in the gulags of chambrun. On Friday we hope to visit the beach and head home on Saturday.

Haiti Day 2

Haiti Day 2
Yesterday, was Sunday and our 2^{nd day in Haiti. We had the unique experience to attend church with the Haitians. What a joy it was to see how they worship God on Sunday mornings. Their church service is three hours long! These people know how to worship God with all their heart. They sing loudly with pride and love. They dance, move, and shout their praises to God. It moved my heart, and it made me realize how much these people truly have. They have what most American’s don’t… A true faith in God! A real faith! Back home at my church you will not find this type of service with hearts full of that true faith and love. Don’t get me wrong, our church is filled with people who love God and there are people in my church who are on fire for God. In order for you to truly understand where I am coming from, you must expierence it for yourself! I pray that one day God will lead you to that kind of expierence. It will warm your soul and make you realize what is important. As I sat there watching and listening to these people during church service, I realized that I need to be more like them. I need to stop worrying about the little things in life, and begin to truly live by faith! The Haitians have nothing. They don’t have food or clean water every single day. They don’t have a nice cozy house to shelter them. If anyone has the right to be bitter or angry, it is them. Instead they choose to be joyful and praise God for what they do have! As an American who is richly blessed, I have no right to complain about what I don’t have. I need to focus on what I do have and be thankful!}
During service I sat behind a group of very joyful girls who made me smile. I loved watching them dance and sing! One girl, Yanni, kept looking at me and smiling. She was beautiful, and I loved interacting with her during the service. I even took her picture. Since service I have seen Yanni around campus. She continues to come to me and interact. Today I learned that beautiful in her language is unbella.. sp? She was also teaching me how to count and a few other words. I hope I see her the next couple of days here on campus! She is a joy! I would love to take her home!
I also had another adorable little girl latch onto me after service. She was quite little and very quiet. She was so adorable. She wanted to be held and hugged. She loved playing with my hair and putting her hands on my face. Her eyes were bright and her smile could light up a room. I wouldn’t mind taking her home too! A suitcase full of wiggles for the way home! LOL!
After church, we were given some free time. We played cards and had some fellowship. After our break, we went into the village of Chamburn to check out the wells the villagers use to get their water. They walk several miles sometimes to get water. The water they get is very dirty and makes them sick withh many diseases. We are going to work on installing a water purification system at the school on campus and one just outside of campus for the villagers to use. I am thankful I have the opportunity to help provide these people with clean water that could help improve their lives. I am looking forward to building and putting together the systems. While in the village, you could see the since of community the people had. They were all a family and would help any of their neighbors out. They were very friendly to us and welcomed us. Many times back at home we will walk right by someone we no without a polite hello. All through the dirt streets of Chambrun the villagers will greet you! The children will run to you to greet you as well. They will walk with you and hold your hands. They love trying to interact with us. I would love to be able to talk to them in their language! Keep posted for more!!!

Haiti Day 1

I have been in Haiti since Saturday morning and have already had many things impact me. When we landed at the airport we were greeted with Haitian music and loaded onto a shuttle to take us to the baggage claim. It was similar to a warehouse and was extremely busy. It was a bit chaotic, and they only had two concertos belts toput the luggage on. Thankfully their were only two planes that landed during that time. There can be up to four at one time making it even worse. I can't imagine. Going through customs was rarer easy too. I was quite surprised After gathering our checked bags we made our way outside and were lead to a tap tap. A tap tap is a box truck. However the back isn't a box, it is framed with a cage and has benches on each side. We took the tap tap to the campus on NVM. It was an extremely interesting ride. I don't think there are too many road rules in Haiti! It was a bumpy and rough ride as the roads aren't great. The part that was difficult to take in was all the devastation surrounding Haiti. Everywhere you looked were thousands of tents. These tents were not nice tents that we would go camping in. They were pieced together with whatever materials they could find. It was heartbreaking. There was tons of trash piled high everywhere. You could smell the sewage building up from not being properly disposed. I can't even begin to describe the living situation here. We are so blessed in our country and have much to be thankful for. I will upload photos when I get home.

Upon arriving at campus we were blessed with much needed relaxing after a long two days of traveling. We are staying on a very nice campus with air conditioned dorms and bath houses. We have clean running water and good food. After lunch, we walked a half mile to a village called chambrun. In chambray we visited an orphanage. The kids were so joyful and loving. These children didn't care that they had very little. All they wanted was to play. We enjoyed a game of soccer, tag, and lots of laughs. They also LOVE photos! They like heir picture taken and enjoy taking pictures too. I am anxious to spend more time with these kids.

I have already learned so much from being here. Too many times we get caught up in things we have or don't have. I have enough. My basic needs are met each day I have a house a nice house, clean water, and plenty of food. I need to be joyful like the Haitian children. if anyone should complain or be bitter towards life, it should be these people..... But they choose to be happy.

I am using my iPod to blog and have a hard time editing for spelling and grammar. So please accept my apology for any you find!

Check out dots in blue water for more info from the team and our trip. Two teachers and two students will write a blog a day on their faceook page.... Dots in blue water.

The joys of traveling

On Friday I met up at school with the rest of the team to depart for our Haiti trip. We left the school at 11:30 and headed to Detroit to catch our plane to Fort Lauderdale, FL. Once we arived at the airport, we had plenty of time to grab some supper. Our last good meal for a while I am sure. After arriving at our gate, we discovered our flight was delayed by three hours. It wasn't a big deal since our flight to Haiti didn't leave until 7 am the next day. We had a lot of fun during our delay with card games, laughter, airport walks, and some entertaining teenage girls. Haha... There wasn't a dull moment with them around! We finally touched down in FL Around 1:30. It is currently almost 4 am and we are attempting to sleep on the airport floor. I must admit, this is a difficult thing for me to do. Too many noises, people, and a very hard floor! I am sure I will sleep well in the bunkbeds at Haiti after this! I will be too exhausted to care a that point! Our flight is on time and should depart at 7 am! Once arriving in Haiti, we will be greeted by he NVM staf who will bus us out to the campus. We have been told it is about 20 miles from the airport, however, it will be bumper to bumper traffic and could take a couple hours to reach NVM campus. I will have pictures when I return!

Update on selling/buying

Wow, it is so much more difficult to get a loan than it was three years ago when I bought this house.  I can't believe all of the new rules and regulations! My goodness!  It doesn't surprise me now why houses are not selling.  It has proven to be a challenge, but it is one that I am ready to take on full charge like a bull and a red flag!! I have had to change course on the type of loan I get, and my switching of jobs has also been another bump in the road!  All of my paperwork has been sent in, and I am now playing the waiting game.  I will here from my loan officer tomorrow, or on Monday!  I am praying for the best!  She seems rather positive that it will all work out! Either way, God has a plan! He won't forsake me!  I may just have to be patient through this whole process.  I have heard it can be a long drawn out process at times with all of the new rules!  We will see what news I receive in the next day or so! Please join me in prayer for a smooth process!  Let the entire selling and buying process begin! The game is on! Ha! 

Caleb was so funny the other day.  I was delivering the joyful news of our home selling this past week, and Caleb was so excited!  He immediately began going around the house with a pad of sticky notes and pen labeling everything!  Our belongings were marked with sell at garage sale, or comes with us!  He even drew pictures of the new house on several different sticky notes!  He is very excited that his new house will still have a fire pit, and he is super thrilled to know he will have his own clubhouse!!  The clubhouse is a small wooden shed in the backyard that is used by the current owners to hold their lawn mower and a few yard tools.  This new house has a rather large garage with plenty of storage for my yard needs.  Let's be honest here, I don't have many yard tools, or tools in general! LOL! I am confident that I will have PLENTY of room for my so called tools! Anyways, I told the boys that we would turn the shed into their very own clubhouse.  He has all sorts of plans for it, and what he wants to put in there!  It will be fun to help him develop the clubhouse! 

In the future I hope to have lots of pictures with my blog!  I need to be better about taking them and posting them.  Would make it so much more fun to read!!  : ) 

Haiti.. Here I come!

I can't believe I am really doing this... traveling to Haiti with giant spiders, interesting creatures, and thousands of mosquitoes!  Yikes!!  This is definitely a step outside of my comfort zone.  Tomorrow my parents are dropping me off at school to travel with 8 students and 8 staff members of my former school to travel to Chambrun, Haiti.  My boys will be along to say good-bye.  I have never left my boys for more than four days, and this will prove to be a challenge in many different aspects.  It will be even harder knowing I can't have any communication with them other than email.  We are leaving the school at 11:00 a.m. and will travel to Detroit, MI to catch a plane at 7:35.  Once leaving Detroit, we will have an overnight layover at the Ft. Lauderdale airport.  I have never spent the night in an airport... could prove to be interesting.  Nevertheless, it will be filled with laughter, stories, and sleepless hours! ha!  (Thank goodness for cards, ipods, and my nook!)  If you have any good books I should download, let me know!  We are set to arrive at the Port a Prince Saturday morning around 8 a.m.  I believe from there  we will have a good, joyful, HOT, bumpy, curvy bus ride to campus at Nehemiah Vision Ministries (NVM)!  I have seen pictures of where we are staying, and I must say it isn't that bad!  We will be in a dorm with bunk beds that is blessed with air condition! woo hooo!  It is also fogged every night for the pesty disease filled mosquitoes!  We are also provided with clean running water throughout the facility!  There is a bath house with nice showers, toilets, and sinks with air condition too!  Sounds rather cushy compared to some mission trips! : )  I do not know exactly what awaits us or our itinerary once we are there, but I know God will oversee it for His plan!  I take my first malaria pill tomorrow morning.. on travel day.  I pray that I tolerate it well, and it doesn't upset my tummy!  I will update my blog as much as I can while there! (with lots of pictures) Be sure to stay posted to facebook as well!  I will be able to get on that almost every single night!  I have posted a link that will lead you to NVM website.  It will have an updated blog from our team as often as possible, and you can take a look at some of the photos of campus.  I am also following a few new blogs from families and staff at NVM.  Check them out! They are very interesting and have LOTS of pictures with great stories!  You can also follow our trip on facebook by looking for dots in blue water.  Thank you to all of you who have supported me with funds and/or prayers!  It is very appreciative! 
http://blog.nehemiahvisionministries.org/default.aspx


My boys have been giving me extra kisses, hugs, and cuddles!! Loving it!!  They haven't wanted to leave my side much this week.  It is so sweet, and it makes me feel loved!  I am one special mom!  My youngest one even made me a heart flower to take with me!  So precious! 

SOLD!

I have accepted an offer on my house and will be closing on it in the next couple of weeks!  God has perfect timing!!  He never disappoints... even when it isn't in the time frame we have in mind.  I leave for Haiti on Friday, and it is such a relief to know that my house is sold before I depart the U.S.!  I came to the realization today that my summer is completely booked, and I will be begin teaching at my new school before I know it.  I leave this Friday the 17th for Haiti!  Once I return from Haiti, I will be busy cleaning, packing, and preparing for a garage sale before I have to be out of my house... which is about July 15th!  I must say I have two little eager helpers who are ready to help at the garage sale.  For some strange reason... my two cuties LOVE garage sales!  After that I will be taking a much needed vacation with my family to Disney World (thanks to my wonderful parents)!!!  My boys are beyond excited!  It is ALL I have been hearing about for the last month!  I can't wait to see their reaction to all the Disney excitement!  When we return from FL, I will be moving into my new home, unpacking, and settling in before school starts in August! Oh my..... I am tired already! : )   Stay posted for updates from Haiti in the coming week! 

Packing, Moving, and Preparing

Wow! Time has gotten away from me in the last month.  It has been a while since I have posted, and I thought it was about time to fill everyone in!  In the past two weeks I have completed my last day at my public school, boxed up my classroom, and finished vaccines for Haiti!  It has been a whirlwind of activity that has kept me spinning from one thing to the next.  Tomorrow my father and brother are helping me move all of my boxes to my new classroom.  I never knew someone could collect so many things from only six years of teaching!  Goodness....I hate to see how much stuff I have after 30 years of teaching!  While I am having to sacrifice many things to follow God's plan, I am very excited for my new journey at the private christian school!  Yes, it will mean less money, Hoosier healthwise, selling my comfortable roomy house, and no benefits... BUT the rewards will out weight all of that!  It will be so nice to spend more time with both of my boys.  I will get to eat breakfast with them every single morning, see glimpses of them throughout the day, and even be there for school activities!  For the first time ever I took a field trip with my oldest son.  It was such a joy to be a PARENT on a field trip rather than a teacher.  Much more enjoyable and pleasant for sure!

As for my house, it has not sold yet.  However, today there was another showing!  This was the 2nd time the couple had gone through the house.  My realtor told me that it was an excellent showing, and he got calls with lots of questions regarding the house.  The couple told my realtor that they would get back to him in a day or two.  So... if you are reading this, please pray for an offer!  I am calling all prayer warriors!!  

My trip to Haiti will be here in one week.  I will take off for a life changing adventure that is making me step out of my comfort zone!  Earlier this week I was having moments of panic!  I kept asking myself why in the world did I sign up to do this!  I hate spiders, the unknown, and taking strange medicine for diseases I never want to experience!  I am more at peace today with the trip, and I pray that peace continues to surround me until I step foot back on American Soil with familiar surroundings that don't involve tarantulas!!!!  Eww!  I definitely don't want to share a bed or shower with those lovely creatures!!!  Please pray for me and my team as we depart on Friday.  Stay posted to the blog as I will be blogging my trip!!  I will post pictures as well! 

Even with all of the busyness surrounding me, I have had the chance to enjoy the start of summer!  My oldest son finished school this week, and we have already enjoyed many swims, games, late nights, and lazy mornings!!  Tonight we were watching So you think you can dance, and my youngest one was so funny!  Every time they would do a dance he would attempt to mimic them on the living room floor!  He LOVES to dance!  He is so dramatic at times... add that to his personality and you have one entertaining child!