Suddenly I wanted to write a blog!

Maybe this is self-centered but I've been reading back through some of our blogs this week and enjoying it! It's been a while since I've visited our blog and I used to look at it and at least try to write something so often last year. There are so many memories and experiences to cherish in writing and picture form here!

While we think about Haiti all the time the subject of our/my thoughts changes as the days go by. Based on the news, what we hear about our friends in Fauche, updates from the Thedes, and what has most recently brought on the thoughts: what we are doing here in the US that corresponds somehow to what we did or where we were last year. Right now, it's Christmas-time.

I remember fighting for contentment last year when Christmas time rolled around. I love Christmas. And yes I love the true meaning, but I also can't deny a love for the music, lights, shopping, basically everything that has been added on to the real reason for the holiday. In Haiti it was hot, muggy, there were very few Christmas decorations around town, our shopping mall was the Port Margot market, and there were no familiar family gatherings. My mom and dad came to visit, which was so great! But it still wasn't the same. Sometimes I would sit and anticipate next year (now this year) when all would be back to normal and we would be back home. Deep down I felt like I would be happy then, and that everything would be right. Not that I wasn't happy in Haiti. I loved our time and knew that I would miss it when it was over. but so many changes and stretching experiences made day to day life a struggle at times. We were safe, well-fed, and had each other, but I felt such a pressure to figure out how to be content in an uncomfortable reality. How to be the perfect missionary woman I always pictured and wanted to be!

Anyway, I'm having kind of a weird moment because I am sitting in our living room next to a lovely Christmas tree with Christmas music on, heat in the house because it's cold out and there's snow, knowing we are leaving in a week and a half to go to my parents house for Christmas and then on a trip with Chris's fam after that. Comfort!! Familiarity. And as much Christmas shopping as I want. (I mean, within reason, :) And I knew this would happen, but I am coming to the understanding that joy, contentment, happiness, which all mean slightly different things but are generally related, don't come with all this stuff. Yes it's so nice! And I love it! But I feel the familiar unrest that I felt last year, and the desire to be grounded so well in the Lord and to trust him so much that peace and joy never leave. Maybe that doesn't completely happen until we are physically with him, in eternity! But I hope that in this life we can keep getting closer to him- letting the things on earth we hold so dear get less important to us.

God has been so good to us. Chris and I were given such a special gift when God made a way for us to go to Haiti and spend our first year of marriage there. We are still learning so much from it. It's so exciting to see how God has a plan for us. I always want to walk in his ways and grow closer to him. I'm thankful his joy is so deep that I can't figure it out and that it comes no matter where we are. I'm glad this Christmas season hasn't given me the ultimate happiness I secretly thought it would. I'm glad that can only come through a right relationship with the Lord!

Needless to say, this blog is long overdue! It is harder than we imagined to keep up with it while back in the fast pace of life in the U.S. We are not used to having so many places to go, people to see, and details to attend to. We have been asking the question, is it possible to live a simple life here?
Yes, but sacrifices are required in order for that to happen. Some of those sacrifices are doable, and probably even a good idea...less commitments, less t.v. watching, taking Sunday as a day of rest, etc. But some are trickier. Relationships require a great deal of time and energy, and if we aren't willing to be busy for people and become selfish with our time in hopes of achieving a simple life, that can't be what God has intended for us. In Haiti we were able to do both it seemed. We had more time, because we didn't have 9-5 jobs, and our finances were taken care of. Less was culturally expected of us too. Back here we are faced with expectations for what kind of house we will live in, jobs we will have, how often we see people, what ministries we are involved in. It's all a little confusing, but we are trying to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and what he requires of us.
As Chris mentioned in the last blog, we aren't able to successfully define how we've changed in Haiti or put into good words all the things we learned! It is difficult to even talk about sometimes. The place and people that became very dear to us is suddenly very far away and we are back in a different life. Our exposure to poverty hasn't led us to sell all of our possessions or make drastic changes, although we do have a different perspective which we pray will be honoring to God as we embark out on our own! We don't feel that we have many answers or profound things to share other than that God is so faithful. His faithfulness to us is beyond words. He has brought this trip to completion and that alone is amazing! He answered many prayers, big and small. We are confident that God is alive, he is big, and he is with us.We need prayer for Chris as he starts medical school in August. Praise God-he got a great scholarship that will pay all his tuition and fees in return for 4 years of service in an underserved area in Indiana after residency. He is so thankful because he feels like now he won't have to rush out after med school and rake in as much money as possible to pay off loans. One thing our time in Haiti confirmed is his desire to be a family doctor and have a practice that is different. Not sure exactly what that will look like, but how cool that God has already set his course in that direction. We also need prayer as I am looking for a job and trying to be wise in the process. Please pray that we can find a good church family and get to know our neighbors when we move as well.
Thank you for reading. And for being patient with us. We aren't the perfect short term missionaries, obviously! But God is bigger than our shortcomings, thankfully!
The last two pictures are from our house in Terre Haute. As Anna predicted, the house and even the bathroom seem spacious to us! And the porch reminded us of Cory and Kris's house on La Gonave. They say it gets really hot in there in the summer. We'll see how that compares to 'hot' in Haiti!

We are still alive and surviving in America

Hey everybody. Sorry it has been so long. If there is one thing that has been hard to adjust to it is how we have hit the ground running! This is not a bad thing... it is more the nature of life when you try to see and do as much as you can in a little amount of time.
We are currently in the northwest suburb of the windy city feeling the chill of spring weather. We just returned last night from a long visit to Indiana where we spent time with the Sloan's in Kendallville. During our time in IN we drove down to Terre Haute to look for a place to live. We didn't really know what to expect, but we knew that we needed to look. We don't have a lot of free time between now and the time we want to move so at least we wanted to see our options and what the housing market is like. We quickly decided on finding a rental house because of the nature of owning a home (I, Chris, would have to fix anything wrong with it) such as trying to sell it when we move from Terre Haute. After visiting 30 places in two days we found a great little cottage that we decided to lease for two years. God answered our prayers. We are very excited to move in early July and to finally be able to open and use our wedding gifts in our new home.
A great part about being in Terre Haute was that we got a chance to see a college suitemate of mine, Steven Hartman, and stay with his grandparents. It was great to see old friends and to be made to feel so welcome! Thanks Hartmans.
We had the opportunity to speak at Main Street Wesleyan Church in Jonesboro, IN last Sunday. We felt like we had stepped back into college days when we attended there. We were in charge of the speaking for the morning so we did our best. We don't know exactly what we said but we hope that someone was blessed by it. I don't know how or when but God will continue to use this experience in Haiti to change us.
I do not feel as changed as I thought I would. I thought I might come back and want to live in a cardboard box or something equally as extreme. Yet, I don't think that is why we went to Haiti or what God had in store for us to learn in Fauche. We went out of obedience and we went to grow up a little. Kathleen and I have grown so much in every area of our lives. Some of this growth could have taken place here in the USA but not all. We are settling back into American culture and doing things that most Americans do with a little difference in us that we cannot pinpoint. We will continue to see what this looks like as our lives unfold.

We are in Schaumburg Illinois and in my parent's house, safe and sound! Praise God. Many prayers were whispered as we flew across the ocean and into FL during a storm. Thank you so much for praying for us.

Haiti feels far away, but it is SO close to our hearts as we see everything familiar again! We can't begin to express an answer to the question, "How was Haiti?" and know that it will take some time for us to understand all that we learned (probably, we never will!) and realize that we did indeed go to Haiti, live there, and now we are back. In the land of carpet, squeaky clean toilets, and cold weather it is hard to make sense of the other world we lived in only yesterday! But we are doing well. Goodbyes are always so tough. Pulling out of campus on Sunday it did not seem like we were the ones being driven to the airport. But the time had come and now we trust that though we are different God is the same and he will help us as we figure all this out! We will write more when we are less sleep-deprived and in this strange state of culture shock! :) Thank you again for the prayer!

It's Thursday already and we are starting to pack up. It's sad! Although we can't deny our excitement about going home, seeing our families, and being back where things are familiar. Though Haiti has become familiar to us in many ways. We are now used to being a minority and ignoring stares and laughter as we walk down the road, and it will be weird to simply blend in again. Going to the grocery store will be quite a different experience than going to the market here. No negotiating for the price, getting confused about Haitian money and drawing a crowd, having people yell out Blanc! as you walk past their little assortment of veggies, and definitely a bit more variety when it comes to cereal and things like that. We decided there should be an emotion called "Transition." You can't put your finger on exactly what it's like, it's not all happy or sad, it's a mixture of a bunch of things. That's how we feel!
We will miss the Thedes who have become like family to us. We have eaten lunch with them every single day (minus a few due to sickness) for the past eight months, not to mention going on church visits, eating dinner some nights, going up to their house at least once a day to ask a question, borrow a movie, do laundry, help with school, borrow a cup of sugar (literally, I did that today) and countless other times. We have learned what it looks like to open your home to someone and how to live so closely with another family that is not technically family. We won't know how many sticky situations we have been spared of because of their wisdom about Haiti and culture; they gave us a lot to chew on as we came in with no experience and lots of grand ideas. We're so thankful. We hope to see them in the winter when they travel to the US for a few months. Until then we will keep in touch through email and letters.
I have not mentioned what all these pictures are about. The first is from the little party our first class threw for us on Tuesday. Here is a peak into the slowness of life around here. It was supposed to start at 4pm. At 4:15, we started thinking we might have the wrong day, since there was no sign of anyone. (We should have known!) We called Jasmine, and she assured us that she was coming, the party was today. After a bit, some students started to meander their way up to the guest house. They let it slip that there was a "gato" or cake, coming, but it wasn't ready yet. So we sat, talked, and were entertained by our students who took turns singing, talking, and telling jokes for us, while a few people at a time would slip out to go check on the gato which was being made at a house nearby. At about 5:40, the gato arrived! It was HOT out of the oven, and frosted a lovely pink with our names on top! We ate large pieces and enjoyed it. Our students then surprised us with two more gifts, a wooden sailboat with our names painted on it, and a rose. We were taken aback, it was so nice! After many thank you's back and forth, we all waited out the rain together for a while, then eventually went home feeling really blessed.
The other picture is of us and David, our Creole teacher and now English student. He came by to take some pictures of us yesterday. The picture with the many many kids is from the children's program that took place yesterday afternoon. Can you see our little white faces stuck in there??They also thanked us more than we deserved. John Pierre and the two other men that run the program presented us with two wooden carved things- So neat! They were so happy to give us these things. They probably don't realize how much of a blessing they have been to us, rather than vise versa.
Lastly, I just wanted to throw in the picture of the new occupant to Bitsy's old spot next to our house. I don't think I mentioned this, but after we came back from Port au Prince, we found out that Bitsy is no longer with us :( Though we are all pretty happy for him, since he looked near-death most of the time. But we (okay just I) have missed having our unofficial first pet around. It was good to see his spot filled by this skinny little guy!! And Chris does have a soft spot...He was the one who fed him bread this morning!!

Thanks for reading, and praying. All this change is about to be thrust upon us, and it's hard to keep our feet on the ground. We pray we will keep our eyes fixed on Jesus these next few days.

Personalities

This is a picture of the men in our second class on the last day. There are definitely a few characters in this group. It's kind of like grade school or high school...there is a class clown (second guy in from the right, always making awkward comments and laughing at them), the popular, confident guy (striped shirt on far left, dances to the ringing cell phone in class, etc.), the brainiac (White shirt, third from the right, always answers questions), the teacher's pet (second from left, told us during class last time that the number 18 was just flashing in his head because that's the date we leave, and it's so sad!), and the guy with a million questions, who doesn't wait for the full answer before asking another on top of it (shiny blue shirt in front). It's been fun seeing these dynamics and the different personalities that come together. The girls in this class were quieter and less involved. Gina, who is in the white shirt below, was our class accountant and took care of the money for us. She is a very professional lady who always smiles. Andremine in the green wasn't very talkative, but is always nice. She knows English pretty well. When I picture her I will think of her peeking over her glasses at us with a baseball hat on. The women in our first class were a bit friendlier, probably because they weren't as dominated by all the men! On Friday we had our final meeting for English club. The idea for this club came from a rather distressing last meeting with our first advanced class in December. They were unhappy that the class was ending and there was nothing else for them beyond that level. We came up with the idea of an English club that would meet on Fridays for 2 hours to discuss various topics. The last few months, we have had about 4 regular attenders. A few times we had a bigger group, but after the earthquake, we consistently had 3-4. We asked for suggestions about what they would like to talk about, so we could find articles online and bring them. Although it wasn't an earth-shattering success or anything, it has been a good experience. The 4 men that come are very good at English and so we've been able to get to know them better. On Friday, they wanted to just talk. So we sat outside for few hours and they asked us questions about our time in Haiti, what is the best/worst thing we've learned about Haitian culture, does Chris feel like Haitian guys have shown his wife respect, do we have mountains where we live, what are schools like in the US, did we feel welcome here, what will we say about Haiti when we talk to people at home, and how did we find the church services to be. It was a unique time of reflection! This week we will be doing a lot of reminiscing and thinking, and trying to see all the people we have come to know to say goodbye, and hope to see you again! Please keep us in your prayers as we go through this week. These last two pictures are from the Sunday kid's program, there are SO many kids! Thanks for checking in. Have a great week. :)

Last Days of School

Time is flying by here in Fauche. Maybe it is because we are closer to the equator and therefore rotating at a faster speed than you in Indiana and Chicago...haha...okay bad joke. sorry.... We have spent our time in Haiti thinking of it as eight months and now we only have 9 days. Hard to believe the short time we have left. Monday and Tuesday we gave our first and second classes their tests. (left: Kath and Phania, above: Guery and me) They did well. We had the whole range of grades. So we spent a lot of time printing tests and certificates. If you get a certificate in Haiti it better have a stamp on it!
On Wednesday and Thursday we gave out certificates to the class and took pictures with them. The ones here are with the first class (above). They were a smaller group which made it easier to get to know each of them better. They both were great. When we were done with pictures and talking on Wed. our class made us wait for them as they had a discussion in Creole. We knew what they were talking about, but we let them talk. When they were finished they told us they would like us to meet with them next Tuesday at 4 for a little "fet" (party). Kathleen and I are touched and excited for this. It is one thing to give them something, but it is touching for them to give us something. We have found Haitians to be very generous people! (below:Samuel and I)Today we have English club and we are done teaching - a bittersweet moment. I will no longer be embarrassed when I am trying to teach grammar and then find out I am wrong...oops, but we will miss our students and the relationships we have had with them.
I am still shadowing docs in the clinic. It has been a great opportunity to have so much exposure to medicine before school and before my training. There is a new Dr. Cesar here who is doing his year of service in Haiti. He has an energy about him that I think comes partly from being just out of medical school and because he likes people. He is a neat guy.
In other news, Kath and I have been battling at Scrabble! This last game that has been going on a couple of days hasn't been going well for me, I am trailing by forty with only five tiles left in the bag! But I did beat her the last two games in a row after she soundly beat me the first time we played. Its getting pretty tense around here ;) haha This is the start of the game we are currently playing (Kath went first).
Below are some select quotes that both classes wrote in response to our question: What did you think of this English Class? We will honestly never forget our students and the time we have shared with them! As you can see they have varying levels of English ability. The way they put words together often makes us smile!

• Naturally, I see this English class is a good job, I like it, if we have been many times, we will be to learn plus. I’m sorry the teachers come back. Thank you. (Geury)

• I’m very glad to pass the good moments with you in English class. I hope to have you again God bless you. (Frandy)

• I very proud of you because you explain very well. You’re gonna to miss me. Thank you. (Chantal)

• I think: this English class is the best, I am learning very well, the teachers are nice and intelligent, I love you, and I miss you, Congratulations! (Phania)

• In English class, I think a teacher, also I think a students. (Wisvelt)

• This English class is a good opportunity for me to improve better my English. It’s entertaining and interesting. Thank you to be patient, to teach us very well. Thank you for being with us. (Kernessant Emmanuel)

• I couldn’t find any words to describe what I’m thinking about this class, for me it’s one of the great moment I’ve known in my life. (Theodore)

• In my English class, I think always before finish, the teachers like read the holy Bible it was very important for me and my to teachers has an example for the futures married. (Metellus Ernide..from PAP)

• As you know it, study is something very important but the way you teach me made me happy and feel…I have really enjoyed my time with you. Thanks and keep on. God bless you. (Jean Julien)

• The English class is good, I am ok; when I listen your words in this class. I thank of you for this class. I also happy when I take conversation with my friends. Thank you for this class. God bless you. Baybay. (Simon)

• I think of this English class. When I in the class I feel good. I do love you. I think so to continued to practice English everyday. (Ernso)

Happy Easter!

This Sunday we got up at 4:30 am to head to Cap Haitian for an Easter sunrise service with the English fellowship that meets there. We saw the sun rise on the way there, and it was a beautiful morning. The service was held at the school Eli and Anna used to attend, and as you can see from the pictures it is a lovely spot!




After the service, we ate a delicious pitch-in/potluck breakfast. There were too many good things to choose from but that is our only complaint. In the afternoon we ate a really good lunch with the Thedes, and pieces of this masterpiece cake!



While the churches in our area had services all weekend, and we enjoyed hearing their singing drift up the hill throughout the days, we were kept up on Saturday night because of the loud drumbeats and chants. Kris has told us that the time right before Easter is normally an active time for voodoo, since Christ's death is a victory in their eyes. We were glad not to hear much on Good Friday, and hope it was because of after-earthquake change! We know there are many who were deeply affected spiritually by the earthquake. As Saturday night came, we faced the reality that voodoo is still happening here, close enough to us that we could hear the voices and drumming above the sound of our fan. We haven't seen any voodoo services or activity up close (thankfully, though at times we are curious, we know it's not something to get close to even for cultural understanding or any other reasons) but we hear it and see flags and other evidence of activity on the roads. It reminds us to pray and reminds us that though we don't feel in physical danger because of it, the spiritual battle in this country is real and close.

On another note, we have been really loving the beautiful spot we live in lately. The weather is awesome right now. It is warm, breezy, and not stifling yet. As you can see we've been sitting outside more and trying to take it all in. The hillside shows what we see when we look straight ahead from outside our house.
This afternoon we give an exam to our first level class, hope they do well! And hope they don't try to cheat like our first class last semester did--ugh! This time we are going to space them out so far that they will have to yell to share answers! They are such a great class though, and we will miss them.
Have a great week, Jesus is ALIVE!