Haiti 2014

This year has been so full of ups and downs. At the beginning of the year I thought I would be going to Haiti by March or April then when my uncle fell and broke his back my focus became him instead of Haiti. As he got stronger and more independent I began to think about Haiti again. Granted it wasn't an easy task to accomplish but God opened the door and some friends and family stepped up so I could go.

So on November 6th I took off on a Haitian adventure!! This trip wasn't like any other I have been on, instead of going with a group this time it was just me and a friend. While we were traveling together our goals were different. My purpose was to visit different ministries and see what was going on and possibly if there was a place for me to work in Haiti in a more full time position. Heather, on the other hand, had two different goals. She has two children that she and her husband adopted from Haiti and she wanted to look for some of their families. She also wanted to see some of the more beautiful areas of Haiti.

Since we were there for two weeks and visited several ministries I'm going to write about each place individually instead of trying to discuss it all at once.
Our trip was full of adventure and a few disappointments but it is one that I'm glad we went on.

Opportunity

Have you ever heard a quote or saying and thought, "yeah that sounds good." but didn't really take the time to really process what it means? When I was in Bible college I did that. One of my mentors in college was mentored by Leonard Ravenhill so I heard many stories of Mr. Ravenhill. Here is one of his quotes that I heard so much I started saying it myself.

It wasn't until several years later that I fully grasped the meaning of this. When an opportunity in life presents itself I try to use wisdom in my decision but I also don't pass it up if God gives me peace about it.

There have been many times where I have people ask me about the mission trips I go on. One lady looked at me amazed and asked if I was rich. Honestly I almost burst out laughing ... No I'm not independently wealthy. I don't live life precariously but I do live it with faith.  I use to hear about mission trips and my heart would yearn to go but instead of asking God to make to a way I would look at my circumstances and wish I could go. Sometimes it wasn't necessarily that I couldn't afford to go but my priorities needed to be rearranged.

Please don't misunderstand me, I know that not everyone can do everything they want to. And we have to realize that everyone is at different places in their lives. For example, I was talking to someone one time about "luxuries" in life, like getting manicures or being able to go to hair salon to get my hair dyed instead of doing it at home. The guy was astounded that I couldn't afford things that his mom and sisters did all the time. His comment to me was that there was no reason I couldn't afford things like that since I worked in a hospital. (Many people seem to think that if you work in health care you make a middle to high class salary.)

My initial response to his comment at first was irritation. After all who was he to judge me when he had no idea what I had gone through?  But it really made me think. It took me some time to realize that I was at a different place in my life that he couldn't understand. At the time I had two kids at home that I was taking care of, my focus was on what they needed and not on things that I considered luxury expenses.

Now that I'm an "empty nester" my priorities have shifted and that isn't a bad thing. We need to enjoy the place we are in life but don't get stuck there either where you spend the later part of your life thinking, "What if?" or "I wish I had...".

Whatever season of your life you're in, look for the opportunities that arise and grab them while you can.

Season's in Life

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens" Ecclesiastes 3:1

Our life goes in seasons and I have found that some are easier than others. Honestly some are just no fun at all but that's life. When King Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes I get the feeling he may have been feeling this way. There are even times where it sounds like he's saying, 'What's the point of all this?'. But when it's all said and done God works everything out and all this is temporary.
When you're going through a difficult time remember it's just a season and season's don't last forever.

In case you haven't figured it out yet ... I'm going through a difficult season ...

But I know it won't last! So I'm depending on the Lord to carry me through and I pray that I learn whatever it is I'm suppose to learn during this journey.

Enough said :) Blessings!

Bird watching

There's a nest hidden in there

Outside of the window of the TV room at my parents is pitiful little bush that Mom has thought of cutting down. A couple of weeks ago we noticed that almost every time we walked out the front door a bird would fly out of the bush.

The tail and part of a wing of the momma bird

The bird was to fast for us to see it so we weren't sure what kind of bird had taken up residency. We would take turns peeking out the window to see if we could see in the nest or identify the bird.

It was hard getting a good view into the nest

I think it was my mom who figured out that it was a family of cardinals that had moved in.

Momma cardinal

We were careful to not disturb them and would peek out the window through the curtains. The day we saw movement in the nest was very exciting. Three little baby's were hatched.

This nest is getting crowded!

They grew fast

We couldn't believe how fast the baby's grew. I saw the Daddy cardinal around the nest a lot but he was harder to get a picture of.

I couldn't get a good pic of the proud daddy

In just over a week proud parents were teaching the babies to fly!

Flapping around in the yard

I got some good shots of the babies but Momma and Daddy were always close by. It wouldn't have surprised me if one of them had dived bombed me.

Exploring the world

A face only a mother could love

And just that quickly the cardinal family moved out.

Empty nest

Day with Mom

"Okay Mom before our day is over I need you to do something for me." "What's that?" "Lean this way and smile." My mom laughed, "Are you serious? We're going to do a selfie?"

My mom had arranged for us to spend the day together and I didn't want it to end without us getting a picture of us together. My aunt came over to spend the day with my uncle so I could have an afternoon off.

It was a rainy morning

 Mom took me to the 51st annual "Cottage Tour & Bazaar" on Monteagle, which is about an hour drive from us.
The bazaar was an area filled with vendors from all over showing off their wares. We met some interesting people in there including a lady who had written a book about growing up during WWII. I enjoyed talking to her and listening to the stories behind the pictures of her and her sisters.

Vendors were set up inside and outside

At the beginning of the tour we were given a map that showed what cottages were included in the tour. So after checking out the vendors we began our long walk.

"Mojo" built in 1885

Different people opened up their homes for us to walk through. It was interesting when they were able to give some history of the cottage.

"Leap of Faith" built approx 1895

 My favorite cottage was one that had two sleeping porches ... I'm pretty sure it was Mom's favorite feature too.

Sleeping porch at "Orr Cottage"

It was a lot of walking and it rained most of the day but it was nice to get out an spend the day with my mom.

Our favorite yard / garden

We're wet and our feet hurt but still smiling

Just passing through...

Since I have been taking care of my uncle I have had and taken the time to appreciate the nature around me. My parents have a deck and have put humming bird feeders and bird houses close by. The birds are entertaining and our family enjoys sitting on the deck watching the wildlife.

Humming bird

My cousin Maya painted a birdhouse in school and my dad hung it by the deck. Our experience in the past has been that a birdhouse has to be outside for about a year before any birds will move in. I guess weathering it makes it more inviting for the birds. So when he hung Maya's house by the deck it was for decorative purposes only.

Our "hippie" birdhouse

We never dreamed that birds would move in. We jokingly call it the hippie house. When my dad first hung it he had just used a piece of twine but with the new residents he had to secure it with a piece of wire so it wouldn't get knocked down.

The other day I went out to get the humming bird feeders to wash and refill them and I noticed a passing traveler.

Tortoise peeking out to see if I'm gone

I had to laugh at myself because I know how silly I must have looked to any outsider. I wanted to get a picture of the tortoise outside if its shell so I sat in a kids chair in front of it waiting for it to emerge.

Watching me with one eye

Instead of coming out of its shell we had a stare down :) With its shell barely open I could see one eye that occasionally blinked. I even placed an apple core in front of it hoping to tempt it out. Anybody observing me would have only seen me sitting in a little pink chair under the tree leaned over holding my camera.

Buster waiting for something to happen

After a while even my dog, Buster, got bored watching me.

Big yawn ... this is boring

In the end the tortoise won the stare down and I went back in the house to get some work done.

Summer Storm

In the evenings things are usually quiet around the house, occasionally we'll have a visitor but mostly it's just the four of us, Mom, Dad, my uncle and me. If it's nice out my parents like to work around the house, usually in the garden. However, if it's to hot or if it's raining we'll all stay in the house. If there's a baseball game on the men like to watch that and mom and I will hang out in another room. On occasion the four of us will pull up an old TV show and watch it together. We had had several days that were very rainy so one evening after supper the four of us decided to watch an episode of  "The Rockford Files", a TV show from the 70's that my mom really likes.

Rain helps the garden to grow :)

When all of a sudden I heard a terrible noise that scared me right out of my seat. I had no idea what was going on but it sounded like something was coming through the wall. My mom thought one of the trees had fallen and had hit the house, we were both partially right. Almost :)

Power line pulled right across the front door

A tree had fallen but instead of hitting the house it landed on the power line.

It was a huge limb

The sound that I heard was the meter box being pulled off the house.

The porch railing kept it from getting torn off completely

We had quite a mess in our yard.

Thankfully the rain had cooled the air down so we were able to open the windows and lit candles to see. The electric power board worked very hard and had the power back on by midnight. The next couple of days they worked on different things, like a new power pole and telephone lines.
Then my dad and I worked on yard clean-up ... He did most of the work.

Almost all cleaned up

I would have gotten pictures of the clean up process but I was busy working and didn't think of my camera until after it was done. The only evidence of the storm now is the huge mark on the tree.

Thankfully no one was hurt and no real damage was done.
We didn't get to finish watching Rockford Files but we did have a good time sitting around just talking with no electronic distractions.

Gardening

When I first started planning a post about our garden I thought it would be neat to open with a Bible verse. However, after doing a search on gardening I couldn't find anything that was relevant to my search :) The Bible starts with telling us about the Garden of Eden but nothing there would fit with what I was doing. Then in 1&2 Kings a garden is mentioned but it's in reference to where kings are buried ... that wasn't fitting either. I had forgotten about a garden being talked about in Song of Solomon but I''m sure those verses weren't fitting either. Then you travel to the New Testament and it talks about the Garden of Gethsemane. Yeah we don't have a praying garden either.

Then it occurred to me that I was searching for the wrong word. So I opened my Bible app, started a new search and found what I was looking for ...

"You will eat the fruit of you labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours." Ps 128:2

Farm in Michigan

Growing up in Michigan we always had a big garden that did very well. The soil there is dark and rich and just produces some of the most delectable fruits and vegetables. So when we moved to the South it was disappointing to see how poorly the gardens did.

My parents have lived in the same house for over twenty years now and they have worked with and treated the soil every year. Some years did better than others but they never gave up.

Mom and Dad getting the garden ready

This year everything seems to be falling into place, the soil looks good, we have been having plenty of rain, and the bees are working hard pollinating.

Getting the rows just right

Mom working hard

Almost every evening they would come home from work just to go work in the garden before it got dark.

Taking a quick phone break

And boy did it pay off!!

All kinds of veggies

It started out kind of slow with a few squash and zucchini here and there but then it exploded

A sample of what's coming in

 Now the cucumbers are starting to come in.

Cucumber plants

We may have to try some pickling recipes.

Almost ready to pick