The Dust is Settling

As the dust of our first 10 days settles, I’ve been feeling reflective this afternoon and want to recount the ways that God has blessed and sustained Tim and I over the last week and a half.  It might be that this is one of the most difficult weeks of my life.   Not bad; just hard.  I cannot believe we have been here just 10 days. Life in DC with AC, our own cars, a quiet apartment, our jobs, grocery shopping, church meetings and what was “normal” life seem so far away already.  I feel like we’ve crammed a lot of life changes into just 10 days!  

Side note: When I share about these changes, I don’t intend to compare, complain or judge; these are simply my experiences and things I’m learning. I love experiencing a new culture and find it fascinating that what is a totally new for me is how everyday life happens in another part of the world.

We have had many firsts including riding in the back of a truck through the streets of a busy city where there are not traffic signs or laws.  

Tim witnessed a chicken being butchered and later being on the dinner table.  (this is a first I can hold off on for a while!) 

I had a Haitian cooking lesson.  

We sleep under a mosquito net.  

Most days, we apply bug spray multiple times (the good stuff, with deet). I have a favorite bug spray. 

There is not hot water for showers. 

Cows, goats, chickens and pigs roam the streets. 

(I'm standing funny b/c I was only in that spot for a second and quickly got out of the way)

 

We don’t have cars of our own (and would be terrified to drive them if we did). 

We live with 5 new people. We use a mosquito-zapper racket on a regular basis. We brush our teeth with bottled water. 

We cannot leave the house after dark. We are learning a new system of money, sense of time, new foods, language, ways of thinking, placed to shop and an entirely new perspective on life.  We are hot & sticky all of the time. 

Our water is brought in a truck once each week. Electricity is not available all of the time, so a generator is used as back up.

Through these times, we have had moments of wondering how we were going to adjust to so many changes.  There have been moments where we feel stressed, lonely, frustrated, confused, overwhelmed and tired. But, in the last couple days, I have felt like I’ve turned a corner. I’m coming out of what has felt like a fog.  What was just a blur, I can now look back on and reflect, remember and rejoice in God’s goodness to us.

I’ve thought of how children must feel when they are first adopted. They have a new home, bed, food, language, smells,  people, sights and sounds. I can see how many children experience a time of shutting down. It’s so much change to take in all at once and Tim and I are adults and had each other in these first days.  I can’t imagine what must be going through their little minds and hearts.

As I look back, even in just 10 days, God has given us glimpses of Himself in the midst of what looks and feels like chaos at times.

We know that God has sustained us. We have felt the prayers of so many people who have committed to walking along side us during this journey. We could not do this without the support and encouragement of so many.  The littlest things mean so much to us!

In the midst of challenges, God’s goodness is evident…

• The sunsets will take your breath away.  They are an incredible explosion of color that we get to see every evening from our balcony.

 

• We live on a hill, so there is slight breeze that comes through that cools us off from time to time.
• My husband is my coworker!

I’ve seen some of the brightest smiles in the new people we’ve met.

• Safety & protection.
• Beautiful mountains, water, flowers & scenery.

• We have made new friends.
• We visited a children’s home and got to play with the kids, hear their giggles and just have fun!     
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• God gave us neighbors from TN. We have people who know what its like to be in our shoes and are here to answer questions and shed light on things that are so new to us.
• We have laughed.  The other staff here who are Haitian are learning English from us and we’re learning Creole from them. There are sounds that we simply do not have or know how to make and giggle as we try to teach each other.
• We have peanut butter and jelly.
• One of the cook’s singing will send chills up your spine. It’s beautiful.
• The house manager has taken care of us, welcomed us, taught us a lot and been very patient with us.
• We have fans. Even blowing warm air is helpful!
• We have learned some Creole.
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• 3 men took a pile of wood and turned it into furniture for the house in just 1 day. Such talent and hard work!

• Marcel found us!

God has brought us comfort, peace and joy when we felt scared, overwhelmed and sometimes sad. 

We have a unique opportunity that we recognize as a gift.  We are seeing God in ways that we may not have otherwise.  He is here with us.  He has brought us to this point and continues to carry us and guide us. We need Him like we have never before and He's near. We know that God could have used anyone to manage a guesthouse, but he allowed us to do it.  What a gift! I could never write a story so great as the one He is writing.