Plan B Construction

This week Charles and I both started laughing as we drove past a warehouse in Port Au Prince that had a big sign which read "Plan B Construction." The longer we are here, the more we realize that Plan B is very likely a reality. We continue to learn flexibility in the most involuntary opportunities. For example, we spent the day Friday preparing for a new team to arrive on Saturday. Between Tony and Charles, we had a fine tune plan to pick the team up in the BGM school bus and transport three flights of team members to the Hope Center. Friday night we were all sitting down for dinner when Merese, our bus driver, mentions in passing that the school bus was broken down in Port Au Prince and that the water pump would have to be replaced before he could drive it. Small glitch. It's not as easy as one might think to transport 20 Americans in Haiti and change plans on a dime. We worked it out fairly quickly into something that actually worked better for everyone but that's just an example. Plan B Construction probably gets a lot of business.

Fortunately, the past week has been one of recovery and preparation. We welcomed Hunter on Tuesday and between him and Leyna I've decided there is no better free labor in all of Haiti! They are the best help here at the Hope Center and with the girls. They can be found homeschooling, washing dishes, cleaning out the shed, reading a bedtime story, etc. Leyna brought us a new ice cream maker and we are trying to patiently await the frozen yogurt that will be ready in a few hours. Hunter brought us an Eno hammock and now we find the girls hidden in a hammock instead of cleaning their room. Oh well.

Ava has made so much progress and we still are unaware of what made her so sick. We are thankful for her improvements. Please keep praying that her frequent stomach cramps and diarrhea would dissipate. It's no easy task to keep a three-year-old hydrated in Haiti or find bathrooms in a pinch for that matter.

Yesterday we were able to spend the day in Port Au Prince at a hotel with a swimming pool while Charles and staff picked up the team. It's always refreshing to be somewhere different and to enjoy the sunshine when there's relief from the heat in a pool. And the hotel has wifi. I won't lie, it's a challenge to spend time with the girls swimming when I could be looking up a recipe, face timing with a friend, updating the blog, emailing a picture, all the things slow internet lacks. However, it's so refreshing that our phones don't interrupt our lives like they did in the States. There are less "hold on" and "let me just text this" and "I'm almost finished reading this blog" that plagued my mommy role before. A friend and I spent some time last year talking about as a parent, our presence over presents. Always an intentional effort and not always success. We were also able to get away to the beach on Thursday and feel the sand or rocks between our feet. It was fun to relax and show Hunter and Leyna a different part of Haiti. My friend Maria says the beach always heals and I always think of that because I think there is something to it ... I do feel like the break is healing. It keeps us coming back to the Hope Center with fresh perspective, new energy and more motivation to serve.

As I prepared for the Bible study I lead on Mondays, I was reminded of what a (slow) process it is to learn God's character and implement it in our own lives. I am teaching on Galatians 5:22-23 and the Fruit of the Spirit. It's one Fruit - all of them ... We know we are growing if we grow in them altogether. So hard!! This week is on patience. Charles saw me preparing and asked how it was going. I said, "depressing." Not really, but I have so far to go on patience. Tim Keller says, "Patience is long suffering - delayed gratification." It's so hard to wait but I also realize that I don't want to be one to tell God what to do and when to do it. I want to trust. I want to be patient. Ava says mommy 10 times in 10 seconds and Lilly's crying over a spelling word and the kitchen timer goes off and I can't find the spatula. I lose my patience. I want more patience .. I want the gratification even if I have to wait. The bottom line is that there's no shortcut in obedience to God's schedule. I know I don't know better than God but sometimes I pretend I do. And my impatience with people is an impatience with God.

Thank you for lifting us up. This week has been evidence in your surrounding us to run the race God has marked out for us.