There is always something happening here in Haiti – every week seems to bring a new adventure. Not so good for trying to have any type of household order or schedule, so we’re working on that, still.
In fact we all agreed to a new goal at the “family” meeting this weekend, as we to try to be a little more intentional around the house. We are calling it our plan to withdraw from brink of mayhem - addressing a comment made by Ted, that it seems like we are constantly living just "ONE step away from CHAOS.”
Our goal? …to try to live at least TWO steps away from it, here at home.
The idea is not as easy as it may sound. It’s going to take some effort!
For example, Ted was marveling at the complexity of daily life here the other day when the absurdity of having to “move the car” out onto the street, so that he could take a shower…hit him. It’s true before he could take his morning shower he had to make sure that there was gas for the generator, check the water level in our cistern, move the car out, drag our (borrowed) generator over to hook up (bc there isn’t room for both the car & the generator in our little carport), fill up the gas tank, turn it on & start our water pump up, because the roof tank was empty.
And that was just for his shower! Anyhow, you get the idea, of what much of life here holds – there are usually many steps to something that might seem simple in a first world setting. There is a constant need for forethought, organization, consolidation, buffer or margin to help all run more smoothly. We are continually learning from the Haitians how to adapt to these differences.
Typically the best remedy around though is a change in attitude, rather than situation, which regularly requires taking a chisel to our pride. Ultimately, it's just one more way that God is using the "elements" here to sculpt us into his servants each day.
