Back in Haiti - day 2 - fresh beginnings

The hum of fans surrounds us as sunlight peeks over rooftops, a hint of nearby charcoal fires & early morning clanking filters in from outside our metal gates. Yesterday was the first day of a new chapter in our Haiti journey. It has been great to get to know a few of the AP board members that are visiting this week, to hear their hearts for Haiti and for ministry and to share ours as well. 

Second day in...no tears...a good sign. Still a little overwhelmed by the work to be done in unpacking, painting & settling, but optimism is creeping back in and who can stay down in a land of eternal sunshine??? Is there such a thing as SAD euphoria vs depression? If so, then I'll take it! I have to say, sunshine cures a lot of things in my world. I LOVE waking to it, even if it means there is another HOT day waiting ahead.

 

Day 2 ended with Ted fixing the dead battery in our car & an invite to eat dinner with our new duplex neighbors, the Van Wagenen's. Those were large blessings indeed, since we hadn't made it to the grocery market yet for food supplies & we had the added surprise of learning that we share "old stomping grounds" in New England with our next door friends! 

Back in Haiti - day 1 - and the tears flow...

 After a very busy & stressful final week in the US, which included a whirlwind trip to TX to pick up & move our stored items, an impromptu prayer breakfast in Rockwall, an open house for friends & family in Sacramento & Ted preaching at Faith Bible Church in Citrus Heights...we left our CA nest in an absolute upheaval and said a tearful goodbye to two of our youngest kiddos & ministry teammates. While we are SO proud of Tynan & Emma as they step out onto new paths in their journeys, we already miss them terribly and are fully comprehending the tight core that God developed between the four of us these past two years in Haiti together. It has been a remarkable blessing to share life in Haiti with them & we can't wait for their first visit!!

Ted did an amazing job getting this house thrown together before coming back to the US the past two weeks. Even so, it was hard for ME to feel like I was coming "home". The new surroundings after a lengthy time away threw me a bit, and with the fatigue of travel, missing the kids, personal items still packed away, little food in the house, and the basic change in culture & climate all led to an EPIC flood of tears. I'm not really much of a cryer in general, but found myself greeting the newly arrived Apparent Project board members, our team of potters, and the welcome from dear friends here with wet eyes too. Mortifying as this first impression probably was, it was cleansing at the same time & I'm grateful for their gracious love and kindness. I AM THRILLED to be back, but it's a paradoxical life that we live & my glad is mixed with sad in what and who we've left behind. 

So it will be a week of reacclimation here for me, unpacking and settling in. Looking forward to the many blessings that we can appreciate better now and savoring the privilege of this opportunity to journey on here in Haiti.

-Rebecca