.....Day by Day.....

The longer we are here the more opportunities we have to rub shoulders with the national people. We face so many various types of needs...whether to loan a friend a couple dollars... if I should agree to be a God-parent to a young boy for his baptism...how to handle a local childs' constant requests for a gift...the ability to protect my boys from feeling overwhelmed by local children wanting to touch or hold them or bark at their feet like wild dogs and yet instill in them a respect and love for them at the same time...how to manage my time and care for my families' needs as well as the household demands...
Should I take the time to let one of the young neighbor boys come in the fence and sit with me on the hammock as he requests...How do I respond when I am taking a much needed nap and then called out to talk to a local lady- groggily I go out, trying to keep Tabitha asleep who had been at my side in bed- greeting in the typical way does not bring out what my friend has come for- They often don't come right out with their request, proper greetings and social etiquette is very important... (I forgot we had planned for her to come get money to buy a chicken for me at market). Was i still needed... what did she want from me?  Soon, Tabitha awakes and starts screaming in spite of trying to keep her relaxed to fall back asleep before she becomes too stimulated. Feeling overwhelmed with the whole situation and not sure if there still is a need I haven't met I just retreated back into the house with my distressed little girl trying to deal with my roused emotions... Ahh, flesh- how fleshly you are! Finally she rocked back to sleep and I sent some SOS's up to the Lord. Reluctantly going back out, I took some laundry off the line and my friend came over and let me know why she had come. Sheepishly I remembered our previous conversation about the chicken money and took care of her. 

We went on a walk as a family just to spend a little time away together and see what we could see. As we walked down the rocky road past Clinic we saw a neighbor man we know working with a wood laithe. He and his helper were in the process of fixing it when we stopped in and asked if we could watch. The lady of the house gladly brought us chairs to sit on. Apparantly their belt had broken, so they repaired that and then needed to put

 it back on the makeshift wheel. It wasn't 

quite tight enough- causing the belt to slip so they tried to tighten in by moving the laithe a bit. Eugene assisted them with the heavy piece of wooden equipment and soon the wheel was spinning more properly. Eugene marveled at what they could do with something so primitive. At the moment the man was using a sharp blade to carve a grove into the circulating leg of a table or chair. The helper manually turned a handle round and round to keep the wheel spinning the leg. The woodworker showed us a bed head he had beautifully carved, sanded and varnished. A work of art. He also pointed to a table he had fashioned. Nearby he had a few animals tied in typical Haitian fashion. Eating what they could find to forage on and waiting their daily pile of cut grass or banana leaves that must be cut and carried to them from some other location. The goat he had probably never drinks water... ,I hardly believed it when someone told me their goat won't drink even if offered. I guess it is a mercy of God that these rugged beasts don't require the pampering we give them in the States. Cows are watered daily, either by being taken to a stream or given a bucket.) After enjoying the cultural experience for a bit we bid our good-byes and headed a bit further down the road where we saw a cabbage patch, full of young cabbage plants ready to be sold to transplant into someone's field. Cabbages are one of their crops here. I love to see their gardens full of the blue-green heads neatly poka-dotted over the field with the mustard flowers from a local weed springing up here and there adding quaint beauty. Being among the people is something special when you take the time to sit where they sit and walk the trails they walk. They love it and we find a new appreciation of who they are as people with red blood that flows just like ours

Lydia butchering a chicken from market
for Hutterite gaeshtle soup.

Lydia making coffee the
Haitian way

Lydia and Tabitha at
Rhonda's one Sun eve.

Lydia made a hutterite meal last week so we bought a live chicken from market and she boiled it to make mouldoushen. It was fun having a traditional meal for the group here. She plans to make one more meal next week with the rooster I bought who will be butchered this morning yet for gaeshtel. She's looking forward to the end of this week when she flies home with very mixed feelings. We will definitely miss her. :-(

Thursday or Friday I was closing the little shack door where I had Lydia's hen waiting her doom when a large, tan, creepy arachnid slid out from between the hinges in my direction. He was one of those fast ones with a big black mark on his back and I'm sure a set of wicked fangs. His diameter was probably pushing 2 in. I sent off a scream of alarm as I shrieked my disgust for spiders but by the time anyone came to investigate he had moved on to other devilish intents. The girls were genuinely concerned, but the guy who heard me passed it off as a non-life threatening sounding cry.

Eugene has helped with some mechanic work and continuing the gazebo(sitting place) project. He drove out to T-Guoave the other day with Julian-which was a charge for him.... he has that trucking blood you know! :0) This time though, he had taken Stephen along who was not interested in anyone else holding him, so Daddy held a sleeping little man most of the bumpy trip there.  The boys love going with Daddy whether it's taking rice up to the school on the ATV or going out to town with the truck.  I have to commit them to the Lord and pray that they will be safe.... I know Daddy is careful and they try to hold on tight, but these        mountains... suffice to say I prefer to walk certain places.  

Matid a neighbor lady with Tabitha

Fre Polver's family after church
on our porch

Today at church I enjoyed catching more of the sermon and singing as I caught the words for the songs we sang from memory.  They were a lively bunch today- true Haitian style!  As I watched a couple of the energetic, dear, older, local men(any of you know Fre Noress?) that I know I was reminded of David when he danced with all his might.

Be careful now... don't let your conservative bend cast too dark a shadow over their characters.  :-)  Eugene was there for part of the service and then went back to the house with the boys to listen in to our home message in English.  Tabitha slept on my lap for most of the time so I was really able to focus.  I don't catch everything said, and sometimes I have to think of a different word I know to get across the message I'm trying to express but the more I'm exposed to the language the more I brush up.   Connecting with old friends after the service was a special joy... their smiling, welcoming faces and kisses on both cheeks as we embraced showed their genuine love.