So, it is with mixed emotions as we announce we are headed home..

The hard part: We still don’t have a working generator to run the kitchen. The kitchen is up and looking great, but we have no power to cook the food!! We are waiting in hopes to get a used one fixed and moved from St. Louis to Port de Paix. We are also pry going to buy one in the states and ship it to Haiti-which means it will take at least 6 weeks to get to us in Haiti.

The good part:  That means we are coming home now! We decided it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to sit around and wait for the generator, and then once it gets here (maybe sometime in late July or August) then leave for a month to take a break. (Since our original plan was to come home Aug 12)  So, we have tickets to come home July 1st, and we have not purchased return tickets yet. We could be home as short as two week, but possibly as long as a month….

We continue to wait upon the Lord. This is not ideal timing to us -We are anxious and excited to get the kitchen up and feeding people. But, He continues to remind us to wait upon Him. His timing is perfect, His ways are not always knows to us. So, once again, we learn to relinquish control. He is good, and He will bring this kitchen together when He wants to. He is faithful, he always has been and He always will be. He will bring this kitchen together -as we have seen already.

Total time trying to get from DC to Port de Paix: 37 hours. I left the 28th at 4am and finally arrived the 29th at 5pm. I am beat. I packed frozen food hoping to get a few treats here that we can’t have at home-like hamburger meat, strawberries, blueberries, and cheese. It was doing okay, even after putting it all on ice at the hotel in Miami, until it didn’t make the small plane ride from Port au Prince to Port de Paix. I cried. I held it together through it all (even spilling blueberry juice on me and all my bags since it leaked from the cooler cause it defrosted so bad, the multiple delays, loosing the food I wanted so bad to have here, and the money lost buying it) but what really did me in was knowing we have to turn around tomorrow to try and get back home.

A few hours have passed and I thought my next post would be written from port de paix. But, as it turns out, my flight leaving from Miami to Port au Prince was supposed to leave at 1230pm. That got delayed and delayed, until we finally boarded the plane at 430pm. I sat next to a sweet girl my age, and we got to chatting. Turns out she loves the Lord, and will be servng in PAP for a few months. When she proceeded to share an awesome verse with me, I knew God had arranged our meeting. But before we could get to know each other more, the mechanic found something wrong, and we all had to get off. At this point, my earlier fear of flying into Port au Prince by myself at night were staring become a reality.  But, it just so happened the girl I met, Christina, was traveling alone too. From that moment on, we became a traveling pair. We marched up to the counter together asking for a hotel and flight out the net morning, since we both agreed it was not wise for us to arrive alone , at night,  in Haiti. We got a hotel room together!! We got vouchers for dinner and breakfast, and headed off to our hotel. We stayed at a Double Tree and it was so nice-so we were able to get a good nights sleep and try it all over again in the morning.

So, it started when I refused to go to bed last night-for not being able to face the fact that I was leaving my sister and her family to go back to Haiti. So, we stayed up till 1am, and I was abruptly woken at 430 to leave for the airport. We left a little late, pushing the recommended three hours before an international flight, to a mere 1.5. I wasn’t too worried though, since it was so early and the airport was only 15 minutes away. My sister dropped me off, and as we hugged for an abnormal amount of time I noticed the long line at the AA counter.  So, with the recommendation of my mom, I decided to try the curbside check in. A nice man proceeded to help me, then tried to charge me for my bags, not realizing I was flying international. When we got it straightened out, he took me to the counter to inform me I might not catch my flight. By now it was just 6am, and I thought that was strange. He then told me the flight to Miami left at 630-and then said, “oh wait, you are at the wrong airport! You are flying out of Reagan!” I panicked. I called my sister, she was already home, so I flagged down a taxi. (the first time I have done this by myself, mind you!) I told him the situation, told him I was in a hurry and asked how much it would be. $30. It seemed ridiculous knowing my sister could take me for free-but I couldn’t wait for her to come back. I hopped in as he told me it would pry take 35 minutes to get here. I was still hopeful. Off we sped. Oh wait, not really. I got the only taxi driver who drives the speed limit.  I was beginning to resign myself to the fact that I couldn’t do anything from the back seat, and slowly began to calm down. This was primarily due to the fact that all I did was pray in the back seat. My 35 min  ride soon turned into 50 as my driver got lost THREE times. Yes, he had gps, but didn’t listen to it! I was now becoming more vocal in the back, reminding him of my flight, and how I was not going to pay for him driving around in circles. Then he stopped for gas.  By the time we pulled into Reagan airport it was 710am-the exact time my flight was supposed to leave. I stepped out of the taxi and stepped in gum. At this point, I had to laugh. I tried to drag my two checked bags and three carry’ons to the counter( yes, I was trying to sneak on with 3 carry’ons) None of my bags had wheels, so I was as a sight to behold. I arrived at the counter to have the clerk say, ‘good morning, how are you today?” It was kinda like when you are having an awful day, and you are doing okay until your best friend looks right at you and asks ‘what is wrong’ I lost it. I told her my plight, and asked her for a miracle. I also went on to explain my delusional ranting, about how if I missed my connecting flight in Port au Prince, I would miss my small flight to Port de Pai and that would mean I would have to spend the night in Port au Prince all by myself, which then make me cry harder at the thought of that. She smiled and said she would see what she could do. Five minutes later she had me on another flight at 830am, and didn’t charge me a dime. Tears welled up again as I thanked her-and praised the Father for taking care of me.

How is it possible that time stands still in Haiti-yet flew right past me for the one week I had with my sister and her family? The only thing I can compare it to is when you work a long 10-12 hour day, and it drags by… until you finally get your break and somehow that is the fasted hour of the whole day! Well, I was still so thankful to go out to DC and visit them. My sister and her husband Ryan just had a baby girl. She is so beautiful. It was such a wonderful week, holding and knoodleing her, playing with her two adorable boys as well, enjoying good conversations with Ryan, and getting in as much sister time as possible. We went to the pool, played games, rode bikes, saw Toy Story 3, ate delicious food, hung out, did some shopping….what a wonderful week! It sure is going to be hard to leave .

Isn't she SO cute! I have to admit, I loved taking her all around the house and finding fun thing for her to fit into.. this one was my favorite!

Pretty much sums up what I did all week....

A fun outing to Dairy Queen

We even got a girls night in-and my mom was in town visiting my sister too! It was such a treat to see my mom and sister!

My sister's oldest. We are love bugs. We both had a good cry when I left. (Yes, I am trying to instill some cowboy in him at a young age with the boots I got him!)

Along with our first team coming to Haiti was the added bonus of bags they brought for us! Our family and friends bought all sorts of wonderful things for us and had them sent to us! It was such a fun night when the team dropped off the bags…Brandon and I sat around and opened each bag slowly, cherishing the little and big surprised that lay inside. They were all wrapped so carefully by Kristina (from OTB) making sure they got to us in one piece. I felt like a little kid, shrieking with delight over the most simple pleasures that I normally take for granted. Items like note cards, sharpies, movies, surf magazines, girly magazines, all our favorite candy, cookies(even girl scout cookies!!), granola bars, drink powder packets, snacks, coffee (Brandon is SO happy!), tea, miracle grow(so I don’t kill my mini gardern!) lip gloss, hair ties, candles, a cute sun hat, soft pajama pants, books,  nail polish, and the list goes on! Our hearts are so full, so thankful, so overwhelmed at all the fun things that were sent to us- all the time, effort and money that was put into making packages for us. It sounds so simple, but all those things remind of us home. Those fun items make us feel like home isn’t too far away, and that we are in the minds and hearts of those we love, even though we are away from for the time being.

So fun!!!!

Can believe all this fun stuff that was sent to us??!!!!