Home again, home again, jiggity jig

We're home from a wonderful trip to Haiti! The team did an excellent job! We had 14 couples marry instead of 9, but we found dresses for them all! I'll share more when I can add some pics.

We dumped our suitcases and repacked for an overnight trip to Oklahoma. My lovely mother-in-law turned 91 on July 5. We were able to visit with all the siblings for a short while.

My older son's girlfriend is here visiting from Canada. She's a delightful young lady! I'm enjoying getting to know her, but she's a quiet person. She arrived in the morning the same Friday we returned from Haiti in the evening. She'll be with us through the wedding.

Life marches on, and now we rush toward the wedding day. So much to do, so little time. I'm excited and nervous all at once. I'm sure the bride is even more so!

We're off! Again!

Tomorrow we attempt departure to Haiti once again. Boy, am I ready! I hate waiting. I was hoping I'd get something done in the intervening two weeks. But no! Inertia took over, and a motionless object remained motionless.

Come tomorrow, remaining motionless won't be an option! I can't wait to see my Haitian brothers & sisters! We have a wonderful team, and I know we'll have a blast!

I don't know if we'll ever know why we waited, but we know God knows best. His timing is perfect. It will be a different trip than if we'd gone two weeks ago, but it is the trip we're meant to take.

Please pray for our Haitian brothers and sisters as they prepare for our coming (again). Pray that their hearts and minds would be open to the message God is bringing through us. Pray we can have an impact that will carry on in their village to bring many to know Christ and escape voodoo. Pray for the team -- that we will be flexible tools in God's hands and, to quote a certain pastor, that we'll be "shiny, happy people solving problems."

I can't wait to see what God will do in and through us. I know we'll be the ones most blessed. And I can't wait to share with you after we get back home. But I guess I'll have to.

Cookie crumbs make good pie crust!

Have you ever thought about what a graham cracker thinks about before becoming a graham cracker crust? Maybe it had dreams of becoming S'mores. But what happens? Pretend you are the graham cracker.

Someone comes along, plucks you out of your comfy package, and smashes you to bits!

Then you are mixed and mashed and poked and prodded and squished into places that aren't so comfortable.
But when it's all over, you are part of something beautiful and delicious!


As hard as our Haiti trip postponement was, it led to something beautiful and delicious for me today! If we had been in Haiti today, I would have missed having visits with two lovely missionary families!

I walked into church this morning, and standing in the back row were missionary friends from Haiti. We squeezed into the row with them and worshiped together. After the service was over, in spite of the fact that my house was a mess, I invited them to lunch at our house. After all, that's what true hospitality is, and that's part of what we want to do as missionaries. Even though it was hard for me, I decided sharing time with them was more important that worrying about having a tidy house.

We stayed for the second service, expecting to have a Sunday School class, but our room was dark and empty. Our son was in his class, so we went back to our church's "cafe" area to mingle and wait for classes to be over. We joined some good friends who were visiting with missionaries to Hungary. We were able to chat with the missionary family for the entire hour, even after our friends left. What a blessing it was!

After picking up our son, we headed for home. My husband immediately began working on dinner. (He's the master chef in our home!) All three of my children worked on cleaning up the living room while I cleaned the dining room. We're talking clutter, toys, dirty socks, dog hair, trash --it was a mess! By the time our guests arrived, a little before 2:00, we had tidied and swept, and it didn't look too bad. I got them a cool drink and ran to the store for a few items. When I returned, the missionary wife, who is German by birth, was chatting with my daughter about living in Germany. After a while, we sat down to a delicious, relaxing dinner! After dinner, I prepared the desert and put it on the table for a "build-your-own shortcake" time. We continued talking about weddings and missions and kids and city vs. country living in Haiti. Before we realized, it was 6:15! We had such a wonderful time of sharing each others' lives!

If our flight to Miami had not been canceled and our trip postponed, we would not have been able to even see either of these missionary families! And if our Sunday School class had met, we wouldn't have had time to visit with the family from Hungary.

I guess the moral of the story (for me) is:
When Cookie gets crumbled, let God turn it into something sweet!

Change of plans

Wednesday night we had thunderstorms with tornadoes. My family spent about a half hour in our neighborhood storm shelter. Fortunately, the only damage was a few limbs down here and there. Some of my friends had lightning strikes to trees and houses, as well as lots of downed trees.

Thursday morning comes. The weather forecasters said no storms. However, one storm after another formed right over the airport. Consequently, they canceled our flight to Miami, which was to begin our mission trip to Haiti. After a lot of phone time and internet searching, we could not find a way to get to Miami in order to catch our connecting flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

After contacting the missionary in Haiti, we decided to reschedule for June 25-July 3. We are thankful to be able to continue so quickly with most of our existing team intact. If we had waited until fall, when most of the available openings were, many of our team would not have been able to go.

Yesterday was an emotional roller coaster as we went from packing to canceled to trying to get flights to rescheduling. Now we have a plan in place, but today hasn't been much better. We've had to confirm the availability of all the team members and get information to the missionary.

I'm sure God had a good reason for keeping us home yesterday. We may never know what it is, but we know He is in control! I was reminded again how tightly I hold on to my expectations rather than trusting God to lead and provide.

Well, now I've got two weeks to work on cleaning the house for company coming right after the trip to Haiti. Also, we need to finalize last minute details for the wedding. I won't be bored for the next two weeks!

Random Thoughts

Random funny sign:
My baby turned 12 yesterday!

Today was the last day of school. Tomorrow, report cards and cleaning out my room.

Fifth grade will be continued next year, but in the 6th grade room. (He was in the 6th grade room this year, as well, due to a conflict with another student.)

No more bus driving for the summer! (Except for taking the bus to another campus for the summer.)

One week until the Haiti trip! We're packing Saturday for the team. I'm not sure how we'll fit in 10 wedding dresses! I still have to pack and prepare for myself. And maybe shop a little.

Three days off have never looked so good! I know they'll be busy, but at least I'll be able to do some of the things I've had to put off -- like prepare for Haiti.

Birthday parties don't have to be fancy. Invitations can be hand-written and photocopied (at the last minute).

Lessons do not prepare themselves. (Something to do in those three days off?)

Time keeps marching!

God will provide.

Please pray for my Haitian friend, Jules, who is battling bone cancer in Boston. He will be missed greatly on this trip!

Busy, Busy! (Still)

That's me on the right!

Life has been a tyranny of the urgent for me. I struggle to get over the next hurdle, not even considering the hurdle beyond that!

School is winding down, with 3-1/2 more days left. The last day is a sale for the students to buy things with play money they have earned by completing their work. Friday is a workday for the teachers, and then we are done for the summer. I am looking forward to not having to drive the bus for a while!

My daughter's car is fixed and running. Or it would be running if she were home to drive it. She went to her fiance's graduation at UT Austin, and then they spent some fun time with relatives.

My younger son is still not doing well in school. The valiant effort did not happen, and I don't think he can finish in summer school. He does not seem to care. I think he is in denial.

The Haiti team leaves in 13 days! Please pray for us! We finished our shopping today. Next Saturday we'll pack it all up. This is just the stuff for our ministry and gifts for missionaries. Our personal packing will come later! I haven't even bought any "Haiti clothes." I'm sure I can make do with what's in my closet, if need be.

The wedding will be a month after we return. We still have to order the cake, and I need to find a dress for myself. We'll also have a visitor for two weeks prior to that -- my older son's girlfriend from Toronto. I'm looking forward to meeting her!

I don't think this will be a very relaxing summer, but it will be memorable! Even with all the other things to plan and do, it will be a relief to not have teaching and bus driving on top of that! And maybe I can catch up on my sleep!

Cars, TAKS, school work, fungus, and flu

Here's a hodgepodge of my life this week:

My daughter's car is still in the driveway awaiting repairs, so we've been sharing cars to get everyone where the need to be. What fun! It has led to a little more togetherness than usual. Which is a good thing, most times.

We finished a week of TAKS tests -- our standardized state testing, for those not from Texas. It is supposed to demonstrate that our students have learned what they were supposed to for their grade level. Since I tutored the high school students in math, it will be interesting to see how they did. Frankly, I'm not optimistic.

The younger son is still not getting his school work done. We shall see if he makes a valiant effort and passes 5th grade.

Allergies have kicked in big time for me, causing sneezing, coughing and asthma issues. The pollen counts indicated fungus was very high. Fortunately, an all-day field trip to Waco, for which I was driving the bus, was cancelled due to the swine flu scare. Although I'd been looking forward to going, I was glad I was able to stay home, sleep in, and nap away most of the afternoon. I also got some kitchen cleaning done, which was desperately needed. They have rescheduled the trip for May 16, which is the day of my daughter's bridal shower. I'm disappointed that I won't be able to go! I'll see if they still end up going.

So far, our schools have not been closed due to swine flu. Lewisville and Denton have both closed all their schools for a week to disinfect them and let the sick students get beyond the contagious stage. The Education Center has charter schools in both towns. I don't know how many (if any) reported cases either distric has. Lots of my friends think this is a gross overreaction. It certainly seems extreme. I really don't know if it is merited.

Well, time to take some more cough medicine!