Transitions

Cooking for the team.

Making Plantains.  Look like bananas but taste like french fries

Belle helping hang laundry.

After spending the last 4 months uprooting, the chaos of moving and resettling is much more than we realized.    It has been somewhat of a challenge trying to settle our new home and learn everything again.  What we grew up with in the US knowing how to speak, where to go to get food, and everything else is different here.  However, we are learning Spanish and how to get around!  We are also thankful for our new Dominican and Haitian friends.  I can't wait to share pictures with you but its kind of odd if you take a pic the first time you start getting to know someone so they will come later!  The people are very helpful and understanding but it is still so hard to not be able to communicate well.  Our housekeeper speaks Creole and a little Spanish so we both don't know much Spanish but that is our somewhat common ground.  Not ready to learn Creole just yet!  So you can imagine it has been trying in staying organized when we are still in the chaos phase and trying to wade our way in to the "replanting" phase.  MTI gave us a great picture of what we are doing in crossing a bridge to another culture.  Pretty wild to see it happen so quick before your eyes.  Praise God for the pruning process though.

Yesterday the previous host couple(Chris & Erika) that are staying til October 1st left for a mini vacation. Wednesday night I prepared my first meal for 20 people solo!  I was wondering what it would be like cooking a casserole in a huge kettle like pot... in an oven that has heat level choice of 1-5???   I picked 3 that seemed to do the job!  Wednesday evenings is staff Bible Study so occasionally you eat together and then do study.

Josh is feeling more confident in what to do in his new role as director on the Dominican Republic end and hopes to do well with it once we are completely on our own!  Its a new norm to get used to dad working from home... his presence is tempting to utilize him :)

The kids are still doing okay.  Aribella likes to help me hang laundry on the lines and cook.  The boys are still chasing every creature that has legs.  When we were at church last Sunday, about 5 Haitian children were lined up against this wall. There was a small spot open between a few of them and I see our little Finley march right over and fill it in... no doubt she LOVES people!  Parlyn is learning to crawl... she likes to try to pick up the several ants that run by her. 

The Lord has been teaching me so much about depending on Him in the midst of trial. 
~the heat and humidity (cooking in it, caring for kids in it, nursing, anything in it!)
~loss of power several hours everyday (try timing laundry to get washed and then having to get it on the line while the sun is still out or not raining)
~the endless creatures that sneak in all day or you awake to something crawling on you
~all the kids sharing a room has led to everyone awakes when anyone awakes!

Our new Alarm clock among the roosters!

~trying to learn a language
~piles of stuff from unpacked suitcases and nowhere to really put it (no dressers, but purchased wire cubes yesterday!)
~no furniture for our place yet
~can't find a vehicle yet so kind of trapped (we did fit our family of 7 in the back seat of a small truck for church though!)

I don't say all that to complain, just to give you a picture of my last several weeks.  These are my discomforts that the Lord is continually reminding me that sometimes following His will does not promise ease.  What He is doing is showing me 1)how thankful I can be for what He did provide us in the states 2)that this is others everyday life 3) what I need is to rest and rely on Him for everything, especially in the discomforts of life and 4) He really is STILL PROVIDING

Psalm 25 1-2 "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God..."
Psalm 27 13           "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living"

I was challenged yesterday morning with these scriptures.  Do I really trust in the Lord? What evidence is there, if so?  Do I really believe in His goodness?  How do I answer these questions in the midst of "good" and the "not so good" times?

Pray for me that I can say YES to both the questions and that there will be evidence of it so that I may glorify Him in my life.

Other prayer requests:

~still in the midst of transition
~finding a vehicle
~I am traveling with Parlyn to Charleston for my brothers wedding for 4 days in a week ( josh will be here with the other 4 kids)
~Other staff here looking for places to live and settle themselves
~language learning

Thank you so much for your prayers!!

The Menolds