Rain made it fun

We had a trip planned to Michigan's Adventure on friday. The forecast wasn't looking too good, in fact it looked miserable and rainy. But seeing that the forecast looked pretty much the same for the next week, we decided to drive and see how it was once we were there. It stayed dry til we got to the parking lot of the amusement park, then the skies let loose and the rain came. So we pulled over and chatted about it, deciding if we wanted to try for Sat. or what we were going to do. We asked the parking guy about rides closing with rain and he said they all ran, rain or shine, unless lightening. That was all the kids needed to hear. Soon the kids were begging us...........'please don't let a little rain stop us from going..........please.......it will be sooooooo fun...........we'll be able to play in the rain'. So, since this day was all about the kids and not us, we made it ago. And boy did they have fun!!!

I have to say the rain added to the fun. It was like this novelty and you can only imagine them stomping around. There are no pictures to share because I didn't want to get the camera wet, but the memories are worth a million dollars. And I have to say..............because there were very few people there, I think the longest we waited for a ride was....??maybe 3 minutes. We rode all the rides til our hearts content. I think Alyssa and Austin would have kept going, but I was ready for supper.

Who would have thought............rain and an amusement park...............pretty fun!!!

blessing beyond blessing

I've often heard a common phrase about Haiti. Mountain beyond mountain. I think I've even read a book titled that, about a Dr. in Haiti. We've been able to see these mountains on our trips and at first glance, my first impression, was that the mountains looked "tired". They looked dry and not so full of life. But Haiti can have that look about it. it's been stripped away of it's beauty. It's been robbed of being naturally beautiful. As we traveled to a village, our path

was very adventurous. There was

lots of winding around the mountians on something that was barely a path.

There were times you could see over everything, and times you could only see the side of the mountian directly infront of the car. Sometimes you could touch the clouds. It was truely incredible. The saying of

'mountian beyond mountain' is very true that once you reach what you think is the top.......there is another mountain to rise to...........and behind that another. It's stunningly beautiful once you get off the coast level. There is more green areas as you get into cooler areas. It's amazing to see the horizon and see the amazing views with mountains all around.

I've heard the term 'mountian beyond mountain' parallel some of the Haitian lives. There is always a struggle to rise above, and once they figured out how to live with it, there is always another struggle. Just the enormous difficulties

people live with for basic life. Yes, I'd have to agree with that. Life can be very hard in many aspects.

My first thought was to think about my life. We've had trials that looked like mountains when we were in the mists of them. So I start thinking about all the ups and downs in our life. I'm paralleling that indeed there is always something in life that is a struggle. Yet, as I start thinking about what might have been "mountains"...........I realize that they have also become the biggest blessings through out our life. I feel like each time we trust God to help us conqueror a mountain................we just keep getting a bigger blessing. I feel like my life is full of blessing beyond blessing. There has been times that we've needed more faith or it's a bigger leap, yet I feel like there has been bigger blessings in knowing God in those times. I think the more difficult times that we lean on Him...........he will see us through til the end and it will be a bigger blessing. I like that way of

thinking about it...............blessing beyond blessing.

"I lift up my eyes to the hill, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord...." Ps. 121

Blessing to you!

bugs and kids........

I loved this past months update! How appropriate and creative that GLA chooses a theme of bugs. I mean, don't kids........EVERYWHERE.........just find fascination with bugs!! I thought it was a great summary of the theme:

We certainly have our fair share of bugs in Haiti, and many of your children are fascinated by the bugs they see. The older kids, especially, enjoy capturing and/or observing whatever bugs they may find. This is also a good reminder:

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. ~Psalm 24:1

So there really isn't much update as far as timing goes. I know that's the big question now :) I did find out that once we are out of MOI, we have approximately 4-6 weeks til we travel. So I guess we just patiently wait, we could be out at anytime.............or not. We've waited the "approximate" waiting time already, so there is really no telling.

As much as my "expectations" were to have Aidan home by Sept at the latest..........in a weird way, it might be a mixed blessing to be a couple weeks after I was hoping. Having moved, i feel like we're just starting to get settled and yet I'm sure there are things that can be done once the kids are back in school and I have time to focus on the house more. I usually don't like to focus on this negative timing stuff, but I know alot of family and friends have probably wondered what the latest is. I have a weird peace about this all, yet knowing it's so close to the end.............I sure am getting antsy. I start to get a little anxious over the timing, just because Paul has a longer out of town trip planned for this fall also-----and I just don't want the timings to clash.................but that isn't for me to worry about...........it's all in HIS timing!! More summer pictures of our family to come soon.....