Adios,Amigos!

It's my favorite time of the day here.

Around 6pm. 

The sun is setting over the horizon, and it glitters and glows off the ocean. Boats are heading home after a long day out in the sun. The air is finally cooling. The breeze gently curls in among the open windows,doors, through screens and bars. The darkness will be upon us in only a few hours. The bugs will be heard throughout the evening and into the night.

It's this time I savor the most. 

The darkness will envelope us and instead of turning on all the lights and keeping the commotion going, we will turn fans on and lights off. 

Candles will illuminate the small spaces our family has been sharing.

And in these evenings, I don't resent the lack of resources and lack of space. Quite the contrary, I cherish it.

As we all lay in the dark, by candlelight, after reading or we fall asleep listening to hymns or the bible playing aloud...in the quiet,breezy, glowing night. The space is shared and our life is shared and quiet. And in these nights I usually tell the kids how much I am going to miss this. 

Us.

Just simply enjoying the night.

The quiet.

The same room.

The beauty of listening.

Stopping and paying attention.

And now,were getting ready to leave.

This is our last evening to enjoy the breeze.

Noah is in the living room talking with a Haitian friend about what discipleship really is, what it really means to be a pastor, shepherding your sheep. This friend is struggling as a leader of his little local church and I can tell it brings him great comfort to have someone listen to his concerns for his people and then to bring the bible and share the hope of Godly wisdom concerning church life. 

This is why we came here.

This is the heart of HaitiLove.

Thank you,Lord,that we can spend the eve of our departure doing this...a reminder that what we're doing matters.

This is why we'll be back next year, God willing.

Until then, we say good-bye to dear friends.

One of our dearest is our neighbor,Sandi.

Here, the boys enjoy a day at the pool with Sandi and I. God is always faithful,no matter the place or the season, to give us women like Sandi in our life. Women who care about our family and enjoy our children. Sweet Sandi lives by herself up on this beautiful hill,enjoying her quiet,somewhat solitary life. And still she has welcomed us as her little family for a couple of months. She must have dreaded the thought of a big family moving in below her for the summer, but I think we'd all agree we've loved our time together.

And then there are our sweet friends, the Littles. They are fellow workers here on the island and have lived here for a year with their 2 teenage daughters. They work with unadoptable teenage boys,preparing them for vocational work and a future along with discipling them. We met the first week here and have savored the valuable,sharpening conversation that we could enjoy for hours with them. They have been busy with teams coming all summer,too, but we were finally able to enjoy a double date night this week before our goodbye. We'll see you next year,friends!!!! Perservere on the faith!

And then there's the neighborhood horses...

And the cows...

And the view from my laundry room...

Now, I am gonna shoot straight with you about the wildlife.

They look SO much more charming then they are. 

They are stinking,starving animals that root through our trash and spread it all over the road.

We then have to go out and clean it up...so that they can do it again the next day.

Yep.

They're a little charming.

But not a lot.

Regardless I will miss them...

a little.

Not a lot.

 Yep.

We're busy packing up.

And tomorrow we will leave.

We will miss it.

But we are terribly excited.

Trading out gorgeous views for the view of my children enjoying neighborhood friends for hours on end in the creek behind our house.

Trading in the breeze for the A/C.

Trading in chinola juice,fried fish, and my FAVORITE...fresh coconut water
 for Caramel apple cider from Starbucks,IHOP, and Red Robin salads.

Trading in a tan for
holidays with the most wonderful family,

and ministry and relationships here for
ministry and relationships there..
.along with our beloved home church, which me are missing desperately.

See you on Sunday, North Wake!!!!!!!!!! 

Haddon,my 5 year old,folded all of this laundry. I was SO proud of him. He's my little laundry buddy. I'm thinking when the baby comes, this is going to be his little job to do with mommy for some special one-on-one time.