In All Things, Give Thanks!

Laying awake the other night, like many nights here, I was thinking about why I couldn’t sleep.  On this specific night, Shawn was away in Haiti.  We had lost all power at midnight.  Then our two dogs started going crazy barking.  Someone was also blaring music.  Recently, there have been a lot of thefts, so Jen and I were already paranoid.  I was up multiple times checking to see if anyone was trying to rob us.  Jen did the same thing.  Finally, we just ended up sitting in the living room waiting until our street power came back on so that the outside lights would be on to hopefully keep thieves away.  Every little sound had us up looking out the window.  I’m not really sure what we would do if we actually saw someone besides scream, but we like to think we’re not wimps!  I never really thought about how life is so different here in almost every way, including the security that we take for granted in the USA.  Of course I’ve been scared in the US before, but here, the fear is more real, more justified in many ways.  But it also reminds me that I need to trust that God is guiding my steps and leading me where He wants me, continuously strengthening me through the good, the bad, and the crazy.  I look back on my last year here and am thankful for even the day I was robbed at gunpoint.  I know I sound crazy, even to myself, but I can honestly say it’s the truth.  Many things came together here that showed me that this is where I belong for now and that God was/is working through me.  It is such a great feeling and privilege!  (Below – put my bike in the house one night because of rumors that someone was going to take it…bringing some redneck to the DR!)

This past week has been a rough one for me emotionally and I was really ready to call it quits and go home.  It’s like everything combined together this week and for some reason, I wasn’t able to handle it like I normally can.  On Tuesday morning, I was thinking about all my problems while Wilkyns was teaching all the kids their Bible lesson.  Then the kids started working on their verse for this week and it really hit me.  1 Thes. 5:18 says, “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  I had been so focused on the negative around me that I wasn’t able to see anything positive.  Wednesday, I still struggled with giving thanks for the things that bugged me.  Thursday, it got a little easier.  It really put things into perspective for me.  We’re not going to have great days every day, but when we have a positive outlook, things don’t seem so bad.  It’s definitely a continuous battle to change my focus from the bad to the good, but it’s so worth it and I thank God that I could be reminded of this while surrounded by almost 40 kids that I love!  Oh how many things we all have to be thankful for!!!

On Monday and Wednesday, Wilkyns and I drove five of our students to their new music classes.  They were chosen to attend because of their hardworking attitude and achievement in school.  It was so cool to be able to hang out with them outside of school.  They are such cool kids and I love to see them laughing and trying to use their English in real life settings!  Made me really happy and proud!

I made cupcakes for Manuel,  one of the neighborhood boys that always hangs out with me.  Kylie and I delivered them to his house and pretended like we had water to throw on him, a tradition here for birthdays.  His family was really excited to see the desserts!  He then came up later to our house and gave me a giant, bone-crushing hug!  Love that kid!

We’ve had a lot of things come up that you can pray for:  Steph Clements, another missionary serving down here, may possibly have Dengue fever and will be in the hospital for a few days.  Also, a missionary in Haiti that Shawn was just working with died from an asthma attack.  Pray for his wife and the ministry that he left behind.  Jen is returning to the states for a short trip.  Pray for safety and a time to refresh physically, mentally, and spiritually!  Also, pray for the teams that are preparing to come work with us.  March is going to be a very busy month!

Enjoy the pictures from my past week!  I know I enjoyed living them!

My kids are so stinkin’ cute!  The bottom left picture is one of the mom’s that cooks for us and her daughter.  The bottom middle is when Wilkyns’ chain fell off his bike and I had to come to his rescue!  The rest are all at the school!