Finding Treasures in the Field: 2012

I have been thinking of blogging for a while now but just have not taken the time out to do it. WOW....June 4th, 2011 was my last entry! OOPS!!! Summer ended all to quickly, school began and with that came Football games, cheerleading practice, shorter days, cooler weather, Thanksgiving, & then Christmas. That about wraps it up. A family this size always has lots of places to go & things to do!! We have been Blessed with a great year & lots of fun.

I wanted to share with everyone a few of my favorite pictures & experiences from our recent trip back to Haiti. Gordon & I were blessed to return to Sonlight Academy in Port-de-Paix last week. I absolutely LOVE it there. (See earlier post to learn ALL about Sonlight) Now......about Haiti... when you hear most people talk about Haiti you hear ALL the "bad" or "dirty" things (for lack of better words). YES, I am aware that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It is painfully obvious that many or most people do not have much, or they are homeless, Fatherless, or Orphaned!! Many Haitians are without food or adequate nutrition. Many are without clothing or shoes, and most do not get the opportunity to get an education. They DO NOT have a garbage truck that runs once a week to take away the trash they have collected, NO SEWAGE SYSTEM, Not to Mention they do not have the opportunity to walk to the kitchen sink, flip on the faucet & get a CLEAN glass of water. With all of that said HAITI IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL PLACE!!!! Most Haitians themselves are Beautiful, Wonderful people!! If you could have just been at church with me last Sunday morning to hear how they sang so beautifully & Praised the Lord. I did not understand their language BUT I DIDN'T HAVE TOO!!! You could feel the presence of the Lord, our Heavenly Father, the one who Created us ALL in HIS Image!! I stood there in the breeze, tears streaming down my face & thought "IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!!" I think it would shock most people to realize that they are Very happy & yes several of them told me how Blessed they feel. After church we were blessed once again to walk across the road & watch the pastor Baptize a man in the Ocean. It was one of those moments that made you think of Jesus & John the Baptist...(at least it did me).

Another HUGE Highlight of the week - Gordon & I were able to meet our Haitian childrens Grandmother!! Last year we found out about her through another friend in Haiti, so this year we had made her a picture book of the children. Most of you know that our children's birth mother died while giving life to the twins. We are so thankful for the life she gave them & where so EXCITED to meet her mother. When she saw their pictures she began to PRAISE THE LORD & kept telling us THANK YOU THANK YOU....THANK YOU FOR SAVING THEIR LIVES!!! I cried, she cried, Gordon cried, their Aunt cried......ok,ok Not a dry eye in the Place!!!! Absolutely AN AMAZING MOMENT IN LIFE! (will post a pic, sadly most Haitian's dont CHEESE it up for pics as we do. She has a stern look on her face & you can't see the PURE JOY of the moment)

(Grandmother, Aunt (birth mother's older sister), Mom & Dad) The week was FULL of AWESOMENESS as I call it!! Most of the week I worked in the Pre-school with 28 of the most Adorable children on the Planet and their teacher Miss Cady!! I was so impressed with all of them. In Haiti everyone speaks Creole which is what they all learn from birth. Haiti is actually a "French" country so they teach them French...and did I mention that Sonlight is actually an English Immersion Christian school so EVERYTHING is taught in English also!!! All these little 4 year olds speak Creole, learn all day in English, & take French class!!! WOW...........TOTALLY IMPRESSED!!

Our Family sponsors a little girl in this classroom. Her name is Love Naika & she is A HOT MESS!!! =D
We Loved getting to meet her & I actually had the priviledge of going to her home one day after school. She lives in a 1 room little house a bit into town. Very small and well kept with a bed, a little table & a shelf for dishes. Her mother had it all ready for Miss Cady & I with a floral arrangement on the table & an old frammed picture of Love Naica as a toddler. WE HAD A GREAT VISIT!!!

Taxi ride to Love Naika's

Love Naika with her mom & dad

I made several new friends and was very happy to see old friends. We were happy to finally meet the Hammond family. We Love Love them.... (Brad & Susan moved with their 4 kids this year to teach at Sonlight) You can check them out at Hammondsinhaiti.com

We went on a nice hike, Visited an Orphanage, visited House of Hope Childrens Hospital and much much more. We had wonderful Haitian food as well as all the Awesome food prepared at Mrs.Norma Alexanders house. I could go on & on about all the GREAT things going on at Sonlight & the amazing time spent working with all the amazing people & kids this week but I guess I will stop here & just post some of my Favorite pictures I took this week. God Bless you all....I hope one day you to will have the chance to visit Haiti!!