Home!

Yesterday was a day when Larry helped Cory plant peach palms and Anna and I tried to get a bit ahead in school work.  Then checking what we still need to back. settling our accounts.  Kris and I also worked on a new project..Kris is making a rag rug out of old worn sheets and clothing.

Invention is a wonderful thing on the mission field.

Today we are packed and now waiting for our time to leave.  We have only about an hour left here.  Today my thoughts are full of flight schedules, waiting times, going through the airport in Cap.  But there are also other thoughts tugging in the corners of my mine.

  How does one take say good-bye well?  It is an issue that every missionary faces time and time again.  I think of Eli going to LaGonave in February, to say good-bye to an important place of his childhood.  I think of our saying good-bye to Haitian friends, who pray for us and wish for our our return.

 I think of the many good-byes in one's life.  I remember saying good bye to a dear friend who had terminal cancer.  We had had a good visit, we did plan to see each other again...but as we said good-bye, she said, "If I don't see you again here, I will see you HOME!

I didn't get to say another earthly good-bye but know there is coming a wonderful heavenly Hello.  A song, "Ten Thousand Reasons Why" has been singing in my head..talking about our souls blessing the Lord and worshiping God..from the morning to evening, always.

I feel that this morning, among the good-byes.  "If I see you again,  I will see you HOME!"

Mom's second to last day post.

Today was one of those “doing things” we will miss when we go back home and it was also a day that we continue to make plans for when Cory, Kris and the kids come back to the states next June.  It is just easier for something to discuss face to face, rather than via email or even IMing.

One of the things that Larry always misses when we are back home is the rice and beans dish that is so common here.  I have tried and can never really get the taste right…so Larry’s request was for his favorite Haitian dish.  This noon we had rice with red beans with a chicken/vegetable sauce.  All of us once again enjoyed the meal.  Tonight Eli will be making tomato soup, one of my favorites.

We plan/discuss things such as an open house/graduation party..a combination of a meet/greet for the Thedes and a graduation party for Eli.  Whens and wheres, food choices, etc…lots of details were discussed.  I also took some more photos of Eli trying for a good one for his graduation pictures.  We do have some good ones, we think, and will now have to decide which ones will be our first choices.  I also in the past days, took some new ones of Anna…she is rapidly becoming a young lady and some of the family for a potential prayer card photo.  Again, it is always something new or different that one may be called upon to do on the the mission field.

Larry helped transplant some starfruit this morning..about 100 and then help move one of the table saws to a new location for storage.  We are so thankful for the changes we see here that have been made in the last 8 years, including a tool depot with many, many useful items.  Other changes have been the guest unit, new roofs for various buildings, screen repairs, rooms painted and many benches built, as well as other furniture.  It is a blessing just to be able to reflect back and see how the Lord has provided.

When the days grow short for our stay, I always feel the pull of both our lives in the states and being here.

 I am sure what I feel is a far cry from how the Thede’s feel, especially the children.  We will miss seeing our children and grandchildren here…but will be glad to be back in our own home and lives.  Pulled in two different directions and there is always some sadness in leaving, but joy in getting home.

When we leave, we never know if the Lord will bless us with another opportunity to come back…and so, in some ways, when we say our goodbyes here we know they made be final.
But I am so glad, that I know that many of the people we know, have known in this wonderful place..we will see again!

Kris: no word on our truck plates or referral. Newsletters ready to go out in the mail tomorrow. Continue to enjoy our family time.

Saturday

Another sunny, although a bit cooler day greeted us this morning.  After enjoying Cory's Saturday morning pancakes..we discussed what was on the schedule for today.  Saturday usually is a day that Cory and Kris reserve for time with Eli and Anna. (That is in the afternoon after the weekly cleaning and chores are finished).

But with us here, things change up a little.  This morning, Larry cleaned up the shop and I helped with breakfast dishes and hanging out the wash.  Cory was printing newsletters during this time, and so when he had completed the printing of 340 copies, we had a new job.

[Cory did take time out for a needed hair cut.]

Kris, Larry and I folded, stuffed, sealed and stamped the printed envelopes.  I always am so thankful for the internet at this point..about 800 email copies of the newsletter are sent out with the push of a button.


We took a few hours to prepare the others.  I wonder if most people realize what a time consuming process this is for the average missionary.  First composing the newsletter, putting it in the proper format, printing and then getting them ready to send.

This process repeats itself every 3-4 months and in between there are always thank-you's to be written and other email updates.  While I know it is important for support teams to be aware of what is currently going on in the lives of their missionaries, I wonder how many of us pray specifically for these activities.

I always think that one of the tremendous advantages of a trip to a mission field is being able to pray more for some of the details, demands of a missionary life.  Witnessing how difficult it is to do something we consider simple at home--like the buying of new license plates for the truck.

Cory began this process in December and still has no new plates.  Because the process requires the turning in of the old plates, the truck now sits in the yard..not able to be used legally.  Pray that the plates come soon!

Or take the matter of cashing a check.  Recently a relative sent a check directly to Kris and Cory.  Because there was a wrong date on the check, the check was refused; the sender contacted and a new check sent.  Back to the bank, where the check was first accepted, stamped and a day later refused because it was written to both Kris and Cory..so now the sender will have to be notified again!

Then when a check is accepted, it takes 9 business days before it is posted to one's account. [A 20 minute wait in line to see the teller is "fast", an hour is not rare. Most businesses in North Haiti don't accept checks or credit cards].  Pray for patience for your missionaries.  These are just a couple of examples, everything seems to take more time and effort.

 Carol

THANKS for the help, Mom and Dad!! Remember if you would like to receive our e-mail updates or newsletters please just let us know.

Another day....Mom.

Today I again helped Anna with school in the morning...we had a good morning and I really enjoy spending the time with our granddaughter.  We share moments of reading and interesting book, just finishing My Heart Lies South.

This books was an interesting look at life in Mexico from the perspective of a young American bride who had just become a part of a Mexican family.

The differences in culture, often lead Anna and I into interesting discussions of the differences between Haiti and the USA.

Another time I especially enjoy is sharing in Anna and Eli’s devotional Bible time.  Larry spent the morning finishing his last screen and transplanting Aloe. They planted 30-40 plants from 5 mother plants.

[Kris: shocked to find that a couple of our staff do NOT grow aloe plants in their yards! Both went home with a plant today]

In the afternoon, after pizza for lunch, enjoyment was not a word high on my list.  Larry had brought in a new kitchen faust to replace the old one that was leaking.

Trying to screw and unscrew plumbing fittings resulted in both Cory and Larry working on the project and Anna offering advice.

A small project took more than twice the time it normally would have, but in the end the men had success.  Enjoyment was not how they would describe the experience.  I was working on a sewing project.

Now, anyone who knows me well, knows that I am “sewing impaired.”  Sewing has NEVER been my gift.  My daughter knows this full well.

Yet, on this trip, it seemed there were sewing projects.  My sewing gifted sister left me with a couple of unfinished curtain projects..I did complete them with much gnashing of teeth. [Character building Mom!!]

 THEN, my daughter asked for a covering for the back of her rocking chair.  Nothing easy here...a covering of a masonite board cut to enforce the back in the shape of rectangular oval.  Finished it and then it was decided that one needed a pillow on the back to be comfy.

Check!  Then the pillow would flop over when a person got out of the chair...needed ties to hold it in place..again Check!  THEN this afternoon, my beloved daughter who I had birthed in much agony..decided that her slipcovers of the couch, chair and love-seat needed to have holes fixed.

Once off the furniture, the covers became a confusing mass of material with seams converging in three corner pockets..it was a nightmare.
FINALLY FINISHED, the sewing machine is put away and I am recovering.

People often ask what we do here.  I smile, because it is always something different and sometimes a challenge.  Guess for us, the fact that the God Lord sent us here and a willingness to do even unlikable jobs is all part of the experience.  I know He blesses our efforts and stretches us in the process.  Another day in Haiti

[One of the biggest challenges when my folks visit for a month is keeping them busy....and healthy!]

Thankful for them doing odd jobs for me, Cory gets more garden time, they get to keep busy and work on their flexibility skills and everyone is happy, happy, happy.

This afternoon Cory joined the folks in tackling frustrating jobs. Our next newsletter moved from editing stage to printing today and getting the computer to talk to the printer took some time.

Plan to keep the folks busy a bit with stuffing and preparing envelopes!