Hello all, where do I even begin!? How wonderful it is to be back here again! How wonderful it is to see Karen and these gorgeous children. I cannot explain how content I am right now. Today was another eventful day, even though some didn’t really want it to be.
Louise and Joan went to the market with Karen in the morning. Before they left, they asked the men and I (Jessie) what we were going to do. Russ mentioned that he needed to work on his sermon for the kids tomorrow. Keith and Seth quickly decided they needed to help him prepare, so that left me (Jessie) to paint. Thankfully, Karen quickly nixed that and so began our eventful day.
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| Pastor Russ – Sermon preparation |
Louise and Joan saw the Verrettes market and got to experience those wonderful sights and smells. While they were gone, we finished up painting and took time to play with the kids.
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| Market |
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| Verrettes Market |
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| Little different than WalMart parking lot |
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| Loaded donkey moving through. Joan ended up sitting in a bag of charcoal |
We finished painting the school Big Country Sky (A.K.A.- Dark Blue) after a few touch ups of Aqua Chintz. (Is it sad that I have painted so much in that color that I have the name burned in my memory and could match it perfectly to any paint swatch.) The school looks absolutely beautiful if I say so myself.
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| Painting continuing at school. Brad in supervisor position again |
This afternoon we all got a lot of play time with the kids. Joan, Keith, Russ, and Louise went with Karen to get a tour of the hospital compound down the road for a short while. As the group was heading to the hospital, they had another event that added to our eventful day. The tire was flat, probably from all 8 adults and Kaylie being squeezed into the 5 passenger truck last night on the way to the radio station. They quickly had it fixed, yet we once again caught Keith laying down on the job!
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| Keith in normal work position – lying down |
Seth and I hung around here. I think we played every game we have ever played with the kids in about a four hour span. (Around the world, Krappo, chalk, soccer, and Duck, Duck, goose to name a few) We LOVED every minute of it. One very special moment was when we were playing Duck, Duck, Goose. We had about ten kids playing and it was Ti Fi’s turn to be the ducker. She went around the circle and chose Judel. Judel got up and slowly pretended to run right behind Ti Fi until she ecstatically found her seat. He never touched her once. Then he just smiled at Seth and I with the most beautiful smile. What a great little boy. God is so good. How we love all these children and how thankful we are that God sent Lois, Brad, Kaylie, and Peter here! Brad has helped us know the master plan for our paint job this week. This afternoon Lois and Kaylie brought down wind-up cars that the group brought in with them. They conducted races between the kids, oh how they loved it! Peter was part of the races, too.
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| Playing Duck, Duck, Goose |
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| Wow, look at that!! |
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| Anne holding a baby zandolite |
After returning from the hospital, Louise played with the children in the sand pit. She admitted they made an absolute mess EVERYWHERE! But, we all were surprised when the children swept and cleaned the area even better than it was before. They also swept up wood chips left by the workers. Great teamwork!
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| Moise & Ti Luc cleaning up sawdust & woodchips |
We got to have a short devotion time in before it started to rain this evening. We all quickly parted ways for bed when it arrived.
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| Evening Devotions |
Not for long however, like every other rain in Haiti it stopped within four minutes and back they were. Hockey game number two was on its way. Kaylie was the Rookie of the game . We all quickly realized she was of Canadian blood because she mastered the skills within minutes. Ti Luc continues to better his game. He was flying high tonight stopping everything that came his way! It continues to amaze me how he can find a way to be involved and do it to his best! The night ended with the children being given glow-in –the- dark bracelets. They all danced, giggled, and sang their way to bed.
As I sit here now, there is an intense game of Cribbage going on in the other room. In one corner a competitive Newfie who will play with all her heart (Karen), in the next a sly almost-retired airline pilot who wants to walk away with the grand prize –bragging rights (Keith), rounding around you will find a music teacher (Joan) in her prime who will manage a way to win in any circumstances. She has been quoted saying “All’s fair in love and cards.” I assume you will be eagerly awaiting the results tomorrow. Until then, sleep well! God is good ALWAYS!
~Jess
