Random Photos

This mama hen made a nest in a flower pot on the back porch and hatched her baby there.

Pop-pop and Ariel at the end of Christmas day.

Three of my pretty girls: Amber, Beki, and Jenny

Sunrise from my front porch

I love trees in winter--especially with the sunrise in the background.

Don's tidy little greenhouse full of lush, producing tomatoes

Our newest family member: Abigail Lichtenstein

Are you sure she won't break?

Great-grandson Hayden. I had so much fun baby-sitting him last Monday.

Astounding News

Today started off like an ordinary Sunday. I arose at my normal 5AM, had my coffee and quiet time then went downstairs to get ready for Sunday school. Don was running late so I went ahead to Sunday school and he would meet me in time for the church service. I got there plenty early so was just walking around the lobby and noticed a table set up by Hope for Haiti with information on it about fostering/adopting Haitien orphans. So I picked it up and went to our Sunday school class to read it. Immediately, my heart leaped--I KNEW I wanted to do this.

I showed it to Don when he arrived and briefly told him what was going on. Our mission organization, Hope for Haiti, is joining with other organizations to help bring Haiti orphans to our area. What they are wanting is to get families licensed and in place ready to recieve these children. There was a announcement and video about it during our two church services asking people to pray about becoming foster or adoptive parents. Don and I both just knew God was calling us to open our homes to do this. So we filled out the interest form and turned it in. We would like to take 3-4 kids--hopefully a sibling group that needs to stay together. We would rather have a house full than just one.

We are so excited about this--and daunted by the responsibility it brings and the complete change to our lives. But to have many families in our church do this so that there is a "community" within our church of Haitien children would be so awesome. I would want to raise them with the encouragement for them to return to Haiti and help their country--to not change them into little Americans, but to nourish them in the Word and with good food and good health and an education so they could give back to their own country and someday truly help Haiti to rise from its poverty and despair. Could this not be God's plan to bring good from the bad situation in Haiti--to save a remnant of its children and raise them up as a Godly wise force to return in their mature years and take their country back? Am I just dreaming here? I just feel so strongly that God is up to something big. And I want to be a part of it.

All I can say is this must be God. As I was finished with child raising. I love all of my grand children dearly and cherish every moment with them---but it is nice to wave goodbye to them and tell them I'll see them at the next visit. I mean, nothing in me was yearning for another child to raise. But.....I have been spending much time in prayer lately asking God to lead me, to show me what he wants me to be about doing--asking for His will to be done in my life--not mine. And I have asked Him to show me how he wants to use me to help Haiti. My heart is in Haiti--I want to help. I said in my last post how I wished I could go and help there with the children or at an orphanage. I never considered that God might bring them here. Until now.

So tomorrow night is a meeting of all the people that are interested and we shall know more then. Of course, dealing with two governments to get the kids here could lead to many issues and problems. I do not see all of this going smoothly and quickly in the natural. BUT....if this is God's plan and He is in it, miracles will happen. All I can do is say yes, Lord. Do my part. Pray and pray some more. And wait and see.

I'm Back.....and please pray for Haiti

I think I got lost somewhere. I cannot believe it has been so long since I last posted. I have missed blogs so much and I need to blog. Life has been good and busy and crazy and maybe someday I will blog about what I have been doing. But right now I just need to share my heart on Haiti.

I have been to Haiti several times on mission trips. It is a beautiful but extremely poor nation. The people are wonderful--such beautiful smiles, hard workers, friendly--with an easy laugh. I confess I was envious of their simplicity and the joy they have. In many ways they are richer than us Americans. Life is so hard but it is all they know--they do not see the comparisons on TV like we do daily--nor do they travel much to see it. The children are so happy--dance and sing and play games with each other using a wadded up cloth for a ball; rocks to play on a checker board drawn in the dirt. One of my most treasured memories is sitting down under a tree with a group of Haitian women and two other women from our mission group. They could not speak English and we could not speak Creole but we wanted to just be with them--to communicate. So we started singing a praise song in English and then they would sing it in Creole. We sat there for an hour singing together and it was just so wonderful--I could just feel God smiling down on us. Don and I both fell in love with the Haitian people.

And now, this awful earthquake--and another one 6.0 today. The scenes on TV are just too much to bear. I cannot imagine the horror, the heartache, the fear and agony. And then on CNN you see a parade of women singing praise songs marching down the street in the midst of it all. A true picture of faith, of love for their God. Talk about the picture of James 1:2,3. That scene brought more tears to my eyes than the devastation. I want that faith.

I sponsor a little girl--well, not so little anymore, she is 17 now. I have sponsered her since she was 8. She lives in Les Cayes about 70 miles from epicenter. Compassion International whom I sponsor her through has not received word yet on many of their children so I do not know how she and her family are affected. I just pray for her constantly. I wish I could just go down and grab her and bring her back here. Ironically, I got a letter from her the day the earthquake hit--of course, mailed weeks before. Her name is Sam-Mya Dorelien. Please pray for her and her family.

Hope for Haiti, the organization we support in Haiti has two teams down there. One truck brought in well drilling and repair equipment. They were able to drill a well on a sister mission called Mission of Hope near Port au Prince so at least there is fresh clean water for that community. Our other team drove a truck in full of food and water to distribute from the mission.

I want to go there. I wish I could go and just hold children in my arms and help them somehow. My heart wants to be there but I know right now they need more skills than I have to offer. They need medical teams and construction teams.

We hear from mission friends in the northern part of Haiti that it has rained there for 18 days straight; mosquitos are terrible; no electricity, little gasoline so very hard to get around even though they were not affected by earthquake. The people are afraid to stay in their houses for fear of another earthquake coming and keep a vigilant eye on the sea for fear of tsunami waves coming after them. They just live outside in the rain. We have gotten tear jerking emails from Haitians we know there. Everyone has lost family in the earthquake. No one is untouched. But their deep faith in God sustains them. They are strong in Him. So please keep up your prayers for the whole nation. Surely God will bring good out of this. And donate if you are able--to a good missionary based type organization.

NOTE: the big fund raising telethon with George Clooney--called Hope for Haiti (no connection to our organization called Hope for Haiti) I would be wary of. I am not so sure how much of the money actually gets to the Haitian people--really check all of that out before donating to them. Franklin Graham is down there, too, doing much good. Find a good Christian based organization, please. And of course, Hope for Haiti would be our first choice for you to donate to. Jenny's blog: http://letmythoughtsflow.blogspot.com/ has the info on how to donate there plus a letter from Don.

One of my new year's goals is to blog more so I will be back soon.

Even more Amish scenes

This is name of town where we are spending the night.

I think this is a springhouse where milk and butter and things are kept cold.

More Photos from Amish Country

Amish one-room school

Little girl outside schoolhouse

I just love this one. A wringer washer in the wagon parked at a Honda engine repair shop.

Another clothesline and if you look closely you can see the hand pump and sink by the back door.

Scenes from Amish country

I have always had an interest in the Amish and wanted to visit the areas where they live. This was on my "bucket list". And here we are smack dab in the middle of Amish country in Pennsylvania. We spent the day rambling down country lanes in little towns like Bird-in-Hand, Intercourse, Ronk, and Strasburg. It is so beautiful and picturesque. The first glimpse I had of a buggy coming down the road excited me so I acted like it was the only chance I would get to see one. But they are everywhere. I love the sound of the horses hooves clip-clopping down the road. It is like stepping back into time around here. I love every minute of it. So here are some of my photos. The Amish do not like to have their pictures taken so I have to be sneaky about it which is so frustrating because the kids are soooo cute.

After driving around all morning this sign drew us in and we had an ice cold glass of homemade rootbeer and a whoopie pie. My, oh my, what a treat that was. Oh, and I forgot to tell you that I had Shoo-fly pie for breakfast.

We were bad. What can I say but the Amish make beautiful furniture. I fell in love with this glider-rocker and it is now shrinkwrapped and in the back of our truck headed for Texas. Don fell in love with an adirondack chair that folds up that is also coming home with us. Our anniversary presents to each other.

Ok--this photo did not turn out well due to a glare on car window. I was talking with an Amish man to get directions to this bookstore. When homeschooling, I used Amish readers to teach the kids and the store I ordered them from was in this area. I could have spent hours there--so many wonderful books and school stuff. This is where the Pathway readers are published.

A mother and son on the Amish scooters--another popular mode of transportation in Amish country.

I loved watching the farmers working with horses in their fields. Sure wish I had had a better telephoto lens.

I have always liked photos of clothes hanging on the line. And it was Monday. Every good Amish woman has her laundry on the line early Monday morning. I could not help myself. I took tons of photos of laundry. And we bought an Amish clothesline (these big pulleys that allow you to string the line way up high--look closely in photos and you will see them) for the ranch.

OK--I like outhouses, too. But when I opened this one I was in for a surprise.

Since the Amish do not use electricity they have these gas lamps in their stores. This was in the bookstore I told you about.

Now, that is a long clothesline!

I loved seeing the big farms and barns.

This is a close-up of an Amish scooter. There are no pedals. They are used by adults and children.