Reflections

Reflections on Barb's life (or things I've learned through Barb and what I want to remember).

Barb was one of my favorite people. She became the sister I never had.
She was:

easy to be with,
down to earth,
fun,
low key,
giving,
kind,
energetic,
passionate about the Yankees, the environment, all animals, all sports and outdoor activities, her family, and her friends.

She was real. She treated everyone the same. Though she was knowledgeable and fond of all sports she never made those of us who are "sports dummies" feel inadequate or stupid. She had a quick smile, and kind encouraging words for everyone. UNLESS, you were a litter bug--then she would chase you down, get your license number and report your actions to the authorities. Barb had a fierce love of the outdoors and wanted it kept beautiful.

There was nothing Barb could not do once she set her mind to it (much like her brother, Don). She turned a 100 year old falling down shack of a house into a lovely, comfortable home that we loved to visit. She could build or repair anything. Determined, diligent, conscientous, disciplined, hard-working, helpful, courageous, kind, caring, giving and loving all described Barb. And the multitude of friends she had proved it. Never have I seen such a continuous outpouring of love and support and faithfulness as I have seen in her friends over this past year of her journey through cancer. They visited, brought food, cleaned her house, walked her dog, sat by her side, took her to treatments, helped her Mom, and were just there for her. Students whom she taught or coached many years ago came to pay their respects and share what an impact she had on their lives.

So here is what I have learned and what is impressed upon my mind through observing Barb's friends, knowing Barb and hearing what others said about her:

When someone you know is hurting or going through a tough time: be there-just be there for them however you can. Bring food--don't worry if it's good enough, or the perfect thing to bring, -just bring it. Write cards and notes. They are so meaningful to the recipient and can be read over and over. Look for any practical way you can help out and do it. Ask yourself what you would want in their situation and try to do that. But sometimes the best thing is to just be quiet but present.

Be true to yourself. Be you, who you are, not who you think others want you to be. And be the best YOU you can be. NEVER stop learning. Don't be afraid to attempt something new or step out of your comfort zone. ASK for help when you need it. Accept it graciously and gratefully. Give whenever you can. Always volunteer in some way--do something to give back to your community in some way. Make time for your friends and family. Celebrate life every chance you get--birthdays, graduations, retirements, holidays--share them with loved ones and make those memories. Have regular "get-together" times you can count on and look forward to. Barb and her friends met every Wednesday night at "Babe's" for beers and supper and just a weekly time of fun and fellowship. Wonderful memories were made there. Reach out. Include those who need a friend or have no family. Keep in touch with friends and family far away. Take time alone to think, pray, nap, plan and dream. Take care of yourself--eat right, walk, spend time out in the sunshine and nature. Play with the dog and kids. Tell your friends and family you love them and let them know how much they mean to you. Take an interest in their lives. Look for things to be thankful for and thank God often. Forgive others quickly.

To sum it up: try to live each day so there would be no regrets, no things left unsaid if this day were your last. Think about what really matters in the end.
How do you want to be remembered?

Celebrating Barb's life

Barb's family

And life goes on......the two newest additions to the family

Dad and Don

Don and Mom (someone donated "Barb" ball caps to all of us)

I love this photo of the three sisters admiring Jake, the newest baby to the family. Jake's mom is Kim, on the right. Mindy, in the middle, has the 2nd newest baby, Adam, born in January. Angie, on the left has two boys ages 7 and 9. These are the three daughters of Chris, Don's sister in Florida.

A Walk through Pearl River, NY

Just a house I like

I like this one, too.

These pretty white trees are everywhere. It looks like it is snowing when the blooms blow off in the breeze.

This one is a weeping cherry tree.

Pretty cherry blossoms

These are such a pretty pale pink.

Just another cute little house.

The golden blaze of Forsythia is everywhere.

Another weeping cherry.

Magnolia blossoms

Ahh, spring in Texas

My little peach tree I planted last year.

Ariel

our orchard

Barb

We are in New York again as Don's sister, Barb, lost her battle with cancer on Saturday. She put up a valiant fight but this nasty disease won. Barb was such a healthy, vibrant woman who did all the right stuff. She was physically fit, ate right, got her annual physical each year.....but unfortunately had the "cancer" gene. We will miss her so but are grateful for the wonderful memories of time spent with her. She touched many lives. I am going to include her obituary here that tells some of her life and then post some of my favorite photos.

Barlow, Barbara A., 61, of Stony Point, NY, passed away Saturday, April 3rd. Beloved partner of Carol Grisoni. Loving daughter of Muriel Macnoll and Roy Barlow and wife Lorraine. Cherished sister of Christine Elder and husband Don, Claudia Loonie and husband Tom Zeringo and Don Barlow and wife Julie. Dear aunt of Angie Van Valkenburg, Mindy Moreland, Kim Mauney, Courtney Loonie and the late Tom Loonie. Barbara is also survived by an extended network of family and friends. A graduate of Montclair State University, she was a coach and physical education teacher for Emerson High School for 33 years before her retirement. Barbara was active with her bowling league and spent much time volunteering, especially with Meals on Wheels. Family and friends may visit Thursday, 2-4 and 7-9pm at the Feeney Funeral Home, 232 Franklin Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450, 201-444-7650. Funeral Service Friday at 10:30am at the funeral home. Cremation private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Barbara’s memory to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Attn: Donor Services, PO Box 650309, Dallas, TX 75265-0309 OR to the Calvary Fund, c/o Calvary Hospital, 1740 Eastchester Road, Bronx, NY 10461. http://www.feeneyfuneralhome.com/

A More Positive Update

We are feeling much better now--like we went through a bit of "sifting". Yesterday, I drove to sunday school alone and had an excellent time of prayer with the Lord (always pray good when driving...and hear better). God just needed to remind me a few things--mainly, that HE, not me, is in control and that He did call us to this and he would see it through. Just told me to get back in my tube and flow with the current (HIS). (When God gives me something to do he gives me a mind picture of my beloved Frio river and to picture myself getting in that tube and floating in HIS current--not to paddle to the side and get out because I hear the waterfalls ahead, but to stay in the flow knowing HE will safely get me to the otherside.) I think I got out of the tube (and dried off ) in this instance.

Anyway, I felt so much better before getting to church. When walking into church, the greeter was John, also in our foster parent group, who invited Don and I to go to Hill Country Bible church in Austin at 10 to hear Brad Johnson from Haiti who founded Mission of Hope. This is the mission in Port au Prince who we are linked with--where Hope for Haiti and Living Water Midwest recently put in a water well. They have a large school, orphanage, and hospital. That is where our children will go before coming here.

Don and I were excited to get to go hear him speak. And what an awesome, Holy Spirit filled service, it was. He brought the Haitian praise and worship leader with him who led worship and boy, was it anointed. Then Brad pretty much gave his testimony of how he started the mission 18 years ago---and it was like God telling us again, not to worry, not to think in "human intellect", but to trust Him to open doors and make a way for our children to be cared for. It was like that burden I was trying to carry was truly placed once again at His feet. So we will persevere. I do believe our children will come and God will equip us to take care of them and He will make a way for their healing to take place--by HIM or through medical facilities and people. That is not to be our worry. He will direct our steps each step of the way.

In my devotional Sunday morning it said "You have made wide steps beneath my feet so that I never need to slip". (I can easily picture those steps--so different from the skinny ones I travel down in the middle of the night to go potty) sort of like--God is my bannister I hold onto--he will not let us slip in this endeavor. He has already made the way. I just have to trust Him and take it one step at a time and he will make those steps WIDE and secure in Him.

At the same time, back in the "world", Don and I had written out a list of questions we had to Sparrow Foundation (the legal entity of all this) and John scanned them and sent them off to Haiti along with a letter stating that their needed to be better communication with their foster parents. So, hopefully, we will at least get some communication back from them. In behalf of them, I do know that things are changing daily in Haiti--especially with the government and our government, and the laws regarding getting kids out of Haiti. We are just a very tiny pool of need in the great crisis surrounding the multitude of injured children. So we will see what happens.

None of this has been done before so we just need to be patient. And that is hard. But I am at peace once again.

A Somber Update

We feel at a standstill in the Haitian orphan endeavor. As I had stated earlier an agency called Kids at the Crossroads has been working with us--7 families from our church--to get us licensed for foster care. We are there. We have all jumped through all the hoops to get licensed, got the TB tests, fingerprints, background checks, fire inspection, health inspection. 30 or more hours of training, and completed home study. But things on the Haitian end keep changing. There are just so many unknown factors that Daniel, the head of Kids at the Crossroads has told us that he just cannot be our covering because there is no covering for him for our kids. We totally understand where he is coming from. The foster kids that come into his program come from CPS so he has their covering. It looked like our kids would be coming in under the DUCS program--which is Division of Unaccompanied Children Services--which would have been our covering. But now, we are told that is not happening--and we do not quite understand under what terms they are coming over here or IF they will be released by Haiti at all. To be a sponsor of an alien coming in under special circumstances you have to sign that you will cover all their expenses and they will never apply for any type of government assistance once here. It would be like legal guardianship and we would be expected to add them to our health insurance. It is signing that we will be legally responsible for these children as long as they are in the USA and not knowing if or when we can apply to adopt them. Not all of us are in a position to add them to our insurance.

What kind of started this somberness was our training last Thursday night. Daniel had one of his foster parents from San Antonio come speak to us on wound treatment. She is a single Mom with six medically fragile (as in terminally ill) foster kids. She also has been a nurse for 30 years. She really hit us hard with what we could be expecting as far as injuries these kids would have. We had been told amputations but she went into other injuries caused by crushing--like internal ones where child might need stomach tubes or colostomy bags and other very serious medical care. I will be the first to say that I know I am not called to be a medically fragile foster parent. I think I could care for an amputation and what comes with that but not other complications along with that. I know nursing is not my gifting but I do think nurturing is. There are just too many unknowns right now. All of us are feeling hesitant about this.

So is this just an attack from the enemy? Is it lack of faith? I have no doubt that God called all of us to this--that we were not just being led by our emotions. For all seven families of us to show up for every training, accomplish all the tasks we had to get done for licensing--we were serious and willing and wanting to do this. I know that God expects us to use wisdom and discernment and good counsel......yet we are also to step out in faith. It is just so hard to understand what is going on. The team in Haiti is just so unclear about how all this will work out. I mean, when I fostered before, the kids were covered by medicaid so medical expenses were not an issue. And we got a little financial help for expenses. And therapy was provided. It is very scary to just step out and do this all on your own. At the very beginning we were told they would cover all the medical expenses for the injuries due to the earthquake but we have yet to see this in writing. It seems to me that the foundation needs a written committment from the doctors spelling out what they will do and for how long--- and we need a written committment from them that our children will get the medical care they need from those doctors. And who is responsible for paying the hospital costs. We know these kids will need future surgeries. Maybe all this will still happen and we are all just over-reacting to the training from that foster parent nurse. I do believe that when God calls you to something He will equip you to handle it yet still I am uneasy right now. I know much of it is that it changes daily for our team in Haiti as to how the kids will be released to come to the US or if they even will get to come. So all I can say is it is all up in the air right now. We all wrote down our questions and needs to be sent to the team in Haiti. Hopefully, once the kids get to Mission of Hope they will send out bios and info on each kid describing their injuries and needs and just general information gathered from the nurses and staff there that care for them. I just don't know. Don and I are just feeling somber and sad. I am afraid if the team in Haiti does not clearly spell out the terms of this foster/adopt plan that they will finally have the children but no foster parents still willing. We all feel very frustrated and bewildered.

So I just ask you to pray for all of us. For clarity. For direction. For a clear peace from God that all is in control and he is leading us. I know confusion does not come from God and I think we all feel confused right now. We all need prayer.

Fruit

Today I am asking a question of anyone who reads this blog. I would like to start a discussion on this. My thoughts on this began last Sunday in our Sunday school class. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus states "you will know know them by their fruit". (Matthew 7:15-20). So the question came to my mind...What is my fruit? When you look at me, what fruit do you see that tells you about me. What defines fruit?

Let's take a fruit orchard with all different kinds of fruit trees. We look at the fruit on the ground, recognize a peach, and know that the tree above it is a peach tree. It is so obvious. But are our fruits so obvious? I mean, do I have to produce fruit (works) to have fruit? I mean, maybe I have led hundreds to Christ, but if you saw me walking down the street would you know that? What about me would you look at to see my "fruits"? My children are fruits of my womb...so does looking at them help you to know me? I know plenty of outstanding people whose kids have gone astray. Does that mean the tree is bad because a couple of the fruits were rotten?

I am really trying to put this all in a practical sense to understand it--I want concrete items. I know there are the fruits of the spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. So I guess if my life shows examples of these in action that would be good fruits. And if my life was filled with strife, discord, fits of rage, idolatry, selfishness, envy, immorality, and conceit then my fruit is really rotten. So it seems to me that fruit is more who I am inside and how I treat other people than any "works" that I do. It is like thinking of Jesus and Jesus being a tree. I want to be a fruit of the Jesus tree--that someone would see me lying on the ground and immediately know I fell off of the Jesus tree because I tasted like Jesus.

Jesus tells us he is the vine and we are the branches and that if we remain connected to Him we will bear much fruit--good, tasty fruit. It is kind of like the proverb that says a man is known by the company he keeps. We want others to know Jesus and they need to see Him in us and that can only happen if we keep closer company with Jesus than we do the "world." We must KNOW Jesus, take note of how he lived when on earth, and try to behave in the same manner.

When talking to my daughters or to a friend who is asking me what I think of a boy they like, my advice has always been to look at their fruit. So concretely, what did I mean by that?(I honestly don't think I ever spelled it out or took it apart until now). I meant, look at how they treat their mom or sisters; how do they treat little children and animals and seniors? are they respectful in general? are they honest? do they do the right thing even when no one is looking? do they give of themselves to others or are they only concerned about themselves? do they take care of things? (their car, their belongings, their bills, their school work), are they a team player or in it only for themself?, what kind of words come out of their mouth? how do they respond when corrected or chastised? do they honor your opinions and boundaries? are they easily offended? do they smile and laugh easily? do they have an attitude of gratitude? forgive easily? apologize easily? express thankfulness often? how do they spend their free time? what kind of movies do they watch? what kind of music do they listen to? what do they surround themself with (what decorates their space) ? whom do they surround themself with ?(do you like their friends and are their friends respectful to you?) Needless to say....the answers to these questions will lead you to know if God is #1 in their life.

So in asking this question, What is fruit? I think I have come to my own conclusion. I think our fruit is our character and the actions that display our character. Good fruit would be having the character of Jesus. The taste of our fruit should make others want to have the same tree we have that produces good fruit like ours. It should have others want what we have. And we must be constantly reminded that the secret to producing good fruit is to prune off those bad branches that do not produce and suck energy from those branches that do. And to nourish our fruit with the fertilizer of the Word of God. And most important to not TRY to produce more fruit than the branch can bear thus breaking the branch and becoming disconnected from the tree. Balance is the key and allowing the Master Gardener to do the pruning and tending he needs to do in order for that good fruit to come forth.

I think when I began writing this I was really looking for tangible items as examples of fruit. But the more I think about it, tangible items can get in the way of truly seeing someone's fruit. They can distract you. It is by seeking to truly know a person, to see his heart, how he is in the ups and downs of life that truly reveal his fruit. It all goes back to Jesus' warning of beware of those who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ferrocious wolves--by their fruit you will recognize them.

So thank you for reading this if you got this far. I do invite comments. I want to hear other's thoughts on this topic. What does fruit mean to you? I wanted my question answered of what kinds of fruits are apparant in me? I think I get it now. It is really so simple, yet a constant struggle--just keep my eyes on Jesus and do what he did and taught. I do want to bear good fruit and I do not want to be misled and be thinking I am bearing good fruit when really it is rotten.

Some sad news

I have been supporting a child through Compassion International for nearly 10 years. She lives in Haiti and her name is Sam-Mya. She was seven when I first sponsored her and now she is nearly 17. I called Compassion right after the earthquake to check on her but they had no news for me. Then today I received this email:

Dear Juliana,We now have more specific information to share with you about the Haiti crisis.At this time we know Sam-Mya Dorilas Dorelien is in an area that was significantly impacted by the earthquake. Significantly impacted communities have suffered major property damage, serious injuries, and unfortunately some loss of life. Although we face extreme challenges in communication and transportation, please be assured that we will be confirming each child's status as soon as we can.

So, I would appreciate you praying for her--that she is ok and being cared for someplace. If she was orphaned, how I wish she could be one of the ones coming to us.

The following is a link to a Compassion workers recent experiences in Haiti. I thought it was interesting and encouraging.

No other news to add to today's post . We might get snow this week!!




http://bobthorp.blogspot.com/2010/02/thoughts-twenty-one-days-later.html

Another Haiti update

Things are moving fast. It seems our team is having favor with the Haitian government and they might actually release some kids--orphans-- on a medical visa to come to the states IF they have sponsors. The definition of an orphan is a child old enough to give their name and state that their parents are dead--or a child who was already declared an orphan and in an orphanage when the earthquake struck. Most of the children are amputees or else they have broken bones that have yet to be treated. (can you imagine how awful that must be) I think the ages are between 5 and 15. There are many of them but at this point we are thinking that they will stream in here, not 50 of them arrive at once.
We are being trained often. The agency that is working with us licenses homes for theraputic care which requires 50 hours of training to get licensed. They are great folks and we are learning much. Don and I have really enjoyed getting to know the other couples in training--all of which are from our church, including our pastor and his wife. There is also a group of parents in our church who are already licensed foster parents. So we are getting close to being ready. We have our fire inspection this week and go get fingerprinted tomorrow. I think we finally got the house organized: all the meds behind locks; all the cleaners and chemicals locked up; the pantry up to health department standards; the fire extinguishers and smoke alarms all in place ; we took CPR and First Aid; we are studying Creole so we can speak a bit to them; still have to get our 5 cats and 2 dogs their rabies shots and all 5 of us need TB tests. Then one more home visit and 30 more hours of training (some can be done online) and we are there.
There was an option of doing a fast track to get licensed but those of us already in this process with Kids at the Crossroads feel strongly about staying with them and doing it right. We just like the idea of having their covering.
Still have some questions about the process of getting the kids here as far as how the US sees them. While Haiti gives them a medical visa, we don't know if that means the US lets them in on that medical visa and if so does that mean when they are well they have to go home.....or can they be adopted and stay here?? Lots more questions. I think if we are "sponsors" according to the government, then we have legal guardianship. But I don't know. They are so busy down in Haiti--our team and our lawyer--that we just don't get lots of news from there. Our team is bringing in food to the hospital in Port au Prince. That is where they find the kids who are orphans as hospitals do not care for anything but medical needs--they do not feed you, bathe you, clothe you, etc. so if you have no family it is easy to tell. All I know, is Bill (the pres. of Hope for Haiti) said he would not be home until he could bring kids with him and that he was making sure to do everything legal and above board and cover all the bases. We are sad to hear all the publicity of the Baptist missionaries who were held up trying to take kids into the Dominican Republic without the proper papers. I feel for them as I am sure were I down there I would want to save and help as many kids as I could, too. And even before the earthquake it was common for parents to give their kids to someone if they thought they could better provide for them so I am sure these parents gave the kids to them. I mean would you rather watch your child starve before your eyes or take the chance they could be taken to an orphanage and cared for and fed. It is an awful, grisly situation down there. I just pray God will gather up the children HE wants to come here and open the way before them. WE, none of us, want to do anything on our own power, only HIS. So please keep praying.

Update on Haiti Orphans

Life has been a whirlwind for us this past week. There were so many families at the meeting last Monday night. We were told that the emphasis was not on bringing kids in to adopt but bringing the medically needy (as in injured during earthquake) orphans (or those whose family status is unknown) to the states to be cared for medically and provided with a safe family and home in which to heal. They will NOT be wards of the state but something called humanitarian parole. At any time they could be returned to Haiti--especially if a family member is found who wants them. So we were all told to consider this more foster care than adoption. This has not been done before--what we are attempting. And there are so many hoops to jump through: the Haitian government, our government, Unicef, Save the Children....all these are involved. The goal is to have us licensed and ready to receive children within a couple of weeks as they are seeking to get the kids who might not make it without more medical care than Haiti has to offer. There are doctors already lined up in the Hill country ready to treat them (and one of these is down in Haiti with our team now). The Sparrow Home will pay for medical costs and transportation but we are responsible for their daily living costs. It is only for Burnet county as one of the promises to the authorities is that we will keep them in community--connected to each other through our church. Our church also plans to have mission trips to Haiti taking some of these kids on them when they are ready to do that. So, there are still so many unknowns. We do not know how many kids, what ages, what needs, or anything and I do not think we will know until they are on their way.
So far we have had 7 hours of foster care training, CPR, a background check, and the first of two home studies. There are so many regulations to comply with. I feel like my whole house has to be under lock and key. We have to get fingerprinted this week, too.
We have not heard much from team in Haiti but that they have found children in the hospital they want to bring and the doctors taking care of them now are in support of that but have not heard how negotiations with other authorities are going.
Don and I have been put on the "A" team--first families to get kids. It seems they want you to agree to foster yet be open to adopt. There are 9 families I think on this A team. We really like them all and feel they will all be awesome families for these kids.
So that is where it stands right now. I kept putting off blogging hoping to have more vital information. Just please keep up your prayers for favor with the governments and authorities. All we want is God's will in this...WE (Hope for Haiti team) don't want to make it happen; we want GOD to make it happen.
I'm off to beddy-bye.

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.