Ups and Downs...

Wow! It's hard to believe that we are already into October!

It seems kind of crazy to think that just a few weeks ago I was home and living such a different life than I am now... Even though time is flying by so fast here in Haiti, it just seems so surreal that it hasn't actually been that much time since I left. I guess it tells me that I am adjusting to life here, and the Lord has surely been with me through the good and the bad.

I had a bit of a frightening experience at church this past Sunday. During the worship time, I was standing while I sang and I was feeling fine. As time passed, my feet began to get tired and I sat down to give myself a rest. As soon as I sat down I felt sick to my stomach and although my stomach wasn't aching I knew that I needed to exit. I tried to sit quietly and let it pass for a few moments, and all of the sudden I began to see black spots invade my vision. I felt very dizzy and fortunately was able to take hold of Cheryl's arm who was standing beside me. When I told her what was happening she helped me exit and told me to keep my head down. She said that I needed to help my body get the blood to my brain or I would faint. A few feet away we had parked the ATV, so slowly we made our way to it, but I had to keep stopping because my vision got really bad. At one point all I could see was white, and then everything went black. I felt so dizzy and my body felt very heavy. I had to crouch down very low on the ground and steady myself. Fortunately, I had 'Dr. Cheryl' talking me through everything and she drove me back up the hill to my apartment where she got me a cool glass of water and helped me lay down. I spent the afternoon resting and drinking lots of water since it turned out that I was very dehydrated. Due to the full day in the sun at the beach on Saturday, I think the heat caught up with me. So that was my first 'sick' day in Haiti... Let's hope that it's one of few!

Over these weeks there have been other low points, like having a lack of power or water, and plenty of bugs irritating me from sun up to sun down. And of course with one of my favorite holidays coming up next weekend, I'm definitely not looking forward to missing out on the family feast and fellowship together.

It's important for me to be able to share these struggles with you so you know how to pray for me as I deal with daily disappointments and frustrations. However, as I've expressed in previous postings, I don't want you to get the wrong impression. I am truly loving my life here in Haiti. This afternoon, after spending the morning teaching my kids, I had over 100 children playing on the jungle gym outside my door. I had to check that I wasn't dreaming. It was truly a blessing to go out and play with them and spend the afternoon laughing and talking and loving on those beautiful orphan children.

The times that I have experienced with the children of Haiti, and other moments - like watching the Haitian sun set over the mountains, or reflect on what the Lord has been doing in my heart these days far outweigh the low points. I wake up in the morning, and I can hardly wait to start my day, because even though I can expect to be let down by the temporary discomforts, I can also be assured of being filled with joy and peace and love and life. It's these moments of reflection when I know beyond a doubt that this is what I was made for. Thank you Jesus for bringing me to this place. A place where I can make such a tangible difference and be filled until I overflow.

Thank you all for your continual prayer. I know without a doubt that it has played a main part in my smooth transition to this new life, and I am so grateful.

Oh, and one more upside to look forward... Tomorrow is grocery day! After being here for over three weeks, it's about time we got our OWN food... So it will be nice after tomorrow to open my fridge and actually have food to snack on! That's another thing that I'm learning in Haiti - it's all about the small things! :)