Smiling and nodding, charades all day long, and a 1 week game of Haitian Creol "Mad Gab"
These are just a few phrases I would use to describe last week as we began to learn Creol.
I am pleased to say that when we left Ketley's house on Friday evening we were leaps and bounds beyond where we began on Monday morning. We stayed with a precious family and had a lot of fun getting to know them. We would sit out on the back porch all day and talk and study...talk and study. The first picture is me with Ketley, our teacher and two of her girls. The second shows Trey with little Julie, she could be quite the distraction but we loved every minute of it!
Throughout the week as we spent ALL day studying and speaking we thought A LOT about words. As we studied the language the Lord also reminded us about the power of his Word and reminded us of some lessons along the way.
1. It is HIGHLY unlikely that you will hear a word said once in Creol and completly understand the word, how to use it, and never forget it. You must take the time to think about the word, meditate on the word, practice using the word in sentences, repeat the word several times even when you think you do not need to.
Practical Application: We cannot simply hear someone tell us the Word of God and think that we understand. We are called to take the time to read the Word. We must meditate on the Word. Search for practical application and allow the Holy Spirit to cause us to live a life obedient to the word. May we ALWAYS make time to be in the word, ESPECIALLY when we think we do not need to.
2. As soon as you begin to think that you are understanding Creol, a new concept is introduced and you realize you are not even close to completely understanding the language.
Practical Application: There are certain times in my relationship with the Lord that I begin to feel as though I have "mastered" certain teachings. It is in those moments that I am gently reminded how FAR I am from perfection and how much I have to learn. (This is not a hopeless realization but rather a time of thankfulness. God has brought me so far in life and I know he is not finished yet.)
3. Learning Creol is sooo much better when you learn from someone who is further along than you are in the language. It is also great to have a friend in the same spot as you to encourage each other along the journey.
Practical Application: God did not intend for us to live our lives alone. He is constantly placing people in our lives to encourage us and point us towards Him. There is nothing quite like a close friend who is seeking and pursuing the Lord with all his heart by your side. When one of you is struggling the other remains strong and helps to keep you on track. Accountability :)
Tomorrow morning we will be leaving for 2 weeks to stay with a Haitian Pastor and his family to continue to learn. Please please please pray for us during this time. Pray that the Lord will give us the strength to hear and comprehend all that we are learning. We are currently living in a very cool part of Haiti because of how high we are in the mountains. For the next 2 weeks the living conditions will be quite different to say the least. Pray for comfort and quickly adapting to the heat and living in a COMPLETELY different lifestyle.
We will not have internet where we will be but as soon as we return we'll be back with more updates and I'm sure PLENTY of stories.
8:30 tomorrow morning we will be going to spend one week with a Haitian woman and her family to be completely submerged in the language and the culture. I wanted to do a simple house warming gift and bake chocolate chip cookies to take to the children...much easier said than done!
Our oven in our house is not working so we borrowed one from another home on the mission. No one is living in the home at the moment so Trey worked his magic and lit the oven...after all that we were ready to bake.
And here is the result...
Yes I am quite the baker. The second batch is in the oven now and I sure do hope they turn out better. I admit it, I have A LOT to learn. I pray I remain teachable and able to laugh at myself.
Did I mention I spent the ENTIRE afternoon on these babies? Oh well, there is always next time.
It is our first weekend in Haiti. We wanted to give you all a brief tour of our house. We are so excited to call this house our home and wanted to officially invite you to our house warming party. So sit back relax and enjoy the pictures.
The house we are staying in is located on the back of Baptist Haiti Missions property. Our door is open. Come on in!
Here is our living room. We have a fireplace! We don't need it for heat but it will be a great place for Christmas stockings. The furniture has been provided by the mission. I LOVE that we have a purple couch.
This is our reading wall. The chairs go along with the couch.
Tanpri, chita. (Please, sit)
Right: Here is our refrigerator and stove. The stove is not working at the moment (no baking for me.) We worked hard to keep our suitcases under the maximum weight. Because of this certain "luxury" items had to be eliminated. One of these items happened to be our picture frames. I am indeed thankful for magnets and a refrigerator.
Here is our kitchen table. I love waking up and having breakfast at the table looking out over the mountains of Haiti! It is still very surreal to us.
My wedding gift from Trey was the willow tree figurine you see in the far left of this picture. It is a little boy holding his heart. I left this and several other Willow Trees in the states and Trey surprised me when we got here with this little guy! I was so excited and thankful for a husband who seeks to understand my little quirks.
This is our lovely bedroom! The window you see the sun coming through is where our "friends", the tree frogs choose to dwell.
Heres the corner of our bedroom. We are slowly adding furniture and items to decorate. For now we are keeping the look of a college dorm room :)
Our bathroom is on the right. Yes we have a rainbow shower curtain :) We bought it at a deli mart when we first arrived. The bathroom was in need of a splash of color so we went all out with it.
It is quite the talent to brush your teeth with bottled water and not use the sink water. Trey doesn't worry about it and will embrace the "Haitian Happiness" that could come from using the water on his toothbrush.
Alas, the shower :) The water pressure is well...not so great. There was one morning I turned the water off and literally thought it was still on. Crazy, I know. We are however so thankful for running water. I think the shower gives the house character.
On our first morning we got up after a rather sleepless night. I took the first shower and it was pretty chilly to say the least. I made myself count to three and decided to wet my hair completely. As soon as I did this Trey came in to the bathroom to inform me our alarm was set wrong and it was only 5 am. It was at this moment that I could not decide rather to laugh or cry. I then returned to bed with a very wet and very cold head to finish a good nights rest.
Thanks for visiting! We love where the Lord has brought us and are so thankful for his provision in the big and little things.
It is officially our third full day in our Haitian home. We are so glad to be here and are working on getting adjusted and settled. We are getting used to living in a completely new lifestyle. Travel on Monday could not have gone better, thank you for your prayers!
I have not had the opportunity yet to take pictures of our house but I promise to do that and get them posted ASAP. For the next two weeks, starting on Monday, we will be living with a Haitian woman from a local church to be fully submerged in the language and culture. We are very excited to have this opportunity. We know it will be challenging. We have tried to spent the past few days studying Haitian Creole as much as possible.
I want to introduce you to one of the many "blessings" of life in Haiti...
Google Image
The windows in our house are always open since we do not have air conditioning. Needless to say we hear EVERYTHING that happens outside. Our first night here it literally sounded like there was a bird chirping outside our window ALL NIGHT. It felt like trying to fall asleep with your alarm clock sounding...quite a difficult task. Not to mention all of the barking dogs and trucks zooming up the mountain all night.
The next morning I asked what type of bird it was that came out at night. I was quickly informed that it was a type of Haitian tree frog. I am pleased to announce that the frogs are pretty consistent, and I am learning to sleep through my alarm. Trey however is out like a light every night...home sweet home :)
Bags packed...
Goodbye's said...
"Last" American meals eaten...
When the sun rises we will be in the air flying to our new home. After months of talking about our move and many hours packing and planning it is CRAZY to believe it is finally here. This day has been...strange?
As soon as I begin to feel like it is a "normal" Sunday my mind quickly diverts to the fact that we are moving to Haiti in the morning! It becomes difficult to swallow, I can't decide rather to laugh or cry, it's definitely a VARIETY of emotions. However I am overwhelmed with an incredible eagerness and anticipation for what the next day holds.
Pray for us tomorrow as we travel. We will arrive in Haiti at 1:30 pm. I plan to have many stories and blogs to come! I would love to know who all is reading this blog. As we will be away from familiar family and friends it will be so encouraging to know who is keeping up with us via the blog :)
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"I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back."
Picture taken from Google Images
Our enjoyable time visiting grandparents in Mississippi and Louisiana came to an end yesterday and we hit the road early, destination Georgia. We were eager to beat the rain and the storms that are continuing to leave their mark down south. We were able to avoid the rain for a majority of the drive. However we did encounter a few pockets of heavy rain.
Interstate driving plus heavy rain is not a good mixture. Trey pressed forward in the drivers seat and I sat off to the side holding my breath. My eyes strained to see what was up ahead and my heart beat fast when we would approach tail lights from the cars in front of us or receive heavy sprays from passing semis. For a split moment I turned to gaze out the passenger window and couldn't help but pause and stare at the gentle summer rain that was watering the grass and the trees. The blurry vision and white knuckles from looking forward quickly released and I was able to breath a sigh of relief.
A slight turn of the head quickly changed my entire perspective. This time next week we will be at our new home in Haiti. I am unable to clearly see what the next year, month, or even day has in store. Life often feels fast and furious. The Lord gently taught me yesterday that I have been doing quite a bit of eye straining and breath holding over the past few weeks.
He was so gracious to remind me yesterday to "look out the side window." It is by my side that my Savior leads me. Everyday He blesses me with EXACTLY what I need. I am so thankful for this reminder and I pray over the weeks ahead when I begin to strain my eyes and try to see too far forward that I will take a breath and rest in the moment and the arms of my Savior.
