We're Goin' to the Chapel and We're Gonna Get Married...

I am a sucker for weddings!  I love the white gowns, I love the anticipation leading up to the special day, and I love the commitment that follows.  My wedding day was by far one of the BEST days of my life.  I hope every bride is able to look back on her special day with fond memories as they struggle to fight the smile that forms when remembering this oh so special occasion!

I loved finding the perfect dress.  I loved sharing it with my girlfriends for the first time!  I loved telling everyone about Trey and how I couldn't wait to be his wife.  I loved celebrating with so many precious friends and family.  I am so thankful for where Trey & I are today but, I would go back and do our wedding day over and over again if I could.  Not only did I love having a wedding but I love going to weddings as well which is why as I sit here and write this I am struggling to hold back my excitement...

Early tomorrow morning Trey & I along with several others are traveling to the area of Muraille Lacee.  We will drive many hours and when the car can travel no futher because there is no road we will get out and hike for 2 hours.  The hike was originally supposed to be 8 hours but a few days ago another path was found, the Lord is gracious!  We are traveling to Muraille Lacee to witness a wedding for 91 couples!

Not, 91 people, but 91 couples!  Pastor Jean-Claude Smith is a pastor of Williamson Church, affiliated with Baptist Haiti Mission.  Pastor Smith and others from his congregation have been traveling to Muraille Lacee for several months now performing revival services for this area because there is no church.  Living together outside of marriage, and young girls mothering children has become quite common in Muraille Lacee.  Pastor Smith & others from Williamson Church have been faithful in bringing the gospel to this area.

MANY people have begun a personal relationship with the Lord in Muraille Lacee and now desire to commit their families to the Lord and enter into a covenant marriage relationship before Him.  This weekend will be a HUGE celebration and an amazing testimony to the people of Muraille Lacee.

The wedding ceremony is said to begin on Saturday morning.  Tomorrow will definitely be an adventure for Trey & I.  Our tent is ready and our toilet paper is packed.  We have no idea what all is in store for this weekend.  Pray for traveling safety.  Also pray that we would be an encouragement and be able to assist Pastor Smith and others who have been planning this event for quite some time.  I look forward to reporting NEXT YEAR about all that happened this weekend :)

"Camera Grabbing" Attention!

Psalm 121:1-2
"I lift up my eyes to the mountains, where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth..."

A few nights ago when I stepped outside I was AMAZED by the masterpiece my Lord was creating in the sky.  I quickly ran inside to grab my camera to try to capture just a taste of His beautiful handiwork.  Every time I would snap a picture and plan to walk inside I would look up again to see the colors & clouds rearranged for another breathtaking shot!

It was after many attempts to stop looking at the sky that I realized I was being wooed by my Creator.  At the end of a full day I believe He was so pleased to know for the first time that day He had my FULL attention.  As I stood outside and gazed at the sky it felt just like my Father was creating this masterpiece just for me!  What a blessing it is to be a child of the King.  My heavenly Father shows Himself to me day in and day out.  May I always show Him the "camera grabbing" attention He so richly deserves!

LIFT YOUR EYES today, how is your heavenly Father wooing you?

Bright & Colorful Kitchen Spaces!

After opening our Christmas presents I am proud to announce our kitchen is looking a little different these days. You'll have to check out the post when I gave you the welcome tour to our house to really appreciate this new and renovated look!  In preparation for Christmas Ms. Patti & I went down to Petionville searching for a bike for Trey for his Christmas gift only to find they were incredibly expensive and only came in little boy sizes.

We made a quick stop into a furniture store. It felt like Crate & Barrel in Haiti! They were even serving freshly made coffee (I was so excited and I don't even like coffee!) with fun Christmas music playing in the background. Our "quick trip" into the store changed when I saw the cutest kitchen table. Trey & I have been keeping our eyes peeled for a kitchen table since we have arrived. We have been told if you ever see anything in Haiti you like, get it then because odds are pretty good it will not be there when you return.

Thank you Mamaw Peggy for the Christmas gift that "fit just right" and enabled us to get this new look for our house!  After our Christmas lunch with the other missionaries at BHM Trey was hard at work putting together our table and chairs.  He was surprised by the table and is excited at the idea of looking for his belated gift, the bike, as well.

My mother-in-law made curtains for our 'ol KY home when we first got married.  They traveled over ocean to make it to our mountainous, tropical, Haitian home.  After getting our new table in the kitchen I was pretty motivated to get our kitchen curtains hung as well.  They were a little bit too long for our windows so some sewing was in need.  I have only recently mastered the art of sewing on a button.  Lucy, Patti's mother who is here visiting taught me the fine art of the sewing machine yesterday.  She was oh so patient with me and didn't make fun of my not so straight lines.  A project that should have only taken an hour or two lasted the entire afternoon.  But, I do believe it was well worth it and am loving our new bright space!

Thanks mom for the new scarf, I love it! 

Jwaye Nowel (Merry Christmas)

Enjoying the sunshine for a bit this afternoon

Jwaye Nowel Tout Moun!  Merry Christmas Everyone!  I hope at the close of this Christmas day your hearts are full of joy and peace after a day of celebrating the birth of our Savior.  As I write this our Christmas tree lights are on, our cinnamon spice candles are lit, and Trey is resting on the couch beside me with a book in hand.  It has indeed been a good Christmas day!

Many of you sent special packages in the mail and Christmas cards to us this holiday season.  We have been so encouraged by the love you have shown us from across the ocean.  We are so thankful for you!  We are also incredibly thankful for SKYPE!  We have loved being able to chat with our families this weekend and still feel connected even though we have had to be apart.

Get some rest this evening, drink hot chocolate & watch one last Christmas movie.  After tonight it is on to planning how you're gonna lose all that weight after your Christmas goody indulgences.  Isn't it great that even though we may be entering back into the "regular routine" soon, we still get to celebrate our Savior every day!

Posing it up in front of our Christmas tree today after cleaning up all of our Christmas packages.

Thanks Kyrk & Deborah for letting us borrow your tree this year while you were gone, we have loved it :) 

I Wanna be "Meltable"

I am aware that a lot of my recent blog posts have consisted of food in some form or fashion.  Let it be known, I have not moved to Haiti to become Paula Dean.  However, I do want Trey & I to have a fantastic holiday season with all the "Good cheer!" We all know a lot of those good holiday feelings are a result of the tasty treats we eat.  It is for this reason I have found myself with quite a few baking projects this week.  I made Oreo Balls to surprise Trey tonight.  I began crumbling cookies 8:30 this morning and after a few hours of freezing and some time of battling microwaves, stoves, and white chocolate bark I find myself sitting in the kitchen with a terrible mess and some very UGLY Oreo Balls.

I'm ashamed to even put up a picture of what they were supposed to look like.  However, I want you to receive the full affect of how "off" my Oreo Balls actually are.  Here is what I was hoping to see when I finished my baking adventure...

I admit it, I've missed the mark on this one.  I followed the steps and put in the efforts and finished with a big wad of mess.  As I write this I am suffering from a severe sugar high from eating a lot of messed up attempts and licking one too many sticky fingers, my feet hurt, and my sink is overflowing with pots and bowls hardened with white chocolate.  I do not share all this information to complain to you, okay so maybe I do it to complain just a little.  BUT there is a bigger reason too.

The inside of the balls turned out just fine.  It was the melting of the white chocolate that caused the issues.  I first put the white chocolate bark in the microwave in 30 second intervals to prevent burning and still get the bark to melt.  On my third 30 second interval the chocolate was BURNT!  I decided to try again, I placed another piece of the white chocolate bark into a plastic bowl and placed it in the microwave.  The first 30 second interval and the bowl cracked!  It sounded like a shot was fired inside the microwave.  It was clear after this, NO MORE MICROWAVE!

I decided to boil water, place a bowl on top of the boiling water and slowly warm the white chocolate bark.  It still would not melt!  It turned into a thick icing consistency but the longer I stired and waited, it remained the same.  I needed to dip the oreo balls into the MELTED white chocolate.  An hour into fighting with the stuff to melt I became so frustrated.  I tried all I could to melt the white chocolate.  I changed my melting methods SEVERAL times and waited oh so patiently but still NO MELTING!  I gave up on melting the white chocolate and having a presentable dessert.  My efforts were not enough.  In the midst of recongizing this defeat the Lord instantly turned this into a teaching moment for me.

As I grow in my relationship with the Lord everyday I know He is shaping me and molding me to be more like Christ.  Oh the patience of my Lord to work with me day after day hours on end.  There are so many things I simply do not understand.  So many area's in my life I AM NOT MELTING.  He wants to use me for His purposes.  He has a plan and it is being fulfilled each and everyday.

I am so thankful for a Lord who does not give up on me and leave me in the pot to harden.  He works with me day after day hour after hour.  It was through this reminder this afternoon that I can boldly say I do not want to be like the white chocolate bark that was too stubborn to melt.  As He changes my physical location and I experience a variety of different situations each day I pray I will melt and spread!

Psalm 139:13 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." 

The same God who created my most inner being is still working on me today!  I am so thankful for the reminder today to stop fighting the shaping process of my Creator.  I desire to RELAX and become meltable!

Note: After many conversations with "expert" chefs and studying the box that my White Chocolate Bark came in I am left with no good reason as to why it would not melt.  Maybe the Lord just really needed to communicate with me His desire for me to stop being so stubborn and melt already :)

'Twas the Week Before Christmas

-I wrote the blog below for the Baptist Haiti Mission blog today.  I wanted to share it with you all as well.  Hope you enjoy!

'Twas the Week Before Christmas 

'Twas the week before Christmas and all around the world, presents are being wrapped for all the boys and girls.

Children are playing and singing with friends, with eager excitement that it will be Christmas when the week ends!

 As you finish your shopping, baking, and traveling plans, don't forget about the families and children all over the land!

In Haiti the Christmas traditions may be different than you own, however the name of Jesus Christ is still being made known.

You can make this Christmas special for a Haitian child today!  You can help us change their lives a variety of ways!

$25 a month sends a child to school.  You would equip them with a variety of tools!

As you finish your to do list, check it again, would you give a gift to a Haitian child this Christmas and enable their hopeful future to begin?

 In this Christmas season as you prepare to give gifts to friends and family we ask that you consider giving a gift to a child in Haiti.  Our child sponsorship program has been in existence for many years.  We depend on your support in order to provide school uniforms, books, basic health care, and one meal a day to the children in BHM sponsored schools.

Many families in Haiti do not have the money to send their children to school.  It is crucial for the development of Haiti as well as individual children that they receive proper training in their formative years.  Help us expose children to the Word of God and equip them to read the Word as well.  Begin sponsoring a child today, visit: www.bhm.org.

One Week Away...!

I'm sure you are wondering who decorated these amazing looking Gingerbread Men...well wonder no more, it was ME!  I must warn you at this time it is crucial to not become jealous of my insanely artistic abilities.  Spending this Christmas season in the Carribean I had to make a "surfer" Gingerbread Man, note the little man in the blue shorts :)  I am incredibly excited that Christmas is only one week away!


This time next week we will be talking about what a wonderful Christmas it was and waiting to do it all again next year.  This is my first Christmas in my entire life to spend away from Corbin, KY and my sweet sweet family.  It is a bittersweet time.  I am so thankful for the family the Lord has blessed me with in Trey and our new friends here at BHM.  This season of life where it is just Trey and I is a season to be treasured.


We are learning so much about one another and growing in our relationship everyday.  As we quickly approach CHRISTMAS DAY I wanted to challenge you to not miss this special time.  In the midst of the travels, the baking, the visits with sometimes challenging family situations, EMBRACE every moment.  Enjoy having your kids home from college.  Enjoy still having parents and grandparents around to celebrate with.  Enjoy snuggling on the couch to a great Christmas movie.  Enjoy the mess that gets created in the kitchen due to all the treats being prepared or all the people in the house.


We are enjoying making new Christmas traditions for just the two of us this year that we know will be carried on for years to come.  We are enjoying seeing how the Christmas season is celebrated in a different country.  We are enjoying listening to Christmas music!  We are eagerly anticipating opening packages sent in the mail from loved ones back in the states.  We are enjoying reading the Scriptures in anticipation for the day so many people set aside to celebrate the birth of our Savior!


I say this as a reminder to myself and to you, in the last week before the Birthday of our King, Do NOT miss it!  Embrace the little moments.  Sing the songs, wear the Christmas colors, eat the goodies, praise our Savior!


Wherever you are, BE ALL THERE, live to the hilt every moment you believe to be the will of God. -Jim Elliott