8, I mean 9 Days Out... (don't even know what day it is!)

Wow! I can hardly believe we are 9 days away from living in Haiti! Can you? Lately, I've been realizing how much of a "dream come true" it is for me. Since I was a little girl I've had the constant desire to be a "missionary" in a foreign field. Chris and I served with Cru for a few years, but never made it to our assignment because we kept having babies and our support goal kept increasing. No, we never made it to West Virginia University because we only owned Marshall GREEN clothes. No, we never made it to WVU because The Lord knew the big picture and we didn't. We are but a tree in His forest. A tree He watered and pruned and shone the sun upon. We were perfectly in His during those years. It just didn't feel like it at times. But, wow, did we learn some things. My dreams are about to come true!

Monday night Greg, Tammy and Thomas came over to help out. But, all we really had "in us" was energy to play Mexican Trains, some Cracker Barrel Coca-Cola Cake and true fellowship. It was a SWEET time for sure. It's going to be hard to not have these opportunities in Haiti. We'll miss them SO! Greg won the game, but he was the scorekeeper... so, we're asking for an audit. Brynna took the picture and I don't know how Tammy wasn't in the photo, but here's what it looked like: 

Yesterday, Glynda and Brandon (from our small group) came over and helped us get the kitchen packed up along with a few other things. It was perfect help at the perfect time. Great conversations. Much accomplished. My body is so tired it can barely move right now. We're so thankful that they were able to help.

The POD was delivered and now we can fill it up. It'll be 98% full on Thursday night, but we'll wake up Friday morning and finish it up. How do we reduce our "stuff" to fit into this little box?! I've been trying to purge, sort, purge, sort for a while now. It's even harder not really knowing for sure where we'll be come January. Will we return? Folks, I can promise you this - we do NOT know. It's the question of the century in our lives. Many people have opinions and guesses, but we in our hearts have not decided. We will only decide after October passes and we know if it's a good thing or not for the Ward family AND a door to hope. Time will tell. I'm sure you'll be able to read into our blog and know before we do. But, we'll keep you posted. Please pray for us today and tomorrow as we finish up the packing process. It's not just our "stuff" that you can lift and put in boxes that we're packing up, but it's our emotional and spiritual stufft, too. Ya know? Turning down the American Dream really means getting rid of a lot more than just extra pots and pans and books, but putting aside desires and dreams and desserts and convenience and etc... How does one do that? I don't know. There isn't really a book I can find to walk us through the process of how to prepare to live in a third world country. If there is, I haven't found it and it's too late...

We also had some company for dessert last night. On paper products. LOL!! It wasn't pretty, but it was delicious! Some friends we made at Creole class came over: Pastor Samuel and his dad, Marcel and pictured: Michelle Fleury and Candice and Richard Zamora. Both of these girls spent many, many months serving in Haiti and shared with us advice about living there. Candice encouraged us to pray over every little and big thing - appliances included. Michelle encouraged us to dive in and try speaking the language with the Haitian ASAP. Don't wait until we feel confident. It was a sweet, sweet time filled with strawberries, angel food cake, cool whip and some treats from Polland that Michelle's mom sent. Oh, it was also filled with anticipation and advice. We gained so much encouragement from these people and we circled up and held hands at the end and Pastor Samuel said we should sing. LOL! It was quite a hilarious moment. We couldn't come up with a song we all could sing in Creole together, so we hummed "How Great Thou Art" which then turned to a holy moment. Wish we had it on video. But, holy moments aren't meant to be replayed via video - only in our hearts. Thank you Michelle and Candice and Richard! Michelle is married to a handsome Haitian, but he had to work. So, we missed him!

Confession: It's 8 days out folks. All I can really do is read my daily Proverb. Today was Proverbs 13 (because it's August 13): 

“A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence. Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace. Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but sin overthrows the wicked. One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth. The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth, but a poor man hears no threat. The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out. By insolence comes nothing but strife, but with those who take advice is wisdom. Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it."

Chris wanted to write a blog and call it "Ward Podcast" but, he's got too much work to do. He promises he'll write one once we are in country. Thanks for listening and praying!