We were heading to the burial at just after 2:00 in the afternoon. The funeral began at 11:00 AM. It was packed. People were standing in the back. Nabeel would have been so proud. He never would have believed all the people that took the day off work or drove for hours to be there to pay their last respects. I wish I could tell him that Mike Collins drove in from Huntington, West Virginia. Brent Gambrell drove from Nashville, Tennessee. As well as the many, many former youlth from 1999. It was quite a reunion. And there's many more I don't even know about!
Earlier in the week, Brynna's handsome young man friend, Thomas, paid the extra to get her stay extended. So, we left her behind in the care of Greg and Tammy whom she describes as even stricter than us.
Pastor Rick and Linda graciously drove us from Louisville to Bowling Green to meet Greg and Thomas. It was so good to spend those short hours with Rick and Linda. What a bond we have with them. We have known them since our boys were exatly three years old. We'd stay the night at the Young's and Greg would drop us off at the airport early in the morning "on his way to work"...
(Please pray for Pastor Rick and Linda and the entire staff at Ormsby Heights Baptist Church. It's going to be one huge void that they will be learning to live without. They have lots of emotions to work through. And they will have to make some hard decisions on hiring, I'm sure. I can't even imagine working in the office again withouth Nabeel. They'll be living it day in and day out. Pray for Pastor Rick as he leads and shepherds His flock. Pray that The Lord gives him wisdom and strength.)
Tammy cooked us up a huge meal for dinner that night in White House, Tennessee. It was breakfast and perfect for our fragile tummies!! I have dreamed about it a time or two these past few days. Brandon & Amber and Emma joined us for supper and then the rest of the Church at Pleasant Grove joined us afterwards for fellowship and then prayed us out. We had two visitors who were welcomed with open arms - Andy and Emi Nash.
The "church" circled around us and prayed long and hard and specific prayers. Wow! We love them! We don't know what we'd do without their prayer support. Soon after, we were handed a bowl of Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream - Askinoise!!! Wow!! It was scrumptious as ever. Our friends started leaving and going home. We were left in the living room with the idea of prolonging our stay. A friend wanted to give us that option... to stay in the states for 4-5 more days and catch our breath. Chris called and got online and tried everything to make it work for the next two hours. Needless to say, it just was not meant to be. We had prayed and prayed and nothing worked out.
As I found my seat and got settled at 5:45 AM on a US Airways flight, I looked up at the line that had stopped passing me by and recognized a face!! I stood up and hugged her neck!! It was an adoptive momma who I had met and sat and talked with for a long time at Emily Scott's going away party. She
had never been to Haiti and this was her first time. She said to me, "I can't even begin to explain to you how much it means to me that you are going to be traveling with me today!"
After we landed in Charlotte she apologized that she was the reason that we didn't get to stay. We laughed and assured her that we were thrilled to be able to introduce her to Haiti. Because we were. What an honor! We journeyed with her all the way to Port-Au-Prince. Helped carry her bags until she met up with her driver.
Ever since we've made it back up on this hill we've been kinda in a haze... kinda glazed over... the city electric has been OFF. They ran into some issue in hanging new lines. So, I've literally not taken a shower since the day of the funeral. No hot water. No lights. No conveniences. The landlord has run the generator an hour or so here or there so that we were able to get charged back up. I'm just not sure when our bodies will be charged back up. Dealing with a sudden death zaps everything out of you. If we are operating at half capacity, I can only imagine what Rachel, his wife, is operating on. Please, please, please be in prayer for her. She's a strong woman of God. But, it doesn't matter how strong of a believer you are - you still need prayers to make it through gracefully. We're all still human. And our bodies still process grief differently.
Everything seems to just be moving a little slower. I think getting a taste of convenience and luxury in the US again only pushed me back a step. Pray for me as I try to push one foot in front of another again and again.
We are headed back down the hill today to meet a small team and pick up Brynna at the airport. Chris will be heading to Grand Goave for a few days with them and us girls will head back up the hill. We have Kreyole lessons tomorrow and hope to see the kids at Godet while Chris is away. I can't wait to introduce all 18 of them to you. They are precious!
We'll be going to stay at a possible future housing location this weekend. Part of Chris' role here in country is to be scouting out new places and new partnerships. And it's exciting to be able to be on the front lines with him.
Continue to pray for us as we rub shoulders with the Haitian population. Pray that God will continue to sweep in and give hope to the hurting, healing to the broken, strength to the weak and wisdom to those who seek His will.
We love you all! Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
Verse of the Day:
"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."
Psalm 4:8
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