Hope loving on her daddy.
Noah loving Peanut - Peanut wondering how she got so unlucky.
A meeting of the minds. 
Britt cooking her pancakes for the crew. She made 32 pancakes, only burned two!
Today started like this:
At the window at 6am Pastor Rony says: "Mr. Troy, Ahhh, Mme. Maxo need you. Ahhh, me need you .... ahhhh, everybody need you."
Troy took it in stride but I could tell that he was troubled by the swirling needs all around him.
The visiting plumbers were asking for parts, the visiting electricians were asking for parts, a child named Noah was pulling at Troy's leg, a wife looked at him and begged him with her eyes not to leave quite yet. The phone rang with instructions from the U.S. regarding the construction project and finances.
So, today our prayer request is this: we need to figure out some boundaries. We need to make sure we are leaving time for God and our family devotion time and then, just family time ... games and chatting and being together.
The last 10 days have been difficult only because we are neglecting this area and getting wrapped up in trying to be all things to all people. We can't be, we aren't, we never will be, and we need to stop trying. Please pray that we prioritize well.
We met mid day for a hug and a quick prayer for energy & patience and then at 4pm we told everybody we were going to the prayer rock and we disappeared (the 7 of us) for a while. We need to work harder to carve out that time, especially when we have a full house. Pastor Rich, your email came at the exact right time. Thank you for that. Your words were necessary and appreciated and right on time.
Other Random Things-
Troy and I made it out of here alone for the first time, for a date. We had to go by 35 gallons of water. We did not take anyone with us. We bought ourselves some Tablet Pistache (kind of like peanut brittle) and some juice. We pretended we went out to eat. Our date lasted 30 minutes, but 30 minutes is better than zero.
The lady who lost her baby will need to go to a hospital tomorrow. She is having trouble breathing and cannot go to the bathroom anymore. God is good, providing the money to help her. We are told she is 19 or 20. Please pray for her.
Right now I am listening to Isaac, Hope and Noah laying in their in beds. Isaac is leading them in song. They are singing "Holy is the Lord, God Almighty, the earth is filled with His glory." Those are the only words to that song that they know so they are singing it over and over and over.
Some bad news, we are failing once again. We would love to never tell you this. Livesay dog 3.0 is going to go live with "keep touching me man," Eddie. Why, you ask? Pouki is acting like a horrid, moron dog since these people on the team showed up. She is a different dog, unmanageable & unhappy, even un-lovable (sorry Tina). How can we host people in our house when our dog hates them and acts out? Forgive us, PLEEEASE.
Out of four votes that were counted, four people voted that she go to Eddie; and we become a one dog family. If you are under 5 you are not of voting age, you must pick up poop and mop of urine and take the dog out in order to earn a right to vote. We do not know why Pouki hates teams. We just know she does. So, Pouki goes and Peanut stays and everyone is feeling good about this decision. Why people, who never succeeded at one dog for very long, went and decided to get two, is beyond reason. We are dumb.
Eddie was here today because he brought some guys out to install an inverter in the new building. He collected his $13 U.S. for the 24 cans of diet coke. Uh, yeah .... let's just say this is the last 24 cans of diet coke I will drink in this country. No good. I am FAR TOO Dutch to pay that much for pop.
The stinkin Mardi Gras is done now. Thank goodness because we need some businesses to be open and take our money.
The Haitian meal was good tonight ... but I have one weird observation. Rice in Haiti tastes fine, but it smells like cowpies. It really does. Troy ate an obnoxious amount of goat and is getting ready to pay for it tomorrow. He'll get no sympathy from me.
The day ended like this:
8:30pm, Troy hears Rony (pronounced Wonny) at the gate. Troy spends some time on the porch talking to him. Pastor Rony asks Troy "Are you tired?" (meaning the kind of tired you get when you are drained and used up) and Troy nods and says yes, it is a hard time for me and my family. Pastor Rony says (this is all in creole between Troy and Rony) "Did God send you here?" Troy says "yes, He did." Rony said "God will help you."
Troy has a heart to encourage Rony and now we see that God has used Rony to encourage Troy in return. Pastor Rony makes every person in this family feel peace and calm and love. He is such a cool guy. Noah chants his name whenever he sees him. Rony is patient enough to chant "Nooooah Noooooah Noooooah," right back. We wish you all could get to know him. He is a servant leader doing an amazing job of loving the people in his village. He works hard and he keeps a positive attitude. He will drop everything to help you and he lives a simple life filled with God's joy. Please pray for him too.
Keeping it real. Leaning on Him.
Bondye Kapab. God Can.
~Tara
