Happy Friday morning ... it was a long week for us, we're glad to call it over. It seems to me that when it comes to blogging, there is either nothing going on, and I am stretching to find and interesting story to share, or, SO much is going on that I cannot keep up with updating everything.
Sometimes when things get tough on a personal level I find it harder to write. Coming to the blog and finding my whining, complaining, and general negativity is not very enlightening or interesting to read. It is also not how I think of myself, that is the "bad Tara" and I save that bad day stuff for emailing my Mom and Sister. Lucky them.
Things are better, mainly because my attitude is better. Tuesday was tough. There was one discouraging/confusing email received and then ten minutes later, discouraging adoption news. We were all at higher stress levels preparing for the group arrival. At that point there was no need to throw in extra issues, we were edgy anyway. And, lets be real about it - there is a strong possibility that the heat and the extra pounds I am hauling around make me irritable. I know they make me tired. At one point Troy said "That's it - everybody to the prayer rock." I think that was the point where I was crying and said some dramatic thing like "It will never work out. Everything is impossible."
HA. It's kind of funny now.
Britt had two more new stitches patients in the last few days, if they are just in need of six or seven stitches she is not blogging about it anymore --- I guess those stories are not interesting or exciting enough to her anymore. Lovelika came home from Cazale yesterday. Troy went to see her, the rest of us have not seen her yet. She should come see Britt today for a dressing change. We're anxious to give her a squeeze.
Paige wrote yesterday about the formula program. We were later asked why someone would lie about where the baby lives and who is taking care of it. I am going to carefully attempt to answer that.
First, everyone lies at some point. I have lied. You have lied. We teach our kids to tell the truth, but at least once a week we deal with someone caught in a lie. The "I did not do it" variety of lie.
Some lies are easier to take than others. As we all know, it is most frustrating to be lied to when you KNOW that you are being lied to. Recently someone told Paige "You must have dreamt that" because they were unwilling to admit to something they had done, they claimed she dreamt it. That's insulting and lying. It is what it is though. We're all capable of sinning and sometimes we're pretty crafty too.
The reasons for lying in this situation are many. First, they might think that if they tell us where they live we will not help them. Maybe it is an area where people have more money, maybe it is too far from our mission, for whatever reason they might lie because they think the lie will make it more likely for us to meet their need. They might lie about the mom being dead so that we don't ask them to have the mom nurse the baby. They might lie because they are embarrassed or ashamed about their own true story. Worst case scenario, they lie because they want the formula, but they don't actually need it.
There are lots of reasons, and in Haiti it is very difficult to discern what is true and what is made-up. Especially as the outsiders. Stories evolve over time and what you hear first is often very different than what you hear a few weeks later. One lady came saying she was the grandma of the baby, about six weeks later we learned she is the mom.
We sort of accept it I guess. That is not to say we LIKE being lied to, it is just to say that you never really know and you can't - so you might as well just do your best to get the right story and then when you think you have it, move on and don't worry about it. It might sound simple and even stupid, but when my girls are frustrated about someone lying to them I've just explained that the truth is the truth whether it is told or not. They cannot be responsible for forcing it to come out, that is God's business ... they can just rest in knowing that He knows and He sees and that is enough.
Today the team is distributing Love Bundles and working on some construction odds and ends. Tonight we'll be dining on my specialty menu item; Tacos. Tomorrow our family is running into Port au Prince to go to an OB appointment and to get a DHL package and some money exchanged. If time permits we will eat lunch at my new favorite place in the entire country. It is called Boca Moca and they have really good deli sandwiches, air-conditioning, comfy over-stuffed couches, internet, and all sorts of new magazines (Tina- they even have Runner's World.) It feels like you are sitting in a coffee shop in Suburbia USA. It is a lovely escape and motivates me to go to my OB appointments. While we do that, the team will go up the Mountain to Petit Bwa. Sunday we'll go to church here at the mission and then take our team to the beach for the afternoon. This weekend will be busy, unless some major excitement comes our way, we won't be around much until Monday. We hope your weekend is wonderful, that you enjoy some fun spring things, and that you know that we appreciate your kind words and support of our tribe.
God Bless You!
-Tara for all of us
