tout bagay byen

Everything is good.

I fully expected to melt down when I got here but so far no melt down on Haitian soil.  I am not nearly as overwhelmed as I anticipated I might be. There is tons to do to get the house back in order but in a rare  break from the norm I am not freaking out about it.

There was a melt down at the Chili's in Dallas, TX when I realized I had locked all my make-up and most often used toiletries into the house that we were 90 miles from at 9pm ... Sort of embarrassing, but  I've cried over stupider things than make-up before.

Geronne & Lydia

Friday was really hard. Lots of things went wrong and Lydia was in rare form; possibly more off than we've ever seen her. We stayed at our friend Anne's house in Dallas and she was so sweet to walk around and pray over and with each of our kids.  Everyone was in bed before midnight on NYE.

Saturday (the actual travel day) was perfect. We got to the airport extra early to deal with 900 lbs of checked luggage and tired kids without rushing them. The flights went on time. The kids did great.  The grown-ups did great.  Joanna was a life saver. I don't think we could have pulled it off without her. She was in charge of Phoebe and Hope. Troy passed me a note on the second flight that said, "I feel zero fear and total peace and that is almost going to make me cry."  Just knowing he felt peace helped me feel more peaceful.  Once we landed any apprehension or weirdness I felt last week lifted.

It felt wonderful to see our friends (Haitian and expats) and to drive into our driveway.  Geronne was so excited to see the kids.  Noah had been practicing his Creole and the first thing he said to Geronne was "Ou pale Kreyol? Wi? Ou dezod!" (You speak Creole? Yes? You're naughty!) He made a fool of himself on the plane by saying the 10 words he knows over and over and over.  The two rows around us now know how to say please, thank-you, sit, you're naughty, and do you speak Creole?  Helpful.

Beth  & Tara

The kids were thrilled to see Peanut (our dog) and ran straight to their rooms. They all seem very happy to be here, but especially Noah.  He is giddy.  (For him especially this is much more home than any place in America.)

At church yesterday I cried half the time and Troy cried the entire worship time (which in Haiti is a looooong time).  The gratitude we felt to be standing at PAP Fellowship is hard to explain. (Photo in previous post of Lydia at church yesterday.)

We have much organizing and unpacking to do in the coming days and we need to figure out phones and inverters and many logistical things.  Tomorrow our kids go back to school, please pray for them .... most of all - Noah  - who always struggles the most with fear over school.

When everything in the world feels upside down, you can count on a couple things ...  one of them being the many roosters that live next door to us will still crow at 2am. And 4am.  And 7am. 
We're so happy to be here, even that is music to our ears.