I woke up early on Wednesday morning and started a blog post. The internet black hole that we sometimes have here seems to have devoured it. I was writing about David, Tammy, Josh, Katy & Ashleigh - how gifted they each are in ministry and how blessed I have been by my time with them here. But you'll just have to take my word for it now!
I'll be back with the AUMC summer team in 37 days.
I have a few things to cross off my to-do list this morning:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Annndddd....that's as far as I got on this post before I left Haiti yesterday.
I started writing while I still in the bed at CLS yesterday, a little after 6 am. I woke up in my own bed at home this morning sometime after 6 am - Haiti time! Which means that instead of sleeping until noon as I'd hoped, I was awake around 5:30 this morning. Oh, well. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit - it would appear that I am now a habitually early riser! I stopped drinking coffee during the gallbladder attack that preceded my surgery (the exceptions being our two trips to Cafe Rebo last week). So, that's 6 & 1/2 weeks as a non-drinker of coffee, 3 weeks as an early riser. Hmmm... These two states of being might prove to be mutually exclusive before too long!
Saying goodbye yesterday wasn't easy - but it also wasn't quite as gut-wrenching as it usually is, because I'll be returning so soon. I thought for a while there that I wasn't even going to cry. (Yeah, no.) However: I didn't cry very much or for very long. So, three cheers for emotional stability! Remember when Dorothy leaves Oz and has to say her goodbyes? She's returning home - which really is very good news. But, the word "bittersweet" is called that for a reason...
Saying goodbye to Jovenel is always a challenge for me, emotionally. And he might as well have Middleton DNA, because he's not a very demonstrative person. While I stood and hugged him goodbye yesterday, he just silently leaned into me - for quite some time. I finally said that Edmond better go ahead and start the truck or we'd be standing there all day. I told him how proud I am of him - he truly is becoming more of a leader every day, even as a newly-minted twelve-year-old. And as biased as I may be, I believe with all my heart that God is going to do extraordinary things in and with Jovenel's life.
Speaking of which, I have to share a little bit about Jovenel's big heart and sweet nature. He sometimes uses one of the older boys' Facebook accounts to message me online. A couple of months ago, he messaged me and asked for a birthday present - but not for him. He had picked out a little electronic toddler "tablet" for his buddy Wiskenley, who's about to turn two. Wiskenley's family lives next door to CLS and his parents Wisnal & Yvenette both work there. He is easily one of the cutest and most charismatic little boys I have ever known. Jovenel likes to think of himself as Wiskenley's big brother, and there is a sweet bond between the two of them. I was touched that Jovenel had picked out a gift for Wiskenley, so I was truly happy to spend the $15 to buy the toy on Amazon.
Even though I think Wiskenley's birthday isn't actually until July, Jovenel wanted to give him the gift while I was there, so we did that on Thursday afternoon. Wiskenley was soooooo excited! I think we'll just call it cuteness overload and let the pictures speak for themselves:
Another special friend in the extended CLS family is Wiskenley's uncle Wilnes, Yvennette's little brother who lives with them. I'm guessing he is somewhere around 10 or 11 years old. He has the sweetest smile you've ever seen and spends a lot of time on the roof of the house behind CLS where they live. It's a special blessing to listen to Wilnes singing as he sits on the roof. He has such a beautiful voice and he seems like he will grow into the kind of man who will always have a song and smile to share with the world. Wilnes doesn't speak very much English - but he definitely speaks better English than I do Creole! Even if communication is limited between us, we are always happy to see each other.
Between the house where Wilnes lives and CLS is a huge kenep tree which towers up over the roof of the two-story gatehouse. Keneps are a special treat this time of year - they look like tiny limes on the outside & kind of like lychee when you peel them - but they're mostly a big pit with a thin coating of sweet/sour, fruity flesh that you gnaw off with your teeth while you roll one around in your mouth. I don't know that I've ever really had a fully ripe one, because the kids can't resist harvesting them off the tree as soon as they are not too sour to eat. And as much as the kids love them, they are equally as quick to share them! Being the recipient of freshly-picked keneps is quite an honor.
Wilnes & the keneps he gave me
As special as a gift of keneps is, it's not exactly unexpected. So, I was kind of blown away when I saw Wilnes at the gate one day, and the next thing I knew Jovenel was delivering an entire pineapple that Wilnes had given me! I don't know where he got it or what it cost him, but I was overwhelmed by his generosity. And it was delicious! The next night - my last night - we all shared it for supper and there was even a little left over for breakfast before I left yesterday morning. It really was the sweetest and juiciest pineapple I've had in Haiti (shout out to Katy Harris for peeling and slicing it!) and I don't know that I can accurately describe what a treasure it was to me.
As I was eating my last bite of pineapple on Thursday night, I noticed this little fleck of skin that was still attached to the fruit. I think its shape says it all:
Anyway, my travels yesterday were pretty uneventful - which is what you pray for whenever you fly internationally! Will had to work yesterday afternoon, so Scott and Mark picked me up at the airport on their own. I am not kidding when I say that Mark looks like he has grown three inches in the three weeks I've been gone! I was all but speechless when I saw them waiting for me because I couldn't get over how tall he is. We made a quick stop at Chick-Fil-A in Newnan since I had forgotten to eat lunch yesterday and soon made it home, safe and sound. It was a sweet symmetry to walk in the door and see Will watching the World Cup, since I've been watching a good bit of it with the teenagers at CLS. As tired as I was - and as happy as I was to crash on our sofa! - I hopped in the car with Will to go pick up something for his supper. He filled me in on what he wore to have his senior portraits made (senior portraits what in the what?!?), his class schedule for next year, how great camp was at SIFAT. Just the sound of his voice was music to my ears. When I'd first walked in the door, our two dogs were jumping and running around in blissful jubilation that I was home. I tried to convince Will that he was supposed to react to my homecoming in the exact same way that the dogs had - but there's that Middleton DNA again. :)
A hot shower and a bubble bath were further confirmation that I'm not in Haiti anymore. Luckily, blessedly, thankfully, hopefully, prayerfully, beseechingly - there's always next time! Please Lord, let there always be a next time.
Until then...
No comments:
Post a Comment