Steady {Rain} of Peace

Katie and I took a moto selfie.

I know it hasn't quite been a month, but I feel there is a lot that has happened in the last few weeks to unpack for you. I left my last blog sharing with you how life here can be really weird. That hasn't changed. It's still weird. But, in that weirdness, I'm finding contentment. This post is meant to share with you how God has been moving and {reigning} in my life the last few weeks.

Let's start the week before Hurricane Matthew. It was a "normal" week. We were in about our 6th week of school and I was really starting to feel like the kids and I were finding our groove. We had a routine. The kids are pretty excited for what they are learning about.

Micah has struggled with math a little bit. It is not his favorite thing, but we did some extra practice and I think I actually heard the words, "This is fun!" escape. Algebra will do that to you. [It's my favorite.] He is also learning about American History and we have had some really great discussions surrounding his Science textbook and whether or not we agree with it completely. Chloe has been reading a lot of literature surrounding historical Greek time periods. We've read a lot about hangings and tomb robbers (causing me to have some bizarre dreams) with some exciting plots. She is practicing on long division and pesky word problems. Jude has been learning all about the Vikings and reading several stories from that time period. We've had a lot of fun reading some of the character parts. Math is his least favorite, but I often hear, "Caitlin, it wasn't easy, but I did it anyway!" They finished their first unit of writing and decided to do persuasive writing next. Jude and Micah have chosen opposing sides of a topic and we are going to have a debate! Chloe picked a separate moral issue to write about, but is very excited and passionate about what she is learning through her research. Her words the other day were, "This might be more fun than I thought." My teacher heart is always thrilled at little nuggets of encouragement from their lips.

God's reign through school is His constant affirmation of my love for curriculum and my knowledge surrounding it. No curriculum is perfect. There's not a single curriculum out there that will have ALL that you need. I have been working hard at supplementing their curriculum to insure that they are learning all the things they need to. I'm thankful for two years in public education that exposed me to a myriad of resources and knowledge of standards for learning.

This was my "bed" during
the hurricane. It was cooler
on the porch in this, than
inside.

We spent a lot of time on this porch
Monday night and Tuesday watching
it rain.

Moving on to our next big event -- Hurricane Matthew. I know many of you followed on social media our experience, so this will just be quick recap of our time. God reigned SUPREME with his POWER and PROTECTION through Hurricane Matthew. We knew a hurricane was coming and had to make some tough decisions about what the right thing to do was. We wanted to be accessible in a time of need to our Haitian neighbors and friends where we live if things got bad, yet we also wanted the kids to be in the safest place possible during this time. So, we made the decision to stay off location at an orphanage on higher ground. We packed up our houses and got things off of the ground on the first floor, and the most important things onto the second floors of our homes -- all the while awaiting the fury that was alleged to be Matthew. We waited and waited and waited. It had begun a steady rain on Monday and that steady rain continued off and on through Tuesday night. And that's all it ever did. Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. {steady rain} For most of the day Tuesday, we watched it rain and waited for the gusting winds and pouring rains. We even played in it while we waited. But it never came. I have goosebumps just thinking about the power exhorted on our city of Gonaives. There were literally THOUSANDS of people praying for us. We watched the radar. We were in the red and heart of the storm. It should have been windy. It should have poured. It should have flooded tons of water. But it didn't. It just rained. We were in a prayer bubble. God protected us. There is no doubt we experienced the miracle of the body of Christ lifting something up in prayer. The rain we received flooded a little bit, and some of our chickens had to be relocated out of their coop into a house for the night. But, we had a storm in May that brought more flooding than Matthew. God. Is. Good.

Moses kept watch for Hurricane Matthew.

We spent the last half of hurricane week reseting our lives. We unpacked our houses. We had a neighborhood BBQ for the people that stayed onsite for safety. We got prepared to return to reality.

Enter this week. This week we got back in the swing of things. School started back up again, and praise be to God, we still had our routine. A hurricane couldn't shake it! We returned to our daily tasks and schedules. It even rained one day this week harder than it ever did during the hurricane. Again, just a nice steady rain, but still, harder than it rained during Matthew. We played in this rain as well. I felt like a giant kid, but it was good for my soul.

As I reflect over the last few weeks, I can recognize how God has been working in my own heart --  living and working in the same place, being away from your friends and family, adjusting to a different culture. I feel the Lord reigning supreme in my life. He is my comfort, shelter, friend, constant companion, healer, Almighty One. He is teaching me to be reliant on Him. To find my identity in Him. He is my strength. I am constantly striving to be satisfied in Him. I have peace in the tough times. I have peace in the good times. This last week has easily been the most content I have felt since I moved here. It's refreshing.

My "I get to go home" face
during the hurricane.

I appreciate the prayers that I know are constantly flowing for me and my team. Please - continue them. They make a difference. I've felt it. Pray for my mom, grandma and Holden's mom and sister as they will be traveling here in just under a month. Continue to pray for the success of our ministries. The chicken co-op is a full on co-op and the team is excited about the changes we are making. Our school ministry is in full swing as school has started and our medical clinic is preparing to move here in the coming weeks to our new location. God is good. All the time.

Until next time,
Caitlin

Normal for me, but not for you...(Power/Electricity Special)
[Larry Merry, you will get a kick out of this.]
Power is a strange thing here in Haiti. It's surges a lot and we often go stretches of hours without it during the days and nights. One of the weirdest things I recently learned is that rather than a power person coming to read the meter each month, (We have a meter.) someone from the power company comes to our compound, looks around and just decides how much we owe. Some Haitians will also tell you that our city power is run by one giant generator so when the power goes out - it's broken.

There was a recent conspiracy when we lost power for a stretch of five days (eek!) that the vendors that sell ice had sabotaged the power because too many were buying refrigerators and didn't buy enough ice anymore.

Just this weekend we were supposed to be out of power for three days because some part was broken. However, it was evidently beyond our Haitian repair because apparently a team from Venezuela was coming in to fix it. The longest we were out of power was like 30 hours, and then it's been back. So either the Venezuelans work fast or they never made it and we figured it out. Who knows? Needless to say, it's never dull around here.

Andre's coop flooded so he put his chickens in his house.
He was SO proud that he had saved the chickens.
He loves his work.