Grace for today

    I don’t remember if I mentioned it, but for the last few weeks I have been the only American in our house. Ed has been in the States and I have been managing more on my own than I have before. This has been one of those things that I  think I will look back on as having been a wise decision, but in the moment it is hard. I have never lived in a situation where there is no one to talk to, because I can’t talk to them, or where I am in any way responsible for teenagers. Both of those things are a large part of my life right now.  

     I am also right in the middle of what I what I am thinking of as the calm before the storm. Starting the end of this month we will have back to back teams for something like six weeks straight. Maybe longer. I have lost track at this point. Things will be busy and crazy and hot, so I am taking the time to enjoy this period where things are just hot.

    There are so many moments to savor in this new life I have been given. Learning to cook Haitian food and laughing with the girls who live here over how I get food on my clothes. Every. Single. Time.  Or how I am too short to see what’s cooking on the stove without a stool. The little tiny girl who is not afraid to climb up in my arms and the mama who loves her.   My favorite cherries, a gift from that same mama.  Bandaging wounds while five kids look over my shoulder and hang on my arm. Having simple conversations in Kreyol and following them (I think). The boy who comes to our house almost every day and the kindness with which he treats his little sister. Sitting on the floor of the girls’ room talking about what we are going to wear tomorrow. I wouldn't trade these moments for anything. They fill my heart.

    I look forward to when Ed gets back and I am no longer the only American here, to easily understood conversations and not being in charge of teenagers in any significant, but in my anticipation for that time I pray I don’t miss the grace that is in front of me.