Lisa--"Let the little children come unto me..."

This is my first blog since we have moved here.  What an amazing 3 weeks it has been.  From starting out at the wrong airport, taking multiple forms of transportation, arriving to a place we thought we were going to stay and then moving again this weekend to a new home--pretty incredible.  Well, to get the housekeeping stuff out of the way let me tell you about our new home.  After being here for a couple of weeks the Lord directed us to a new home and we moved in over the weekend.  It is a very nice place with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms with running water.  All that aside, we all feel this is where the Lord wants us to be for our ministry as well as our family.  Side note--pray for Marty and Jess today.  They are riding in the back of the truck giving out rice and beans and it is pouring down rain. I just learned that May is the wettest month here in Barahona, who knew?

God has been doing some pretty amazing things in our family since we left Maryland.  We have so felt all of your love and support throughout this whole process and are so blessed by each of you.  We have met some amazing people here as well as grown closer to the friends we knew here before.  One of the most blessed times I had with the Lord was one day last week when Marty and Jess were working and it was just me at the old house.  I was resting in bed--probably after doing laundry or something, I am sure--and listening to the sounds around me.  The electricity was turned off so I could really hear all the different sounds.  If I closed my eyes I could have been anywhere in the world.  I heard the sounds of cars, trucks and motorcycles coming and going, the birds and the dogs (and a few roosters and goats).  But the main thing I heard was the children and the women outside.  The kids were playing, the women were talking, cooking, doing laundry and everything else we do every day.  It all sounded so normal.  God showed me 2 things that day.  All of us, especially us moms, want the same thing for our children whether we are here in the DR or anywhere else in the world.  We want them to be happy, cared for and loved.  That looks different in different places around the world but the feelings are the same.  We met a woman last week who was living in a very small home with her husband and her 10 children as well as some of grandchildren and in-laws.  She was so gracious and was willing to stop her daily routine (she was doing laundry, I think all by hand too) to offer me a chair and asked me if I wanted to sit and stay.  Community is very important here and nothing that anyone is doing is more important than the person who appears at their door.  I have thought back to the times in my life when I thought I was doing something important and was interrupted and how annoyed I got.  God spoke to my heart that day and showed me that nothing is more important than our relationships with others and we need to cultivate that whenever it is presented.  Even if it is not the best time for us--or so we may think.

The second thing God showed me that day was about the children. We all know that Jesus loved and loves the children of this world.  They came to him with no expectations, no thought of what He could do for them, they just came.  Innocent and accepting--such simple faith.  Many years ago a friend of ours asked me about my faith.  I guess my answer, which I don't remember, must have been too simple for him. He told me that I had the faith of a child and I should know and do more.  Back then I was probably insulted.  Today, I would be blessed by that response and I am hopeful that when the Lord looks at me and my heart,  He sees me, loving Him and coming to him just for who He is and not for what He can do for me.

I want to have the faith of a child, that my Jesus will take care of me and I don't need to worry about anything because He's got this!  What a relief.  And also that I remember the gift of hospitality and that nothing is more important than the person the Lord places before me at that moment.