Countdown to Haiti!

Well, here it is!  Our new blog...your direct route to following the journey, our pilgrimage, to Haiti.  I hope to keep this as updated as I can, but at the same time it will be a place you can hear from all of us eventually.  Rob and the girls and maybe even Brooke will be telling you about our adventures and keeping you up to date on our lives in Haiti.

We have about 3 days left until we fly out of Omaha and start our journey to Haiti.  I know many of you are making the correlation between our flight times and the current threat of Hurricane Isaac to Florida.  The Hurricane hit Haiti last night.  From what we can tell the area that we are going to be in, Cap Haitian, just received large amounts of rain and some winds.  They did say that Port-a-Prince was getting hit the hardest--that is where the tent cities and the earthquake devastation still is.  Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti, especially those in Port-a-Prince who are being affected by the high winds and heavy rains.  We are not thinking at this point that our travel will be affected; we are flying into Orlando and that doesn't seem to be in the path of the weather; however, it is weather...ever changing and unpredictable.  So right now we are just preparing as though plans will move forward as expected and if the time comes to change and be flexible...then we will do just that!  We are assuming that the airlines will make the best decisions based on the weather and we are just gonna trust that and know that God knows our timing and our route of travel and has already gone before us and prepared the way!

We have spent our last weeks traveling around, spending time with family and friends.  The list of people we have said goodbye to is now longer than the list of people we have left to hug.  The reality of Haiti is upon us, like a warm thick blanket.  There is so much of this that is so comforting and warm. We are tired...tired of traveling, tired of not having our own space, tired of sleeping in a different place every few nights.  Don't get me wrong--we have been SOOOO grateful for this time!  Grateful that our jobs ended early enough to allow us this travel and grateful for the ppl we have been able to spend this time with!!!!!  Just tired...just SO READY to settle in.  As I was saying goodbye to my sister a couple of weeks ago she said something that just really spoke my heart, "So go do this already so we can stop talking about what we think this is gonna be like and find out what God has for you in it!"  Preach it, sister!

We picked up Brooke this week as well which has also made our journey seem ever so imminent and more of a reality as well.  As many of you know, Brooke is a young lady from SoCal who just graduated from high school this last spring.  Our paths connected--thorough the Lord really :) and the opportunity to go to Haiti with us appealed to her and despite receiving a well-funded trip to a college on the East Coast to play volleyball, Brooke chose to journey to Haiti with us!  And we couldn't be more thrilled!  She is just LOVELY!!!  Easy going, so warm, and the kids are attracted to her like magnets.  She has so much patience and is generous with them...most of the time we are creating her space and carving out time for Brooke to have alone time :)  I know that some of the newness will wear off and this is great for Brooke's sake :)  But I also love the fact that so far it just seems so natural to have her around!  I am so excited for the kiddos of COTP to be able to get to know and love Brooke as well!  Man, she is going to be such a LOVELY BLESSING to our family and to COTP--I trust God for that :)

Well, stay tuned for more updates on our travel, our feelings, and our first steps towards Haiti!!!  Thanks so much for joining us on this journey!  Our journey of FOLLOWING HIM!