Kwizin and Counting

Here is the lot of us heading out for St. Marc.
Eric and Evan rode up front.
I should have sooner than I did.
This was the first time I have ever felt very car sick in Haiti.
I didn't know if I was going to make it.
But we did!
I thought more than once, "If I never have to do this again it will be too soon"!
Then we got to the house.
And I thought..."Surely I will have to do this again."

Never again will I let my husband pick out a house!
He sort of didn't mention that THERE IS NO KITCHEN!
I asked him why he neglected to tell me about this and he said, "I didn't see a kitchen".
That would have been good to know...to clue me in...to prepare me...
for THIS! I knew we needed to purchase a few large appliances. No surprise there. BUT...
There is no way that he didn't see the kitchen because this is the first thing you see when you walk up the stairs! I voiced this disbelief to which he said, "I didn't know THIS was the kitchen!" That would have been the point when I would in my limited Creole have asked the simple question, "Kote kwizin nan"? or "Where the kitchen?"
The only indication that this is a kitchen is the non functioning sink.

Now there. I am done venting and will get on with the real reason I wanted to write this post.

Counting our blessings.

Because the only way to get over the shock of your husband not telling you that there is no kitchen (which was only the biggest among many other shocks I was semi prepared for) is to start counting.

So here it goes.

I am thankful for my new pink kitchen.
I can honestly be thankful because today we swiped a faucet off another sink and a nice guy named Chewy scooted himself under that wanna be sink and got busy.
Unfortunately there was no water to be found.

I am thankful for my husband even though he neglected to tell me about pink kitchen or that the rest of the house is same color pink too. Though Eric is one of the least handy men I know he somehow (maybe with a little help which I didn't notice cause I was trying to do something with this kitchen) managed to figure out how to get city water running to our rooftop, fill up empty cistern,  borrow a battery and pump city water (because water truck refused to deliver the day after a holiday) from the roof down to said sink, and also the shower.

I am thankful to have running water today.

I am also thankful for...
(in no particular order)
the nice people that helped us the past two days
a long mirror on the back of my bedroom door
floors that are not too terribly shabby (for Haiti and all)
not smelling any terrible smells on our street
not seeing any rats yet
not seeing but a couple tiny roaches yet
not having ant problems yet
not having scorching hot weather yet
only having 10 mosquito bites yet
taking a cold shower tonight
finding a little grocery store today
finding a nice lady to do hair extensions tomorrow
a stove top appearing today for us to borrow
a generator already being at the house so we can have a little electricity
my family being together in this big pink house
 food to eat
clean water to drink
baby Evangeline smiling at me all day
having Genise here to help me
2 air mattresses without holes
my kids not having terrible attitudes all of the time
friends who offered to let us borrow beds for a few weeks
coffee this morning

That even though the house is strange and we will probably feel strange in it for awhile...
it is growing on us...
and we are finding many ways to count our blessings

One blessing about not having a kitchen is that it is a good excuse to eat out here!
I am thankful for this table that was left over from the old school that met here.
I asked if I could use it and cover it and then we would just need to purchase chairs.
I am thankful for this porch because there is a nice breeze and...

We are thankful for this beautiful view!
It reminds us of Who created all of this, why we are here and what really matters.
It reminds us that the Son of Man had no place to lay his head but he has graciously given us this house to make our home.

It is a big house and I am already dreaming up what we will do with the extra downstairs rooms...or in other words...who else can this house be a blessing to.

I am thankful for this other porch where I can send my kids to play.
I am thankful that my girls made a new friend today.
A friend for my girls.
One of my biggest prayers and God answered it on the first day.
Who cares about a kitchen?
Fidona speaks English, lives only a few blocks away, and attends El Shaddai Learning Center!
Both her father and her mother work at the school.
We were told that because she attends an English school and her parents work there, the other neighborhood children don't like to include her in play. She came over today to try her luck with us.
My girls asked if she could come back and play again tomorrow.

Tomorrow Eric is catching a ride back to Port au Prince to try and purchase an inverter/batteries (to give us better electricity), possibly find a refrigerator, and pick up some groceries.
I will be attempting to organize my pink kitchen and enjoying my porch.

Thankful for all the prayers lifted up on our behalf and the support that has blessed us so much!