THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Soon I will post some updated photos of the house and the progress we've made in transforming it into a home for our family.

In the meantime, it occurred to me that I haven't posted many photos of the GROUNDS around the house. When things got stirred up last spring on the OMS campus where we had lived for five years (with the threat of imminent eviction of the mission) and we decided proactively to move towards more secure living space, we literally moved to higher ground. 

Those who have been to Haiti will not be surprised by the beauty of our new surroundings - Haiti is a gorgeous corner of God's amazing Creation - but we are doubly blessed to now live on this particularly beautiful property.

It was a BIG part of what sold us on this move.

Here are a few photos from an early morning walk around the grounds this past weekend - just me, my phone and my coffee mug. And Ginger.

Here's the drive looking downhill from beside our house.

Just a bit further on. Ginger turning around to see why I stopped on our walk.

This view, looking across the plains toward the Citadel on a distant mountaintop, changes from day to day and even hour to hour, sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically. 

Now turned around and heading back up towards the house...

The mountain continues to climb upward back behind the house.

Here's the corner of the side yard. This stone wall is Caleb's favorite new place to practice guitar.

There's a lot of construction back behind the property.

The turtle pond in the front yard of the house.

A stand of bamboo in front of the house. 

In the center are the doors that lead into the living room porch.

A closer view of the turtle pond, home to 11 or 12 turtles that enjoy eating stale Cheerios.

Front doors from another angle.

And here's the courtyard on the back side of the house, just outside the kitchen.

The back doors leading into the kitchen. The blue propane tank feeds our stove on the other side of the window.

I can hardly wait to get a bit more settled in. Maybe in the not so distant future, I will have the energy to spend a quiet Saturday morning landscaping or the leisure time to spend a Sunday afternoon swinging in a hammock. 

Right now ... well, we don't even have hot water flowing yet. There's plenty of work inside to keep us busy still. In the meantime, we are satisfied with the frequent glimpses of God's majesty during our coming and going. What a place to live! 

(But don't take my word for it. Come see for yourself ...)

"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."  Romans 1:20