And some crazy busy days for Melissa (packing hundreds of pounds of school supplies and personal items) and me (working to ready our old house - and yard - for new renters)...
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| (The pool and its deck are now gone!) |
We loaded up two vans - our old red van with boxes and suitcases and a rental with kids and snacks - and headed towards Florida. We had put two grand into our personal vehicle to make sure it was roadworthy. The plan was to park it in Florida so that it wouldn't block Grandma Trudy's driveway for another nine months and it would save us the cost of a rental when we flew into Florida next summer.
After a late afternoon start, we only made it just past Nashville the first night. The next morning we drove about two miles before our old red van started to overheat.
Over the course of the next SEVEN hours, we drove in short spurts to a local mechanic, ate lunch while he looked at it, cringed at the diagnosis of a blown head gasket, sold it to him for $350 (minus the $150 charge for his time and effort at diagnosing!), rented another minivan, transferred our cargo, said goodbye to our faithful old friend, and got back on the road. Exhausted.
I know we're all smiling in this "selfie", but what else can you do? In reality, Caleb was on the verge of tears over saying goodbye to that van. Our kids grew up in that van. They threw up in that van. Roadtripped. Ate Happy Meals. Told stories. Had silly arguments. Survived a t-boning at a traffic light.
It was emotional. One more tie with our previous life unceremoniously cut with no warning. We were on a schedule, though, and needed to keep moving. At this point, there was no way to make it to Orlando by nightfall like we had planned.
So it was late Saturday afternoon before we hit the resort in Orlando where we had planned to stay three nights - now down to two. (It was one of those time share deals where the weekend is next to free if you sit through a one hour meeting! Well worth it.)
We were all relieved to have gotten this far.
Sunday was a relaxing day. Time at the pool.
Caleb was excited about the giant sized chess board, but he couldn't convince anyone to play him for any length of time.
Monday morning we had to get to Fort Pierce by noon to unload and weigh our cargo at Missionary Flights International.
The rest of Monday was spent in last minute shopping and repacking a few last odds and ends. We caught an early flight on Tuesday morning and the next thing we know, we're back in Haiti.
Our first few days back have been filled with critters, reunions, and preparations at Cowman School.
First critter: Buddy. He's gotten bigger and wilder and louder over the summer. He's a barker and he's been driving all the other residents crazy at night. It's going to take some intentional training to get him under control.
He doesn't look it in this picture, but he was thrilled to see us.
Those first days back were filled with sweet reunions - this one with my three Haitian sons. They are modeling some new shirts we got for them over the summer. They worked hard around the house while we were gone - the landscaping looks incredible.
We were pretty much the last missionaries to return after summer. It's been so good getting caught up with everyone.
We've had an abundance of run-ins with various critters since we returned - the kids found a tarantula that had been chewing on a dead gecko in the rafters of our porch. Johnny got him down for a closer look.
Another critter. Madam Arnold was here at our house helping with cleaning and announced, "I have a visitor!"
At Cowman, we've found plenty of cleaning and straightening to be done before the new school year starts this coming Wednesday. This is my room, looking a bit frazzled.
And here's what Melissa's room looked like:
One afternoon, Mikenn and Ruysdael helped paint my shelves while Johnny cleaned.
Our kids have done a fair share of work around school too. Mostly without complaining. ;-)
Today they were even washing up things that had been in Melissa's closet/bathroom - a place that had also become a summer rat hangout.
We were pulling items out of the closet and there were droppings and chewed up bits of paper everywhere. I started pulling items off the shelves one by one until I got to the last three totes.
Melissa and I were sure the rat was still in the closet, so it struck me as a type of rat shell game.
I entered the room alone, secured the door, and, armed only with the shoes on my feet and a broom, I moved one tote at a time, looking to do in a rat.
Right tote to shelf: no rat.
Middle tote to shelf: no rat.
Oh yeah. He was behind the final tote. Even though I knew it, I still jumped when he came charging past me in his attempt to squeeze out under the door. The broom broke with my first swing at him. I ended up stomping on the little beast's tail and using the broom handle as a rat harpoon.
It was oddly exhilarating. (Don't judge me!)
I had to repeatedly assure Melissa that the rat was truly dead before she agreed to let me open the door. She was brave enough to take the following disturbing picture.
[Stop scrolling now if you don't care to see a dead rat! Or the maniacal grin on my face.]
I think I look a bit like Jack Nicholson in "The Shining", right?
For all the ups and downs, the joys and headaches of this past week and a half as we have transitioned back to Haiti, we thank God for His protection, provision and patience.
And thank you, also, to all the individuals and churches whose support God used to put us here!
It's good to be back!
