Shiver

Somewhere a rooster crows, a dog barks, a child coughs. The color of the sky is graying just before dawn. A tap on my shoulder, a dark face peering in, a voice says 'I will need some money for concrete'. And so my morning begins. I am not the first up, as I come to the top of the stairs, the soft chatter of men's voices drifts up toward me. A cold shower sends shivers that awaken my senses, a cup of hot coffee, morning conversation about the night before, plans for the day forming. So begins our second to last day in Haiti. By tonight we are hoping we capture pictures of the concrete work finished at the church. We will commence a day of travel here in a few minutes, the team ready's for the day. A tenor of sadness has accompanied us since hearing of the accident down by Port that took the lives of four Americans. As we drove to our speaking engagement last night I had a defensive driving discussion with Robinson and Claudy. We spoke of the comfort and danger pavement brings to travel, especially in a country not accustomed to it. They are apparently beginning training for some road police, as is common with Haiti, it's a bit of the 'cart before the horse' syndrome. I am not afraid to travel here, all travel bears risk, I attempt to lower the risk factor by not choosing the most dangerous paths, but nothing is ever guaranteed. To come to Haiti is to take a risk, but these people are worth the risk. So we go today to share with the mountain folk, and then to a little village outside of town, we will travel slightly up, then we will travel north through the lowlands were we will behold the green of the rice fields. It will be a dusty day, hard day for the sinuses, but will be rewarding in the many faces we will see and the smiles we will share. I am grateful today for the opportunity afforded us to be here, to witness the changes the gospel brings, to be in the moment. Life screams by us a such a great force, we often find ourselves bystanders of the ride. We have been granted the chance to climb aboard, to take this journey, to have our lives shifted and our perspective broadened. We give, we receive so much more in return. That is not my reason for coming, just an acknowledgement that you can never out give the God of the universe! More blogging about that later. I did get up one picture for you, I have tried several times, and the blog has been stingy this trip, no worries though, many are coming! We are capturing many, many priceless moments! I can hardly wait to begin my review of them all! It's hard to process it all here. The ride goes very fast when you are on it! Gravity pulls us homeward, the end looms just ahead, may we finish well! Blessings always.