Praise God for the clouds

Praise God for the clouds that bring the rain (that few people want, but everyone needs) that brings the growth and gives us a greater appreciation for the sun!

And the sun breaks through the clouds.... As of May 5th, I finished the two classes I was taking, I changed my housing situation (I now live in a house in Grabill with two other assistants), and stability was brought back to my job (I am back in one house)!  The amount of stress and anxiety that has been lifted over the past couple of weeks has been enormous!! I am going to be completely open here and admit that the past few months were pretty awful and I really would rather not repeat them.  There may have been a few times...possibly several...that I questioned my sanity....  Praise God for amazing friends around me who kept me focused and so often would just be a listening ear!

Back in the middle of March, I took a trip to Florida by myself!  I basically made this big circle throughout the state! I am going to give you a very brief snapshot of where I went.  My first stop was Savannah, GA.  From there I went to Jacksonville, FL for a couple of days, then Siesta Keys, then Fort Myers and Sanibel Island.  After which I went to Fort Lauderdale for a couple of days and then stopped in Nashville, TN on my way home!:)  I would give you a lot more details, but I am afraid I would bore you and take up way to much space.  However, it was an amazing trip and I would totally do another trip like that again!! I love exploring and checking out new places.....and I love being by myself...:)  Even if everyone else thinks I am crazy...  And for those of you super concerned, I did meet up with different people (met new ones and old friends) at different times along the way. Praise God for safe travels, new experiences, alone time, and new people!

I had the great privilege of having a few friends come visit me in March & April.  Amber Ehnle, Olivia Steffen, Tricia Bauman, and Leah Beery.  Praise God for rekindled friendships and friendships that can be picked up right where they were left off.  It was so great to be able to reconnect with all of these girls...especially since I basically haven't talked or spent time with any of them since I moved to Haiti all those years ago....well almost three years ago.  Wow...I can't believe it has been that long....I remember it like it was yesterday and still my heart aches to be there.  Praise God for that ache, because it is a constant and good reminder of God faithfulness, God's calling, and God's commission to go and preach the Gospel to ALL NATIONS!

One of the weekends in April, I was able to ride to IL with a couple ladies from Bluffton and meet up with my mom and sister!  It was a very brief trip, but I will take any opportunity I get to spend time with them!  To all of you reading this (I know you have heard this many times)...but don't EVER take your family for granted! Spend time with them, talk with them, tell them you love them....because no matter how annoying or lovable they might be, no matter how good or not so good your parents have been, no matter how obedient or disobedient your children are, no matter if you are angry and bitter against them....if you lose someone, you will want to wish back the poorly spent time and change it to well-spent.

Savannah, GA

I got my toes in the water.....

St. Augustine

Great taco place in Jacksonville!

Turtle Beach - Siesta Keys

Sanibel Island

Among The Flowers - a super cute and tasty place to eat if you are ever on Sanibel Island!!

Can you find the alligator in this picture?

I found a Haitian restaurant in Fort Lauderdale!  It was the highlight of my trip and the food was so delicious!!! I had goat, rice, and fried plantains!!

Country Music Hall Of Fame

Assistants chillin' while shopping at Meijer's

Had a few wonderful friends come and visit me in April!!

Ultimate Frisbee in the rain...

 Tricia & I

 Tricia - Olivia - I

Burmese Tea

This stuff is bomb!!! Like I be smashin' on it! :)

Bluffton World Invite

Miranda - Erika - Heidi - Myself - Aubrey - Ella

Until next time.....

Alive and Well

Well it has now been a few months since I have last written.  Mostly because every time I sit down to write, I don't feel inspired or have things to write about.  Then today I realized that it isn't just I don't have anything to write about, but the overwhelming feeling of how do I possible inform people about what has all been going on in my life?!  The last few months have been packed with learning/ teaching/ growing moments.

In January I started taking a couple classes.  I was reminded again how much I really love to learn!! If people would pay me to go to school.....I am not sure I would ever finish college..:)...but then again maybe not. One of the classes is a Psych class at the college in Fort Wayne, the other class is Perspectives On The World Christian Movement and is offered at a church in Grabill.  This second class has totally sucked me in! I can't even begin to explain how much I have grown and learned already!! Seriously, so so so good!  I would highly recommend it to anyone!

The first weekend in January was the wedding of one of my close friends, Alyssa Eisenmann to Ned Troxel.  I was honored to be able to share the special day with her as one of her bridesmaids!  It was a great weekend, and Alyssa was a radiant and beautiful bride!

Then, as many of you know, at the end of January my dad died.  It is astounding how one moment can completely change everything!  It makes you realize how fragile time is.  The last few weeks have been pretty rough at points, but hearing people talk about the huge change they saw in my dad the last week he was alive, and knowing that he had surrendered himself completely over to God, gives me great comfort and peace!  I get to see him in heaven someday!!!

A HUGE thank you to all of you who have been lifting my family up in your prayers!  Prayer is the most powerful thing you can ever do!  Also for all of you who have sent cards, flowers, gifts, encouragement, given of your time, and given hugs:); they are greatly appreciated!!

We are not called to live comfortable lives.  We are called to suffer for Christ's sake, so that God's name will be worshiped and praised!  Christ told us to pick up our cross and follow Him.  The cross is the sign of suffering.  Christ's suffering isn't completed yet and we must follow Him in His suffering. Why? So that God's name will be praised and His kingdom glorified!  For the advancement of the gospel of Christ.  There are a few verses in Philippians that I really appreciate:

"I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ." vs 12-13

"For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake,"

It isn't easy losing a parent or anyone close to you.  Or to handle an enormous list of other hard things that happen to people.  Paul said that because of his imprisonment many others were reached.  I echo his statement.  My pain/hurt/struggles, God uses it for the advancement of His kingdom.  So even though it is hard and it hurts, I praise God; because it isn' about me and my feelings, it is about God and for the advancement of His kingdom.  So that His name will be praised and worshiped!

Picture time.....:)

Mom came to visit me in January, and this was our project!:)

My awesome siblings

Abby & I at our family Christmas:)

Erin & I

The three musketeers are finally together again!

Amanda & I

On New Year's Eve a group of us went to Chicago and watched the Newsies!! It was incredible!

Amanda, Lindsey, Kristi, Jess, and I

Jenna and I after getting our hair done

Wedding Party:)

Love You Dad!!

Just for kicks and giggles.  I saw this the other day and couldn't stop laughing...

Vwayaj Nou An Nan Ayiti!!!

The last week in October, I had the amazing opportunity to return to Bonne Fin, Haiti for a short trip.  I got to take a few friends with me too!  There were six of us that went....Kristi Baran, Lindsey Kieser, Amanda Winn, Charla Leman, and Terry Zollinger(Charla's mom). All of which work at Gateway....except Terry.  We flew out of Fort Wayne last Friday, spent the night in Miami, then arrived in Haiti on Saturday.  Amanda and I spent half of the week teaching the Geckoes (which is the name of the missionary school there), since the Klopfenstein's were back in the states for part of the time we were there.  Kristi and Lindsey spent those days painting an apartment for a hospital employee and her daughter.  Charla and Terry spent the entire week with their sister/daughter's family....the Hartzlers.  Then on Thursday, we worked on cleaning up the house for the new missionary couple (the Plattners from Goodfield)....who moved down the week after we went!  So please keep them in your prayers as they adjust to a different style of living!  Sunday we had the great opportunity to go to the Bonne Fin church, then to Port Salute...which is a great beach!!:)

I took the girls on a few different hikes...some of them they were not so fond of.....but we all survived it and no one was seriously injured! Minor incidents...weellll...yah...but like I said, we are all still living!:)  As one so stated in a moment prior to terror...."Argh, these stupid leaves are in my face."  A few moments there it became..."I am really glad all the green foliage was in my face!"  What happened in-between, you might ask?  Well first you need to know that we were climbing back down from the side of a waterfall and instead of jumping into the water, we decided we didn't really want to get completely soaked...so we were scaling the side to reach dry land. Lindsey was taking the lead and she made the comment...right after which she grabbed hold of a rock that was unstable and fell back(while screaming)...in these brief milliseconds, I looked down to see that were she would fall would really damage her....she would have hit her head/neck on a rock jutted out below, then rolled into the water. But she stopped after falling back so far! I looked back at her to see that she was hanging on to some foliage!! They weren't that big or strong...but somehow they managed to hold her and she pulled herself back up!  Then came the after statement.  A real life example of give thanks in all things and hard eucharisteo.

To talk about and explain everything on our trip would take paragraphs upon paragraphs....so I will refrain my ever blabbering fingers and spare your weary eyes.:)  Overall it was a great trip! I loved being back there!  And it was way harder than I expected to return to the states after the trip.  A huge chunk of my heart will forever be in Haiti.  And it gave me all the more confirmation of what my passion is though!!  Below are just a few of the pictures....:)

Our incredible group:)

The Bag Watcher...

Kristi & I  (For those who don't know.....Kristi was my roommate for my first 6 months at Gateway)

Kristi playing the piano at Charlotte airport!!

The volunteer pianist had some business to take care of, so she let us take turns playing!! We even got some tips!!!:)

Charla, Lindsey, Amanda, Me, and Kristi

We went to Port Salute on Sunday after church.

Krae & Conrad during recess

Leah & Mara

Conrad

Amanda & Grace

Charla with all the kiddos...:) (Leah, Grace, Conrad, Quincy, Gideon)

Overlook farther up the Bonne Fin road

The market.....here is your Joanne Fabrics

A fish we bought at the market..!!!

Lindsey & Kenny

Simply adorable...

Kenny....:)

Spelunking with Jimmy & Bazlais

On the guest house roof...we played some Bananagrams

Before our hike to the hydro

Climbing the side of the waterfall

Cleaning Plattner's new home