What Goes Around…

I guess there’s truth in the saying: What goes around, comes around. I have always been a big foodie and now guess what?!! My little girl is a huge foodie and she’s only 19 months old!! I foresee in our future: fun with food!!

Seriously, sometimes I wonder if something is wrong with Veronika when she constantly coming to me asking for a bon-bon which is the kreyol word for cracker or cookie. She is happiest with both her fists full of food and a big glass of cold water or kombucha!! And she even knows how she likes her stuff for example, ever since she was tiny and I mean TINY she always wanted her milk and water to be ice cold otherwise she would only take little sips and then give a distressed cry!

When she started eating table foods I tried to feed her as healthily as possible but my choices are very limited and finally I gave up. Now I just feed her. I do try to limit her sugar intake; I do not give her sugary drinks or candy besides tiny bits of chocolate every now and then. But thanks to others she still gets some. Here she is eating a bright blue sucker with her bio brother! I just shuddered looking at all that sugar and food coloring going into her little body. Little stinker, Veronika enjoyed every lick!!!!

Unfortunately I do not have the food choices here that I have in the states so I will have to wait to introduce Veronika to some of my favorites till she can go lot bo dlo a!!

Food is something I miss a lot here in Haiti. I miss the little noodle houses, the spring rolls and peanut sauce, lamb gyros, succulent greek salads, goat curry with naan and dhal, and the occasional splurge on sushi. I miss good seafood, and I miss things like thick creamy greek yogurt, real maple syrup, fresh peaches, and real cream in my coffee. I miss going to foodie places like china town and drinking bubble tea through a thick straw, and trying things like warm bean curd, and pink meat and pastries so good that I dream about them at night. I miss the Italian Market with its endless samples of cheeses so good they literally make your taste buds stand up and sing the hallelujah chorus, olives out of wooden barrels with sprigs of fresh herbs swimming in the thick rich oil, fresh pepperoni. I miss german pickles, goose liver, rye bread, swiss cheese and spicy mustard…                       

And of course I miss crackers and gravy, pan-haus, levervasht, and eggs from happy, relaxed chickens…

You get the picture!

I love food and I miss food. And like me, my daughter loves food. That’s why I cant wait to introduce her to all that good stuff and see if she like me will love everything except brussel sprouts and tripe.

We do have good food here in Haiti too but our choices are very limited so we eat the same things over and over. I miss the variety and the ability to choose whether I want to eat rice and beans or a greek gyro, plain yogurt or beef tongue, pizza or mashed potatoes and gravy!!

Though I miss that stuff  and look forward to enjoying them again someday, I will be content for now to eat my rice and beans, banans, chicos, spaghetti, cabbage and canned turkey.

And my baby will go on begging for bon-bons until she discovers there’s a whole other world out there

My Busy Girl

 

Here she is making an onion drive a little car!! Does she have imagination or what?!!

And how about this for an up high view of her world!! That’s our friend and cook, Veve carrying her around in a bucket on her head! Veronika just adores her!

Meet Veronika’s newest friend- an adorable puppy named Agusta! Agusta is a wonderful addition to our children’s home the kids all adore her.

Rattle-Trap

We have a dear old friend named Rattle-Trap. It is an old, blue, dilapidated, ford, van. It has some dents in it and two busted out windows but we love old Rattle-Trap just the same. He can’t help it that one fateful day a snatcher busted the side window and snatched my back pack. He can’t help it that another day a helpful hand was coasting him backwards down a hill because he was out of gas and then, BOOM! a tree reached out and shattered the back window. In fact we love Rattle-Trap all the more like that because now when we go riding the air moves through very nicely and relieves the overwhelming heat. And no worries about the dust- you can shake it off.

Rattle-Trap has some very good qualities. He has cloth blinds at the windows that you can pull up and down but sometimes they just want to do their own thing and go down by themselves, he has soft seats that poof with dust when you plop down on them, a loud horn and all the doors open from both sides just like a real car although the driver’s side sounds like a gun going off when you open it. Sometimes when Rattle-Trap goes fast a wheel pops off then we have to run after it and stick it back on!!

Everyone has a soft spot for Rattle-Trap and hurts when he’s broken or not feeling well. He is a very faithful friend who is willing to carry anything from food and clothes to tools or animals. He’ll take you anywhere from short little trips to the mission, to town, and even on a weekend to visit another mission where he could have gotten to meet real cars but since Rattle-Trap is generally shy he just kept to himself.

Rattle-Trap is fun. Rattle-Trap is good. Rattle-Trap is a very nice friend!

Everyone should have a Rattle-Trap!! I am sure we have many more exciting times than other people who drive real cars. 

                                                                           Here is the door that sounds like a gun when you open it! ( Very thrilling )

And here are his soft blue seats that can poof dust! As you can see we sometimes add or subtract seats to suit our needs.

That’s just how Rattle-Trap is- adaptable to your every need whether you need fun or service, memories to live on or nightmares to forget…

What Jesus Said To Me

Over the weekend I got to spend time with some lovely friends – welcoming in the new year! It was so refreshing to get away from my normal life and enjoy quiet, sleep, talks, bonding… with out thinking I should be doing this or that.

One thing Jesus said to me was to stop wishing I could be doing more and greater things. I know he has told me that before and I keep forgetting- It was really impressed on me the night I was up on the roof top with about 20 other youth welcoming in 2012. In the light of the moon I looked around at us, a group of regular, normal young people drawn together in our desire to spread the love of God to the world around us. And this is what I was thinking:

Who are we to represent Jesus, the sinless, blameless, King of Kings, the Son of God? None of us are great Dr.s or preachers or experienced teachers of the word. I don’t think any of us have any credentials to boast of. (1 Cor. 1:26) I think  most of  us would consider what we are doing to be very small. We think of things we could do for God that would be “greater” and yet it is the small things that make up the great things. If everyone of us is faithful in doing our small part it adds up to make the body of Christ function and bring forth a hundred-fold. That is how Jesus is. Jesus is everything. And so when we are following God we might be called upon at times to do “big” “ great” things but the majority of us will mostly be doing things like giving a glass of water, doing laundry, brushing out an old lady’s matted hair, exchanging money, counting pills, cooking, making beds, changing diapers, singing songs or reading stories, slipping a cookie through the back fence to cheer a little boy’s heart… tiny touches of love. But when everyone spreads their share it adds up to a whole lot of Jesus love.

For me personally- God has given me the gift of nurturing, a hefty dose of maternal instinct. He has also given me the command to care for the orphans and widows, poor and needy, to spread his love… I had a picture in my mind of what that looked like; I forgot that my picture might not be God’s picture. I struggle with the desire to fill my picture or dream, there is so much need, so many children who need a mother, so many who need to feel the touch of Jesus love in their weary hearts. I feel frustrated. But God is saying to me, “ Wait a minute.” “ I need you right now to love and care for these five.”

I’m like, “ ONLY FIVE? “ then God said, “ Mary, Remember the five loaves and two fishes they were all the little boy had and yet five thousand were fed with twelve baskets left over.”  (Matt. 14:17-21) God said, “ Give me all your love, Mary, and while it looks to you like you are only caring for five I can take that and multiply it by thousands.” “ I just need you to do your small part and fulfill my dream that I have for you one step at a time.” “ Some day you will see the whole picture.”

So my only resolution for 2012 is to know God better so that our five little children here at the children’s home will know God better so that everyone their lives touch will know God better…