Flexibility
It is hard to believe that December is here already...where did November go? We've been back a little over a month. Seems each day is busy and full with projects, school, and babies. Jan has had a lot of things going...from working through some issues with the Haitian well-drillers to a change of building site for the Loving Shepherd group home. The Lord continues to challenge us in this culture where you just never really know what might be around the corner. For instance, we a have a construction team here from Peoria, Illinois and when the boarded the small in-country plane, all luggage was aboard. But, last minute they took most of it off. A team arriving without luggage always keeps things interesting! Flexibility. Jan was planning to go out with the construction team, but found out on Friday that he would need to drive to Port with men to possibly unload a Sea Container that we thought was in route Friday morning! So, Monday morning he will leave early in the AM with 9 Haitians, praying that they will not have to unload the container more than 10 or 20%. Please pray with us, since this would be a big job. The Peoria team who is in country now also could use prayer as they have a large building to cover with a high peak.

Getting ready for the team to leave

Around the House
We had a lovely Thanksgiving with the usual fill of turkey and the works. Right after Thanksgiving we celebrated Alisha and Brett's birthdays. We now have our few Christmas decorations up and we are playing the "music"! It often reminds of warms fireplaces and lots of snow!?! Brett is doing well, nothing much going on. Ulrike, his German PT, says he is getting a little stronger. The 8 hour seizure he had in August definitely has left some issues, like his right hand stays clenched a lot. He continues to roll around and practice lifting his head. I set him in a small chair to practice sitting up. He seems to be tolerating it more, not squirming so much to slide down. Thankfully he is tolerating church better than he did this past summer. Joel....well we are gearing up for all kinds with him. He showing signs of beginning to crawl and he tries to pull himself up if he can. Looks like more teeth are soon to pop through. The rest of the kids...doing school, helping us around the house, enjoying bike trips, friends, and thoughts of my parents coming just before Christmas. We love you all. Thanks for prayers, thoughts, emails, and pointing us to Jesus. I've been thinking a lot about "glorifying" our Saviour. Honoring HIM, obeying HIM, striving to react to pressure the way that pleases HIM. "Lord help us to glorify You each moment of our lives."

Celebrating Alisha's 13th and Brett's 2nd

Working on the cots. Teams use these for sleeping out in the country.

Getting ready for a Thanksgiving meal with missionary friends