Just. Breathe.

It continues to amaze me how quickly a human can fall out of a habit. When I'm that human, I should enter myself in an Olympic procrastination event. I was doing great with my regular postings on Monday and Tuesday, but then I look at the last few weeks...yeah, yeah, I was out of the country, but I've been back almost two weeks, so no excuses anymore! Anyway, enough whining [maybe]. The update is boring -- I maintained. Given that I'd come back and started eating real food again, perhaps that's not a bad thing. I also haven't been able to get off the couch because the Olympics are on  work out because of my knee, so maybe maintaining isn't awful. It's boring, but it's way better than gaining. _________________________________ On to something more interesting...for me anyway. Before the trip to Haiti, I'd put some thought into what on earth I'd eat while there. We would have some control over breakfast, lunch would be at the jobsite with n...

Our week-long mission trip to Haiti is over, and I'm trying to capture both details and feelings. I'm not sure I'm succeeding, but here we go with Part 2. The Goal Our group's stated purpose was to build a home for a family who had lost theirs in the earthquake in 2010. Working through Baptist Haiti Mission, we teamed up with their proven group of masons to accomplish this goal in about four days of work. When we arrived, the foundation was laid, the materials were at the bottom of the hill, and our team of masons was already at work. We got busy hauling bricks and sand about 300 feet from the road below. Some of us started laying the cinder blocks. The building is about 10x14', and 12 bricks high. This was basically a neighborhood -- there were 2-3 other homes on the hill, and the kids who came to watch became the best little helpers ever. This was when we were told we had to haul another 100 bricks up from the road. Notice the enthusiasm. When w...

Last week was a new experience for my daughter and me. We went on a mission trip to New Orleans with a group from our church. I'd gone on mission trips as a teenager, but this was my first as an adult. Not only was it a different kind of mission, I had a completely different perspective almost 30 years after the last one. Our group of 16 was made up of 12 girls/women and 4 boys/men. It was about a 10-hour drive one way, give or take 14 bathroom stops. The trip was coordinated through MissionLab, out of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. This particular week had about 400 people descending on the city to provide various services. Our group held a Vacation Bible School at an apartment complex, and worked to clear a lot in the Lower 9th Ward. It took me about 4 minutes to find a child I wanted to bring home with me from VBS. Derrick was three, and he pronounces "blue" as "plue." Love. He did not come home with me, in part because Hubby gets another ...