Smelly / Money

A couple things that I forgot to mention yesterday:

Our kids are getting bigger, there is no doubt about it. For years Carter has wanted to use my deodorant. He thinks that it is a sign of getting bigger and older - which it is. Today he came to me and said that his armpits stink, so I entertained him and took a whiff and sure enough, I had to gasp for fresh air. I told him where my deodorant was and he put some on. I think that made his day, week, month, year...

A couple days ago, I had my second worker at the Mission as me for money. This time, the person told me that he wasn't asking me for money, but if I wanted to give him some I should keep it a secret and not tell anyone. This is a person that I respect and he is very nice to me and to my family. I would very much like it if I didn't have to deal with these things. I ended up not giving either person money (this time or last). They have outlets within the Mission and other sources by which to get money if they need it.

I have always struggled with these things. My heart says that we should help them out. We were told that if we want to give someone money, that we should talk with others to find out if they have been soliciting money from them too and how much and so forth to determine the real need. I haven't done that yet, but I may. Another side of that coin is that if don't raise enough support, we won't be here that long ourselves.

When we came we knew that it would be on our dime and if didn't raise enough support that our line in the sand would be drawn and if we came near or crossed it, we would be leaving. The people who ask for money may not know this aspect of our situation. The other missionaries have funding for their stay. I don't know if even the other missionaries knew/know that this is the way we came. I recently told one of them this and they were quite surprised. God called us here and if He wants us to stay, we'll stay as long as He wants - one way or another, giving money to Mission workers or not.

One last thing: God's graces are so wonderful! In so many things (lots of them are little), we see Him working in our lives. From putting things and people in our path to teach us lessons, to being sick, to the big things like even being here in Haiti - God is good - all the time!