Anniversary, Money, Manners

We are quickly approaching the 7th month anniversary in MOI (on Sunday). Tomorrow marks the 27th month anniversary since our paperwork for the adoption hit Haiti. I often wonder what "things" would feel like if we knew our end date for the adoption. Would we feel less weary? Would we be more content? If so, shame on us.

We are learning many things and some of those things relate to being and feeling calm and content regardless of circumstances. Some days (most?) we fail and some days we succeed. We know that our contentment should not be tied to our circumstances, yet some days that is more difficult to overcome than others.

Money

I continue to have people come to me and ask me for money. I had a really flattering note written to me by one person asking for HD$1000 (just over US$100). They wanted to borrow the money (i.e., pay me back), but I have been down that road before and politely declined.

I had another ask me for money so that he could by clothes for himself (he seems to have plenty). I declined that as well.

Yet another wanted money for phone card after complementing me earlier in the day (when I had rarely spoken with him in the past).

I gave 50 gourdes (US$1.25) to a young Haitian boy who lives on the mission to buy 30 glass marbles for 10 gourdes (I didn't have anything smaller than a 50). I asked him to buy 30 for Carter and 30 for himself. He returned with two bags of marbles and 10 gourdes, leaving a missing 20 gourdes which he acted like it fell out of his pocket. I didn't believe him, so I didn't give him his marbles. Perhaps a coincidence, Kayla found a 20 gourde bill stuck in a tree right by their house a few days later...

Manners

We continue to be challenged in teaching our children proper manners. There are influences that are very prevalent and strong that are pushing our children in the opposite direction - we are trying to combat those influences. We often take breaks from playtime for a few days to hit the reset button and bring them back closer to Christ-like and Christ-honoring behavior. A couple examples (we're talking the basics here...):

- A simple please and thank you is rarely heard which then starts to affect our own children.
- The seemingly incessant argumentative banter needs to subside as well.

These circumstances bring up great dinner-table-teaching-moments within our family. Talking about proper behavior, why it's proper, what that behavior leads to and how our behavioral example within the family and within the mission can honor Jesus and leads to the same behavior outside of the mission. Encouraging our girl, Kayla, to model womanly behaviors and our boys to model manly behavior is a large challenge. They need no assistance in acting like children - they do that on their own and we allow plenty of constructive play. We desire to prepare them for their future as it is what God has made us responsible for.