Happy Anniversary My Love!

Land of the Free by Andrew Peterson

Jen's friend passed a song along to her, it resonates with us and where we're at, here's a snippet:

"Well, I’m weary of the spoils of my ambition and I’m shackled by the comfort of my couch. I wish I had the courage to deny these of myself and start to store my treasure in the clouds ‘cause this is not my home...and I’m just a little jealous of the freedom that you have, unfettered by the wealth of a world that we pretend is gonna last. They say God blessed us with plenty, I say you’re blessed with poverty ‘cause you never stop to wonder whether earth is just a little better than the Land of the Free." -Land of the Free by Andrew Peterson

Refuse to become corrupt...

I was driving last week, and in my quest to come up with original and relevant facebook status updates I came up with:

"Tim Pearson Refuse to become corrupt...it's an active process, to be passive is to be corrupted."

Okay, it wasn't truly facebook that influenced me, but my overactive idealistic mind that wonders why we don't do the right things even when we know they are the right things to do. I call it sin nature, you may call it human nature, but the point is WE ALL DO IT. We are self destructive as a community when we aren't actively working against our individual selfishness, and it's our selfishness that craves the things that destroy us as a group, or destroys another group for our own comfort to benefit 'our' group.

Uh oh...let me try to scramble so I can unpack this. Last sunday's sermon, I'm sure it was excellent but, my memory only allows for one tidbit to stick...the one thing that stood out for me was an illustration of the community that fights tooth and nail to avoid having power lines go near thier neighborhood. They get lawyers, experts, sheer numbers of neighbors to protest how this will bring down property values, create health risks, provide a place for people to throw shoes onto the wires (whatever reason they can come up with). And finally the county caves, decides not to put them there...only to divert the lines through a poorer, less organized neighborhood.

There is the saying that kaka rolls downhill, but it's more than that. Our actions affect more than just those directly around us. And now your saying, "I thought this was about corruption". There are two types of corruption, corruption of comission, and corruption of omission. Comission is actively doing something you shouldn't, omission is not doing something when you should.

How often do we want to do something that is 'good', but then, as soon as it becomes just the slightest bit inconvenient, the idea falls to the wayside? We have a glimmer of wanting to help with the Big Brother Big Sister program, Habitat for Humanity, or sponsor a child through Compassion International, and then the thoughts of cost and commitment come in and we wind up ignoring the tugging on our heart.

We are corrupt in every part of our being. We're like a garden, when it is left unattended, the good things become overgrown and ugly, and the bad things flourish and choke out any new growth. Without constant weeding, pruning, nurturing, tilling, etc. our lives won't bear any fruit.

We can live for ourselves, but it will always be at the expense of another. Our only defense is to constantly be in a state of readiness against our propensity for corruption...or we can get drunk and watch a lot of T.V. eating Twinkies until we die, never thinking twice about the human race as a whole.

**These rambling thoughts have been brought to you by: Cuban Coffee, stimulating the mind for hundreds of years.**

Haiti on my mind...

I can't sleep...and sleep is something that usually comes quite naturally to me. So, I decided to write, not for you, but for me...and if I publish this, you will get to listen to me ramble and test my thougts.
In 1999, Haiti changed Jen and me...we knew we would be back, not sure when, or how, but we knew. Now we've been back twice, and each time our hearts tug a little more, it feels a little more common, more like a second home. We look past the dirt, heat, sweat, smell, and begin to see people, faces, stories, opportunities. We've been given such a gift by visiting, the gift of perspective. But the gift is also a curse. Everything that we thought we knew, we realized we don't. Everything we took for granted now stares us in the face. It's not guilt that is bothering me, I'm over that, it's an urge to see the proof in my pudding, see my rubber meet the road, to have my nose on the grindstone...that sounded weird, but oh well, you get the point.
This evening I read that America has 4.5% of the world's population, yet uses 40% or more of the world's resources. That is staggering. I try to justify it, deny it, ignore it...but I can't. It's not THE issue, just evidence of deeper issues. We (as Americans) don't think outside of ourselves, and our worldview is so narrow and surreal, that we have fooled ourselves and numbed our minds to reality.
As usual, I digress. I'm not awake because I'm thinking about what America, nor Americans should do. I'm awake wondering what this American should do. Beyond that, what should this American Christian do? It's one thing to be an atheist American who lives for himself out of a belief system of being fit to flourish, it's another thing to believe what Jesus had to say and somehow try to reconcile it to our American culture. I used to think that this country was rich, but we did a lot of good with our riches. America contributes less than 0.4% of our federal budget to poor countries. We are second to last of the 22 industrialized nations. Again, I digress...probably because it's easier to talk about the faceless 'system' than it is to talk about this mug of mine.
So, Jen and I are asking big questions, wondering if there is a place in Haiti for us. Wondering if we have a role to play other than living in comfort while ignoring the rest of the world. Curious if there is more to life than earning a paycheck, paying the mortgage, planning for retirement, and staying entertained.
The nice part of it all is that while we are shifting in our seats, we're not in any rush. We're stable, and comfortable, waiting to see where God takes us on this adventure of life. We are open to the idea of working in or for Haiti, but not without wisdom, calling, and sober judgement.
Any thoughts?

Final Day

Day 7 Pictures Here

Family Portrait

We tried. We had the matching outfits, jeans with white shirts, the kids were clean(ish), the camera was ready...and we couldn't pull it off. 20-some pictures later, and we had nada. They were blurry, someone's eyes were closed, looking away, pulling hair, falling down, bonking heads, mid sentence mouths, droopy eyes, you name it...we had it in every picture. The funny thing is that Jen and I were the worst, constantly looking at a kid, making a face, or talking. Oh well...our perfect picture is imperfect (a metaphor for life?). I do have to say that we did capture 'us'. Maybe it isn't the one that you would find in a doctor's office, but it is the one you may find in our house some day. We are relieved to admit that we don't have it all together, and ready to accept life's curveballs. Like leaving your kids in Haiti.

I did it to you, brought you down with us. We're heading home tomorrow and it's tough. A bond is formed, then broken, all in one short week. It's been broken before, and repaired instantly when we returned, but we can't help but worry about what it does to a 2 year old psychy. We tell ourselves that their brains won't remember it when they are 20, but we still don't like it. We can go nuts lamenting the arduous, ambiguous, ridiculous process that is adoption, but it won't do us any good. We can move to Haiti, leave the secure for the unknown. Or we can go home, love them from afar, return as soon as we can afford it and get time off, and do it all over again. These seem to be our options. Is it better to stay away until paperwork is done and then meet them and take them home at the same time? I don't think so, but it would be less painful. Hurting for love feels good though, it's not heartbreak, just heartache. Time passes quickly in hindsight, but slow in uncertain foresight. We've heard stories of some adoptions taking 2 or 3 years, stories of old laws being enforced more strictly, and as of recently we have not heard much encouraging news that they are showing any interest in making it any faster...perhaps it is even becoming slower.

Regardless, tomorrow we return, already looking forward to our next visit. Thanks for journeying with us. We look forward to seeing you all soon.

Trip to Mirebelais...

This morning I was awoken by Junior, John McHoul's right hand man on the adoption process...he was 30 minutes early to pick me up so I could go with him on 'an adventure'. Our mission was to go to Mirebelais (sp?) in order to confirm that a death certificate would in fact be on it's way to the central record keeping in Port au Prince. From what I understand, each town has someone in charge of issuing death, marriage, and birth certificates, and when they are completed, they are supposed to make their way to PaP for storage. Part of Junior's job is to make sure that all documents that may be needed in the future are in fact there. I have learned from Junior that you cannot take anything for granted in this process. That every seemingly simple step can in fact be a major stumbling block for adoptions. Apparently, the powers that be are jaded towards adoption, all the way from the UN down. I'll have to look into this more when I get home. Anyway, we go to what would be our clerk of the court, a building next to a UN building, and arrived at 8:00...they don't open until 9:00 (thanks for getting me up early Junior ;), so we ran a different errand first, to find the birth mother of another kid to make sure she can still be located. Junior says, "all I know is that she said she lives near the soccer field". So off we go, asking where the soccer field is, then if anyone knows this lady. To Junior's credit, we found her house fairly quickly, and learned that her father died and she was at his funeral. No problem, we know she is here. In the meantime, Junior looks up and sees someone that he knows from a long time ago who lives nearby...I learned that Junior knows everyone from a long time ago, since he is constantly "planting seeds" and meeting anyone and everyone. He has a photographic memory and remembers faces and situations extremely well...or so it seemed to me.

Then we went back to the clerk, he wasn't there and there was a line of people waiting. Junior calls him, he shows up, we go straight into the office and caught some looks of disapproval from those who were waiting. We go back to this 'Official' office. it consists of a white, 6'x8' room, a wooden desk and two chairs. Nothing else. In the end the man says that he will need to make a book' to send down to PaP, with a fee involved. Junior doesn't need this to happen for a few more months and says he will go tell John. Mission accomplished, the document is on the radar of the clerk, he knows it's important, Junior continues to have a rapport with him, and the price of doing business will be agreed on later. We take so much for granted in the states. Just to get someone to do what they are supposed to be doing in the first place requires a personal visit, and hounding to make sure it gets done.

I gained a greater appreciation for what Junior does. He is good at it, and seems to enjoy it.

My bed and my wife are calling me...good night.

Family Day 5...

DAY 5 PICTURES HERE





BATH TIME:





This afternoon we got out the biggest salad bowl you have ever seen, filled it with water and let the four kids play in it. Zoe and Addie weren't too impressed but participated nonetheless, Gino and Sammy had a blast. From cannonballs to cups of water over eachother's head, we fear that bath time at the 'boys house' will never be the same for these two. We are feeling the end of our stay coming nearer, and so each little stolen moment has a little more meaning. This bath was a special one for me.





CABIN FEVER





We have been spending a lot of time in our apartment above the 'girls house', mainly because it gives us time alone with the boys. Unfortunately, I get stir crazy, and a bad case of cabin fever if I'm boxed in too long. I either mentioned it to Jen, or she sensed it, and so she suggested that I walk down to the bakery to get us some fresh breadsticks (that are addictive)...but first I needed to take something next door. Well, unfortunately, two bags full of breadsticks had just arrived next door, including 10 that were purchased for us. So that trip went out the window. However, tomorrow morning I will be going with Junior to Mirebelais, a village, to run an errand with him and get to see more of Haiti. I'm looking forward to it, and so should you.






HE FITS

Yup, we've thought about packing them up and bringing them home...but our better judgement tells us to wait in line like everyone else. We figured that if we got them to Miami and claimed that they were Cuban, then we could have them under the wet foot/dry foot rule. We'll keep thinking. Any other ideas? *We're kidding.




That's it for now, Jen had some excitement during one of her runs with a couple of the other ladies here, but since this is called His Blog Her Blog, she'll have to write about that one. Good night!