Sundays

We used to post a lot on Sundays. A slower paced day and a little extra time seem to be the secret ingredients for thinking and writing.

When we used to live at Children of the Promise Sundays were a day to keep the gates closed, to dress the kids up for church or to hold a relaxed worship circle under the Mango tree. I enjoyed grabbing just one child to practice my hair braiding skills or to spend some time with the nannies by getting my own hair braided. If sitting for three hours getting your hair yanked on doesn’t inspire rest… I don’t know what does…;)

amy, circa 2010 

When we first moved back to Cap this past January after 3 months in the States, Sunday was a day to explore what it meant to live in the city. We used Sundays to figure out things like where to buy rice and how much to pay. We rode Tap-Taps to Cap’s mega church and treated ourselves to brunch at the bakery on the way home. After all going from living on a big compound where meals were served hot off the stoved to living on our own with our rice cooker was a bit of an adjustment…for us, in terms of health and rest, it was a good one.

Later, we busied ourselves with Sunday afternoon excursions to visit our friends in the villages surrounding Cap. We’d walk, drive, or take motos to spend leisurely visits with the people we love. We’d come home with sun burnt faces and full hearts.

After I started working for Caris (a Monday through Friday job) Jenn would use the weekends to get me up to speed on the progress of our Second Mile Haiti compound. We’d make quiet “vision” visits to the land. We’d relax some and then when our bellies started growling we’d head to the market. Sunday, early evening, turned out to be a great time to stock up on produce for the coming week.

market day, always a game. 

guess how much we spent...

($12.75)...!!!

During the months we acted as fill-in moms for our friend Kelinise we spent many a Sunday at the hospital. Her regular doctor visits for diabetes usually fell on Thursdays. Depending on the issue (hypertension, high blood sugar, skin abscess, etc…) the doctor tended to prefer to keep her at hospital over the weekend. This was a stretching time, as driving to and from our house, her orphanage, and the hospital was expensive and didn’t allow for much rest. We love her though, and are so thankful that she has been relatively healthy and living with her Dad for almost two whole months. 

When we started to have a string of visitors we used the weekends to show them the sites and sounds of Haiti. We have spent many of our Sundays letting our friends experience the wonderful Cormier Plage, a beach resort close to town with breathtaking views and a stellar rum punch.

Today? A morning mix of silence and reading and getting ourselves focused.

 does our porch not literally breath, "come, relax, take a load off..."?

Jenn spent several hours lounging on the porch engulfed in the Secret Life of Beads---I mean Bees. I dug into a new book sent down by a faithful friend of Haiti. I’m continually amazed by how God seems to hand select certain books which are then gifted by special individuals with impeccable timing. Come Talk with Me, Jesus Calling, Kisses for Katie, and now one called Sacred Rhythms... It’s happened too many times now to write off as coincidence.

After we had our fill of peace and quiet we opened the computer in search of some tunes and like magic, our internet connection appeared for the first time in 3 days!

As I finish writing this post Jenn is busy beating the keyboard with speed and enthusiasm, intent on using this window of internet to the fullest. She’s posting photos from the last few days, thrilled to announce that we’ve broken ground once again, this time for the construction of the mom/baby homes. Less exciting, or more, depending on how you look at it is her role as the official accountant. It’s a good thing she loves numbers because staying on top of “the books” requires daily attention. The first thing out of her mouth when she saw that we had internet was “yeah! I can get the spreadsheets up-to-date.” I'd probably be more excited to check my email, but to each her own.

Equally important is her communication with the Gigures which these days seems to be nearly constant as they plan for the distribution of finished bracelets and Jason’s upcoming trip to Haiti. He and Jenn have their work cut out for them as they will be sorting out the gardening, water, and septic situation on the Second Mile Haiti compound. We can’t wait for his visit as he will be bringing A TON of seeds recently donated for our ministry and the families we support.

  the Gigure clan sortin' seeds

I now work only part-time with the Caris Foundation. We made this switch in hopes that I would have more time to work with Dorothy and Louismene, our magnificent bead makers plus a little time to support Haiti Babi another brand new organization operating out of our apartment. We are partnering with Haiti Babi to empower mothers through employment and the skills of crochet and knitting. These past two weeks have been full to the brim with activity as four women are being taught how to make designer baby blankets. Our apartment is an explosion of cardboard, yarn, HIV testing supplies, but it’s good. Very good.

haiti babi - learning in motion

I suppose I'll spend the rest of my afternoon sorting out the bead operation as we prepare to send over 2,500 finished beads state-side. If time permits I might need to prepare a little for Kid’s Club, a club/support group that The Caris Foundation hosts for children living with HIV. Tomorrow in between fun and games we’ll be broaching two loaded topics, SEX and PUBERTY. A little prep wouldn’t hurt…

As for this evening, looks like our empty shelves and lack of toilet paper will send us back to the market. 

In summary, we love Sundays for so many reasons. It's fun to reminisce on where we've been by examining the types of activities that have filled our Sundays. We’re incredibly grateful for this particular day and it’s perfect marriage of rest, soul care, and productivity.

We hope you’ve had a lovely Sunday too.  :)