Thankful and still waiting!

It's so hard to be where you want to be and not be able to do what you think should be done. I have now spent 3 weeks here in the US and am still "in the dark" as to what is wrong with our daughter. Lots of testing done and nothing found at this point. The docs admit there is a real problem, but are having a time finding what it is exactly. It's a bit upsetting for them, and frustrating for me, but my heart goes out to our daughter. She is simply in limbo with all of this. She has to keep on working, although they want her to quit. She has no income, so has no choice. The sermon yesterday (Sunday) gave me a bit of encouragement. Even if we do not know the "what and why" we are to praise God. My favorite verse is I Thess. 5: 16-18..."Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (NIV) It says give thanks IN all situations, not for all situations. So, in this confusing and unresolved time, I will give thanks. I am thankful the doctors are still searching and trying to find what is wrong. It's just hard when you watch your child (no matter the age of the child), go through such a hard and difficult time. But my trust in the Lord, and I will praise Him!!!

We had a "Thanksgiving gathering" with three of our kids the Saturday after the official holiday. What a joy to finally see our two great grand sons. It was good to spend some time with our kids and grand kids. I was even able to spend a couple of days playing FOOSBALL with three of our grandsons. Nope, I didn't win much, but it was fun!! I think the Lord let me spend this special time with family, not only for those with problems, but for me. I miss family so much and it was such an uplift to be with some of them for a time.

Christine and her boys were one the main reasons I came out. I stayed with them.
I was able to spend some good time with Dale and his family, too.
And then Todd and his family came to spend time. I was able to spend more time with Todd than the whole family, but it was good time. And I finally got to meet our great grand sons, Alex and Hunter. Grandpa is holding Hunter and Mommy is holding Alex. Please keep us all in your prayers. I'll post again soon. Hope your thanksgiving was special and God blessed.

HANG ON

Hello to all~

Yes, it's COLD here in Wisconsin!! And it's still HOT and RAINING in Haiti. I thought we had seen the last of the rains for a while before I left, but evidently they have gotten a lot more. Keep them in prayer. We sure didn't need more rains. The ground is totally saturated already.

Don's been busy, delivering food, dealing with customs at the airport (evidently a rough day on Tuesday), doing his "normal" stuff and now taking care of Abbie and trying to do my "stuff", too. He's been cooking, cleaning and chasing a very active two year old around. This is NOT easy on the best of days, and it seems he needs me there to help out.

But here I am in cold Wisconsin. It's so easy to forget how cold, cold is!! These temps are not bad for those who live here all the time, but anything below 70 degrees is COLD for me. And it's down near freezing. I just have to remember that "This too shall pass". It's so neat to sit and think of what heaven must be like... everything, temperatures included, will be perfect. Yet we really have NO concept of what heaven will really be like, do we? We think of the "ideal" in our minds, and yet, it must be so MUCH more than we can ever imagine. Very tempting to say, "Come Lord Jesus!!" But here we are, facing each day and it's struggles in this imperfect world. Don't really know how those without Jesus in their lives do it. But glad He is the rock and fortress in my life, someone I can lean on and depend on, no matter what the circumstances!!!

Please keep our kids in prayer. Two with health issues and one with "adoption" issues. All these tangled ropes that we wish we could just yank and straighten out. But life is never easy, is it? Praise the Lord we can hang on to His hand and walk through it with confidence that whatever we face, HE will be there and see us through. No, He doesn't take all the problems away, but He does walk through them with us, if we let Him.

Within the next few days we pray we will have some positive answers to some of the problems. Please pray with us on this. Keep Don in your prayers as he struggles daily with his own work and now the added things.

May the Lord wrap you in His arms, as He is doing for us!!! Till next time, or till we meet Him face to face.... grasp onto the Lord and HANG ON!!!!

A short note...

Just thought I'd get a quick note out to you and let you know what is happening. I, Karen, am in Wisconsin. I flew out of Haiti on Tuesday, and up here to the COLD weather today (Thursday). Two of our sons picked me up at the airport. And we drove up here. It's good to be with some of our kids again.

Don was left in Haiti, to manage things. He has Abbie, he has to deliver food, he has to keep things going on all fronts. He will do fine with it all.

There is so much for him to accomplish, but he will get it done. Please keep him in prayer. And keep our kids in prayer. We'll be in touch soon.

In His, through Him, and Because of Him...

Some prayer needs

I just did a newsletter, so decided to copy it here so you all would know what was written. I mentioned the blog spot, so others may check it out too! Please keep me in prayer as I head to the states. And keep our kids in prayer too. Here is the letter, in part:

I just checked on our last news letter. It was way back in June… right after returning from the US. Wow, a LOT has happened since then. I guess it’s best to simply start where I remember…

Our container did arrive in June. Just after our son and family left. Yes, T., A., and J.M. came for a visit and we had a great time. Sadly, they left Haiti without him. And here it is the first of November and the papers are STILL not done

The container was a blessing and things were distributed quickly and efficiently. Many, many people were blessed by all the effort put into that container. All we can say is that God will bless those who put forth so much effort to get it here.

We had more teams over the summer. And such a joy and uplift for us and so many others. Have I ever mentioned how awesome God is? He accomplished so much through His followers. We praise Him for those He sends to help out.

The middle of September, on a Monday, just before a team came in, Don injured his foot. X-rays showed a hairline fracture just behind his toes, and he had torn the ligaments in the foot, also. Now, the first week of November, he is out of the “boot” and doing fine.

Our next container was to arrive the first week of October. Through circumstances beyond our control, it did not arrive until the 19th. It was a 20 foot one, packed tight. We received our first shipment of food from “Feed My Starving Children”. Wow, what a blessing!! It will help SO many areas!! Don has started delivering it already and people are really pleased with it. Add to this the other food items and you have God’s richest blessings for the people in our area. Not just food, but some always needed anti-acids, women’s products, SOCKS (Lots of socks), and the start of our Christmas Bags. Our Christmas container will be a majority of the Christmas Bags and scriptures. There was a great response and we should have in excess of 8500 bags to distribute. God is gracious, righteous, and awesome, AGAIN!!!

Our next item is a prayer request. Our oldest son and youngest daughter have some serious medical problems. Karen is going stateside to be with them for a while. Please keep Don, Karen and the kids in your prayers. Don will be alone for this time, Karen will need guidance and direction on what to do and what to say, and the kids, of course, for God to touch them and heal them, or be with them through this situation.

With Thanksgiving approaching, we want to give thanks for everyone who has helped us, and for all the work teams have accomplished. And we pray especially for those who have helped us with these containers which help SO MANY here. We are so thankful for what the Lord has done here in Haiti through the ministry here.

With the Christmas season approaching, please keep in mind, through all the “glitz and glitter” of this time, that the real reason for this season is Jesus Christ and all He did for us!! Jesus IS the reason for the season!!!

Until next time, or we’ll see you on the blog spot, remember, 1 John 4:4b, “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

In His Name and Love