Wifi in Haiti?? I guess so…I was so excited to pry open the book tonight and find a great signal! They have bad water, no electricity during the day, doors are pointless with all the critters that come and go…the place is rough. And yet they have a router somewhere here on this compound. I’m so excited (and waiting desperately for my wife to read the bunch of instant messages I’ve sent here since I discovered the connection).

I will put together some information and some pictures tomorrow as it is late and I’ve been up since 5:30…working my tail off.

Off to take a dripping water shower and try to sleep in the heat…

Travis

Tonight my incredible wife Amy is at her first Living Room Ladies night – teaching on perspective in our twenties…she rocks.  So I came home a bit early to help manage the kids and feed them while she finalized things on her end.  Did I mention she rocks?  She does.

Anyways. She handed me a bad of these little Chinese {I think} things with veggies and other stuff inside and said maybe I could use them.  Little did she know I was going to create a feast for my offspring!  Two packs of ramen noodles {without the seasoning}, a pack of frozen beans {the long kind}, some soy sauce and of course the little pockety things…and you get this:

A bed of noodles, 4 pockets each with beans in between, some soy all around and a dollop of noodles positioned top middle for the style.  Turns out they liked it.  A lot.  Not bad for a simple dad.  It’s all in the presentation.

Travis

I found this great thought in my text book last night:

“For the earnest person there is no greater encouragement or impetus than the review of God’s mighty acts.  Such a practice generously reinforces the conviction that there is nothing too hard for God.  It is not a mere whistling in the dark or a clever psychological maneuver for developing assurance or self-confidence, but a spiritual exercise of significant meaning for every child of God.”

In our house we have this little burlap sack that is filled with small stones…stones of remembrance.  The idea is to place a stone in each time God clearly comes through for you.  The greatest thing is that our kids have caught on and at times they will ask if they can go out and find a stone to put in the bag because God did “x” for them.

I love that.

Travis

I hardly blog, and never twice in one day…but I had to post this picture. The boys came to hang out a bit this morning at the office and play computer – and with two simple clicks we were able to video conference…I love technology, and my boys.

Travis

Listen to this:

Listen to this:

Stumble, Walk, Trip a Little More…That’s what I felt like last night. I knew the content, had prayed and prayed about it…but for some reason I stumbled through the teaching. Between the computer not going forward on my {sweet little remote} clicking, my new watch beeping at me on the hour change {distracting!} and my usual mistakes – it just felt disjointed. Thankfully God’s story was being told so I’m sure He will make it into something to help people – but I sure hate that feeling of “sorry for being a distraction to your story God…”

Today is a new day. I’ll be like Jonathan and get back into the battle even though I didn’t battle my best this time.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about avenues. Not the roads, the musical geniuses under the various avenue titles. Like 4th Avenue Jones, and Tenth Avenue North. What is their, and my, fascination with roadways?

Take a listen if you like…compare the roadways with me if…these are good.

Tenth Avenue North – “By Your Side”:

and 4th Avenue Jones – “No Plan B”:

Travis

We have had a great three nights in a row – however they have all been at the church until at least 9:30…as late as 10pm. Wednesday night the kids were able to hang out, play and eat with friends…last night they had a baby sitter {big thanks to Karly for coming through in the clutch}, and tonight they were back at the church to play, eat and {I’m sure} watch a movie.

So we get home tonight, tuck them all in bed and get everything in order…and then Amy found this voice mail:

Apparently the kids either hijacked a worker’s phone or had permission {they can be quite persuasive}. So what’s next?? Maybe the third night in a row without us was one too many…it’s awesome to hear their little voices though. Sounds like they were having fun.

Travis

This morning was

…so hot I thought annoyed thoughts and grumbled.

This afternoon is

and

and of course family… should be a lot better than this morning.

Happy 4th of July – Independence to you and yours.

Thank God for our Freedoms – especially those that have nothing to do with countries, borders and laws.

Travis