Our family’s “summer” began when my husband returned from
his May trip to Haiti, and proceeded to land in the hospital in Puerto Rico for
10 days. If you are accustomed to stateside
medical care, you would not envy this experience. Not only was it scary because of his health
challenges, but the hospital itself seemed dangerous…. I camped out beside my husband for days and
nights because it seemed that the nursing staff needed my help, prodding, and
constant reminder. MY hospital stay had
left me exhausted!
Soon after Julian’s recovery, we set our sights on taking
flight to the states. We spent the first
week in Baltimore at the GGWO International Convention. This is an intensive
time of Bible instruction and interacting with thousands of friends from around
the world. We were blessed to stay at
Julian’s sister’s home and borrow a car from a dear friend who had undergone
surgery.
Following the Baltimore stay, we rented a van to head north
to the grandparents and family. In
Vermont, we spent time with the GGWO Bennington Bible study, my parent’s home
church, and close friends. My parents
have recently been placed in assisted living and we found them thriving at the
home. I tried to help my brother to sort
through items at the home our parents lived in for about 40 years, but my
progress wasn’t stunning. We also solved
a “history mystery” or two as we found and sorted hundreds of old family photos
and memorabilia (this is another short-story I may write someday).
Our daughter, Abi, was able to visit a few colleges while in
the states (she will be a homeschooled senior this year). Her favorite school is close to a sister-church
in Lee, Massachusetts, so we were blessed to spend some time with Pastor David
Stambovsky and some of his family.
Pastor Stambovsky, Julian and I all met within the first weeks we
attended University of Hartford twenty-five years ago! He frequently taught at campus Bible studies
and we are forever grateful to his eternal investment.
Julian returned to Puerto Rico after a church/missions visit
to an Atlanta church. The final weeks of
our visit to the states involved much work, and lots of faith-waiting.
We took a memorable, cheap, MegaBus ride from Amherst,
Massachusetts to Baltimore, Maryland. I
have an imaginary video in my mind that replays our experience while Mandisa’s
song: “You’re an Overcomer” plays! We had
all of our luggage for our entire trip with us, including a very beloved
croquet set loaded down with shoes (because one must use every available space!). Each of the six of us had a maxed-out
backpack or mega-bag and a heavy carry-on piece. One carry-on piece had a broken handle, another
was the croquet/shoe bag. “HEAVY” is the
key word. The night before the trip, I
observed that the arrival point to NYC was not the same as the departure point
of the second “leg”. When I called my
husband to see if he could investigate, he was assured that there were a “few”
blocks separating the two point—10 to be exact—in Manhattan, where you can
barely see to the end of the next block and people are of course,
abundant. It took us about 45 minutes
of trudging and it only rained lightly after we were waiting at the proper
curb. Times like these, I feel like
communicating with the “great cloud of witnesses”, and I wish they had played
Mandisa’s song as cheerleading music! My
kids are awesome troopers!
The third phase of our trip involved re-habilitating the
rental home we have rented for the entire six years in Puerto Rico. Our tenant had died, and much work was needed
before we could even show the home. Rental income has been crucial to our monthly
budget.
We were desperately in need of help. Many, many, precious friends helped us get
our project completed. Friends in PA
hosted the children and I for a week, while we took daily trips to the house to
paint and clean. They bought paint and
lent us every type of equipment necessary.
Other friends mowed the enormous lawn, including a teenager with a
push-mower! A group came from a
Harrisburg church. They brought tools,
power-washed, dumpstered, painted and fixed plumbing and electrical
issues. Another friend removed some bulk
items, fixed some heaters and windows. A
pastor/friend from our Baltimore church installed hardwood flooring in the main
rooms, and charged no labor. He brought
his wife and teenagers to help one day! One
precious lady made us a fancy lunch in her home….. Some months ago, a friend and I had a conversation
about living our lives unselfishly. The
friend was remarking about how some people only give when they can see the
returns to their own selves. My Christian friends live with a different
accounting system. They know that Luke
6:38 is the promise that Our Heavenly Father maintains. We are overwhelmed with gratitude.
Once things were almost complete, we showed the house
countless times. I boasted that I must
be a good saleslady if I can rent a house that is missing flooring. We had a great amount of interest, and at one
point some weeks ago, I was certain we had secured a tenant, only to hear that
a death in their family had left them with a house as inheritance! Abi was blessed to be granted an all-expenses
paid trip to Dartmouth College, so she returned to Puerto Rico after that trip. As she was the principal painting expert, therefore
some “cutting” suffered after she left! The weeks dragged on to a point where my
faith waned a bit, I must admit. My kids
were due back for the music institute, every week was more rent lost, and
Julian had a scheduled trip to Haiti.
One week before his next travel, after one “no show”, a family came and
seemed interested. With an agreement to
sign a lease on Monday night, we bought our return tickets for Tuesday morning
and Julian traveled to Haiti two days later---whew!!
I hope our readers enjoy my dry humor amid our stories. I enjoyed a devotional this week about the
apostle Paul and his skin-of-his-teeth deliverance from shipwreck. The author of “Streams in the Desert” said: “It
is a common misconception that the Christian’s walk of faith is strewn with
flowers and that when God intervenes in the lives of his people, He does so in
such a wonderful way as to always lift us out of our difficult surroundings. In actual fact, however, the real experience
is quite the opposite…Paul, more than anyone else, is an example of how much a
child of God can suffer without being defeated or broken in spirit….once his
deliverance comes, it is not by way of some heavenly ship sailing from the
skies to rescue this illustrious prisoners…..”—they had to grab onto parts of
the shipwreck to survive! Our trials are
often common and frequently intense, but our faithful Savior gives joy in the
journey and never forsakes!
Some prayer concerns:
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Pastor Julian’s trip to Haiti and planned
schedule to visit monthly until a team is raised-up permanently.
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We continue to need permanent/long-term team
members. One young man plans to join us
in the coming weeks!
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Our growing church/fellowship in Mayaguez—disciples,
visitors additional activities and fellowship
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Campus outreach and team for evangelism at
University of PR-Mayaguez campus
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Homeschooling materials for the Matthew family and
a plan for the upcoming year. If you
have an interest in helping us with the costs of curriculum, a “Wishlist” can
be forwarded.
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Direction for continuing the Christian homeschool
co-op, WREACH
