Haiti Prayer Requests

Hey everyone. We're putting together a prayer flyer to hand out at church this Sunday. I e-mailed Deborah and asked what specifics they would like to see covered. Here's her answer. Also, the looting and mobbing has begun in PAP. Pray for restored order. People are getting desperate for food and water. Pray for safety of the many workers attempting to distribute supplies. Also pray for safety of the BHM missionaries that are attempting to get medical supplies up to the mission from the airport to help the many injured there. (Picture taken in 2007 overlooking Port-Au-Prince. It's certainly a different view today...)



- That God would work in the hearts of the people and that many would come to know Him through this tragedy.
- Wisdom to know how to start helping the many who are hurt, without food and water or without shelter.
- Safety as we receive supplies and start to distribute them. There is always a concern that we could be the target of mobbing if they know we have lots of supplies.
- That God would miraculously supply the needed diesel, water and food that we need. Our hospital needs the generator to keep it running, so diesel is a huge need.
- That the medical team scheduled to arrive on Tuesday would be able to arrive without any troubles with all their supplies
- For strength for the hospital staff, missionaries, and all those involved in the relief efforts to continue day by day.

'Thank you so much for your prayers. We are continually seeing God at work and we know that He is answering prayers.' -Deborah

Haiti Earthquake

Nothing like an earthquake in a country I love to make me blog again. I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone, but, I love Haiti. After going there twice, I certainly have a connection. I'm devastated. I can't believe the magnitude of this quake and reports of the damage that come in hourly. At the moment, there's not much I can do but pray and encourage. So pray I will, and encourging..well, that's what you're getting. :)



Our friends at the Baptist Haiti Mission are all okay. No one was injured, and only one of their buildings collapsed. God completly had His hands on them, and they're they'll be the 1st to tell you that. It's so amazing to see God's provision. All the missionaries are now working constantly, trying to keep up with the flow of injured people. By God's grace, they had a medical team there and were able to help as soon as victims were arriving. Currently, Chris is driving to the airport to pick up a team of Doctor's from Samaritan's Purse. The BHM had the #2 hospital in all of Haiti. After the collapse of the hospital in PAP, I'm assuming they're now the #1. Last night they had 16 doctors working and attempting to keep up with the flow. As great as their hospital is, it's small. They halls were packed, people kept coming, and the missionaries, whether they had medical experience or not were helping in any way possible. They're all exhausted, and still nervous about the situation at hand.



So, how can you help? Prayer! Please please please pray. Specific requests:
-Safe travel to pick up teams and supplies in the coming days.
-Food and water (in a country that doesn't always have those on a good day.)
-Electricity (Again, not a daily occurance.)
-Continued safety for workers. There are tons of aftershocks still happening. Also, AIDS is rampant in Haiti and with so many injuries there's lots to worry about.
-For survivors to be found.
-Quick response from countries and governments that have committed to help.
-For the Liebs and the Bakers, our friends and missionaries serving in Haiti. Haiti is not an easy country to live and work in, and I can't even imagine the challenge they're facing now. Pray for them to recieve supernatural strength from God to get through this trying time. Also, prayer for all workers in Haiti that are giving all they have to get through this.
-For God to be glorified. I pray the Haitian people, so oppressed by VooDoo, would come to know Christ's salvation.



If you'd like to donate, there are many organizations that are accepting cash donations. However, I would encourage you to go through BHM, knowing them personally, having been there and worked with them. 100% of proceeds will go to disaster relief. Deborah has been updating her blog consistently since the quake last night. To see pictures and video, and get a better sense of what they're up against, check out her blog. I'll be making Facebook updates and will post more info and pictures on here as I can. Thanks everyone for all your support!

Starbucks Pumpkin Scones--Homemade

That's right, HOMEMADE Starbucks Pumpkin Scones. Incredibly awesome, with a recipe found here. You're welcome. :)

The Happiest Place on Earth

A few weeks ago we headed down to Disneyland for my birthday and Ada's 1st trip. It was so fun! Jon's parents and sisters all came, and Ruth and Eric and the girls joined us for one of the days as well. Fun was certainly had by all.

Hanging out at Sleeping Beauty's house...


Going on our 1st ride...


Hanging out with Mimi and Farfar...


Taking a ride on an elephant...


Going on the (scary) Ferris Wheel with Auntie Chelle...


Becoming a Space Ranger...


Entertaining herself when necessary...


Getting her 1st pair of ears with Auntie Kiki...


And ADORING the fireworks...


She was a pro and did so great. We had so much fun with her. Ada, thanks for all the fun memories! We love you little girl.

She's a Hoot...

I feel almost overwhelmed by blog material, which means only one thing. Nothing gets blogged about. However, Farah requested some pictures of the Doodle in her Halloween costume. So apparently, my blog has become TRL, and I'm fine with that because it means I may actually blog. Without further ado...Halloween 2009.

Our Small Group traditionally has a party thrown by the ever fabulous Shaw Family. This year's theme? Famous Couples. And as you can see, they were not only famous, but epic!

The Shaws as Alice and that Oh-So-Mad Hatter!


The Patterson's as Nomar Garciaparra and Mia Hamm.


The Baldizon's as Ketchup, Mustard and a Hot Dog!


And us as, ha ha, The Shaws! And the Doodle as an owl. A super cute owl.


It was a wonderful evening of food, friends, and fall themed games. But the fun couldn't end there, no. The next night (actual Halloween) we headed over to the Harvest Festival with the Baldizon's and the Grindy's. While it was a little 'old' for our kids, we all had fun hanging out, and heck, I'm all for any excuse to see Ada as a sweet little owl.

The Baldizon's ditching the condiment costumes, and opting for some subtler ones. Gotta love that cute Darth Vader!


The Grindy's, aka 'The Jedi Clan'.


We figured no one would appreciate our Michael and Farah costumes since no one here knew Michael and Farah, so we went for Karate Master and Starbucks Barista (aka, stuff we had in our closet.)




It's almost too cute, right? Right.

Happy Halloween!

Saturday Mornings

I love Garage Sales. What I don't love about them is that they tend to be early on Saturdays. Because of that reason, I'm not at them on a weekly basis. Now that I have a baby I definitely don't get to sleep in like I used to, but they're still hard to hit up sometimes. Last weekend, we decided to go out there and try our luck. We're in need of some baby gates since the babe has started her army crawl. We thought perhaps we could find some nice used ones. We went to one neighborhood where it was apparently garage sale central. We honestly hit up about 15 sales. NOTHING. Not one thing. How is that possible? I don't think that's ever happened to me in my life. Here I am with money to spend and not one cool thing jumps out at us? Nothing useful, or perhaps even un-useful but cool none-the-less? Well, we hopped in the car and drove over to a church that was having a sale. This was our last attempt. Did we find something? No baby gates, but...well, this was definitely worth $3.


Really? For me? In almost mint condition with the keys and everything? The perfect place to hide my knitting from curious hands? Excellent.


So, knitting is on the list of things that will start being done seriously around here. It's fall, and guess what, it actually feels like fall! Most of my free time has revolved around getting my talk together for the Women's Retreat this Saturday. (Please keep me in your prayers!) But once that is done, it's all about knitting, The Chronicles of Narnia on CD, and lots and lots of tea. Mmmmmm, I love fall! What do you guys like about fall, and what's you best garage sale find?