Everything is coming to a head. Troy is insane with responsibility and may or may not get time to say much during his last 5 or 6 days in Haiti. He told me today that the pressure of getting everything done is heavy and things keep going wrong and adding to his list. He and Phoebe are headed to town to prepare for the arrival of Lifeline leadership and a couple of other gentlemen. He called to find out if the white dress with the hula dancers on it had a matching bottom ... I found that highly entertaining and very cute. He has a lot to say about the importance of making Phoebe look good, but I'll let him tell you. There are rules and expectations that he must meet while single-parenting his baby girl. It is all new information to ME - but he speaks with authority so he must know.
As the emotional head-over-heels wife I would humbly ask for prayers for him. It has been a tough month getting the school open, getting caught up on many time-consuming tasks, dealing with huge needs that Haiti presents each and every day ... added to trying to train trustworthy people to do some of his tasks while he is gone. He is currently fighting boils of some sort (brought on by stress no doubt) and is just generally ready to sit down for a rest. I am anxious for him to sit, rest, sleep and eat some of his favorite foods. We're busy planning those trivial things and refusing to feel guilty about any of it. Deciding his first out-to-eat meal is no small thing. No mistakes will be made.
One of the more difficult things about the last 20+ months has been the lack of weekend breaks ... real, true breaks. You're sort of always "on" in a place as desperate as Haiti. It is nothing that can be changed and I am not even complaining, if *I* needed help as a Haitian and there were people who might be able to offer it -- well, it would not matter if it was 11pm or Saturday - I would come and ask too.
I just know Troy is tired and I know he needs a break. 7! was not our plan, but the break from ministry Troy will get because of the 7! is a really nice perk. He can thank our daughter for appearing when she did - at some point in the future.
Please pray for Peter as he takes over many responsibilities and for our leadership at Lifeline as they fill in where needed until we all get back to Haiti.
Later today the kids and I are off to meet with Tess E. Tess is the young lady who plans to come to Haiti and help our family with the crazyness of early 2008. We're planning to give her Britt's room. She will help with the three baby girls (Phoebe, 7!, and my sister's baby) and also back me up with homeschooling Hope, Ike and Paige. Her Mom and Dad are linked on the link list as "MN/Haiti Friends Blog." I am planning to sedate everyone before we meet her so she thinks they are incredibly calm little children and signs on the dotted line.
My close friend, Amie is coming to be with me this weekend from N.C. I will be adjusting to her southern-speak for the first day, but after that it will be all "hey ya'll" and "git me some grits" and just good fun. I am glad for the distraction and looking forward to it SO much. She will help make these last days of seperation from my sweetie drag less. I have not seen her in 2.5 years. Yee-haw.
Find not too frequent updates from the Livesay family here
