She works hard for no money...

OK. OK. I am swallowing my pride and exposing some of my less than finer moments for your reading pleasure. Like I need my dignity out here anyway!

I shared lots of what Troy has been up to, and I mentioned that I was going to edit my pictures for beauty's sake. That went over like a lead balloon, and actually inspired Judy to chase me around with MY camera taking all kinds or heinous shots.

So without further ado. Here I am in all my Glory. I am usually wearing pajamas which are the coolest thing I own. I am always sweating, of course, so is everyone else. I have had serious issues with my hair, but you don't care so here it is...

Here I am sorting school supplies from Vacation Bible School items. It is 104 degrees in the shade. I am dripping wet and Troy thinks this will be a great picture. Do I look like I agree?

Here I am working on the computer. We were just so happy to have brought the Internet into the house for Judy that we started using it like this. There is a desk, but we had to move it. We did that as soon as they could get me away from the lap top. I think I was in this exact position for two days solid. Judy just let me do my thing. That was mighty kind of her. Of course, they wanted to memorialize it with a picture.

Here is a shot of Troy and I at the beach. We are standing with three soldiers from the UN. They are from Uruguay. I started talking to them in Spanish while we were swimming, and we became friends. We were able to pray for them because they were about to leave the relative safety of Les Cayes and were being sent to the definite danger of Port-Au-Prince. I also left them with a copy of Kenneth Hagin's booklet, the New Birth. Unfortunately, I only had one.

They promised to all take turns looking at it. At least, I think so. My Spanish was rusty, and it was really being confused by my new found Creole. I spent weeks trying to remember to say "Oui" instead of "Si" and then once I got it, I end up meeting up with some Spanish speakers and kept saying "Oui" to them instead of "Si." Man o man, this language thing is a bugger.

Here are some shots of me teaching English, yet another language that I have not fully mastered. This is at the elementary school that is sponsored by the Haitian Church we attend. The Pastor is Etienne Charles. He was my translator when I needed help communicating with the children because what I wanted to say got beyond my limited Creole. I was in very capable hands, he speaks Creole, French and English. All of them perfectly, I might add. He is an inspiration to any aspiring linguist.

This was the first day so that explains what's on the chalk board in the picture below.

This is another shot of that same day.

Here is a shot of me going up the hill to the school. This was a big deal at the time, but since Troy's little trip to the "Deyo," or countryside as we say in English, (to save Mr. Borel's Father - See "Troy don't do no Voodoo") he scoffs at this hill now. Trust me its no joke. The mountain he climbed must have been brutal.

Here's a shot of me at the top of said hill. There are students making it look easy. I'm just waiting for Mr. CNN to get a shot he is happy with. OK. I might have been catching my breath a little also.

Here's a shot of another day at school. Pastor Etienne is in the foreground just being there if I need him. He was also a very formidable presence in the classroom. Although, I sincerely believe they would have been good without him. They were sooooo into learning English. They hung on every word and wrote down everything I put on the board. They were incredible! It was really a lot of fun, and they were so far ahead of where I thought they would be. I am very grateful that I did not assume they knew nothing and begin at too low a level. They honestly blew me away.

Here is a particularly horrible shot of us doing the dishes in the back yard. That was before it was all torn up. This was between construction project number one and construction project number two. This was a pretty crazy set up, even for us. We were at a loss for where to go with them because the inside of the house was all torn up. Again, I am sweating and wearing pajamas! Judy thinks this is all too funny. There are five shots of this and every one of them is worse than the other. Happy!

Here is a picture that might redeem my mood. This is in the church, where we held the schools annual Christmas party. I am addressing the student body in this shot with my awesome interpreter by my side. I was particularly grateful for this opportunity to speak to them because they had just handed out the report cards for the first half of the year to all of the students. This was done one at time with every one's grade being called out. They had to walk up and get it after it was announced to the whole school. My heart was broken for some of them. They work on the shame factor a great deal here, but this was brutal. Granted, it wasn't difficult for the kids who did well, but these kids are in and out of school based on their parents ability to pay for them to go to school. Failure is not always because they didn't do the work or are not able to. Sometimes it's just been too long since they learned the precursor to what they are working on now. I did my best to encourage them, and let them know how special they are to God. It was a good day, except for the mechanical difficulties when we tried to show them Narnia. It didn't work out. Fortunately, part of my message was in story form so they got some entertainment and we gave them a snack! It was all good.

Here's Judy chasing me around with the camera. I am painting the metal design that was going in her new window. She is hysterical because I am painting while the worker is standing around eating the lunch we gave him and watching me while I work. Actually, I was driving him crazy. Troy had me meticulously coating each weld because this was a protective coating to prevent rust damage, and the welds weren't all that wonderful. You can see in the picture that I am only doing the welds and ignoring the connecting pieces until they are all done. The man got so aggravated with how I was doing it that he tried to take the brush away from me to do it himself. When I wouldn't let him, he grabbed it and tried to show me how to paint it. I was laughing because he works for the electrician. This wasn't even his job to worry about. I explained why I was doing what I was doing, and then Judy gave him food. He was pretty much happy after that.

Here Judy was at it again. Laughing and snapping pictures. All the time saying "This is a blogger moment." Please pray for her.

In these pictures I am helping with the dirt and rock removal. We had two shovels and this guy had been at it all day. What was I supposed to do. Besides this was for Tisienne, and the kids were working so hard.

The guy standing against the pole is Manel. He has worked for us around the house the whole time we have been here. He isn't loafing here. His job was to take the wheel barrel to the front yard, which was no easy task. By the way this is what the backyard looks like now. All that grass we were washing dishes on is gone now.

Here I am wrapping a birthday present for Pastor Etienne's middle daughter Stephanie. She turned six this week. I am laughing in this shot because I have completely given up at this point. I can't do anything without someone coming at me with a camera.

As I was saying, here I am doing laundry. Interesting, isn't it. I have been caught chasing the sun. It was moving over the yard and I was running out of sunny places to hang the clothes. It helps things go faster in the drying process if it's in the sun. By the way that wall behind me is the only thing separating us from two pigs, a cow and countless chickens. It doesn't help with sound or smell, however, but at least we can't see them. You have to be grateful for the little things.

How's this for surrender. I am posing for a picture in the very last clean things I have to wear because I am doing the laundry and have not done it for a while before this. Troy actually says "Smile" to me when he takes this shot. Go figure.

By the way, chasing the sun was all for nothing. It rained. Welcome to the mission field my friends. I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into my life. Humble as it is. Your blessed, I'm sure, and that's what I'm here for.