Happy Easter. Yes, it’s a few days late. But we should be celebrating the fact that He rose from the dead everyday anyway right? I wanted to share something with you that I read on Easter Sunday. For us, it was not a typical Easter Sunday. I wasn’t feeling very good, so we ended up staying home. And it was weird to not be at church, to not be with family gathered around, listening to Grandpa read the resurrection story together, opening yummy baskets that mom and grandma still makes for all of us. I find the older I get, the more I love the thoughtfulness of them putting those together for us, and the silliness of the cute decorated basket and goodies inside.

Brandon and I sat down to read through the Easter story together. And I got caught up on something I had never noticed before. Jesus takes his twelve disciples into the room together and begins to talk with them, at the last supper. And after the disciples start debating which one of them is the greatest, Jesus begins to share with them. Then He turns on Simon and says, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” A few things struck me in a new and profound way from those verses.

One. Satan has to ask God to mess with one of His own children. To me, this just shows the power of the Lord. And satan wants to sift Simon as wheat. I have heard this saying many times, and even pry heard a sermon or two on it. But, I looked up the definition of “sifting wheat” It’s a two step process. The first part is called threshing. It involves spreading the wheat on the floor and beating it with an old tool called a flail. The second step was winnowing, and this was done by throwing the grain into the air and the lighter chaff would be blown off while the good stuff would fall back down. I find this fascinating. Satan basically strolled up to God and asked, “can I beat on Simon and see if he blows off in the wind and forgets you God?” And the shocking reply God our Father gave? YES.

Two. But don’t miss the next words!!! But Jesus himself says He will pray for Simon! What?!! I have never thought of Jesus praying for me! I think of me praying to Him, or Him talking to me.  But Jesus was telling Simon that He prayed for him, that Simon’s faith would not fail. That even though Jesus knew Simon would be beat up from satan, He prayed that Simon would pass the test and not fly off in the wind. And then it occurred to me, can you imagine how awful it would be to have satan single you out to want to sift you? But can you also imagine how amazing it is that the Lord Jesus Christ would be right there with you when such an awful thing occurred?  That Jesus himself would beseech the Father on your behalf, praying that you would cling to Him and not fall away into satan’s hands?

Three. Jesus already knows the outcome. His next words to Simon are “WHEN you turn back, strengthen your brothers” He knows that even though Simon will go through a hard time, and will fail at first, he will eventually go back down to the ground as real wheat, and the end result will be worth it all. Simon will still love the Lord, through a trying and difficult situation, and he will go on to strengthen his brothers in the Lord. And we all know He did! Peter turned out to be a mighty man of God.

My reason for sharing this with you is twofold. I feel as if satan has asked God to sift me as wheat. Don’t worry I won’t moan and groan and tell you all the hard things that have happened to me as of late. It’s sufficient to know that I feel satan has been sifting me in certain areas of my life. One particular area is in regards to children and starting a family. It’s something Brandon and I have wanted for sometime now, and we continue to faithfully wait upon the Lord and His perfect timing. But I feel as if satan is hoping I’ll turn against the Lord, feel sorry for myself, question God and His goodness. And yet Jesus has been by my side, and Brandon’s, for every step of the way. He finds amazing ways to speak His mercy and goodness to my heart, month after month, year after year. Such verses like Psalm 60:1&2, “My soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, he is my fortress, I will never be shaken”. I can really truly say with all my heart that God is good. His mercies are new every morning, and He has compassion towards those who fear Him. And even though satan might be wanting to sift me as wheat, Jesus is right by my side. He will never leave me nor forsake me!!

My second reason for sharing this is to encourage you. Perhaps you feel as if you are being sifted? Is there something, old or new in your life that satan is hoping will be the one thing he uses to get you turn your back on God? Something that feels unfair? Something that is wearing you down and making you feel like God is no where to be found? And satan doesn’t need an all out rebellion, he is happy with just enough to keep you from an intimate relationship with your heavenly Father. Are you too busy for God? Too caught up in whatever it is that you have made a priority, instead of your relationship with Him? Satan wants just enough of you that you don’t really trust God, or you don’t really want to obey Him, or you don’t really believe His Word to be true and right. Are you there? If you are, I encourage you to run. Run as fast as you can into the arms of God. Satan could be sifting you, right now, but you can still choose the outcome. Will you be blown away, tossed to the side, another casualty of satan and his evil schemes? Or will you preserver? Will you choose to trust the Lord and cling to Him?…cause He is right beside you praying on your behalf. He loves you and cares about the intimate details of your life. He will protect you, comfort you, and save you-if you allow Him to.

Living Water has three places that it is working in, in Haiti. One is where we are, Cap Haitian. The other two are Port au Prince and Leogane. As of now, the people that are working in Leogane are all Nationals, which is great! In Port au Prince, there is a couple there who pretty much are doing the same thing we are. This weekend, we went down there to meet them, get to know them, and brainstorm with them over the many tasks and challenges we are all facing. We had a great time! They are a sweet couple, who lived and served in Africa for a long time before coming to Haiti. They have been here about a year and a half. We liked them right away, and they have lots of experience and wisdom to share. We see eye to eye with them about a lot of things, which is very refreshing. We were able to sit down with them and talk strategy, and set goals in realistic time frames. In this country, is so nice to know we have other LWI staff who are dealing with the same things we are, and we are excited to tackle things as a team. God was sovereign in our time together, orchestrating a chance to meet two solid people who love the Lord wholeheartedly. Plus, Jennifer was such a great hostess and had these wonderful meals prepared for us, which meant I didn’t have to cook all weekend! This is a treat in a country where there is no fast food, an not even anything that is somewhat ‘ready made’! On Sunday, we went to church with them too, which was strange since it was an English speaking church. It was filled with half Haitians and half not-Haitians-the most white people we’ve seen in church in Haiti ever! It was refreshing to worship in English, to know the familiar songs, and to understand the sermon. But, it was this quasi reality as I found myself staring at all the white people so curious as to what their stories were and what they are doing here.. a bit distracting!  Then they took us out to this cute little restaurant that was indoor/outdoor, in the nicer part of town, Petionville. They had great food, typical Haitian food, but very tasty. I do have to say, one major highlight of the trip was Jennifer took us to her grocery store. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am so thankful for ours in Cap Haitian. It’s a huge step above Port de Paix-I can get sliced meat, some cheese, even beef. But you always want what you can’t have huh?? Well, this one is FOUR stories!! It has a parking garage, real deli, a bakery, and fresh fruits! I was walking around with a hanger in mouth, taking pictures, while all the other white people in the store were staring at me. I wanted to yell at them and tell them to be thankful they have pears, cream cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream!! Brandon was, shockingly, not as excited as me. In fact, I think I embarrassed him! I didn’t care. Every time I pulled something off the shelf he would say, “Did you see how expensive that was!??” Or he would quiz me to make sure I knew how much it was in US dollars. Oh I knew, I just didn’t care. That is the difference between us. Yes, when I haven’t had cream cheese in five months, I am willing to pay $6 for a tiny container. Somethings I didn’t even look at the price as I tossed them in the basket. All the while, I was becoming more elated as we moved up each story, and Brandon was getting more and more annoyed as he’s tallying the total in his head. Don’t worry,  I didn’t let him get to me! Well, perhaps I did, cause now that we are back home, I am bummed I only got three cream cheeses and two sour creams.. should have grabbed more!!

If you are a foreigner living in Haiti, you can technically only be here for three months at a time. Some people choose to completely ignore this, other follow it strictly. We fall somewhere in the middle. We have heard they are less strict at the airport, if you are over your three months they don’t seem to notice or care too much. However, we’ve heard the border guys are way strict about it. So, since our three months was up last week, and we want to visit the Dominican anyway, we decided to go and check it out. It was a bit chaotic at the border, we were there on a Friday, and every Monday and Friday is ‘open border day’ which allows Haitians to get in and out with relative ease. Other than a big Haitian man shutting the gate on us serveral times, we made it through, paid our fees and were off. Three blocks into the DR you can board a huge bus, complete with cushy seats and a/c. We even went into a nice office and bought real tickets- that was how we knew we were in another country. It was about a two hour drive to Santiago, one of the DR’s bigger cities. All I know is we saw Domino’s Pizza and a bunch of nice car dealerships…it was strange. We sat for just a bit, waiting for the next bus to take us to the coast of Puerto Plata. It’s a beautiful area on the ocean, with lots of hotels, restaurants, and fun things to do. We picked a hotel that was a little ways down the coast from there, since we are not big crowds kind of people. The hotel was great-only $45 a night!! They had a nice restaurant with tasty food, and were just a few minutes walk from a gorgeous and quiet beach. We went into the town the next morning and oh my goodness. It’s a cute little place that is a mix between Oceanside and Carlsbad. It was really nice!! We found a bakery, yes a real bakery for breakfast!! They even had cute shops with home decor stuff and some surf shops selling surf clothing and boards! It was bizarre and wonderful all at the same time. We spent the rest of the day at the beach, and enjoyed dinner at this fancy hotel that had a restaurant right on the water. It was a whole different world! Unfortunetely, we had to pack up and head back home on Monday-way, way too soon. The crack up was the bus we boarded to head back to the border town was packed with Haitians, the first time any of those buses we had ridden was full. They over sold the bus-who does that?? We got on only to find no seats and about six of us with no where to go. I couldn’t help but laugh, as I heard chicken clucking all throughout the bus, as we joked with the Hatiains. We already felt like we were back home! So, Brandon and I set our bags in the isle way and sat down on top of them. After only a few minutes though, one Haitian guy told me I could have his seat, and he would squish with his two friends. How stinkin’ sweet is that?? I am reminded once again of the way that Haitians take care of each other, and kindly accepted his seat-with a chicken in a pillowcase beneath me.  Even with the what Brandon called “a tap tap ride with a/c” we will for sure be going back!!