When it Rains it Pours

It has been a while since I have been able to blog, but all for good reason as there has been so much illness in our home. As you know, I had Hepatitis A, and Brandon caught it; he had it so bad and it was so scary to see him that sick. Kofee started running a high fever and he had an ear infection, and Kylee came down with strep throat. When it rains, it pours! Satan is fighting us so hard! He would like to see us fall and not start our church; he would like to see us quit; but we are strong and we have God helping us through and we know that at the end of the fight we will come forth shining as gold! We will be able to give God all the glory!

New beginnings should have solid foundations and our foundation is founded on God. We started prayer services this morning to kick off a week of activities leading up to the opening service of our church. Six o'clock this morning, we had our 3 guys, Edward, Brandon and 5 visitors. We will continue this all week. On Friday we will be showing a Haitian produced film; it is a modern prodigal son story. We will be showing it in the street by the church. On Saturday we will be holding a fasting service from 8 am - 12 noon, and then on Sunday, we will hold our first service! A special treat to this service is that Brandon's grandpa will be preaching the service. It is a great honor and privilege for Brandon to have his Grandpa here in Haiti for the first time. God is so good and we are so excited about what He will do in our ministry!

The Hepatitis Blues (or yellows I should say)!

For a week and a half I had felt weird; such as fever and body aches in the evening time, I was cranky and irritable (my husband might would say, "What's New!"), and just not myself. On Thursday of last week, we had the opportunity to go on a date night to a very nice restaurant. Upon our return home, I started feeling odd but thought I had just eaten too much! Around 2:30 the next morning, I was pretty miserable with a nauseous stomach. I awoke bright and early to start making my breakfast for "Feelings Friday", and couldn't even lift my head off the pillow without feeling like I was going to throw up at any second. My wonderful husband put my cinnamon rolls in the oven and iced them and everything. Around 2:30 that afternoon, I ran to the bathroom and did the thing I hate to so the most, threw up!! I thought for sure that I would start to feel better but it only got worse. As I started realizing all my symptoms, they were very common to me. Kylee has just had all of them about a month ago, and was diagnosed with hepatitis A. Long story short, I am now a hideous yellow color, and have passed it on to my husband who is way worse than I was. He can't seem to stop vomiting and has been in bed for 4 days now. Living in a third world country, you can never be too cautious of things and I obviously wasn't cautious enough. Lesson learned and shots given; we are fighting to recovery. The hardest thing about it, is that we know it is Satan fighting with all he has. Our church doors are going to open on October 31st and he would like to do everything in his power to have us fail, but I serve a God who is greater than any sickness or any other obstacle that Satan will throw our way! God will receive the praise and the glory and souls will be saved through our efforts. Place us in your prayers as we continue to get well and stay healthy for His cause and His work.

Breakfast Recipes

Here are a few breakfast recipes that I have tried in the last week or so and they were very good!

Breakfast Enchiladas

serves 10

2 cups ham, cubed

1/2 cup green onion

1/2 cup of peppers (green, yellow, and red), chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 package of bacon

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

10 flour tortillas

1 tablespoon flour

2 cups whole milk or half and half

6 eggs, beaten

Seasonings, to taste

Cook bacon and remove from pan, saute green onion, peppers, and garlic in bacon grease. Crumble bacon and mix with sauteed mixture and cubed ham. Place about 1/3 cup of mixture down center of tortilla and sprinkle with cheese. Roll up and place seam-down in a greased 13x9 inch baking dish. In a bowl, mix beaten eggs, milk or cream, and flour and mix till well blended. Pour over enchiladas. Cover dish with foil and place in fridge over night. Set out for 30 min before baking. Bake at 350 degrees, covered, for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly! Serve with salsa and sour cream if desired!

Caramel Apple Crepes

Makes 10-12

Crepes:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

2 cups milk

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add remaining ingredients and whisk well. Pour no more than 1/4 cup batter onto skillet. Cook until lightly browned and flip.

Caramel apple filling:

3 apples, peeled and thinly cut

1 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/3 cup milk or until desired consistency

Toss apples in brown sugar and cinnamon. Melt butter in saucepan and add apple mixture to butter. Cook until nice and tender. Add cornstarch; mixture will start to thicken. Add milk and cook a couple of minutes on low.

Place apple filling in center of crepe and roll burrito style. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired

Monday, AGAIN!!

After a busy, but fun weekend, I awoke to find that it was Monday, AGAIN. I crawled back in bed 3 times. Not like me at all, but it sure did feel good! Not much happened today; which is a good day!! Over the weekend, we had a pizza and Wii night at the main orphanage house and on Sunday afternoon, we celebrated the new fire pit that was built at the property where the new orphanage will eventually be built. It was lots of fun being with great friends. It is just nice to go up to the property; it is one of the most prettiest places here in Haiti, with one of the most gorgeous views that I have ever seen of this country! You can truly see God's awesome creation in all of its glory! On Sunday, Brandon preached for English service and we were blessed by his message of "Staying close to Him." I can't believe another week has come and gone! God has blessed us in this last week and I look forward to see what He has in store for us in this upcoming week!

Feelings Friday

Every Friday, I make breakfast for all the volunteers and staff girls at the orphanage. It has been deemed "Feelings Friday" because Brandon gives a short devotional and then we allow the volunteers to share about their experiences here in Haiti. At times, it becomes a bit emotional as Haiti has that affect on people; thus, the name "Feelings Friday'. I love this time with the volunteers; it helps us to get to know them better and spend some time with them. This morning Brandon spoke on "Drawing Nigh To God". He just shared that as we work with the Haitian people we need to be close to God so that others see Him in us. We have a parent of one of the orphans here volunteering; he is from the Netherlands. Brandon asked if he would pray and he asked if he could do it in Dutch! What a blessing to see that here in Haiti, we share our home with so many people from all over the world, and have a wonderful opportunity to be a blessing to so many people.

Of course, I have to serve a hearty breakfast and this morning, I served Breakfast Enchiladas! They were so yummy, that I thought I would share the recipe with ya'll.................tomorrow! But for tonight, I will post a picture so you will be eager for it!