alexis

alexis is beautiful. she is kind and thoughtful. alexis is extremely sensitive to the feelings of others. ali, to those who talk to her with affection, loves children. ali is on the pep squad. ali is funny and has a great laugh. ali deals patiently with her siblings . . . most of the time.

ali is the second oldest in a large family and plays her role well. she kindly, willingly allowed jordy to share her room while judah and i crashed their house for two whole weeks! ali loves pink. ali's room is great shades of pink and white and brown. i think she would like a poka dot or two, but ali's not usually one to complain. ali would take time to find a toy to interest judah. ali would make sure judah didn't fall down the stairs! ali shared some of her best halloween candy with me! she loves to take pictures and has a good eye.

ali loves the Lord Jesus and is not ashamed to share it! ali seems to have many friends. she and jordy were always off to some slumber party or another. ali is an encourager. ali's best friend is named megan burnett but they don't get to see each other as often as they might like. life gets busy, you know. while we were in indiana, judah broke ali's sunglasses. still sorry about that, ali! :(

ali, you're a blast to be around and judah and i miss you greatly. i hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! what you need to do is convince your mama to get you all out here next time and you can visit us!

love you, friend!

jordy

jordyn ~

i began writing this post in my head last monday morning. it was hard for jordyn and i to say goodbye to each other that day. jordyn gave up her room (a private room is a precious commodity in the cundiff home) for judah and i to use for two whole weeks.

jordyn is admirably responsible, willing and thoughtful. jordyn is generous. jordyn has a tender heart. jordyn is funny. she can talk a lot about a hockey puck. jordyn is good with her siblings. she took great care of judah for me. jordyn loves the Lord Jesus and she loves her family. jordyn loves green. jordyn is quite bright and works hard on her schoolwork. she has a great sense of humor and a wonderful laugh!

i can't say how much i appreciated jordyn the last few weeks. it was wonderful to have a place (her room) set aside just for judah and i. she willingly gave up her room to sleep on an air mattress for our sake. thanks so much, jordy. i miss you. i loved spending time with you the last few weeks. thanks for being a sweet friend.

hope

i saw this on cara's blog and had to repost it:

it speaks for itself. let's make a difference. sunday is "orphan sunday." what has God called YOU to do?

for your viewing enjoyment

b.l.a.h.

i know, i know. i haven't posted since august 21st. you know, this blog isn't titled "this writer's block" for nothing. i don't know what to say. life is life. we go about it every day. i miss my friends. i miss my kids. i love being judah's mom. i love spending time with my family. i think of haiti every single day. i am enjoying the turning of the seasons. i am losing weight. fall makes me want to bake. we went to the state fair. we saw aunt shanley. we saw sissy. we saw cousin owen, auntie em and uncle ryan. we visited with GG and my aunts. my parents went to hawai'i. they brought judah a grass skirt. i am trying (still) to sell my car. i want to go to evansville. judah is getting huge. i fear she's behind in language. then i remember she's learning english, creole and sign and i feel better. she's brilliant. she understands commands and questions in all those languages. she responds perfectly. she has an incredible memory. she has great powers of deduction. i pray, i beg the Lord for her salvation. it's fall and my skin is getting dry. i am wearing socks again. i am making wedding invitations for a friend. those are challenging. i want them to be perfect. i am trying to get more things into my etsy store and hoping to make some dough. i am still making verse books but that has slowed. i'm on facebook everyday and i feel like posting the same stuff here is redundant. i made over some furniture for the front porch. that was fun. we made a whole "room" out there and i like it a lot. it's getting too cold to hang laundry any longer. it just doesn't dry. i want to potty train judah.

you see? while a lot is going on, none of it is particularly blog-able. and sometimes life gets a bit political. what to share, what not to share. if i say __________ will it offend someone? am i gonna step on toes? how personal should i get? how much is too much? and the list goes on.

there are so many greater subjects running through my head: life, being a true Christian, living that out daily, what the Lord requires of me as a mom, the church in america, has that failed, has america failed, are we gonna have a civil war, home schooling, health care, public schooling, water in third world countries, food in those countries, food in our country, you get the picture.

what i'm saying is: i have nothing to say.

beautiful feet

"how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!"  ~ romans 10:15

in the year 2000, my friend jordan invited me on a week-long mission trip to haïti.  i went along and fell in love with the country and her people.  on that trip we had translators who went with us from house to house as we spoke to the people about the Lord God.  one of those translators was a young man named joassaint josue.  these are his feet.

josue has since gone on from "global mission fellowship" and has begun to follow his father's footsteps.  his father took james literally when reading about taking care of widows and orphans.  seeing so many children destined to become restaveks, josues's father began taking them in himself.  soon he started placing these children in the homes of widows in their church.  the program works when sponsors from the united states commit to sending $40/month for the child's clean water, food, medical needs and schooling.  the money also benefits the widow in the sense that her household will also be partaking in the clean water and food.  josue's father graduated into glory leaving behind a wife who has taken up his ministry and three sons who are also working hard for the children of haïti.  

(from l to r, the joassaint family: louise, josue, mama, sony's mom whose name i can't remember, leonce, and elijah)

     i was privileged to stay in josue's home while in haïti this month.  he shares his home with his beautiful wife, his son, his goddaughter, a recuperating orphan (he had surgery), and some other extended family.  pastor josue along with four other pastors from different areas have expanded on his father's original work and have started an organization they call "new life to the children."  there are many children scattered throughout greater port au prince, who have been rescued by this mission and are either currently being sponsored or are in need of sponsors.  please let me stress this: this is a haitian founded and run mission. 

     i was beyond moved by the things i witnessed in this one week in haïti:  i met men of God who are studying and living out His Word.  Christian men discussing and working toward becoming "men of character!"  haitians bearing each other's burdens.  Christians who know Scripture by heart and quote it in conversation!  generosity was poured out on me.  nothing was asked of me financially THE ENTIRE WEEK.  even when i offered to pay for gas or drinks or ice or phone cards, i was turned down.  (those of you who have been there can vouch that this is revolutionary behavior!)  and one of the greatest blessings of all was learning that God has raised up haitians to be missionaries to africa (the senegal)!!  that is astounding!!  

   

the Lord is at work in this ministry and i love to watch Him work!