Home. Power. Spiders. (11/4/2019)

Three weeks in and the one thing that keeps coming to mind is that God’s kindness towards our family is all around us.  We arrived at the Puerto Plata airport with every single piece of our luggage, a happy dog, and 6 healthy, safe human beings. We were greeted with cheers and bienvenidos by Makarios staff. The home we are renting was ready for us. Cleaned. Flowers sitting on the tables. We gathered with the American missionaries for our first dinner. We spent a few days unpacking. Settling. Creating a home that is both Dominican and American. A home that is new to us, but doesn’t feel foreign. There were only a few pieces of furniture that we needed to purchase. At the top of my list was an American style couch. I envision evenings curled up with our family watching a movie. (But we can’t touch each other because it is hot so the couch needed to be big enough to spread out!) I envision friends gathering around sharing life together. Within days of the couch being delivered, we gathered in our family room with our friend and fellow missionary, Jacque, as we watched the Astros in the World Series. (It should be noted we are disappointed in the World Series outcome, but we still love our Astros!!) God is so very kind. He has given us people to do life with. To make this vision a reality. We feel at home in our house because it is ultimately about the people and not just the structure.

We have been in the DR for just under 3 weeks.  We have not had power at least a dozen times. Always in the evening and just for a few hours.  We had friends over for dinner, and we ate dinner in the dark. Took cold showers. Sat outside where it was just a tad cooler.  Kids played hide and seek in the dark because… well, why not! Hours waiting for the power to come back on, so we could go to sleep with a fan blowing. We recognize that the inconvenience for a few hours is not really a big deal.  We live well. Comfortably. Safe. We are perfectly capable of not having electricity for a few hours. It’s fine. The lack of electricity forces us off the internet.  Slows us down. In these moments, we talk. I just don’t wash my hair until morning because nothing can make this grown woman cry quite like cold water running down her neck and back.  It’s fine. It really, really is. God’s kindness towards us is real and if we pay attention, we see it even when there is no power.

When we told Zoey we were moving to the DR, Scott promised her a kitten.  Our friend, Milka, found the sweetest kitten for her. Seriously, this kitten is SO sweet.  She loves Zoey and spends her days playing, laying next to Zoey, and trying to avoid our dog Sandy (who absolutely hates the cat living in her home).  The litter box is in our laundry room and as of right now we take her to the litter box dozens of times a day (again until the dog stops trying to kill the cat).  One evening while watching the Astros, I walked into the laundry room with the kitten. And there sitting on the floor was the LARGEST spider I have ever seen. When I say it was big, you need to imagine a fake spider people use as a Halloween decoration.  I slowly backed into the kitchen. Closed the door and told Scott and Jacque that the biggest spider I have ever seen is in the laundry room. I can confidently say that I don’t think they realized that I wasn’t being overly dramatic. Scott got up to kill it (we already made him kill a roach and a wasp that flew down from the ceiling and hit Scottie in the chest).  He quickly determined that there was NO WAY he was going to kill the spider because he imagined its guts being all over the room. After Emma Grace and Jacque took a look, he shooed it out with a broom. WHAT!? That spider should have died. It is living somewhere in our yard. Getting bigger. Emma Grace captured it on video, and we showed it to some Dominicans. I am told it was definitely a tarantula.  A few nights later, a smaller version of the beast was found in the laundry room. Lessons learned: Scott won’t kill a large spider and that shall remain a controversial decision. Never EVER go into the laundry room in the dark. Our beautiful yard is probably the home to this evil spider family. God’s kindness can be found even in spidergate. We laughed, oh, did we laugh.  We had material to share with our Dominican friends and asked questions about how normal is this freak of nature tarantula.  God’s kindness doesn’t always look how I imagine, but it is still there.  

Jake and Emma Grace were able to come with us to the DR.  What a blessing it is to have them with us as we created a new home!  God’s kindness.

A few days before we left, we found out that Sandy would not able to ride under the plane.  Quickly Scott discovered how to designate Sandy as an emotional support animal. We got all of the paperwork, took Sandy to the airport for some trial runs, and practiced her sitting at our feet in tight spaces.  She did SO well on the plane. God’s kindness made a way for Scottie’s dog to come with her to the DR.

Sandy sitting in front of Scottie.

We bought a car.  Safe and reliable. Comes with a 1-year guarantee for the engine and transmission.  God’s kindness.

Our home was furnished.  We only needed a few extra things to make it work for us.  God’s kindness.

Zoey’s class at Makarios has been preparing for her.  They greet her with enthusiastic hugs. One friend, Norkis, watches out for Zoey.  Sticks by her side. Helps her. By the time Zoey goes to school in January, she will know her classmates and have a buddy. God’s kindness.

I have been praying for a ministry here.  Two things have been made VERY clear to both Scott and me in regards to how I can contribute:  Summer Interns and Loving our Staff. More of God’s kindness.

I am a community girl.  I desire a community. God has provided the most amazing people to do life with.  God’s kindness.

We desire healthy rhythms and our daily living requires us to have some specific rhythms put in place.  I have found that daily activities, like washing dishes and cleaning clothes, are completed differently here. New rhythms are created. God’s kindness.

God’s kindness towards our family is so very clear to us.  It causes me to stop and reflect upon our past. Perhaps His kindness was always being extended towards us, but we were too busy to notice.  Consumed with ourselves. Hyper-focused on the hard stuff. Maybe our first three weeks in the DR is a reminder, to not only our family but to yours as well, to look around.  Do you see His kindness? It is there. I promise. He is so, so kind.