Saturday August 29, 2009 10:00am

So the coolest thing happened this morning!

But before I talk about that let me rewind and summarize yesterday’s events. We mostly hung out at the beach to watch all the intricate details of the pilots day, including set up, giving rides, take down etc. I was privileged to ride the boat for his promotional flight and it was SO fun! Actually, it was my very first time. Which is kind of funny when you think that this is the business we moved here to begin and I haven’t even experienced it myself! We still haven’t been able to buy sunscreen so needless to say I got a LOT of sun yesterday (I know mom, but I couldn’t help it ☺ ).

That night we had arrangements to be taken to the Internet store so we could buy a wireless card. These phone cards seem to be draining quickly and we want to be able to skype people more! So when our ride arrived we unexpectedly were bombarded with discouraging and belittling words. Before this point we had everyone’s support, yes some think were crazy but for the most part people think it’s cool that we want to chase a dream while we are young. Well this particular person pretty much let us have it, told us that we did not think this out and we did not plan well and what do we expect… so on and so forth. Nothing drains life out of you quicker than someone who puts you down. It’s so sad how your mind automatically remembers the put downs more than the uplifts. They say it takes 10 nice comments to erase a negative, and now I’m a believer of this equation. The rest of the night T and I were seemingly lifeless. Were in a foreign country unable to communicate with most, and now without a boost to keep on keepin’ on.

Also before I tell you about the encouraging and ever loving ways of our Lord I want to talk a little more about this “dream” of ours. I’m sure some think we moved to the DR just to merely live in paradise, lounge around, maybe make a few pennies, sip pina coladas, and enjoy life “Hakuna Ma Tata”. As tantalizing as all that is it is on the very opposite spectrum of what we are experiencing here. Am I disappointed? Absolutely not! That wasn’t our goal or even in the cards. You see Trav and I were desperate to find some sort of business that we could run together so we could see more of each other. When we were working in Texas and New York our time together was very minimal. Yes they were fabulous jobs, which could provide us with a lavish lifestyle, but what kind of life is that if you can’t even spend time with the ones you love? I mean if you think about it, what has happened to the “American Dream”? Both parents working way more than 40 hours a week, children being raised by themselves or by a babysitter, the biggest and newest is never satisfying, and after all is said and one… when the entirety of the week was spent at the office by both parents, the bills STILL aren’t met. I guess as we dig deeper into the Word, and draw closer to the Lord and to each other we begin realizing life’s’ true values. And thus we are lead here to the DR, in an effort to escape the normalcy of America. We have a burning desire to revolutionize our marriage and outlook on life. Hoping that if we can make enough to survive our family and friends might be able to join us!

Okay, I know I’m kind of scattered today it’s just that I have so many thoughts streaming through my head that sometimes it’s hard to stay focused ☺ Back to where I was about ending our day discouraged yesterday. Well this morning I was reading in My Utmost for His Highest and it completely lifted me up. I had Trav read it too and he was blown away are its’ relevancy to us! It was titled “The unsurpassed Intimacy of Tested Faith”. The very first sentence says, “Every time you venture out in your life of faith, you will find something in your circumstances that, from a commonsense standpoint, will flatly contradict your faith. But common sense is not faith and faith is not common sense.” I love that! Our move here does seem illogical and perhaps irrational. However, we are confident that the Lord called us here, for whatever amount of time. So no matter what common sense tells us, we are to lean on our faith! Okay, and it gets better… It assures the reader that once we proclaim that the Lord will provide all of our needs, that the testing of our faith begins (well that has without fail been my heartbeat since we arrived! ☺ ). Oswald Chambers then adds, “When my strength runs dry and my vision is blinded, will I endure this trial of my faith victoriously or will I turn back in defeat?”. Ahh! I love it! Just what we needed to keep our heads lifted and wait in expectancy for the Lord to move mightily!

After my time with the Lord we noticed that we had a visitor, its precious Maria! (She is the mother of the guy we are working for). She is a Christian and one of the most wonderful and hospitable people I have ever met. Her English is not that great so we are having a ball teaching each other our native languages! Anyways, she rushes upstairs and kisses our cheeks and tells us that she wants to introduce us to a young couple that wants to take us to an English speaking Baptist church tomorrow. Little did we know they actually live just a few doors down!

We make our way over and meet them. The young man is from the DR and his wife is from Spain. They are both solid believers and radiate Christ’s’ love! The man is a realtor and he took us to his office, which is also just a few doors down. There we met a few more of the real estate employees. They without shame told us this business was a solid group of believers and that things of the Lord are spoken about all the time in that building. They said they would take care of us and watch out for us… also adding that they knew everyone in town and could pin point who would lie to us, who would steal from us, who would take advantage.. etc. etc. They also invited us to a house party today at 3pm in Cap Cana (this is Donald Trumps development which we have been dying to see!).

We will be going and we are so excited to being these relationships with believers! The Lords’ hand is never too short to provide, even relationally! So that’s the agenda for today. It’s now 10:30 am and were still waiting to be taken to get the internet… our ride was supposed to be here at 8:30am ☺

It’s so nice to be relaxed again… the Lord is in control and I trust Him with all that I am.

Love ya’ll and miss you!
D&T