Monday September 7, 2009- 8:30pm

**I know this is old, but I never got to post it because my computer problems :)**

Happy Labor Day everyone! The funny thing about living in another country is you can become oblivious to American holidays. I didn’t even know what date it was this weekend, so I obviously had no clue it was Labor Day! I had a hunch that holidays would make me miss home… and yes that assumption was true. I secretly missed having cookouts and camping out on Labor Day… you know the things you take for granted when you can have them. Nonetheless, I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend! ☺

To be honest, I’ve been stalling on updating my blog. I’m the kind of person who, for lack of better words, can’t stand negativity. But, with the recent events that have unfolded it is kind of hard not to be. It’s not that I have a bad attitude, but more so that we are just facing situations that keep teaching us and refining us, and yes sometimes they are painful.

Yesterday my hubby and I went on a long walk. We got to a place on the beach where it was absolutely stunning and deserted. We were taking pictures and he decided to climb up a coconut tree to get pictures from different angles. He was pretty high up and ready to come down. Contemplating on whether I should pull the “mother” card on him or not, I opened my mouth and said, “Baby, I don’t think you should jump…. The sand in the water isn’t quite as soft on the beach…” He muttered something like “I’ll be fine, I’ve been jumping our of trees since I could walk..” *Jump* Not to brag or anything, but I was right. My poor husband totally killed his feet and ended up limping and/or walking on his tippy toes the whole way home. I think he will be fine though ;)

Today, a great Christian friend of ours who knew our need for transportation informed us that he knew of a vehicle for sale that was very inexpensive. We of course got excited and wanted to inquire more. We checked it out and everything looked okay. It was obviously nothing fabulous but when you just need wheels to get you to a gas station to fill up your boat and to get to a grocery store it was perfect. Long story short, the whole deal seemed really shady. It also (accidentally) came out that our “friend” was making money off of us if we were to buy the car. We were shocked and speechless. The entire ride home from the inquiry my husband and I could feel the Holy Spirit telling us not to buy it.

There are so many emotions that you feel when betrayal comes into your life. Especially, when you’re a foreigner and you offer your trust to people because you desperately want someone, anyone to have your back and show you the ropes of their culture. Any means of easing adjustments and aiding our new adventure are blessings to us, so perhaps that’s why we so easily trust others. Anyways, our initial response was being stunned and slightly upset.

Okay, that’s a lie; it was a little more than slightly. Lets just say my wonderful Texan husband sometimes spats out “I’m gonna have to break some knee caps” if people mess with us ☺ Good ole’ southern boys! Haha Anyways, as minutes passed by I totally felt the Lord reshape the way I was feeling and He offered me a new perspective. What if this man, our “friend”, doesn’t know any better? Perhaps being “tigers and snakes” is the normal way of Dominican life and he was raised that way? Maybe he truly just finds ways to make a little money and support his family? I’ll never know his true intentions, but I want to offer him the benefit of the doubt. For I yearn to receive mercy from my heavenly father, so it’s only right if I offer it to fellow people here, right? Well, that’s my heartbeat now… but Travis is still planning on having a little chat with him. Just to inform him that this is no way to treat a friend ☺

So, our boat finally arrives in Boca Chica tomorrow! We should be making the four-hour drive there to pick it up either tomorrow or Wednesday. Please pray that all goes okay and we don’t have any issues in customs. The sooner it gets here the sooner Trav can log his flying hours and we can finally have an income! That aspect of our life is weighing hard on my sweet husband right now. It’s the “provider gene” that all (or most) men have… the urge to meet the needs of his family. He’s really burdened that we haven’t been making money for a little while now, so please pray that he might be encouraged again! It’s not too far off!

Speaking of encouragement, this morning we were in the Word together reading out of 1 Samuel 17… the story of David and Goliath. (It’s one of Travis’ favorites ☺) You know, the amazing thing about the Word of God is that you can read a story multiple times and each time it means something new to you. This story was particularly encouraging to us because we literally feel like we’ve been facing a huge giant since we got here. The battle isn’t even over yet. What we loved the most was David’s confidence right before he fought Goliath. He says something to the effect of, “I’ve been delivered from the mouth of bears and lions, and surely the Lord will deliver me from you!” What confidence! He didn’t say, maybe the Lord will… or I will try, but he WILL be delivered from his giant! Now with Travis and I, we’ve been delivered time and time again from various trials, surely he will deliver us from our current one. How much more glorified will the Lord be if my attitude is shaped just like Davids? Entirely confident and eager to fight our giants!

The Lord is so so so good.

Love you and miss ya’ll!
D&T

Ps-we will be in Texas on Sept. 24th!