Merry Christmas from Miami

Wow is it really Christmas time? We are currently in Miami staying at a nice place on North beach. We are taking the time to relax, reflect and recharge for our next stay in Haiti. It has really been a great time to talk and think about the last four months we spent in Haiti. So much happened we got to know a number of wonderful people who work at Haiti Arise and/or attend church there. We were blessed and stretched in many different ways.

Not surprisingly we had culture shock when we arrived in Miami. The roads are in great condition, every thing is very orderly, and there are a lot of nice cars and houses. It is really in striking contrast to the place we just left and it is very hard to connect the two worlds. I think that can be one of the hardest things in coming to Haiti and then going back to Canada/US. How do you live differently in North America after seeing people living their lives with so much less (materially) and yet many still happy. It can especially be hard at Christmas time when a lot of the focus on the television is buying this or that to make someone happy. Is that what we need is more stuff? Needless to say it's hard to connect the two worlds.

So we are spending our time here reading at the beach and going for a swim from time to time. We are also enjoying eating some of the little treats we were unable to get in Haiti. We are enjoying some fresh Florida oranges yogurt and chocolate. It's really a treat to get to eat some of these things. We are also both looking forward to seeing a Miami Heat basketball game vs the NY Nicks on Dec 28. We originally looking at going to the Dominican Republic during the Christmas break to see the rest of the island we have been living on, but then Becca said something about a NBA game which peeked my interest (I'm a big fan). So we are very much looking forward to that. Chris

Rebecca here just saying hello and Merry Christmas. It's been a lovely time here so far. Actually a little cool, we've been hiding indoors in the evenings because we don't have enough warm clothes. I can not believe how acclimatized we are to hot weather. I am so thankful for this time of rest. Even our last week at Haiti Arise was busy with the staff Christmas party, Anel's wedding and prepping things for the children's programs. Both Tapion and our church Sunday school wanted to have a Christmas party so we had to make sure everything was together for them. Well that's all I have at the moment Chris already gave you his thoughts for the day. Many Blessings to all and thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
Merry Christmas~
Love Rebecca