47,37,27,17,7,1
September 29, 2009
47 – The number of times in the last 2 weeks that I have spoken the words, “So let me tell you what we are going to be doing in Haiti…” From my short trip out to Arizona last week to speak at The Foundry Church in Tucson where my friend Ashley Evans is planting and pastoring…
…to the week long Global Focus Mission Conference at our church, Biltmore Baptist Church where there were over 40 missionaries represented from over many countries sharing about their ministries and bringing great encouragement to the people of Biltmore Baptist. On Sunday afternoon, there was a Festival of Cultures where all the missionaries set up booths to display their ministries and hundreds of people came out to listen, learn, ask questions, and encourage one another. It was a great time for us to be able to share about our ministry in Haiti and get people involved in various ways…
…to Sunday evening where I was invited to First Baptist Church of Black Mountain to share about our ministry in Haiti. I had a great time sharing with the people and being encouraged by their kind words. Although hymns are not my usual way of worshiping, I absolutely love the rich meaningful words that are found in hymns, therefore I enjoyed singing the lines, “I love to tell the story, twill be my theme in glory, to tell the old old story, of Jesus and His love.” After all, isn’t that what its all about?
37 – The number of large blue containers that are taking over our house like the blob…it just keeps getting bigger and bigger…pushing us out. Right now, we’re all curled up in the corner screaming “NO MORE…NO MORE!!!…PLEASE!!!” Packing for Haiti is so much fun…seriously
27 – The number of times that my 3 year old daughter sings the same verse over and over of the song that she made up. Wanna hear it? One, Two, One Two Three and… “Jesus died on the cross …Jesus died on the cross…Jesus died on the cross…Jesus died on the cross…Jesus died on the…” Well, I’m sure you know it by now. I will have to say though that it brings such great joy to my heart to hear my children sitting in the back seat singing songs about Jesus…even if it is the same verse 27 times in a row. It is priceless and I will remember it forever…since of course, I hear it 27 times a day…how could I forget?
17 – The number of days we have left in NC before we load up the Penske truck and drive down to FL to load our stuff on the container and then fly out to our new home in Haiti.
7 – The number of times in any given day where my Mother (who is here visiting with us this week) says, “I can’t find my keys”, only find them minutes later in the place where they always are…her pocketbook.
1 – The number of times I took the plunge into the frigid cold waters last week at Graveyard Fields – a beautiful swimming hole off the Blue Ridge Parkway. In the Summer, the water is cold, but in the Fall the water is f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g.
I think I had Typhoid Fever…for 2 minutes
September 17, 2009
A few days ago, the whole family had the wonderful privilege of having to go to the health clinic to get stuck a hundred times in each arm for the various immunizations that we need before moving to Haiti. What fun to wake up at 6AM to be at the clinic by 7 like they told you to be, only to find out that the staff does not arrive until 8. And once they arrive, it takes them an hour to turn on their computers and then another hour before the nurse sees you. This is great fun with a 3 year old and a five year old who are climbing all over your face and the only magazine choice you have is either Car and Driver or Money (like I have any!)
So, after our 4 hours in this office, and many screaming tears later, we had all gotten our final shots. I got stuck 5 times (Typhoid , MMR, T-Dap, Hep B, and flu) and I didn’t even get any pretty band-aids or stickers like my daughters did. Several hours later, our arms were throbbing in pain and we did not feel that great. I could hardly sleep that night because I sleep on my side and it would hurt my arms so much.
Anyway, I woke up early the next morning and made my way to the bathroom. Everything seemed to be fine and then within a minute or two I had the absolute worst feeling come over my whole body. I fell to the bathroom floor and grabbed the trash can as I felt like I was seconds away from profuse vomiting. Sweat started pouring off my face like crazy. My body was without any strength. I was moaning like a cow about to give birth. And then within a minute, it was gone. It was the weirdest thing. I think I had Typhoid Fever (this, of course, is a wild guess) because of the Typhoid shot that I got, which is actually the virus in a small amount so that the body builds antibodies against it. So, I think I had this fever for like 2 minutes and then all of a sudden, the body kicked in with some serious antibody power and said “no way jose”. Thank God for antibodies.
Bound for Haiti!!!!!
September 11, 2009
Hey all,
We just wanted to share the great and exciting news that we have purchased our tickets to Haiti for October 27th. We are so excited and amazed at the goodness of God. Late October is the date that we always had in mind, even over a year ago when we first began praying about moving to Haiti. I can’t believe that this is all really happening. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were living in Wilmington, DE and getting settled in with life and ministry there. but thanks be to God who has revealed His will to us and is faithfully guiding us according to His plan, not ours.
Please be in prayer for our family over the next 2 months as we have much to do and not much time to do it. Every moment must count. Pray as we are learning Creole as well from a language resource that we purchased. Please continue to pray that the Lord will supply all that is needed for us to move.
We are still (and always will be) in the process of building our support team. I (Cody) am traveling out to AZ this weekend to share our vision with a couple of churches. Then we have our big Global Impact Missions Conference at our church. And also I will be speaking at another local Baptist Church in the next few weeks. Then there is a possibility of a homeschool network putting together a fundraiser for us through Chick Fil- A. God is so good as He shows us all the time that He is the one who is providing for all our needs and we need not worry.
Maria and I just celebrated our 7 year anniversary!!!! We spent the day packing…not just packing to move to another house…packing to move to the mission field…we couldn’t think of a better way to spend our anniversary. Well…we did go out to dinner in the evening too:)
**Reminder** To those of you who are making financial contributions by sending in a check, whether one time or monthly, please remember to include either “Cody and Maria” in the memo, or “Account 3015″ in the memo. It is not enough to just write “Whittakers” as there is another Whittaker missionary family in the organization. There have already been some mixups with the checks. We do love this Whittaker family who are getting ready to move to Sudan, but at this point, we are not ready to start funding their account:) Thanks so much
Thank you all for your prayers and support. We are so blessed to share in this journey with you.
Here’s to my wife on our 7 year anniversary!!!
September 7, 2009
She is the most beautiful woman in the world inside and out
She has taught me so much about what it means to seek God above all things
She has been the Lord’s greatest refining tool in my life for sanctification
She is so in love with Jesus and is consumed with spending time with Him and growing in His love and truth
She is an amazing Mommy
She is a fabulous cook (what else would you expect from a borricua (native Puerto Rican)
She has the most beautiful smile
She’s simply awesome!!!!!!!
So, here’s to you Maria on our 7 year anniversary. May God give us many many more years together to learn how to love, give, sacrifice, nurture, and yield ourselves to Him in trust and obedience. You have taught me much about His love and truth. I am so thankful that He chose you to be with me forever. May our union bring Him glory as we testify to the world of His unending love and faithfulness to His children. May the next 7 years bring joy like we have never known. I love you.