{"id":4932,"date":"2014-04-10T04:08:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-10T04:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=4932"},"modified":"2026-10-02T01:35:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T01:35:30","slug":"dan-and-jill-were-here-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=4932","title":{"rendered":"DAN AND JILL WERE HERE – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yet another sinus infection has been dragging me down (for three weeks now!)\u00a0and Hannah has been diagnosed with pneumonia (she’s on the upswing) but if I keep waiting until we’re all feeling top-notch to write more about our week with Dan and Jill, I fear it may never get done.And there’s so much more to tell.\u00a0 I’ll tackle the easy part\u00a0now and leave some\u00a0deeper stuff for another day.The picture of Jill below encapsulates what made their visit so\u00a0incredibly fun and MEANINGFUL\u00a0for us.\u00a0 She is holding a water bottle, a giant leaf, some previously unknown fruit which is called\u00a0Abrika\u00a0(which had a peel like an orange, a vaguely apricotty flavor, and a pit like a peach) and a package of cookies given to her by Johnny.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n

Maybe it’s just because we’ve recently discussed symbolism in English class at Cowman, but it seems to me that those four items represent four aspects of what was so\u00a0wonderful about having Dan and Jill visit us.THE WATER BOTTLE<\/strong> stands for all those\u00a0daily realities of life in Haiti – which are sometimes irritating and sometimes refreshing. It’s great to share these things with friends.\u00a0 Like eating our home-packed lunches outside every day at the school picnic tables.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n

The\u00a0glory of a cold glass of citwon juice on a hot day.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n

The “opportunity” to ride (and get sun-baked) in the back of a pickup.<\/p>\n\n\n

And even haggling in the market over the price of a souvenir with an artist desperate to sell a bowl or a painting.<\/p>\n\n\n

The GIANT LEAF<\/strong> represents all the beauty of Haiti that we grow accustomed to over time and too often take for granted.\u00a0 Having visitors gives you fresh eyes to rediscover the wonder of God’s creation in this corner of the world.For instance, the way you might just meet a friendly and curious cow on the side of a street.<\/p>\n\n\n

Or the way a beach here can take your breath away and make you want to snap a hundred photographs.<\/p>\n\n\n

And then ditch the camera and jump right in with abandon!<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n

And, most importantly, Jill exposed my students to the beauty of writing and reading poetry …<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n

And in so doing, reminded me how very beautiful my students are! (More about that in another post.)<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n

The UNKNOWN FRUIT<\/strong> represents the new things we got to experience right alongside of them.\u00a0Some were here all along but we just hadn’t gotten to them yet.\u00a0 Like chewing on sugarcane.<\/p>\n\n\n

But many others\u00a0Dan and Jill\u00a0brought with them.\u00a0 Like the\u00a0simple Frisbee golf course Dan mapped out at Cowman.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

Or the volleyball matches that gave the students some athletic options beyond soccer (and more soccer).<\/p>\n\n\n

Or paddle ball – one of\u00a0Dan and Jill’s\u00a0favorite pastimes for their own family gatherings.\u00a0 They brought a set to leave with us.<\/p>\n\n\n

And\u00a0they shared the\u00a0secret to creating\u00a0“drippy sand” castles.<\/p>\n\n\n

And, especially, how to play\u00a0“Zip Bang”.\u00a0 How did I spend 15 years in youth ministry and not know this game?\u00a0 In Zip Bang, the object is to say either “zip” or “bang” to the person next to you without revealing any teeth.\u00a0 That person also needs to stifle any smiles and pass another “zip” or “bang” to the next person in the circle.\u00a0 Laugh or smile and you are eliminated from that round.Dan is an expert.\u00a0 But Hannah gave him a run for his money.<\/p>\n\n\n

Caleb, on the other hand, will NEVER win at “Zip Bang”!<\/p>\n\n\n

Dan and Jill\u00a0also\u00a0had a chance to visit\u00a0The Potter’s House to deliver some early Easter eggs to the orphans.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n

And, of course, the love and attention Dan and Jill lavished on our own kids did our parent hearts a whole world of good. They loved on our kids in unexpected ways throughout our short time together and our kids\u00a0quickly grew to love them in return.\u00a0 We all did!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

And then, just like that, our week was over.<\/p>\n\n\n

Melissa and I have\u00a0had to keep reminding the kids (and ourselves) of the upside of Dan and Jill’s departure after our week together – that they will be there in Indiana when we get back in just a couple of months for\u00a0our summer visit.All of this has been a long way of saying that God’s fingerprints were ALL OVER our time together with Dan and Jill.\u00a0 And we are so thankful for the incredible people He has brought into our lives.Looking forward to seeing them again … soon!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yet another sinus infection has been dragging me down (for three weeks now!)\u00a0and Hannah has been diagnosed with pneumonia (she’s on the upswing) but if I keep waiting until we’re all feeling top-notch to write more about our week with Dan and Jill, I fear it may never get done.And there’s so much more to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4932"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4969,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4932\/revisions\/4969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}