Today is the first day of December and I find myself sitting here wondering how we’re almost at the end of another year. I’m very much aware that I haven’t written much here in many months and as I think back I see calendar pages full of crazy busy times of moving between construction and office work, managing our little family, and spending social times with our community of people here. This time of year always seems to be a time of reflection, doesn’t it?

The past two months especially have been very busy as we pushed to get the guest house finished, the last of our buildings at our new site. We now have a beautiful, very functional building that has already seen it’s first guests with a visit from my family, and this next week will be filled with students coming to a Technician Training class and reps doing a site visit from CAWST (cawst.org). We’ll have more family visiting later this month, too. After over two years of not having guest accommodations, I can’t tell you how exciting it is to get back to welcoming people to Clean Water for Haiti and being able to share what we do in a very personal way. We’ve missed this!

The past two months have also been filled with travel for Chris and I as we’ve each taken trips to do fundraising. He spent time in Florida and I went up to Canada. Both trips gave us time to be with Board members and attend fundraisers. He got to speak to students and faculty at Florida Gulf State University, and I got to present to the Kal Lake Rotary Club. He got to do a radio interview and I was invited to a dinner fundraiser that raised almost $8000! The past two months have been very encouraging as we’ve connected with donors old and new.

As you know, Kim joined our staff in October, and has been such a huge blessing to all of us. She has jumped in and filled holes that Chris and I knew we just didn’t have the ability to fill. Her skills and gifts meet the needs that we have in a way we had only dreamed of. I’m so excited to see where we’re going to go as an organization in the coming year because of her help.

If you haven’t heard already, we’re running our Make Waves Campaign until the end of December. We set the goal of raising $20,000 by year end, and in the month of November about $16,000 was already received! I’m feeling very hopeful that we’ll exceed that goal. If you want to know how to give a gift on behalf of friends or family visit our Make Waves campaign page.

As we move through December I hope that you’ll be able to take some time away from the hustle and bustle that is inevitable during this time of the year, and reflect on the good things that have come your way, and what you’re anticipating in 2018. The beginning of December marks the beginning of Advent for those of us in the Church, and at Clean Water for Haiti we want to take time each week to focus on the different aspects that this season of anticipation brings – Hope, Love, Joy and Peace. What brings us hope? How do we love well? Where do we see and find joy? And lastly, how can we focus on peace and let it reign in our hearts in such a busy world?

My hope and prayer for you this holiday season is that you will truly experience hope, love, joy and peace and that your celebrations will be sweet with those that you love and cherish. #advent #hope #tistheseason

~Leslie