Rain day!!

We woke up this morning and headed toward the kitchen for breakfast... but got slightly distracted by the raindrops falling outside the window.....
So, on went the rain jackets and out the door we went.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And when you are done splashing puddles, it only makes sense to fill the pool, right??

(Jada sleeps in her bathing suit every night, so she was already prepared for this!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Praise the Lord for RAIN!!!!!

Haiti: Reality Check.

I have been back for 3 weeks, and I am still struggling to put my experience into words.  I think there are two main reasons for this:
1)  I think anyone that has been to a third-world country will tell you it is hard to describe what you saw.
2)  If you've known me longer than, oh, 30 minutes, you know I'm a planner. I like EVERYTHING  to go according to plan.

I think reason number (2) is what really helped to flip my heart all around and leave me speechless!!

You see, we planned for this trip. We planned for almost a year. This was a big deal. And in the past year, I think I took the planning a bit overboard.  I didn't just plan what to pack. I did what I always seem to do... I started planning the things that God was in control of.
So, this was my plan:
I would go to Haiti. I would see devastation everywhere. I would see broken, lost, sad, hopeless people. I would do work projects that would help improve the quality of life in Haiti. I would love on the Haitians and I would build relationships with them and maybe I would even be able to break down language barriers to tell them about Jesus. And after my week of serving was done, I would come home feeling fulfilled and knowing that I served the people of Haiti to the best of my ability.
Wanna know what actually happened?  I couldn't really do any of the work projects. It was hot, the work was very physical, and my body and my baby just weren't handling it well. And anytime I did try to do some work, one of those wonderful kids that went on this trip with me took away my job and did it themselves!! (and people think all kids nowadays are lazy....)  So I spent the working hours playing with kids. We played duck, duck, goose and ring around the rosy. We blew bubbles. We played frisbee. We colored. We sang songs. We did the things kids like to do (well, kids that don't have tv's and ipods and gameboys...)  And sometimes we just hugged each other.

I saw devastation. Lots of it. There was trash everywhere. There were starving animals everywhere. Water and electricity were luxuries. People live in tents and concrete shacks.

But this is what I noticed about the people that lived in those homes. They were happy. They were smiling. They were full of love. And I didn't get the impression that they felt like they were missing out on something. They weren't hopelessly longing for something they couldn't have. They were living content with what they had and they were grateful for what was given to them.
And the crazy thing is, it was that happiness that took me to my knees with tears in my eyes (Not just wet eyes, folks. We are talking 'ugly face cry'!) On our second full day in Haiti, we went to a village in the morning just to visit with the people and love on the kiddos. We took along crafts and coloring pages and bracelets. We played and talked and took pictures (these people LOVED 'photo's').  Before we left, we had the kids line up so we could give them each a bracelet. This is about half of the line....

And this is when I lost it. Here I am, trying to 'save the world' but I'm only one person. I was trying to figure out what I could/can do to really make a difference in these lives. I wanted to know how I was supposed to find a way to build a relationship with even just one of these beautiful people. But they didn't know that's what I wanted to do... and they didn't care! They cared that we took the time to visit. They cared that we showed them a little bit of love. And they were overjoyed that we brought them these

Do we need to do something tangible to help these people? Absolutely!! They are a hard-working people that just happened to be born into poverty... just like we just happened to be born into wealth (yep, face it, you are wealthy....) They need us to help them get a start... to find a way out of the hopeless situations they are living in.  But before we can do any of that, they need someone to care about them.

Matthew 22:36-10 says:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love God, Love Others.  It's as simple as that. And if we follow the commandment to love others, I believe our heart will lead us to do more.
That was a hard lesson for me to learn that day. We live in a world that expects us to constantly be doing, doing, doing.  But sometimes our Lord just calls us to love.
I had lots of plans for my trip to Haiti. They all fell through. I left Haiti feeling like I hadn't done enough. In fact, part of me felt like I hadn't done anything at all.
But God had one plan for me: Love them. And he made sure I had plenty of time to do that.

Lost and Found. and FOOLED!

tuesday evening, after spending several hours at the fair, we loaded up the van to head back home. we were all buckled in and about to pull out when eden exclaimed, "i left snow white at the fair!"  what? nate and i looked at each other... did she even bring snow white to the fair?  i know she was playing with her earlier in the day, but did she actually come to the fair with us?? we questioned her about it and she claimed that yes, indeed, she certainly brought snow white to the fair. but at some point, "she fell out of the wagon and a car ran over her."  wow. devastating. how did we miss this and why didn't she say  anything earlier? after some more questioning, i learned that apparently snow white fell out of the wagon while we were eating dinner. so nate, being the wonderful dad that he is, asked me if we should go back to look for her.  and me, being the tired, pregnant lady that i am, said no. she should have said something earlier... it's late... we need to go home.  so i promised eden when we come back to the fair, we will check in the lost and found office to see if anyone turned snow white in. she questioned me about where lost and found was and then seemed to be content with that answer. so, homeward bound we headed.  i can't lie, nate and i were still boggled by this whole thing. so we asked a few more questions about the disappearance of ms. white.  finally, i turned and looked at eden and said, "are you SURE you brought snow white to the fair??!"  she flashes me a devious little smile and says matter-of-factly, "no... she's still at home."  and that's it. the 4 year old fooled us. she got us good!!  and she proved that she certainly does carry her father's genes, plain and simple. no matter what he says.

still speechless.....

Just a few sights from Haiti. I still can't put into words what I saw and experienced, but they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here's 37,000 words.If you would like to see the other 675,000 words, let me know! :)
I personally don't even think the pictures tell the story, but it's a start!

street side market

mass grave. after the earthquake, they could not keep up with burial of all the dead bodies, so many of them were piled here and buried together

the view from my first Haitian bathroom break :)  proud to say this is the only outdoor pit-stop this pregnant mama had to make!

playing with the neighbor kids

this is the mission house we worked on while we were there. when complete, it will house offices, missionaries, and work teams. cpr-3.com

mixing concrete

this little girl was actually left with us at our work site by a woman desperate for help. we cared for her until we were able to find her home.

crushing moringa leaves to make them into powder. check out the moringa project

not sure what was in here... it looked like shredded chicken. all i know is it was infested with bugs and flies and they were filling their plates from it.

kids lining up to get some goodies from the white folks :)

homemade kite. the visit to this village was a tough one for me, but the ingenuity of this kid made my day.

beautiful faces of Haiti

genuine happiness

we had the opportunity to plant 1,000 moringa trees

from the top of cpr-3's mountain, looking over Bercy

walking to school. i was happy to learn that a large amount of Haitians do have the opportunity to go to school!

Haitian grocery shopping :)

tent city in port au prince - 2+ years after the earthquake

new shelters being built to replace the tent cities

people are still trying to live in these buildings that were rocked by the earthquake... and people are still dying because their shelters are not stable

this is their palace [our white house] still not repaired from the earthquake

see those little sheds called 'banks'? they are actually lotto stations - they can buy tickets for lottos in the U.S. apparently, even the poorest of the poor are living with the false hope that they will strike it big and all their problems will be solved.

hard to believe this is the same country we were serving in all week! the contrast between the devastation and the absolute beauty of God's creation was almost too hard to swallow.

our tap-tap

the gate to our hotel... almost always filled with kids from the neighboring village!

this canal (along with any other water source in the country) is multi-purpose: drinking, washing, bathing, restroom...  you name it, if it used water, this is where the water came from.

the village right outside our hotel gate

who am i?

Who am I that my God, my Father in heaven, my perfect Savior, would choose to use me to reach his people.
I am broken. I am a sinner. I am so far from 'having it all together'.  Yet, He has a use for me. I was made for a purpose. And this is one of them.
In less then 48 hours, I will be leaving LaGrange county and heading to Haiti. Words cannot describe how ready I am for this trip. I have been preparing physically, emotionally, and spiritually for nearly a year for this very moment.
I have no idea what the Lord has in store for me on this trip, but I do know that He wants me there. There have only been two times I can honestly say I have heard God speak to me. One of those times was about this trip. I was praying, desperately pleading with God, to find a way for my husband to go on this trip with us. The Lord stopped everything around me and in me and spoke so clearly, "This is YOUR trip."  That's all He said, but that is all He needed to say. At that moment I knew it was time to stop praying for my husband and start praying for me. And so I did. And the result of those prayers is a deep longing and passion to see Haiti and meet the people that live there and, above all else, show them the love of Jesus. I just hope I do a good job. That is my fear. I feel too human.... so incapable of being Jesus' hands and feet. But that is what He has called me to do.
While we are away, I covet your prayers. Prayers for safety, of course. But also pray that we will allow ourselves to be used in whatever ways God has planned for us. Pray for Rob, Carl, Don, Jen, Colleen, Heather, Hannah, Erin, Kyle, Garrett, Ian, Zak, Conner, Ethan, and myself. Also pray for the families (Parents, Spouses, and Children) that will stay behind as we head out to serve.

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”  Isaiah 6:8

For more information on the organization we will be serving with, visit cpr-3.com

Also... I would like to, again, say thank you to all my sponsors that made this trip possible, financially!!  I was so overwhelmed by the support I received!!  

even better than a bff

as many of you know, i am an only child. so when it comes to understanding the dynamics of siblings, well, i just don't.  i love the "theory" of a sibling...a friend that knows you better than anyone else; someone who is always there; someone who drives you crazy one moment and is your best friend the next. but as far as the emotions go, i just don't know what it feels like.  i think this may be one of the [many] reasons i enjoy watching the relationship between my two girls grow and blossom. last night my heart absolutely melted because of their sibling love.
eden got scared last night. she wanted to lay next to her door so she could see my room. so, i helped her get out of bed and got her set up on the floor. of course, her little shadow (the one we affectionately call Jada) hopped right out of bed and also wanted to sleep on the floor. she made her bed right next to her big sister. they spent many minutes talking about the important things in life (numbers, cell phones, etc...) and then i heard my sweet Jada's heart speak to her sister. eden asked her why she was sleeping on the floor. simply said, "because i don't want you to be scared."
these girls truly are the best of friends. yes, they fight, but their love for each other far outweighs the bad moments. it's fun to see them be best friends, but it's even better to hear their love verbalized!