Thursday Thoughts

Figuring out God's plan for my life has been weighing heavily on my heart and mind lately. I'm at the point of my life where every wants me to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. What I want to be, what I want my career to be, what my next step will be, etc. And although I decided freshman year that I wanted to make Interior Design my career path, I cannot shake the feeling that I'm supposed to be doing more with my life.

I often find myself thinking about where I want my interior design career to go. A few months ago I heard of a woman who makes over homeless shelters, and I find myself quite often wanting to explore that pathway. I'd love to find someway to use my talent in Interior Design to bring glory to God. I don't want to just be an ordinary woman in an ordinary career just going through life with out thinking. I feel like, no I know, I'm supposed to do more in life. Missions work in interior design- I figure its not common but possible.

Also ever since I left Haiti a year ago, there has not been a single day that I have not longed to be back there. I'm beginning to believe that God may be calling me to missions in Haiti. I desperately want to go back and spend time with Dorothy, one of the missionaries we worked with in Haiti. I fell in love with the work she's doing and I fell in love with the kids she's helping. I'm actually hoping to go back next summer and spend a week or two with her.

I honestly don't know what God's plans are exactly for my life. I'm beginning to see the possibilities slowly unfold, and I'm excited to see what he has in store for me. Please pray for me as I go along this journey. Pray that I will be receptive to God's plans for my life, that I will be faithfully willing to go where ever He leads me, and that I will be patient and faithful as I wait on His timing.

Contentment

Contentment is one of those qualities I struggle to achieve. The world tells us we need and should strive for more everyday. God simply asks us to be content with where we are and what we have, and in that moment is where we will find His blessings. I was reading one of my favorite devotion sites, Proverbs31.org, and in their devotion they described contentment perfectly. "When I stop striving to create a life for myself, I find the life God created for me." This truth is so simple, basic, and even a bit obvious, but I forget it so easily. Thank you Lord for this reminder today.

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought." Matthew 5:5 (MSG)

Haiti Rewind: Day Two

On our first official day in Haiti we were awakened at 2am by our lovely friends the Roosters. They obviously were not on the same time clock as us. Around 6:30am we got up, did our quiet times, and went down stairs for breakfast. They had fresh fruit and toast for breakfast and it was so delicious. I had been worried about the food, because when I went to Ecuador years ago the food was definitely a challenge. But they served delicious food all week. After breakfast we loaded up in the tap-tap and headed over to Sherri's.

Sherri runs a school/orphanage from her home, where hundreds of kids are given the opportunity to receive a quality education. She is an incredibly sweet and passionate woman and has done so many wonderful things for the people and children in Haiti.

When we got to her house we were greeted by a group of kids and dogs who were so excited to see us, and acted like they had known us their entire lives. Around 9am we headed over to this little 2nd floor church. Everyone was in their very best clothing, kids dressed in their best dresses, and so passionate about hearing the Word of God. They had one wire that could either power the light or the microphone but made it work. The whole service was in Creole but I have never heard such joyful singing to the Lord before. There were probably 50 of them in the room and they sang louder then any performance i've ever heard. It would give me chills listening to them praise God. At the end of the service our team lined up at the front of the church and we sang Amazing Grace in english, while they sang it in Creole. Absolutely the most beautiful version of Amazing Grace i've ever heard. After church, we went back to Sherri's, had lunch, and then packed up to walk the revine.

Our journey through the revine was indescribable. The poverty was overwhelming, like nothing I had ever seen before. There were houses upon houses, small dirty roads, trash filled river, and people everywhere. It made me very aware of just how spoiled americans are and how much we take for grantid. These people live in a one room concrete brick home with 10-15 people per home, and a tin roof. And here we are in america with mansions, multiple cars, money in our wallets, good health, and we go about each day with out thinking twice. In most cases we find ourselves thinking we need more. I remember feeling so incredibly guilty for my unthankful attitude back home. After we crossed the ravine- this trash filled river that they use as their drinking, cleaning, and bathing water- groups of parents and children would come rushing up to Sherri. They did this because Sherri has set up a program in the ravine that keeps all the children there from becoming sick or malnourished. So parents would bring their kids to her to get medicine, food and clothing for newborns, etc. They are all so grateful for Sherri and I felt blessed to have the opportunity to be able to help a small bit in her mission.

After we walked the ravine, we headed back to our guest house for dinner. They served spaghetti which was delicious and then we had our group devotion time. I remember being completely exhausted during that devotion time. The sinus infection I was battling combined with the heat and the day's activities had warn me out. I tried my best to stay awake but it was difficult. After devotion we separated out all of the supplies we had brought and then they told me I should go to bed. So I gladly left, took a shower, and headed to bed.

It was an incredible day- and just the beginning of me falling in love with Haiti!

(The pictures posted in the opposite order of how they happened. Start from the bottom to get proper order)

Haiti Rewind: Day One

Day one of our Haiti trip started off pretty rough. The night before we were to head to the airport, I started feeling really bad and realized I had gotten a sinus infection. I asked dad to take me to urgent care (which he was not at all happy about), but luckily he had an extra z-pack I was able to take. So the next morning we packed the car and headed off to the airport. Our first flight, from Raleigh to Miami went very smooth. I was worried that the pressure in the cabin would make me miserable because I was so stuffed up, but it wasn't a problem at all on our first flight. The flight from Miami to Haiti however, was a completely different story. Once we reached altitude I had the most excruciating pain in my ears from the pressure. It was so bad that I started feeling sick from the pain. By the time we landed I was about ready to rip my ears off. The worst part was that I couldn't get my ears to unclog, so for the first few days in Haiti, it felt and sounded like I was under water -- MISERABLE! I decided right then, I will never get on a plane sick again.

The flight from Miami to Haiti also had some other troubles. Before we loaded, they switched us between 3 different gates and we weren't able to load until 3pm. Once everyone had boarded the plane we thought we we're good to go. Wrong- they made us all get off the plane because a lady with 5 kids, lost one of her child's passports. We ended up sitting in the airport for another 3 hours. Jim, Jeremiah's dad, thought they would cancel the flight because air crews don't like being in Port Au Prince that late at night. Luckily we re-boarded the plane around 6 and were finally on our way to Haiti. I remember looking around at all the Haitians on the plane, and it really began to set in where we were going, and who we would be helping. When we got to Haiti, we made it through customs pretty easy, and all but one of our bags made it. (We think we forgot to check that bag when we were in Raleigh)

Our next hurdle was to make it out of the airport. Jim had told us that when we left the airport in Haiti, to expect a ton of men wanting to push our carts for us. He told us to tell them no, because to them if they just lay a hand on your stuff then you owe them money for "helping," and boy was he right. There were tons of people wanting to help, and no matter how many times we said no, they wouldn't give up. We eventually just let them so we could get to our tap-tap (Haitian transportation) quicker.

Our ride to the guesthouse was pretty quiet from what I remember, but that could be because I couldn't hear much anyways. I just took everything in and began praying for our week and all the people we would be reaching. The guest house was SO much nicer than I had expected, and to my surprise I felt completely safe. They served us beef stew for dinner, we all showered, and headed to bed with ear plugs in hand ready to take on the next day.

Haiti Rewind

I was cleaning out some old notebooks today and ran across the notes I wrote each day during my time in Haiti last year. I had planned at some point to write out everything more in depth but obviously forgot all about it. So now that i've run across them again, I figured this would be the best place to write. So the next couple of days, I will write out my thoughts from my week in Haiti. Until then, here are some pictures that highlight some of my favorite memories in Haiti.

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How I Did It: Part 3

One of the best ways I got through everything, was by leaning on my support system. For me that system consisted of three of the most important women in my life. My mom, my sister, and best friend Cassie. I was able to call them anytime, for any reason, for however long I needed them, and they would listen even if all I could do was cry. I would have never made it through without them.

For Example: There was one night, where I had been laying in bed crying for hours feeling like my world had come crumbling down upon me. It was around 1am and I didn't think any of them would still be awake so I thought I'd have to face the night alone. Finally around 2am I texted my mom, thinking I wouldn't get a response but having no idea what else to do. To my surprise, she called me within 10 minutes of that text message and stayed up for over an hour listening to me cry and talk about everything going on that night. It meant the world that she was willing to do that for me, and she truly was the reason I made it through that night and was able to get some sleep.

So my advice to anyone going through a really hard time right now is to get a support system, and keep them close. There is nothing more comforting to know that you have people in your life that love and support you. They gave me advice, hope, love, encouragement, and the strength I needed to face the next day. I am so grateful for all of them.

So thank you Mom, Erin, and Cassie. Thank you for sacrificing your time all those days/nights I needed you. I couldn't have done it without you - Yall are the best! I love you all :)

"If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up." - Ecclesiastes 4:10