lessons learned

my family and I just got back from the beautiful Haiti. we partnered with mission of hope just outside titanyen, haiti. my whole family had been here before and fallen in love with these people. I finally got to see the people and place that stole and family's hearts. it is absolutely amazing. the people, the colors, the textures... there is no way I can relay in words all of what went on in my heart this week BUT I am going to try. unfortunately (or I guess fortunately for y'all) I can't fit this all in one post. so I will try to get all the words and photos into 2 for this week :) this first post is all about lessons learned along the way of this Haitian journey and in the second post I will do my best to recount all that we got to do and see in Haiti....

let's do this

lesson 1: always always ALWAYS remember to pack your passport when going on any trip out of the country.  so I had to learn this lesson the hard-ish way (could have been worse, but def not ideal). after work last wednesday night, I left bentonville, ar for dallas, tx. we were to meet at the dfw airport at 5:45 am the next morning. the plan was to get home around 9:30pm wednesday, shower, finalize what I had packed and get some sleep before leaving for the airport. about an hour and a half from home my dad called and asked if I had my passport. it then dawned on me... SURE NOT! so turned around to bville and was able to make it back just in time to meet the team at the airport thursday morning.... yes it took me 14.5 hours to drive from bentonville to dallas... #fail

lesson 2: little boys with no pants, big crocodile tears, and smiles as big as texas not only steal my heart but also teach me so much about the way God loves us. the very first afternoon spent in Haiti we went to Simonette, a sweet town full of beautiful people. we played with some of the village children in a local school. this little boy got kicked in the face when he ran under the monday bars to retrieve the football. he immediately cried, got so angry, and began smacking the kid that accidently hit him. I grabbed him up and held him. he quickly melted into my arms and cried hard. after wiping his tears, we joined the rest of the group laughing and dancing while singing "papa abraham". this just reminded me of all the times I get hurt when I make stupid decisions against what God's will is for me. I get so mad and start hitting and lashing out, but the Lord grabs me, holds me, and doesn't let me go until I melt into His embrace and He wipes my tears away. this sweet little boy (who never would tell me his name) taught me a lesson that grabs my sole each time I think of him.

lesson 3: I can't fix everything. while actually admitting this goes against everything in me, this little girl with big brown eyes, a sweet embrace, and joy for life reinforced this lesson for me. this little sweet heart from Leveque had sores/scabs all over her little arms and legs. while we were all sitting and listening to the story, she was getting irritated and frustrated with the bugs crawling in her sores. watching this little girl try to get the bugs out completely broke my heart. she was so precious and I couldn't stand watching her be in pain and uncomfortable. everything in me wanted to take her home, give her a bath, feed her some good food, and shower her with love. BUT I couldn't. I had to just hug her neck and tell her that Jesus loves her. it was right then that the Lord just whispered that He also loved this little one and that He wanted her to know His love as well. He reminded me that He loves her more than I do. That He would take care of this little one just like He has taken care of the birds of the air and the flowers of the fields. I looked around and saw all the little children around me... and I realized I cannot fix every little thing that these children need, but I do know the One who can.

lesson 4: never, I mean NEVER sing "Jesus loves me" to this little joy unless you are prepared to bawl your eyes out in happiness. this is Pierre. this little bundle of pure joy has cerebral palsy. you can't tell from these pictures, but his little eyes have a hard time focusing. the other thing you can't tell from these pictures is his mind is so sharp. Pierre lives in the mission of hope orphanage for now, at least until the family who is adopting him gets the ok from the government. Pierre is so smart. he knows the words to the song "Jesus loves me", and when you sing it to him, he sings with you. no one warned me of this. no one said, wait... he will pull at your heart strings and make you bawl out of sheer joy. are we kidding? oh my word... this little one laughs and sings and smiles with everything he has. sweet, sweet little Pierre is such an amazing reminder of having joy in any and every circumstance. ugh amazing...

lesson 5: don't lose a farkle game when playing with watermark peeps. this is just one of the many priceless moments that happened on the watermark family haiti trip because of farkles. the airport christmas carolers, the enthusiastic close-talker, the lone little sally walker, eating off of other people's plates... and oh so many others. one of my many favorite things of being around watermark :) leave your fears of making a fool of yourself behind!



stay tuned for more haiti happenings and pictures later this week :) happy thanksgiving!!!