Wednesday

Today was my first full day at the mission. It felt kind of Sereal…I have waited so long to be here and dreamed so many dreams that I was playing with the children that part of me wants to ask someone to pinch me…is this really real…Am I really holding and loving on these children?

I was unable to sleep last night so my morning started bright and early when at 5 I decided to stop trying to sleep and got up and went onto the roof and had some amazing quite time with God praying and listening to music while looking out at the ocean and taking in the scenery of Haiti. While on the roof what I heard God speaking to me was “The Joy of the Lord be my strength and Be still and know that I am God.” 2 very important things for me to remember and instill in me as I start 5 very busy, crazy weeks in Haiti. I do not want to be so busy serving and doing that I miss Being Present and growing in the Lord. The song I prayed this morning was “Empty Me” which states empty me of the selfishness inside, every vain ambition and the poison of my pride and any foolish thing that my heart holds to, Lord empty me of me so that I can be filled with you. The last thing God and I talked about was how I wanted to be like a tree for a few different reasons. First trees are only moved when God moves them with the wind and I only want to be moved when God moves me. Like branches of the tree that reach out I want to reach out to those around me. I also want to have roots that are so entangled in Christ’s that you can’t tell the difference between our roots! I want Him to be the water that nourishes me and keeps me growing.

I came downstairs for group devo’s and the group that came in with me from Oklahoma is also a worship team…AMAZING!!!! Music touches my soul so deep and I love it and so I had the opportunity to have 3 amazing times of worship with them today. First at morning devotions where they played some of the songs they have written and composed. One was on being like a tree  which went right along with what God was telling me this morning! They also wrote a song called No boundaries and I will post the lyrics sometime soon but it is my new favorite song (Courtney’s as well).

At 10AM we had an amazing time of worship with the Miriam Center workers. All the kids and workers in one room worshiping one God! One little kid T-Willy was rocking to the beat which was super cute! I had the opportunity to tell them who I was, what I was planning on doing while I was here and how I was here to help them, teach them, and to answer any questions they have. That I wanted to not only love on the children but also on them. Last night I really felt God calling me to make sure I pour the foundation by pouring into the workers. They are the ones who are with the children all the time, they give so much! I wanted them to know that I could empathize with them, that I understand that their job can be overwhelming and that with disabled children there are constant needs. I am super excited to grow my relationship with them over the next 5 weeks.

After that till lunch I pulled out the new communication boards and some of the Oklahoma group members who are OT and special education majors helped me start working with Walden and Kem. It is amazing to see their faces light up as they began communicating while using toys. My heart was leaping with joy inside of me. I have never seen these 2 children so happy! Kem started out by pressing the word on and placing beads on a stick and then off and taking them off. Walden required Hand over Hand assistance but got so frustrated he decided it was easier to say the words  SWEET! We had time to work with 1 more child and so worked with Tamara who is autistic. We also started using the communication board with her and worked on transitioning from placing blocks on and pressing the button that said on and then taking them off and pressing the off button. She did remarkably well. I am so excited to see how big of a difference these communication boards are going to make for so many of my kids! Thank you so much Sydspeak!

When I was leaving to go to lunch I met up with one of the boys from the deaf school who was helping bring the Miriam Center kids back from School and I said thank you in sign language. He got so excited and began talking really fast in sign…lol…I had to have him slow down and we talked for a little while and I got his name and he got mine, Lori’s, Tabitha’s and Amanda’s and then he gave us all name signs. After lunch I sat down with these girls as we picked a few songs and they translated them into Creole and I did them in sign. We are planning to go to the deaf school and do worship and show some of the sign videos I bought to bring in and the ones I am working on making. We are planning to do worship every morning with the Miriam Center workers at 10 while the Oklahoma group is here as well as doing worship at the gran moun and other places. I found and bought Creole worship CD’s and the Miriam Center workers have not stopped listening to them all day! I am so excited about this witnessing tool. Music gets in your head and this is music with truth in it!

After that I worked on some evaluation stuff and then had the wonderful opportunity of having my severely autistic 2o year old child Bell help make a cake for a party tomorrow  She did amazingly well. I want to find things that the workers can do with her and cooking is one idea as well as doing dishes. I will conquer that aspect another day!

Today was nurse appreciation day on Campus and I had the opportunity of seeing a little piece of it by attending a portion of the festivities. I also did Meals on Heals and took meals to the shut-ins, visited the gran moun, worked on feeding with 2 kids before dinner, unpacked my luggage (which arrived including my carry-on that was missing with all my clothes and yes even my toothbrush!) Oh how wonderful to brush my teeth! It has been quite a busy day full of Loving…as I have been praying throughout the day I keep hearing God say JUST LOVE THEM! What a simply yet hard request but that is simply what he is asking from me but oh how hard sometimes.

I had some amazing conversations with Courtney as we Dream Big and are beginning brainstorming and really getting things organized and down on paper about and for Miriam Center stuff. This aspect will be continuing for a while but so excited. I had so many good conversations today and I would share more but I am exhausted and the electric went out an hour ago and I am going to go get some much needed sleep.

Please pray for my friend Beth (she came in on my first trip and is leaving Friday morning after serving here fro 9 months for a few months at home but when she comes back she will be at a different campus *the mole a brand new campus. She has gotten really close to the baby orphanage and Miriam center children and workers and having a really hard time. Please pray for her heart, for God’s peace to surround her, and for closure as she leaves.

Thank you for all your prayers and support! And thank you for journeying with me!