BIG GOD x3

BIG GOD!!! That has been the theme of my trip to Haiti this time. I am blown away day in and day out of How BIG God is working and how He is opening door after door and blessing the Miriam Center, Courtney, and I.

Summer has officially started as the first group arrived 2 days ago. I have the opportunity to have countless conversations about what God has been up to and just how BIG He is. One girl came on the trip not even know there was a center that worked with disabled children at NWHCM. She is a sophomore in college going for Occupational Therapy. I am sitting on the floor working with the kids when Courtney was giving a tour. After the tour this girl came up to Courtney and told her that she was going to school for OT and Courtney pointed to me. I spent 2 hours telling her all about what we do, what is available, How BIG God is and are future hopes and dreams. Her group has a lot planned and she is bummed she can’t spend more time with me but every chance she has I am taking her and teaching and showing her OT skills. It is exciting because I was in her shoes 4 years ago. I understand not knowing, never feeling, not understanding and God placed me her at such a time as this to help he know, feel, see, and understand. It is amazing to see God light a spark in her life and I believe the Miriam Center is going to be apart of her life for a long time. One of the things I am working on setting up in the next year is a program where OT students can do their fieldwork level 2 in Haiti.

Yesterday we has a special educations teacher come in and is going to spend the next 2 weeks working with the kids. I quickly learned that she is starting school next semester to become a PT. I spent all evening telling her all about the Miriam Center from how it was 4 years ago to where it is now all the way to our future hopes and dreams. We had a time of amazing conversation.

Last night at about 11 PM Courtney realized that some of our stuff came on the Crates that arrived. 30 adaptive bikes for the kids  So today Bob (a man who turned 80 in Haiti today) helped put 2 of the Bikes together. WE had a blast watching the kids play on them. They have arm peddles. There are 3 or 4 different ones. John has been on it all day. This provides him a form of independent mobility. It is awesome. Den-Den was unable to arm peddle it but be climbed in and stood behind Courtney as she peddled. I stood behind Owens and I held one arm peddle and he peddled the other one. These adaptive bike cart things are amazing. Someone donated them. They are going to be really amazing for when we move out to Bono. Courtney and I already have talked about making a track for them to run on possibly around the playground 

So my plan today was to get a mass amount of paperwork done. I still have ½ the For Jonathan Sake Evaluations to write up and most all the Miriam Home ones. A lot of people were going on trips and so leaving campus. Well, God had other plans. I slept threw devos and breakfast this morning. I have been sick the last few days and it caught up to me BUT I woke up feeling some better today. Well, due to rain some of the trips were cancelled and so both the PT and OT students were going to be on campus so I wanted to be around and work with them. So Heather (the special education soon PT) helped me perform evaluations on my lower functioning Miriam Home children. I got 5 of them done this morning! 

It has been difficult having to tell my For Jonathan’s Sake Parents that it is my last week with them. I have really enjoyed helping develop and run this program even though it has been a difficult process. It is amazing to see how far these children have come in just a few weeks and how much more their parents interact with them. Yesterday I only had 3 children and they were my higher functioning kids. We had so much fun! We played with balls, did the parachute, played on the therapy balls/swings, painted, made chalk drawings, learned about Daniel and the lion’s den, and ended with a fun interactive book. Today was my lower functioning children. It was a challenging day but ended well. I feel so blessed that God has allowed me to love on these children, love on these parents and share with them how much God loves them, cares for them…How there children are a blessing, have potential and can get stronger.

It is so wonderful to have groups here because there is always people playing with the kids and loving on them. It is amazing to see people flooding into the Miriam Center. I look back 4 years ago and remember the burden God layed upon my heart because no one ever came and worked with these kids, it was not an inviting environment, they were not thriving. Can I say BIG GOD! Who has turned black and white into Colorful Dancing! What a great problem to have too many people to play with your children, too many people to love on your children.

As I walk down the halls…sit…play…sing…dance…laugh…cry…love on disabled children in the Miriam Center I am reminded time and time again of what a BIG GOD I serve. A God who sits…plays…sings…dances…laughs…cries…loves on ME! A God who made each of these kids perfectly how He wanted them…How He is using these children to change lives everyday….BUT also using them to change a community…a country…and the world! It is amazing to see God at work and a privilege to have a front row seat. No matter how hard the road ahead may be…what mountains I have to climb…I will run HARD after my BIG GOD and the BIG GOD SIZE DREAMS He has given me. I am excited for the Journey ahead even the valley’s….the hills…the twists…the turns BECAUSE ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME!