Today started off like many others have began. I tried a new sleeping arrangement, which I actually really enjoyed inside (it was cloudy with a risk of rain last night again). It didn’t rain, but good news is if it ever does again and I sleep inside, I know how to be comfy!
Breakfast this morning was hash browns, peaches and this weird thing people were referring to as cat food. And believe me, it looked EXACTLY like it! Needless to say, I didn’t try it. But the hash browns were good. After breakfast I went out to our balcony where we have a bench set up and read a couple of chapters from my Bible and did a devotional. This morning routine has been really great and I am glad I have found a good time to fit my quiet time in each day.
After this I went down to the Miriam Center to help feed breakfast to the kids. Today’s meal for the lower functioning children (the ones who actually need help with eating) was a sort of banana smoothie. I think they all really enjoyed it and it was actually pretty nutritious for them after we added in powdered vitamins and such. I fed Jessica again today. She is such an easy feed and we get along well. Unfortunately, during the time I was feeding her, they had to give her the regular medicine she receives which caused her to get really upset and choked up, which ultimately resulted in her spitting up EVERYWHERE. She then didn’t want to eat anything else for the rest of the morning, but thankfully she only had about a quarter of her smoothie left. I felt defeated by this and the fact that I woke up this morning with a mild headache. But for those of you who know me well, I hardly ever get headaches, so it was a bit alarming. I knew I would need some sort of pick me up because my day had been good thus far, but my time in the Miriam Center had been difficult. Just when I was thinking that, in one of those moments when you can think that God was up in Heaven saying “Oh, here you go! This is what you need!” One of the Haitian Miriam Center workers came by as I was playing with one of the girls as she sat in her wheelchair. I am not even sure of her name, but I am making it my goal to find it out. She lend down behind me, put her face close to the back of my head and her hands on my shoulders. She began saying things in Creole that I couldn’t understand, but I could just tell that her demeanor was completely loving and I picked up on her whispers of “Merci, Merci, Merci.” Even though I have no idea what this woman said, it was exactly what I needed to help redirect my day and lifted me up so high. It was encouraging to know that not only had I been trying to serve the children of the M.C., but that I had also apparently impacted one of the workers so far as well. Even though, in many ways she has already done the same for me.
Once breakfast was done we got the higher functioning kids ready for our trip to Bonneau. Today we didn’t have nearly as many kids with us, but we had a lot more adults because the four women from Kimmy’s House where with us. Turns out they are the ones who helped fund the playground in Bonneau for us. Thanks Kimmy’s House! Today’s trip to Bonneau I hung out with my buddy Isaac mostly. The poor guy had a bad blister on his foot so we were able to find some girls from the group that was with us who had a band-aid and peroxide. We also went down the big slide and there was even a large number of kids and their families from the community today which was not the case on Monday when we went. This was really cool because special needs kids are looked down as cursed or animals in Haiti, simply due to lack of education and interaction. So it was neat to allow a small group of Haitians to be introduced to these awesome kids and to have their kids play together with our Miriam Center kids. It was a really cool thing to witness.
Also while at Bonneau, I had the pleasure of enjoying my first Haitian coconut. I mean likely fell of the tree while we were at the park and Stephanie brought it over to me. It was really good. One of the girls from the group, granted she is still just in high school, asked if the juice Stephanie was referring to inside the coconut was in fact coconut juice. REALLY?!? It took a lot in me to hold back from saying, “No, you find orange juice in coconuts.” But I didn’t. I just had a bit because I shared the rest with all of the M.C. kids who were around me, but hopefully I can enjoy one again soon!
When we arrived back from the park at the mission, we went straight up to lunch since we arrived 15 minutes late, but thankfully they held it back for us. Once I was done eating I went down to feed the kids lunch. I fed T-Willy today. He was fun, and can eat with his own spoon when assisted. But I learned that you know when he doesn’t want to eat anymore because he throws his food at you. Great.
Once lunch was done. Autumn and I had an Outreach session to do. We had two kids from the community come today. Surprisingly, one of the kids was brought by a dad. Typically here in Haiti, the woman is the chief of the household and does many of the things for the family. There are also many kids who don’t have father figures in their life period. So this was a neat thing to see.
Outreach itself was also really cool today because I was able to work with one of the girls that came. Autumn showed me an exercise to help kids strengthen their stomach muscles and arms so that they can sit up and crawl. It was really cool and I love learning so much, not just from watching but from also working hands on with the kids. I feel really blessed to be able to do so!
Once Outreach was complete I hung out downstairs and played with some of the kids for a bit before I went upstairs to write down some prayers in my journal. Over the years I have found that prayer journaling is the most effective way for me to pray because I don’t get so side tracked with my thoughts. So I spend a solid 30 minutes or so doing this and it was a great time. Thanks Renèe for your awesome gift and amazing friendship!
For some reason though, even with my day was filled with an awesome quiet time and a really great time of prayer journaling I was still really down at the end of the day. I just felt really drained being down in the M.C. I think a lot of it was that one of the girls that came to outreach today had C.P. Both of her arms were bent to a 90 degree angle and you could tell where it seemed like her skin at pretty much grown in that way. Autumn said that it would be incredibly unlikely that she ever would be able to fully bend either of her arms without surgery. What made me so frustrated was knowing that if this child had been born in America, she would have likely received treatment from a very early age to have prevented her skin from growing in such a way or she could easily have received surgery to correct something like this. So, I guess in a way I was kind of wrestling with God a lot this afternoon. So, in my defeat and downer mood, I went into my room and read many of the notecards that my girls from my Impact camp had written me in jars we made for all of us. It was super uplifting to read what they all had written, many of them not evening being the first time I had read them, and to look up the scriptures they had written down for me. It definitely made my day and reminded me, not just of how blessed I am here but back at home as well and also why I am here. Thanks ladies for taking the time to write those beautiful words of encouragement and love! I love you all and miss you soo much!
After this time I went to go take a bucket bath right after dinner and then went straight up to devotional. This day has been crazy but I wouldn’t change it for the world!.
This is one of the scriptures I read today from my encouragement jar from my girls:
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
No comments:
Post a Comment