Wednesday, July 4, 2012

4th of July from Haiti

Happy 4th of July! Wish I could teleport myself to the states just for this day! I hope that each of you have enjoyed celebrating America’s independence today and watching the lovely fireworks show. Please save me some sparklers if you are reading this.
Even though I wasn’t in the states for one of my favorite holidays (minus Thanksgiving and Christmas) because we as a family typically go out to my great aunt’s lake house, it was still a fantastic day here in Haiti.
So while we couldn’t completely celebrate here Kelsey, Morgan and I refused to give up and decided to dress in red, white and blue today! We probably looked ridiculous, but oh well. Tonight after devos and movie night with the Miriam Center we are also going to try and use Autumn’s iPad to try out an app she has for therapy downstairs that looks like fireworks. Yes that is how lame we are and sad we are missing out on this back home. 
This morning I headed out with Sinclair, Tore, and Morgan’s groups to Bonneau with Heather and Nahum. The kids really seemed to enjoy today even though it was pretty smoking hot outside today. Thankfully there was a nice breeze though. I was really blessed by my time at Bonneau today. Our trip this morning was the first time that I have not been responsible for a specific kid since we had so many Americans traveling with us today. While I really love spending this one on one time with kids when I do, today was special because I was able to go around and check on different children all through out the playground and give Americans who needed a break some time off, or picking up the slack for Americans who just really aren’t that great with kids, special needs kids in particular. I ended up spending a lot of my time with Walden. I absolutely adore this kid! We went down the slide several times and he would just light up and giggle each time we did! It was so cute!
When we arrived back at the mission I spent some time feeding John Kerry, Walden and Ti Jimson. Each of these boys rock and I love feeding them because they don’t require too much patience to finish their whole meal. Lunch went pretty smoothly for the Miriam Center and I am certainly very grateful for it!
Lunch of my own came with a big blessing. Since I was busy downstairs feeding my three boys, Autumn went upstairs to grab three plates for Heather, herself and me. When I arrived upstairs both of these wonderful ladies were already sitting at a table. They had bought be a Coke from the Canteen so that I “could make it through the afternoon”. This was so sweet and it is little acts of kindness that makes me feel so blessed to be their intern. There are times that I feel like they serve me more than I could ever possibly serve them. 
Outreach this afternoon was fantastic as always. I had the opportunity to work with a little girl on strengthening her arms and legs to crawl and sit up. I have had the chance to work with her a couple of times over the last few weeks, and while today was my last chance to work with her until fingers crossed January, I feel so thankful and blessed to have seen progress in her today. Not only was she beginning to show quite a bit of effort at an attempt at crawling, she also was able to sit up on her own for quite a while and even was able to pull up into a quad position on her own at the very end!
I was also able to take some time to read a couple of chapters in my book today AND take a nap today. The book I am reading is called Kisses from Katie and if you haven’t had the chance to read it yet, I would absolutely recommend it to you! I accidently took a little bit longer of a nap than I had initially intended. I woke up at 4:40 when dinner time for the kids is at 4:30. I wasn’t too worried though since we run on Haiti time here so when dinner is said to start at 4:30 this could mean dinner time is anywhere between 4:20 and 5. However, when I walked downstairs to help out, the Americans and workers had already managed to help feed EVERY SINGLE kid who needs assistance. Such a blessing and a great break once again. Thanks Americans! 
When I went outside into the courtyard to confirm such fantastic news with Heather who was sitting at the picnic table with some of the kids and staff I received even better news! Shelly, the Miriam Center’s nurse was sitting at the table and said something to Heather in Creole. Heather told me that Shelly had said, “Tell her I love her a lot!” Wow. I love her too! She serves these children so well. I know that when I see her in Heaven many, many years from now she is going to radiate from all of the jewels on her crown. 
Tonight was incredible as well. The Miriam Center had a movie night hosted by one of the American groups. We watched Lady and the Tramp and the kids all had popcorn. I held Berto for the first half, and then hung out with Ti-Carlos and McKinley. Natalie also offered me some of her popcorn a piece at a time. I also got some video and pictures of Joshua eating one piece of popcorn and then reaching up to fed a piece to Kelsey who was holding him. It may be one of the most precious things I have witnessed any of the kids doing her in the last month. It warmed my heart so much and I know it did for Kelsey as well! 
I am making this blog a little short tonight due to the movie and the fact that Kelsey, Morgan, Kelly and I are going to try to borrow Autumn’s Ipad here in a little bit to use one of her apps. This app creates images that resemble fireworks when you touch the screen. This is how we are going to make up for the lack of firework merchandise sold in Haiti. 
I hope that each of you had a fantastic fourth of July as well with your family and friends! 
Update on prayer requests: I did see the little girl on Monday that I had asked for prayer to see again (sorry I forgot to mention this earlier). I am feeling much better. Still not awesome, but my nose isn’t nearly as stuffy! My burn on my foot is still not scabbing over too great so if you could be praying that it doesn’t get infected I would really appreciate it!  I am so thankful for all of the prayers and encouragement that you have sent my way! 
Goodnight and God bless!

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