Cooking

Today was a great day, but I am exhausted! At 9am this morning a few teachers got together to take cooking lessons from Milan- one of the Haitian cooks at the school.

First we made a list of the dishes that we were preparing, and then we headed down to the market (mache) to buy what we needed.

I love all the fresh veggies on the streets.

I felt very brave eating meat from the market. 

We went back to Tiffany's house to prepare pickliz, potato salad, beans and rice, beef taso, fried plantain, a marinade for the meat, red Haitian sauce and fresh lime juice.

Frying the plantains

                                                            
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Beans with seasoning before the rice is added

After 7 hours of preparing food, we finally sat down to eat. I had no idea how long it was going to take to prepare everything. I would be lying if while we were learning to cook and prepare everything I said that I was not frustrated, hungry, and exhausted. 

God is definitely teaching me patience. I can only imagine how I frustrate God when I repeatedly choose my ways over His, when I trust myself rather than Him, or when I look for satisfaction in other things. I am so thankful that I serve a God full of love, mercy, and grace.   

Girls Night

Last night we had a girls night with the teachers that live on campus. Amber, Kellyanne, and I are the single ones. Irene, Tiffany, and Katie are married. Miquett is engaged and is getting married in October. We are all different ages and at different stages in our lives, yet God uses each one of the women to remind me of Himself. I am amazed at their faith and how they are seeking after the Lord. I am so blessed by the fellowship of Believers here at QCS. 

I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 12 when Paul discusses spiritual gifts and how the the body of Christ should work. God is using each one of us for a specific purpose while we are in Haiti. I am so thankful that everyone is not just like me, and that God chooses to use us all to bring Him glory!

mouse in the house

I like to think that I am not scared of many things. Tonight I was eating dinner over at Amber's place and all of a sudden a mouse scurried across the floor. By the way I screamed you would have thought that I was being killed. Amber and I decided to toughen up and try to poke the mouse out from behind the cabinets and then sweep it outside. It was an epic failure. Our next plan was to set a mouse trap. We failed at that too. Finally we decided it was time to call in the experts... the guy neighbors. They helped us set the trap and we used peanut butter as bait. We are hoping to have our first mouse experience end in nothing less than DEATH!

John 3:16-17

It is official. I am horrible at keeping a blog. My goal is to be more consistent with posting.


We have been in school for one week. I absolutely love my second graders... all 26 of them! All but two of the children in my class are Haitian. Creole is their first language, but they all speak English very well. The children are from affluent Haitian families or local missionary families. I am excited to get to know them more and see how the Lord draws them closer to Himself.

Living on campus with the other teachers is such a blessing. We eat dinner together, play games together, and just talk about life. I am experiencing God's love and faithfulness through the people and the friendships here at QCS.

This morning Amber, Josiah and I got up early and went into a local village. This has been one of my favorite things to do! Josiah was in Haiti for a semester last year and started playing soccer with the some kids on the street. After he got to know them and form relationships with them, they took him to their house. Since then he has met their families and other people in their village. Going into the village and home of the Haitians is wonderful. The children are so joyful, welcoming, and eager to see you. Playing and loving on the children really puts in perspective what is important in life.

I am wrestling through how to serve and love the children on the streets in Haiti. I do not know specifically what that looks like right now. What I do know is that God loves each child on the street so much more that I can even fathom.

Over the past couple of days I have been greatly humbled and aware of all the brokenness in my life. Brokenness in my own heart and everywhere around me. God did not intend for all of this brokenness and sin in the world. He also does not intend to leave us or the world this way. God sent Jesus to die for our sins so we could be in relationship with Him. God is making us new and he is redeeming the world in which we live. Most days I wish this was a faster process, but I know God is sovereign and good.

1 week

I have officially been in Haiti for one week. I am overwhelmed with God's presence in my life. Amidst all the change I have experienced His peace, love, and faithfulness in way I have not experienced before. 

Students start class on Tuesday. I am excited to meet my 2nd graders and start the school year. God has put quite a task in front of me to educate and shape the minds of these children. The more I plan lessons the more I realize that I can not do what the Lord has called me to do in Haiti without His strength and guidance. 

Many of the students in my class are not believers. Many students come from a broken family. Many students lost parents in the earthquake. Many students are looking for love. 

My prayer is that each child would come to know Jesus and that they would begin to learn the importance of living a life completely surrender to Him. Please join me in praying that God would begin preparing the 2nd graders hearts and minds for great things this year! 

Pencils and Pens

I have been busy with school meetings and getting my classroom together. Keeping busy has been good. I have all my bulletin boards and posters up in my room. I have to start lesson planning which is really overwhelming. I have to remind myself that whether I was in Haiti or America I would have to do this. 

Today I went to the school office to ask for some supplies for my desk. I needed some pens, pencils, tape, and folders. When I asked for some she gave me 2 of each. I was taken aback when that is all she gave me. Does she know that I loose pens and can't keep track of the last place I left it? 

I went back to my room a little annoyed. Once I sat down with my 4 writing utensils for the year I started to think about why I need a whole box of each. I only write with one hand. It would make sense to only have one pen. 

I am used to living in excess- having more than enough of what I need and what I want. In Haiti God is definitely blessing me with more than the bare essentials, but I have been stripped away from many of the comforts in my life. 

When we choose to step out of our comfort zone and trust Jesus it will be hard. God does not promise that it will be easy. There will be times we cry ourselves to sleep, times we want to give up, times we are frustrated, and times that we feel lonely. God does promise that during all of these times He will be with us. He alone is enough. 

He alone is enough for all of me.  I pray that I would really believe that with my whole heart.  

My Prayer

God I pray that I would trust you. Show me what it looks like to surrender my ways to your ways. Show me what it looks like to get my strength and joy from you. Show me how to step outside of myself and serve you. Show me what it looks like to put aside my emotions and trust in your sovereignty. God I need you. I need you for everything. Help me find comfort and peace in you alone. 


This song from Laura Story is a great reminder that in my trails God is faithful! 


We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights 
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life 
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights 
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

And what if trials of this life 
Are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the achings of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can’t satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

Blessings

I slept really well after quite an adventure yesterday. I didn't get any mosquito bites and the air was on all night. God totally provided with those 2 things. He probably knew if I was hot and I eaten alive by bugs after such an eventful day I would be out of here in a day! :) 

This morning we had a staff meeting. It was really encouraging to meet and get to know the other teachers. They were all really friendly and made me feel welcomed. There are a mix of teachers. Some of them are older, some are younger, some are new to Haiti, and some have lived here a long time. After the meeting I felt very refreshed and excited about the year. Having a mission and goal was really helpful in keeping me focused. 

I had sometime to clean out my classroom. The previous teacher who taught 2nd grade left things very organized and was really sweet in the notes she left. God really used that today! In Haiti there is alot of dust. There was tons of dust on everything. The word dusting has a whole new meaning! Supposedly tomorrow morning there will be more dust on everything I just cleaned today...oh well! I rearranged desks and started to decorate. I will put pictures up soon. 

This afternoon I skyped my mom and dad. That was really good, but I got a bit sad after that. Soon I was quickly distracted by going to the grocery store. Giant had everything that you would need. Some of the brands I love were there. It cost a lot more in the States but dont worry dad I will budget carefully. 

When I got back I went for a run with one of the new teachers around the school campus. Each lap around the campus is about a quarter of a mile. When I came back to shower I found out that our water was out. They have a cistern but it was low and we didnt give enough notice to have it refilled. I went over the campus apartments and took a shower in one of the other teachers places. 

I had dinner with a bunch of the new teachers. It was awesome to have dinner together, form relationships, and share our hearts. It was such a blessing to end the night on such a wonderful note. 

God is faithful. I need to open my eyes and choose to see Him. My mom said to me today two things that were really wise. 

~You cannot live each day on a roller coster. But - it is normal to go through an emotional time. Trust in the Lord, not on your emotions. 

~ Take each day at a time and trust in the Lord. 

My prayer is that that would become my heart and desire....Trust God not myself.

Hard day

Yesterday I flew to Haiti. It was really really sad leaving my family. I cried the entire time in the airport. I know people thought I was crazy. As I have gotten older I have realized how much they mean to me and how much I really love them!

I got onto the airplane and there was a woman who I had met at NVM last summer when I was in Haiti. It was nice to see a familiar face. While we were in the air there was a medical emergency. A woman was having an asthma attack. She ended up being ok but we had to land in the Dominican Republic to get more oxygen. 

While we were in the DR we were had to wait a little bit on the airplane for them to refuel and get the oxygen. People are the plane were really frustrated. All of a sudden a Haitian man started screaming and yelling. He was mad that we had to wait so long and his yelling caused the other Haitians on the plane to get upset as well. After about 45 minutes of this the pilot came over the loud speakers and said that it needed to stop or we were all going to have to get off the plane and it would take even longer to get to Haiti. This made the Haitians even more mad. Eventually about 10 DR police came aboard. They cleared half the plane and then arrested about 15 people. 

While this was all going on I was crying and praying. The woman I knew from NVM was right in front of me holding my hand. The other Haitians around me were really sweet and told me it would be ok. The whole time I was thinking, "God what the heck am I doing going to Haiti."

Yesterday was really hard. I know that each day will be hard. I need God. I need to trust in His promises. I need to rely on Him alone. Just like today he proved faithful. He has always and will always be faithful. 

Pray that I would trust Him and trust in His plan for my life. 

i am desperate for you

I went to Target with my mom today to get some things for Haiti. Among the more exciting things that we got were socks, towels, and vitamins. (I know, I know you are jealous)


We were checking out, and I started to get teary- eyed. I managed to make it out to the parking lot before I burst into tears. Once I stopped crying I said, "When I am in Haiti life seems so simple and these material things seem so insignificant."


It makes me cringe to think I separate my life in Haiti with my life in America. Truth is whether I am in Haiti or in America life is pretty simple...love God and love others.  I need to treasure things of the Kingdom rather than things of this world.


Today was a reminder of how much I need God. He has SO much to teach me.


I am absolutely unworthy. I am a total disaster. I am completely broken. I also know that Jesus died on the cross for my brokenness and imperfections. I know that He loves me. I know that in Him I am a new creation. I know that God is making me new.


 I pray for the strength to obey and trust God in all that He has called for me to do. I pray that my first love would be Jesus, and that I would say no to everything else!

"you make beautiful things out of dust"

a generation of change

I leave in 6 days! My life seems so surreal right now. I can not believe that next week I will be in Haiti. I will be living in the heat and humidity, with lots of bugs and mosquitos, eating beans and rice.  Sounds like tons of fun doesn't it? :)

I am really looking forward to starting this next phase in my life. Yes I am scared, anxious, and overwhelmed but the Lord has really given me a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Last night I was thinking about how it will be to have my own classroom. When I was little I used to set up my stuffed animals and teach them using my dad's history books. Time sure does fly by. Soon I will be meeting my real (not stuffed animals) 2nd graders. I am excited to teach the children in my class and help them grow into the person God created them to be. 

What is even more exciting is that I will be teaching in Haiti where amidst brokenness God is making things new. I am humbled that God would choose to use me to further His kingdom in this way. My prayer is that each child in my class would come to know the Lord in an intimate way. These children have the opportunity to be the next lawyers, doctors, teachers, and politicians of the country. I pray that they will be a generation that helps change Haiti for Christ!