I have visited my blog several times over the last 20 days. I have logged on, stared at the screen and typed nothing. I have cried and prayed and prayed and cried. I have come to realize that I have so much to say......that I don't know where to start. I don't want to overwhelm my posting with too much.......or short change it by not saying as much as my heart is screaming to let out. It becomes overwhelming and then I shut down and shut down the computer. But my heart has so much to get out........so this is where I will start, today!
First, let me say that I was so not ready (yet again) for all that God had laid out for this journey. Not just this trip down but the whole thing starting way back at the beginning. I fell in love with Haiti by catching a bit of the passion oozing from my sweet friend Kelly. She was so in love with the people of Haiti and had such an intense heart for them, that I knew this was a place I had to go see myself. I told her I would go with her on a trip..........but not long after that conversation I learned that our church was partnering with Global Orphan Project to build an orphan village in Haiti! How amazing is God's timing, right??!!! So I decided I would wait and go with a group from Long Hollow. 6 months after Long Hollow started the plans and set this undertaking in motion......an earthquake hit in Port-au-Prince and shook an already impoverished country to it's core. I remember the moment I saw it on the news that morning I was in tears, I felt this crazy intensity to go help.......my heart was literally breaking for the people of this country. And the sweet babies who had been orphaned because of it, as if there wasn't already enough beautiful angels in need of a place to call home. So I prayed and I prayed and I prayed....and in July 2010 (6 months after the earthquake) I was SO blessed to put my feet on Haiti soil and Haiti FOREVER in my heart!!!!
There is nothing that can ever compare to what I saw the first time I landed in Haiti and I could never imagine that I was about to be blessed by those gorgeous faces in ways I hadn't fathomed. But God showed up in huge leaps and bounds and rocked my socks OFF!!! He shook me to the core, turned my heart upside down and said PAMELA, YOU'LL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN. And I heard Him and He was so right! From the moment I left------I was instantly aching to be back! Those sweet children have my heart in a way I didn't know existed.
Blessed am I that my precious husband gave me his blessing to make a return trip 10 months after the first one. It takes so much for him to let me go.........he is self employed and I am a stay at home mom. He doesn't get or take vacation time and for him to have to get help from anyone but me for anything for the 8 days I would be gone...........well, some guys just don't like asking for help. But he said that he couldn't stand in the way of what me and God had going on. I love him!!!
So I went. And I don't know what I was expecting to become of this trip........but whatever it was, God blew it away time and time again!!! He pushed me in ways I didn't know I needed to be pushed, but sure glad He knew I needed it! He showed me things I could have never thought to ask to see. He fueled the flame in my heart for these amazing orphans and he left it blazing bigger than ever! I have so many stories to share......so many deep thoughts to "put into words" and photos galore. Every time I thought I "have it ready"......I realize that I am still processing it all. But I am going to get it out.....because God definitely didn't intend to give me this gift and then to hide it away. They are too sweet to be kept selfishly and not shared with other hearts!
So while I am processing........I pray and I have faith God will give me the right words at the right time. So until then............
Here is my single favorite photo from this trip.........probably my favorite photo I have EVER taken! EVER!!
