I've Got The Joy Down In My Heart!

One of the most convicting things about Haiti was to see how much joy the Haitian believers have in their hearts. And by contrast, how little joy I have in my heart. One day I was doing the dishes with some of the ladies who cooked meals for us and they were all singing and dancing to the radio. It just made me think about how I do the dishes. I'm usually grumbling and thinking about how fast I can get it done so I can get on to something else. I totally miss out on that time, when I could be praying and worshipping! Not to mention, thanking God for the dishes, the food, and the water I'm washing with!

I think the biggest difference I saw between Haiti and the U.S. is how we view our jobs. To us, jobs are just what you have to do so you can get to what you enjoy. But there, they rejoiced to have their jobs and they poured themselves into them. They made their jobs fun! I just thought about all of the wasted time I spent complaining about jobs, and completely missing in the joy of God's provision.

So, one of the lessons I learned from Haiti is how simple life should be. You don't need much to survive and to be thankful. I have an over-abundance of "stuff" and yet I still miss the blessings God has given me.

The pictures I am attaching of our morning "Sing & Shout & Jump About" time where all the workers gather to worship the Lord before worshipping Him through their hard work!

This Trip Requires More Than One Post!

I will have to write several posts to really explain how the trip to Haiti was. We left Saturday, June 25th and came back this past Saturday night. I still feel tired, but it's hard to tell if that is just my age!

I guess this post will just be the details of what we did and in future ones I will try to explain what God did in my heart this week.

So, we're on the first flight out of OKC and I'm looking out the window before we take off and I see my bag coming of the plane and going onto a cart and driving away. My first thought was, well this trip is going to be about my "stuff". More on that on another post! (The pictures if Laurel and I after we got to Haiti and realized that she had no bag either - there were also two others without bags).

The compoud we stayed at happened to be across the street from the Pakistani UN compound so I got to hear the call to prayer every day. Go figure!

On Sunday we went to church and then to the beach. (See pictures from the beach). Monday through Friday were work days and then Friday afternoon we took a tour of downtown Port-au-Prince which took the biggest hit from the earthquake. I will write several posts to describe more about these experiences.

My overall experience in Haiti was so fabulous. The people are wonderful and it was a joy to meet other believers and humbling to work alongside them. I learned alot about joy and gratitude from them!

Off to Haiti

If you're really paying attention, you'll notice that this post was write at 3:15 am. Well, that's because I'm leaving for the airport in 45 minutes and frankly, I couldn't sleep. I never do before I travel. Not because I'm nervous about travelling. I think it's because I don't want to oversleep. Anywho, I should have some good pictures to post because I'm headed to Haiti this morning! I'm really excited. A group of ten is going from my church and we are going to be sleeping in tents and building a house. Those are two things that I have little to no experience in and frankly, I don't think I'm going to be good at. But, the Lord has let me to go, so I'm going. Be praying for our team...for safety, good health (and backs!) and for opportunities to share. I'm looking forward to finding out what God has for me to learn about Him through this trip. I'm also anticipating a broken heart for the condition of that country. I'm sad about leaving Blake for a week, but I know this will grow me as a person, which will only make me a better wife!

Fun-Employment

I have had a fabulous week so far! It's been strange not to go to work, but I think this new lifestyle looks good on me! Surprisingly, I've been busy. I've had coffee and dinner and ice cream with numerous friends this week (which calorie-wise and money-wise will probably not be the norm) and I've been able to spend some good time with the Lord this week. I've also been shopping for my trip to Haiti which included a great find at Academy...really cute women's workboots for $20. Yay!

So, you may wonder what I'm going to do with my time from now on? Well, I'm looking for a part-time job, but the thing that I am very excited about is being more involved in the pro-life movement. I am so excited to do something about an issue that I've felt so passionate about for so long! The first thing I will do is sign up to voluteer at the Eden Clinic, a crisis pregancy center in town. I hope to spend a couple of mornings a week with women who are pregnant and need someone to love on them and share the gospel with them.

Another arena I will be involved in is the Abolitionist Society of Oklahoma. It's a new group that has been formed by various people in our community and there just so happens to be a need for someone with the gift of organization (aka bossiness) to help out where needed. So, I have been able to run a yard sale to raise money and I am working on a couple of other projects. It's a great avenue for me to use my giftings and to work for the abolishment of abortion, not just in our country, but around the world. For more information about our society, you can go to www.abolishhumanabortion.blogspot.com to see our blog. We are all about education, but we are also about service, which I love. We used the money raised in the yard sale to help a young single mom out and are looking for other opportunities to serve brave women who keep their babies.

The third area that we are trying to be involved in is adoption, which is something God has really laid on our hearts. As someone who claims to be pro-life, am I willing to step up and bring the "unwanted" children into my home? Absolutely. Those kids could not be any more wanted by Blake and I!! God has shown us that this is how we are going to start our family. After a difficult year of trying to get pregnant, we are now ready to pursue adoption. Please be praying that God will guide us through this time. We are both so excited about this!! It is truly the heart of God and as the church we are commanded to "look after orphans and widows in their distress". I read the other day that if 1 out of every 138 Southern Baptists adopted a child in the foster care system, there would be no more children needing homes in the U.S.! That's totally something we can do as a church, and Blake and I are excited to be a part of that!

So, while Starbucks and sleeping in are going to be a part of my new life, you can see that it won't all be about me. Please be praying for these three areas that God has called me to work in. Pray that I will be faithful with my time and that Christ will be central to this work that He has called me to.

I'm Baaaack!!!

So sorry for the lack of online presence over the past couple of months. Things got a little busy, but we're on the upside now! I quit my job...my last day was Friday, so I've been able to be home and wade through my 150 emails that I'd been putting off. I also started some projects around our home that I've been wanting to get to for a long time. I'm really enjoying unemployment! We have some exciting things coming in the near future, but I'll have to get to that later. Until, thanks for putting up with the blogging absence. I can't guarantee that it won't happen again!

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

Oklahoma is in desperate need of some moisture! The last precip we got was the two blizzards in February. But those snows were so dry...only an inch of actual precipitation for sixteen inches of snow! Crazy stuff. So, things were getting...crunchy and dusty. Our beloved Oklahoma was looking a little bit like the Sahara. All week, they have been telling us we should expect rain. On Friday, we saw the storms, but the were south and never came. Yesterday, it sprinkled while we were running, but the rain never game. But today, the skies opened and it poured. It made driving difficult, but I was not about to complain. Many prayers were answered today with this downpour. Praise the Lord for perfect timing for a perfect downpour!

Santa Fe

Finally, I'm getting to pictures of our day in Santa Fe! We stayed at a really cute B&B that was right next to the plaza, so we spent some time walking around the plaza and seeing Santa Fe, and then we decided to get in the car and take the "High Mountain Road" to Taos. It was beautiful. And, the low road we took back was nice, too! It followed the Rio Grande and with the mountains in the distance, we had a feast for the eyes.