Visiting Family

Fayetteville is really growing on us and one of my favorite things about living in NWA is how close we are to family. Sean's mom lives here in Fayetteville and the drive to my parents house is only about 90 minutes, making weekend trips SO easy.

My parents just bought this really pretty home in Branson Creek - it was fully furnished and is really beautiful.

 A couple weekends ago, my Nanny came to visit (mom's mom). Isn't she pretty?! I sure hope I age as well as she does!

 During her visit we went to dinner at the Candlestick in Branson - SO delicious! Here's mom and dad before dinner:

 My little brother Austin and I at dinner and me and dad before we left. I think Austin and I look a lot alike! Austin is a spitting image of my father when he was his age.

This picture is taken from my parent's master bedroom looking into the bathroom. There wasn't a door for privacy! The actual toilet room does have a door, but the bed looks straight into the jacuzzi tub and mom wanted a bit more privacy, so I sewed these drapes for them. The picture isn't that good, but they are mostly green with purple and gold trim.

 I also made mom this Christmas wreath. People decorate for Christmas very early in Branson - it was only Christmas music at the Landing when I was there in early November. 

 My papa (dad's dad) visited Branson last week, but I wasn't able to make it up there due to work. Thankfully, they made a special trip to Fayetteville so we could meet them for breakfast. My papa is arguably the nicest man on the planet! He loves Jesus dearly, has taught preschool Sunday school since I can remember and volunteers somewhere different almost every day of the week (hospitals, driving friends to doctor appointments, a pharmacy, a theme park for special needs children). His heart is so generous and giving and I'm so thankful for his example!

What a blessing our family is!

Mizzou's Centennial Homecoming

Sean and I traveled back to Columbia for Mizzou's 100th homecoming this past weekend. We weren't sure what it would feel like to be back in Columbia, but we LOVED it! Running into familiar faces everywhere we went was refreshing. It felt comfortable to be back on campus and surrounded by black and gold.

We went to house decs on Friday night. For those of you who attended Mizzou, they aren't quite as impressive anymore. Rightfully so they have cut back on the amount of pomping - I mean...those were ridiculously time consuming and expensive anyways. I'm glad they've done that, but they're not quite as much fun to see anymore.

The parade, however, was great! This float was my favorite - my super sweet 16 themed.

After the parade we popped into the new bookstore to buy a couple of things then headed to my sorority house for a brunch. Look at my tan-tastic headshot below. Not sure how I even got that dark and am slightly embarrased that picture will be up in the house forever.

A good family friend graciously let us sit with him at the game. The weather was beautiful (we actually got a little sunburned)! 

 This is a picture from inside the new student commons center - it's really impressive! Tons of room for student to hang out, study and grab a meal in between classes. They did a great job integrating Mizzou traditions into the new facility.

 Last but not least we dropped in HyVee. Oh, how we miss this place! I really didn't realize what I was missing  until we went back in - their selection is SO big and prices are good. With the Wal Mart national headquarters in NWA, that's pretty much our only option here. Sean plans to write a letter to HyVee asking them to expand into our area. I'm sure they'll listen. :)

 We also spent time with old friends, went to The Crossing on Sunday morning and dropped in the new Goodwill store {it's the nicest one I've ever been to!}. We have no idea where we will end up after Sean finishes school in May, but Columbia is definitely on the list of places we might like to be! 

Haiti Trip Part 6 - Application in the U.S.

Transitioning back to life in America hasn't been easy. I was only in Haiti for 10 days, but all of my senses were overloaded with a culture very different from my own. Upon my return to the U.S., I connected through Miami and the airport had been closed for two hours when I arrived. Due to this, it took over two hours to get through customs and many people on our trip missed their flights. I finally got to my gate and excitedly dialed my husband, longing to hear his voice. I was met with a tender voice on the other end alerting me that his grandfather had passed away during my absence. I felt so sad - yes, that his grandpa had passed away, but more so that I wasn't there to comfort him and his family during a time of need.

My flight was delayed a few hours, so I was going to miss my connecting flight in Dallas. In order to ensure I made it for the funeral the next day, I re-routed to STL and arrived around 1:00am. As I waited around the Miami airport, my gate was full mostly of tourists returning from their Aruban and Mexican beach vacations. They were all very vocal about their frustrations of flight delays and I wanted to punch them in the face. It was really hard to have seen starving children that morning and now be surrounded by people complaining about petty problems. I felt really vulnerable and like my joy was being stolen almost immediately upon my return.

 How do I not forget what I experienced in Haiti and still be mindful of how incredibly blessed I am? This weekend I attempted to go shopping and found a dress for $50 I really liked. When I was in the dressing room I thought '$50 could feed a child in Haiti for a whole month!' I couldn't buy the dress. When I left the store I told Sean my feelings and wondered out loud when this feeling would change and he asked me if I ever wanted it to change. I think the answer is no. I don't want to go back to normal. I don't want to spend frivolously just because I can. I don't want to forget what I saw while in a third world country.

 The reality, though, is that life is different here. Even the poorest here are better off than the majority of Haitians. In my life I will likely never go hungry, I will have access to appropriate medical care, I will have a roof over my head. I don't believe guilt is an emotion that God desires for his people. Discernment, sure. Guilt, I don't think so. Sometimes that's what I feel and I need to be praying that He would show me how to transition best.

 I so desperately don't want to forget these faces, the smells, their gracious humility.  Right now I'm not really sure what it looks like to stay involved. There are certainly many worthy organizations to donate to and disciplined prayer for the people Haiti is something I care deeply about. I would love to take another trip with Sean so that we can both experience another culture together. I'll say that it was a little difficult to come back and share pictures, stories, etc. and for Sean to not be able to fully relate or be interested in the same type of lifestyle changes. He was 100% supportive (he wrote me letters to read each night I was gone and they got me through some tough days!) but still didn't see what I saw.  

  I encourage all of you to take a trip like this sometime soon. Travel outside of your comfort zone to experience God's people and creation in another part of the world. Many Americans have a very narrow worldview. I do feel that mine has been expanded after this trip, but certainly has a lot of room to grow. It was and continues to be a great learning experience. It was challenging physically, emotionally and spiritually - a challenge I really needed at this time of my life.

Jesus spent a lot of time with the least of these. He loved others deeply, served other sacrificially {to the point of death}, and didn't care about cultural norms. We aren't just asked to take care of widows and orphans, we are commanded to do so. Taking a 10 day trip to Haiti isn't enough and I know that. If anything this trip exposed my weaknesses and shortcomings and for that I am thankful. The process of sanctification is sometimes slow and messy, but how wonderful that He loves me enough to give me grace and allow me the opportunity to grow closer to Him every day!

Haiti Trip Part 5 - La Baie des Moustiques

One day of the trip we hopped on a bus and tap tap and headed towards La Baie des Moustiques (mosquito bay). La Baie is an orphanage in a more rural part of Haiti affiliated with NW Haiti Christian Mission. Our goal was to hold a basic eye clinic for patients that would not be able to travel to the mission for our regular clinic. Grant and Natasha are a young married couple that run La Baie. We all had a lot in common - previous Kanakuk staff, from Missouri, big college football fans. It was a really unique experience to meet my peers who have given up a life of comfort in the US in order to live out God's calling. They were just so normal. I know that probably sounds weird, but meeting people that are like me but living a life very different from mine was really interesting {and convicting if I'm being honest}.

We crossed this river on the way to La Baie.

 I found this photo online, but it gives you a great idea of what a more rural area of Haiti looks like. More huts, goats, and more a desert like appearance.

Photo Credit - Andy Olson

 On the way to La Baie our truck got stuck in the mud (Hurricane Emily moved through the area the day before we arrived). I'm in the back of the bus. I thought we were moving closer to try to tie a rope or something, but no....we just tried to ram the truck out. Didn't work and the bus got stuck too.

 After about 45 minutes or so, we got the bus out and all crammed in to drive the remaining couple of miles to La Baie's campus. We set up this clinic and ended up seeing around 90 patients this day. Some of them were referred on to surgery with our team, but an unfortunate reality is that they likely don't have the means to get transportation to the mission.

 We got to do something pretty cool on this day trip - we visited a beautiful beach! The water was cool and such a relief from the hot Haitian sun. We didn't stay too long because we needed to try and make it accross the river again before dark.

 This is me on the back of a big tap tap. Think bed of a truck with 2x4 benches built in. It's a pretty dusty ride, but you get lots of air and great views.

 A soccer game.

 Remember the whole wanting to get back before dark goal? Well, that didn't happen. I wish I had a picture of what did happen, but imagine a huge dump truck stuck in a mud pit like below. It made the road impassable by vehicle. The ironic thing is that there was a giagantic pile of gravel next to the mud pit that could have helped, but there was no way of moving the gravel.

 The decision was made to start walking. We were about 20 miles from the main mission, about 45 minutes or so by car. Grant called some of his Haitian friends who owned tap taps and they started driving our way. We walked for probably 2 or 3 miles in the mud before they caught up with up. I have a smile on my face below, but I was scared half to death. These tap taps were just some type of 70s model ford ranger. No backs, so you just sit on the edge of the bed and hold on for your dear life. I thought for sure I was going to fall out! Thankfully, no one was injured and we made it back to the mission around 11:00pm. Showers were a must after swimming in salt water, walking through mud and a very dusty tap tap ride home! We pretty much all agree, though, that this was one of our favorite experiences! It was so Haitian. Fly by the seat of your pants. Flexibility was requred. Good attitudes all around. So fun!





Haiti Trip Part 4 - Cool People

I met some of the coolest people in Haiti. Americans, Haitians and other countries represented. If you only have a few minutes right now, please go read this post by Stephanie Joyner then come back for the rest of this post later. She and her husband, Noah, are trying to adopt two kids from an orphanage in Haiti (and have 3 boys of their own in America) but the process is held up because they are not yet 35 years old (they're 32).

Their boy, M, was one of our patients at the mission and this is her journal entry recounting her feelings and experience around the surgery and subsequently having to leave him back at the orphanage. Seriously heartbreaking. Noah and his brothers work with a ministry called HaitiLove - their vision is to connect American churches with Haitian churches for the purpose of real growth and discipleship. Check it out when you have a few minutes. 

Photo from the Joyner's blog

This is Johny. He's from Port de Paix and is a translator and is awesome. He's humble, funny, has hope for the future and loves Jesus. This video shows his personality and what he's saying is totally unprompted {you will have to excuse his language in some parts. Some terms that are pretty offensive here are not so offensive in their culture}. He's comparing a couple of Haitian and American cultural differences: men holding hands and skinny jeans. I'm not saying I agree with what he says.

This is Connie, a nurse anesthetist from Kansas City. She was the only anesthesia trained professional on this trip - what a job to have! She was under a lot of stress and handled it all with such humility and grace. This girl was there to serve others and that was very apparent in her actions and attitude. If you want to see her trip pictures you can visit her blog here. The itty baby in the picture below has an interesting story. He's 11 months old, though you certainly wouldn't know by his size. He's blind and from an orphanage about 10 hours away from the mission. A lady from the U.S. flew all the way to Haiti just to pick him up and bring him to our team of doctors. He's too little to do much right now, but surgery might be an option for him later.

I don't have a picture, but our team of physicians was outstanding. I work with a lot of doctors, many of whom are so busy they aren't able to attend their own children's activities. These doctors, though, make it a priority to travel (some of the every year or even two times a year) to meet a deep need in the country of Haiti. They take time out of their schedules, pay to travel to a 3rd world country and work from morning until evening - all with servant's hearts. It was a blessing to be on a team with them.

This is Courtney, a full time staff member at the mission. She runs the special needs orphanage and a few other outreach programs. She has a heart of gold and seeks to glorify the Lord is all she does. She is SO good with those kids and has even been the mother of a sweet little baby. The special needs orphanage has had 24 funerals in the past two years. It takes a special person to see God in the midst of such tragedy and she's that person.

There were a lot of other cool people. Dentists who fly in just for the weekend to provide care. College students who choose to give up a summer of comfort to serve at the mission. Grant and Natasha are newlyweds committed to the people of Haiti - they run an orphanage at La Baie and are cooler than cool.

Praise God for people like these! Oh, how I pray that my heart becomes more like theirs. More like Jesus.

Haiti Trip Videos - Kids

As promised, here are a couple of videos showing some of the precious kids at the mission. Most of them are there for the nutrition program. Notice that they know the word 'photo.' :)

Haiti Trip Part 3 - The Children

Kids tug on my heart strings. They're so innocent. Pure. There's something that feels so wrong about the fact that there are kids all over the world that live in dangerous, unhealthy environments. Many Haitian children don't have advocates. You just don't really see that in the US. Here, if a parent is unwilling to be an advocate there is usually a family member, friend, social worker, or judge that is willing to fill that role. These pictures evoke a few different emotions in me, some conflicting. Sadness, confusion, simple joy, anger. It's ok to feel a mix of emotions - it's a complex situation that is so much bigger than you or I.

Toms shoes sent a TON of shoes to the mission where I was staying. One of the teams that was volunteering there went all over the NW Haiti region to pass out the shoes. It was cool to see the little kiddos running around in their new shoes! Interesting side note: Toms asks that when people hand out the shoes they not speak of Jesus or any particular religion.

There is an infant orphanage on the mission campus. This place was both fun and heartbreaking. I loved holding the sweet little babies, but felt very sad leaving them knowing that their care {though better than many kids in Haiti} would be in inadequate.

Meal time! I tried to figure out what they were eating. It looked like some type of gravy to me. 

One day we traveled to La Baie - about an hour away. It's a more rural area. I'll blog more about that day in another post. 

Christy is on the left below. Oh my goodness she was so sweet! Her dad is a physician in Port au Prince, but they don't have any ophthalmologists there. One of her eyes crosses in, so our pediatric ophthalmologist did a pretty quick surgery and fixed her up. The surgeon was in surgery for quite a while so she hung out with us in clinic for a  few hours. After about 30 minutes she was running the place!

On the right is a picture of a super cool mom and her son, M, whom she and her husband are trying to adopt {along with his sister}. Haiti's adoption laws state that you have to be at least 35 years old to adopt. WHAT?! They're the poorest country in the western hemisphere with a huge overpopulation and orphan problem and they so strongly limit who can adopt?! That's nuts to me. I'll blog about this family's Haitian ministry soon so you can learn more about them.

The girl in the red shirt runs the special needs orphanage and is way cool. She LOVES living in Haiti and taking care of those kiddos. This little boy is in one of her outreach programs and has severe autism. His smile could light up a room, though! He had strabismus surgery (crossed eyes).

Ugh. I just want to eat these kids up. I don't have my flip camera with me today, but tomorrow I'll blog a video that shows these kids in action. It. Will. Melt. Your. Heart.

This girl is only 17 and has been in prostitution for a few years. Prostitution is a big problem in Haiti. Lack of leadership, financial resources and education all contribute to this issue. I heard stories of disabled, blind women in prostitution - just kills me. I mean, can you imagine?? She has some type of tumor, but the surgeons didn't know what kind. They took a biopsy home with them and will hopefully learn more about how to best take care of her for their next trip.

These kiddos are from the St. Louis du Nord community. Due to the high mortality rate for kids under the age of 5 (50%!) many parents don't name their children for a while. The little boys on the right didn't have names yet.

Random fact: there was a Mizzou student and an Arkansas student on this trip. None of us knew the others, but how random to have those type of connections meet up in Haiti. Sean in the picture below is from Mizzou.

This little girl, Miriam, had her second corneal transplant this trip! She had her first last year. This is Dr. Moyes in the photo, someone I work with and is from the Kansas City area.

This image is burned into my mind. Tears are welling up in my eyes as I write this. When I walked close to these babies they would all reach for someone to pick them up. I wish I had 5 arms! I tried to rotate holding these babies, but they did not like to be put down. That was really hard for me. It's seems silly for me to write what was hard for me, considering what is hard for these kids every day. I felt like I could never do enough - so overwhelmed by the whole experience.

This little guy is 12 years old, 5 feet tall and 41 pounds. He has been in the special needs orphanage for two years and is dearly loved by the staff and volunteers there. I think he probably has some sort of absorption issue - he's getting the same meals as the other kids who do not look like this, but he just isn't getting the nutrition he needs.

I'll end with this one because it's a happy one. These boys chased me around outside asking me to take their picture. They just giggled so hard when I showed them their picture from my camera. Their life is simple. Their life is much harder than mine. Their life will be full of seemingly insurmountable challenges. But they're happy, smiling and laughing. I learned a hard lesson in humility while in Haiti. Be joyful always.