Our/My (mostly mine) Journey to Transplant--- Wendy and Kim

This is my memory of my friendship with my friend Kim Mooney Canup who I am donating my kidney to. To our friends, some of this will bring back your own memories. I am so blessed to have these lifelong friends. To friends that I know more recently, this might help you to understand why I would do this for someone I love very dearly. This is our story as I remember it.....

It all started about 25 years ago when I was a teenager. I believe I was entering high school, but maybe....I was in middle school. I don't recall exactly. I met a family that rode my bus from Bethlehem Elementary to the middle and high schools every day. The Mooney's lived about 3 miles from my house, but we didn't really see each other except on the bus every day. There were 3 kids in their family at the time....Michelle, Kim, and Michael. It wasn't until late high school (11th grade for me) that I started "hanging out" with them. Michelle and I worked at WalMart together and Kim and I ran in the same circle of friends. Boy.... did we have a great set of friends that loved hanging out together! We even still have those same friends to this day! We had every weekend filled with going to Holly Hanson's lake house, cruising Holly Hill Mall (about 60 laps a day!), thrill hill, and numerous other adventures. We just generally had a good time. 
It was the the day of my 16th birthday and I could finally go on a real date! Michelle Mooney called me up one day just before my birthday and asked me if I wanted to go on a double date with her and Kevin. I was to go out with another friend of ours, Jeff Meck. Jeff lived across the street from me and I knew him fairly well, but we were just friends. Fast forward a few months and Kevin and Michelle had broken up, but Michelle was expecting a baby with Kevin. Kevin and I had been "dating" one week when she told us she was almost 5 months pregnant. Despite it being a difficult time for all of us (our friends were torn between Michelle and us b/c of the pregnancy), we remained friends with both she and Kim. Lyndsey was born 9/12/91. Kim and Michelle lived in an apartment together at the time of her birth and shortly after she was born Michelle started dating and ended up marrying Jonathan Stowe. It was very difficult for a little while, but we developed a great co-parenting bond with them both that stood the test of time. Kevin and I started getting Lyndsey every other weekend and we spent many birthdays and holidays together with the Mooney's. We even spent a few nights at Kim and Michelle's apartment so we literally were one big happy family! We all tried getting along for Lyndsey's sake and we grew even tighter with the Mooney's. 
Several years after we graduated, Roho Mooney got sick with polycystic kidney disease. This is an inherited disease and can be life threatening. It indeed did take his life after he was sick for a long while. Kim found out she was also positive with PKD when she was 15 years old (although I just found that out recently). Michael also has it, but Michelle and their younger brother do not. Kim has always just been in my life and we have always thought of each other as family. We knew after her daddy passed away with this disease and her paternal aunt/paternal cousin also had it, that there might come a time where one or all of them would have to go on dialysis and need a transplant. Kim's aunt has already received a cadiver kidney (6 years ago and she's doing great). Her brother and cousin so far aren't on dialysis and from I understand are pretty healthy for now. 
Kim went on dialysis about a year ago and was just approved to be placed on the transplant list. As soon as she told us she was on the list, I asked how I could sign up. Kim knew I wasn't kidding when I told her this. This is something I have always known I would do should she ever need a kidney.  

I'm sure you are probably thinking "WHY"?

Why would I do this?

I really did ask myself why someone would NOT do this? I know what you're thinking....SURE....but Kim's not even related to you and you are right, but I have been taught that if I have something that someone else needs and I can provide it.....WHY NOT?

Don't get me wrong, I've literally thought long and hard about when it REALLY came down to it, would I do it? For years....the answer has always been YES!!! So, when she was placed on the list...I called the following day and asked how I could be checked to see if I was a match. 

Emory took my information over the phone and said a transplant nurse would be calling me back to set up a telephone interview for the pre-screening. It took them a long time to finally call me but when they did, I passed my pre-screening with flying colors. My transplant nurse said my next step would be to have bloodwork done to see if we were a match. I was told that test could take 3-5 weeks to result. I was flying to Haiti about a month after I did my labs so we were trying to expedite my approval b/c Ebola was in the news a lot at the time and international travel was worrisome to them. One day 18, Nov. 21, 2014 nurse Katie called me at work to say I was a perfect match for Kim to have direct donation through me! It was the day before I was to leave for Haiti and exactly 6 days before Thanksgiving. I couldn't believe not only was I a match, but I was a PERFECT MATCH! Actually, yes I could believe I was a match b/c Kim and I had been talking about this for years and we had faith that I would be HER match. I was at work when I got the news so it was all I could do to hold in my excitement. I was squealing and jumping up and down!! I started trying to dial Kim's number through the tears running down my face. Kim answered on the second ring and I said, "Kim, I'm a perfect match for you"! I'll never forget what she said, " I KNEW it....Thank you Jesus". 
We both cried and were squealing with excitement. I quickly ran down exactly what the nurse had told me and how it was supposed to go from here. I told Kim I loved her very much and hung up so she could call her family and I could call mine. We posted the news on Facebook right away so everyone could share in our good news and we asked everyone to please thank God for this tremendous blessing!
Somehow, the rest of the day I was supposed to work the rest of the day, but my emotions were trying to get the best of me. My first patient after I talked to Kim was a child that needed his blood drawn for a CBC. My hands were shaking really bad. Thankfully, this family knew me fairly well so when I gloved up in the room the father asked me what was wrong b/c I had a red face from crying and my hands were trembling. I thought he might ask me to go get someone else to stick his kid, but he didn't. I told him the news I had just gotten and he started saying, "hold up a minute". He took off his jacket, then his shirt, and shows me his 10 inch scar from where he had donated his kidney to his mom 23 years prior!
Did you see that?     23 years ago?    23 years ago my stepdaughter was born and The Mooney's became my family through the birth of my stepdaughter! It felt like God had brought me full circle and He was confirming to me that He had been in this all those years ago! WOW!!

My phone was blowing up with messages and texts from hundreds of mine and Kim's friends congratulating us. Kim and I agreed to go out to dinner that evening to celebrate. I asked Kim to get to the restaurant a few minutes early so I could share with her what was on my heart. When we saw each other, we hugged and cried for a long time. I took Kim's hand and looked her straight in the eyes so she would truly understand what I wanted to share with her. I told her how I had not come to this decision without having put a lot of thought into it. I told her how much I loved her and how I had always considered her my family and always would, but that I didn't want her to treat me any differently than she did now. I don't want her to be indebted to me for the rest of her life, say thanks, and move on. I'm nobody special. I just have a great big heard and love using it to serve God. Kim agreed that she would do her best not to change the way she treated me, but that she could never thank me enough. 
I still have to get approved for the actual surgery. Labs, tests, x-rays, CT scans, and multiple doctor appts but I am ready to jump through each one. Thanksgiving this year meant a little more to me....I am thankful for my family, my friends, good health, and most of all, that I get to be a blessing to someone else. Kim deserves this and I can't wait!!

Love you Mooney! Always!
Wendy

Speak Life

SPEAK LIFE!!!!
Men and women vary in the amount of words that use per day. Women use on average 20,000 words per day and men use about 7000 words per day.
Regardless if you are male or female, you have the power to use words that God would use- to SPEAK LIFE!
The Bible says the tongue is a powerful weapon. You have the power of life and death using ONLY your words. It is hard to think about your words causing death. Your words can ruin a friendship, start a fight, end your career or start a war.
Words cause death, hurt, and pain! Ex: Adolf Hitler
Words give life! Ex: Winston Churchhill
Do you know of a time when you caused harm with your words?
You probably still remember them. Luke 6:45 The mouth speaks what the heart is about!
If you are a critical heart, you will speak criticalness. If you have a grateful heart, you will speak thankfulness.
Remember a time where someone spoke good things about you? I bet you remember those words too. You have the power of encouragement. Has someone spoke words of encouragement in your life?
What will come out of your mouth today? Will you be a person that is speaking life into other people? Will you help build people up? Hebrews
If you say something nice about me, I MIGHT remember you.... but if you encourage me, I WILL never forget it!! Be that encourager today!! Speak LIFE!!

STEPHANIE

I got to know this beautiful girl about a year ago. She had been attending our youth group for quite some time, but she became best friends with my niece last year. I didn't know much about her except that she seemed to be a good role model and represented our teenagers well within the youth group. She and my niece went on a weekend youth retreat and became fast friends.

Around about October, she posted on FB that she was having some family troubles and needed a place to stay. Kevin and I talked about it and since we had an extra empty bedroom and full bath, agreed to offer her to come here. I didn't know her much at all, but after praying about it, felt that God was saying we should. She moved in the following day and we didn't see much of her. She was a senior in high school and worked full time. We didn't even really have any rules, except some common courtsey kind of things, be respectful of our family, get along with our 13-yr-old daughter, and the normal "teen" things, like no boys allowed and come in at a decent hour. After all, she was 18 and a senior already. Thankfully, she was and is a great girl!

About a month after she moved in, she was in a pageant. She invited us to come and got a us a front row seat to the show. I felt like a proud "mom" and cheered her on. When asked during the interview portion of the pageant who she looked up to, I beamed with pride when she said our youth minister. She was gorgeous on stage and she won the interview portion- 1st. place!!

Around about January, I asked her to go along on our mission trip to Haiti. She had been telling me that she wanted to going into youth ministry and I thought it would be good for her to go "see the world". She agreed to go and was really excited about it. I had a rather large team going (15 people in all) so I assigned her to do music for our nightly devotion and for our daily bible school with the orphanage kids. She and my niece both have been studying guitar and both sing in our praise band on Sunday mornings so they happily agreed. They worked really hard at preparing music, songs, practicing, and playing guitar for our upcoming trip. And, they did a fabulous job! Every day, they were teaching the kids some new songs and were overjoyed when the kids already knew some of the songs that they had prepared for.

Stephanie hadn't really felt "connected" with my family prior to us leaving. We get along great, she is an awesome role model to my very impressionable teenage daughter, and she is always respectful, but she was distant. She didn't share much with my husband and I although we tried everything to help her find her place in our home. I told her repeatedly that she is just like my daughter and she has the same status in this family as my two birth daughters do, but she just wasn't as connected with us. Everything changed in Haiti! She fell in love with the Haitian children and I believe got to see Kevin and I in a very different light while we were there. She also found her "place" in not only our home, but in her calling on her life (I think anyway). She discovered that she really does want to be in youth ministry (possibly on the foreign mission field) and she has been a different girl since we returned home. I can see her setting some new goals for herself and discovering God on a more intimate level.

She is graduating high school in 2 weeks! I am very proud of her and I just wanted her to know that from day 1, we have loved her as our daughter and we will continue to support her in whatever she decides to do. I am happy that she joined our family back in October, but even happier that she knows now that she "REALLY" joined our family. On May 15th, Stephanie- Kevin, Victoria, and I will be cheering you on and we can't wait to see where God leads you. I am so proud of you!

 

Mama Wendy

BIG PAPA "P"

Planning for this trip started in January. Little did I know that I could be capable of leading a team to Haiti! Looking back now I can see that God started preparing my heart to do this a couple of years ago. That was about the same time I started praying about my distant friend Perez going with me.

My first trip to Haiti, I was scared out of my mind. I had never been on a mission trip before and I surely had never been to a third world country.
That very first trip, I fell in love. The day we left, it felt like I had left a piece of my heart in Haiti. The connections we made were unbelievable! Our team grew so close together and we had formed a very unique bond.
Fast forward three years...... I barely knew most of the people going on this trip. All but four of us had never been to Haiti before. It was exciting to experience all the "firsts" with them. Several people on the team kept thanking me for this opportunity, but it wasn't me at ALL. I just agreed to lead the team so that's what I did. Now let me tell you some of the God-stories that had formed these team members together.

PEREZ, aka "Big Papa P", WATSON

I met a man named Perez several years ago. Perez and I grew up in the same small town and he ended up being a teacher at my daughter's middle school. I had seen him around at the school last year. He was always outside in the mornings for car riders, always with a big smile on his face and waving to every car that passed. He was also a mentor of some sort at our local YMCA and I was friends with him on Facebook.
One day somewhere along the way, I heard him say, "you go to Haiti on missions trips. I want to do that sometime". I said okay but didn't really put a lot of thought into it. Then in January I posted on FB that I was planning a trip for April. He contacted me and said that he was interested. I again said "okay", but again didn't put a lot more thought into it.
I had an informational meeting at my house one Sunday afternoon and he said he would come. He didn't so I thought he wasn't really serious. Then, about a week later, he contacted me again to say, "don't forget about me". I had! We made plans to meet us at Zaxby's one day for lunch and I told him all about the trip.
I knew Perez was a minister and in my head, I had known him as a "big teddy bear". He was a gentle giant in my mind. I was ecstatic that he was interested in going on this trip. I had secretly been praying for him to go all along. I knew I needed someone like him on my team and I also knew how much he loved kids and that they would love him! He would fit in with them so well.

See...... here's the thing! I knew from his ministry that he loved children. He had "adopted" a premature baby from a woman he didn't even know. He was a middle school teacher and a mentor at the Boys and Girls Club. What was amazing was that he wasn't working! He had the time to go but he wasn't sure how he could raise the funds needed to go. He told me this on a couple of occasions. I always responded that if God had him on this trip, the funds would come! I already knew he WAS supposed to be on this trip because I had been talking to God about it for a long time. We talked about a few ways to raise the money. A week or so later, he texts me that he had mentioned his desire to go on the trip to his church. Several people said that they would help him, but nobody did at first. The cost of the trip was $1075! The next week someone gave him $500! Then the next week a family member gave him $1000! Just like that he had more than enough!

THAT'S WHAT GOD DOES FOR HIS CHILDREN! He says in his Word, "Go into all the world proclaiming the gospel". Perez was willing to go and God provided the money for him to preach that message to more than 100 kids in an orphanage in a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!

God provided many opportunities for us to share about him on this trip. Perez led bible study to about 40 teenagers on Wednesday night! He rocked, held, and fed several babies. He prayed with a young teenage boy in the community. He even stopped to shovel gravel into a wheelbarrow. That's a good story..... A couple of us were walking along the road from the orphanage back to the team house one very hot afternoon and we came upon 2 young kids shoveling gravel into a wheelbarrow while their father watched. These kids were maybe 6-8 years old. Two of them. Without saying a word, Perez stops, takes their shovel and starts filling up their wheelbarrow. They just smiled ear to ear watching him, probably thinking who is this guy! Haha! He filled the wheelbarrow, told them goodbye and walked away! It was one of the single most memorable acts of service I've ever witnessed. SERIOUSLY! 

I love how God puts two extremely different people (a 100-lb. very white woman and a big black man) together like Perez and myself to preach the gospel in Haiti! Perez fell in love with the Haitian people.  I knew God was using him in a mighty way and I am honored that I got to witness it. I can't wait to see what God has in store for him next!!
I love you Perez and so glad that you are my new family member.

THAT'S WHAT GOD DOES FOR HIS CHILDREN!

"Go into all the world proclaiming the gospel"

BIG PLANS

I've not written a blog post in almost a month! I claimed I was doing great and getting my thoughts written down, but then I realized the last post was Jan. 25th. Time sure does fly!

Big time plans are coming to fruition. Last post, I wrote about what your calling is. Mostly, what I believe my calling is and how that calling came to be.

I have so many thoughts swirling in my head that it's hard for me to form them into a blog post. I absolutely love writing and this blog is selfishly for me and later on, my child. I want my daughter to be able to go back long after I am gone and see the words on paper. 

Most of my readers, friends, and family know that I am leading a team of 17 to Haiti in 49 days. I can hardly believe it myself. I never in a million years thought that God would call me to serve in a third world country such as Haiti and definitely never imagined leading a team on my own there. 

Lil 'ol me!!

BUT, I serve a Big God who has Big Plans for me. All 100 lbs. of me and 16 others will travel to Despinos, Croix-des-Bouquet, Haiti on April 12th. This will be my 7th. trip and besides my own family and one other college aged girl a first trip for everyone else.  I love taking a new group of people to the country I love. 
On my first trip to Haiti, I almost reluctantly agreed to go. I knew that God had called me to do a mission trip, but truly thought I would hate it. I. REALLY. DID! I had full intentions of going and serving my 10 days there and coming home to never return. Little did I know I would fall in love with some big brown eyed, dark skinned children. Not only the children, but adults too. I got on the plane crying like a baby. Missing them and I hadn't even left Port-au-Prince yet, yearning to schedule my next trip, and planning to take my own blonde-haired, blue eyed girl back with me. I had no clue, I'd be returning less than 6 months later, 5 months after that, and again and again! Praise God! 

I say this b/c taking a whole new group of people to the country I love is exciting. It is amazing to see the wonder and awe (and shocking!) view from their eyes. I want everyone to experience the love that these kids have. I want them to feel the same passion I feel for them. The more people that know about our ministry the better we can help them. Our kids already have Jesus, they need our affection, spiritual growth, physical growth, and knowledge that the God of the universe that loves me, loves them too! 

Big plans are coming! In just a few short weeks, I could amaze you at the miracles God has been performing just to make this trip happen. Donations are pouring in, food, money, clothes, etc. It's not just my story, but the story of 17 people whose lives are about to be changed and I believe for the better. I can't wait to see it unfold. Stay tuned and I'll share the testimonies of these missionaries!

WHAT'S YOUR CALLING?

What's your calling?

Do you know?

I believe our mission in life is to find out our calling as soon as possible and get to work on that calling!

Sorry to say that it took me well into my 30's to find my calling. I have known since 9 years old that I would be a nurse. I am a planner and have literally had my entire life planned out since I was very young. I knew I would marry and have only one child. Don't know why I never wanted more children, but my husband and I had a ready made family when we finally married after 7 years of dating. He had a daughter in high school and if I'm being honest.... I loved being a mom at an early age. It was just something that came natural to me. I was very responsible and while I was in nursing school, I was paying all the bills at my house (mom was basically living with me) and helping to raise a child on the weekends with my then boyfriend. We've been together since she was 5 months in utero. I've always had a mostly great relationship with her mom. Gratefully!

When I graduated nursing school I wanted to go on a medical mission trip, but didn't know how or when I could make that happen. I was already raising a family! 
Then, I went to Haiti in May 2011. Just before I left, I had been caring for my mom, along with my sister. I was her power of attorney and had all the medical responsibilities and her financial responsibilities. However, mom got very sick and died that year on March 1st. I was 36! I spent the next two months wallering in sadness. I have never been one that was what some called "depressed", but I was deeply sad. Mom was my best friend. She was the one person I could tell literally everything to. 
When I got to Haiti in May, I met an 18-year-old girl named Woodland. Maybe I've written about her before. Woodland couldn't speak a lick of English except to say hello and I love you. She could also sing every word to "Blessed Be Your Name". Melissa, our American missionary had taught her this song and she had a beautiful voice. One Sunday, I found her sobbing! Turns out she was crying b/c it was Mother's Day in Haiti and she was sad b/c her mother had passed away. Her father had too. She was only 18!! Here I was feeling so alone b/c my mom had died at age 36. 
God spoke to me that day! He called me to help the orphans of Haiti! I felt the tug on my heart to do whatever I could to make this my calling. I never wanted to live there or adopt, but I was called to serve Him there. I have given up my vacation time (2 weeks) since to spend it in Haiti. Thankfully, my family also feels called to serve there.

I have a young friend, Amelia, that is 19 years old and in college. I'm 20 years older than her, but she is like my daughter, friend, and mentee wrapped in one. She is a great girl and also has a heart for Haiti. She's been with me several times and last year we were able to spend the entire week of Christmas in Haiti. Amelia has found her calling at such a young age. She is planning to spend an entire month in Haiti this summer. She doesn't really know how God is going to use her there or even what her future plans are for her ministry, but I am so thankful that she has obeyed the call on her life.  Wish I had known earlier what my calling was, but I know God reveals everything to us in His time. 

What's your calling? Do you know what your mission is in life? It doesn't really matter if God calls you to serve locally, internationally, in your church, or even in your own home! Every Christian's mission is to spread the gospel and take as many people to Heaven with us that we possibly can. If you don't know your calling yet, ask God to reveal it to you!

Thanks for reading!

IN MY DAUGHTERS EYES

In my daughter's eyes, I am a hero.
I am strong and wise and I know no fear.
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes, everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me
gives me strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe in my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand
around my finger
Oh it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy
she made me
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes

I love having a "mini me". Everyone tells me that Tori-bug looks just like me. But, you know what? She acts like me too. Sometimes I think that is a good thing. I like to think that I am always setting a good example for her, but I know that isn't true. She is the one that teaches me. She has taught me so much about how to love and she never sees color or disability. When she was young, I worked at a nursing home on Saturdays. I would have her daddy bring her to see me and sometimes they would bring me lunch. The elderly can be very scary to a small child, especially the ones in a nursing home. They sometimes scream, shake, drool, or would try to reach out to her. She was never afraid of them and I think that helped her when she got into school to always include everyone. I love her heart. When I took her to Haiti for the first time she was 11-years-old. She jumped right in and loved on those orphans like it was her job. She never said a word that they were dirty, didn't have shoes on their feet, or invaded her personal space. They were her friends from the moment she met them. I am so proud to be her mom and I hope one day when you want to know me..... all you have to do is look in my daughter's eyes!!

Pastor NeNe

PASTOR NENE On my first trip to Haiti, I had the priviledge of meeting a Haitian gentleman named "Pastor NeNe". He is a big old teddy bear of a man. Not too tall, but a big guy with a big heart. In fact, the biggest heart! Pastor NeNe has a story to tell. Much like many Haitians, Pastor NeNe has a lot of life experiences. At the time I met him in 2011 his wife was pregnant with what I believe was his 6th. child. His baby should be like 2 years old now. Pastor Nene is a very dramatic, enthusiastic speaker. He talks loudly with a lot of vigor. He waves his hands in the air like he is unable to control them. He is a preacher to every one he meets. You can't meet him without hearing how God has influenced his life and provided for him. He speaks English fairly well. Sometimes he gets the words mixed up but he makes up for it with his enthusiasm. You can definitely understand him. He is a very funny guy the way he explains everything. He sat, well, stood actually and talked to our first large mission team to come to Haiti. MY TEAM!! He walked in with the biggest smile on his face proclaiming his blessings from God and pure joy just bubbles out of the man. A little history now...... Pastor NeNe and his wife took a large group of kids in immediately after the earthquake. Kids that had been abandoned, kids that their parents died in the quake, kids that literally nobody else wanted. He spent several days digging out some of his family members from the rubble. He was only slightly injured in the earthquake but he never worried about himself. Several months after the earthquake after he and his wife took in 14 children, he was injured in a "moto" accident. He was riding on a motorcycle (very common in Haiti with no helmet- DON"T EVEN GET ME STARTED ABOUT THAT!) and was in a wreck. It nearly killed him and injured him very badly. It took him several months, but he recovered and continued to preach and provide for his family and the new children he had taken in. This is when I met him. In January I believe, 2012, an American man came to Haiti to help construct a building for his orphanage. This man, from what I hear was a great guy and had started several hospitals/clinics in Haiti. All around good guy that had a heart for Haitians. One day while he was there he went to the bank to withdraw some money. Around $4000 I heard to start this project for Pastor NeNe's orphanage. Going to the bank in Haiti is very risky. Especially if you are withdrawing a lot of money. To go to the bank, you go stand in line outside the bank, sometimes for hours. They only let 2-3 ppl in the bank at one time and it is highly guarded by Haitians. Like I safe, it isn't exactly safe. Pastor NeNe was not with this man at the time. He went in and withdrew the money and when he came out of the bank he was shot. He somehow managed to get himself to one of the hospitals that he helped start. He was very critically injured and actually ended up passing away from his injuries. My team heard about this man and had been praying for him for several weeks. Pastor NeNe was devastated because the gentleman was there to help him. He had a really hard time accepting the first few weeks. Turns out, the would be robbers didn't end up robbing him. He was found with the money in his front pocket. Haiti is corrupt. Sorry, but it is. We felt that this was an inside bank job. Like someone on the inside knew he withdrew that amount of money then was going to shoot and rob him. They only succeeded in the shooting and killing of this dear guy. Several months later, it came about that some of the man's family (mainly his wife) thought that Pastor NeNe had this done to him and knew about the shooting. He didn't! She hired an attorney and Pastor NeNe was put in prison for the crime although he has never had a trial. He is still there 1-1/2 years later. Prison in Haiti is not the place you want to go. You are in general population which means you are in a one small room with 75 men. You don't get fed three meals a day like here. You don't eat unless your family brings you food. Pastor NeNe had 14 children and a wife counting on him to provide their needs. She never had a paying job. Our directors were able eventually to write a letter and asked that he at least be put into a semi private room and thankfully they moved him, but he is still in prison. Never once, he has questioned, "Why me?" He continues to believe that Christians are still persicuted all the time. He continues to be faithful even behind bars and still shares his testimony. His wife has tried the best she can to move forward with her life all the while struggling to provide for them. Our orphanage tried to help the best we could, but our funds are so very tight. God continues to provide for us and his children. They wouldn't be eating at all if we weren't. They now actually are going to our school. Pastor NeNe is near and dear to my heart and I truly believe God will get him out of that prison some day. I am not sure why he is still there, but God has a purpose. I will continue to be faithful and asking God to allow him freedom soon. Would you pray that too? Let's storm Heaven with intention. Intention on his freedom. Intention on his famuly being provided for! Please?

STORMS

I woke up early this morning to bad storms in our area. High winds, heavy rainfall, and a possibility of tornadoes. What is interesting is that just four days ago our temperature was 7 degrees and we closed schools due to the cold. Today it is 56 degrees!! I didn't want to get out in the storm but knew I had gymnastics carpool this morning. Tori-bug and her friend needed to be at gym by 10am in a METAL building. The weather forecasters were saying to not venture out if you didn't have to. They also said this 4 days ago. Living in Georgia..... it's like a joke around here saying "bad storms, ice, snow (even if it's only two flakes), lightning, etc. run to the store before the storms hit and grab your milk and bread in case you run out when the storms come". It's rather amusing. I traveled to Haiti for the first time in May 2011. Just 15 months after the biggest "storm" ever to hit their country. In case you have been living under a rock, an EARTHQUAKE. Haitians called it "gwo machin ki pase" or the "big truck that went by". I read several stories about the earthquake including the book called The Big Truck that went by Jonathan Katz and Paul Farmers book "Haiti After the Earthquake". Great reads if you find the time. Traveling to Haiti just months after this huge "storm" was an experience. Not only was life still devastating for them at that point, but much, much more was still emotionally devastating. People continued to walk around in a daze, living in tents, searching for food, etc. The ones that had lost family members were still very much grieving. The others were that didn't were just as bad. Everybody was living in fear. Fear that another "storm" would come and not knowing when made it even more difficult. As I was preparing to go out in the storm this morning, I was fearful. I was plain out not wanting to get out in the mess. I hate driving in rain and it had already dumped large amounts all night. We had our own personal Lake Whiddon in my front yard. But.... I knew the girls needed to get to gym. They have their first meet tomorrow. Tori-bug is injured and won't be competing but has continued to practice and we will show up to cheer on our team mates. So, I put on some clothes and shoes and off we went. I had to drive very slow the entire drive and we passed a truck wreck where a man was up on his side in a 10 foot embankment. We arrived safely a little bit late since I was trying to be so cautious. On my long drive home alone, God gave me this devotion. Christians are never promised that the "storms" won't come. We all know they will. It is a guarantee. We never know when or where they will hit in our life, but they WILL come. Much like Haitians, some of us are afraid. We shouldn't be though. We have the King of the Universe watching over us. We should be ready. We should be willing to face the "storms" head on, just like I did this morning. Maybe you are facing your own "STORM" today. Maybe you have been facing a storm for quite some time. Maybe it looks bleak and messy just like it looks outside today. BUT..... take heart and face it head on! You have the King on your side!! Sometimes He is walking beside you, sometimes He is falling behind you, and some days He is just plain carrying us through! But He is there!! P.S. Tomorrow Jan. 12, 2014 is the four year anniversary of the Earthquake that hit Haiti. I am so happy that most have moved on with their lives, moved out of the tents, and are not still wallowing in their grief. Praise God for that! I will be remembering all of them tomorrow just like I do every day. Say an extra prayer if you think about it. The Haitians I know, know that God is still carrying them through 4 years later! Always serving Him, Wendy

BACK AT IT!!

I am back trying to do better at updating! Two times in one week!! LOOK OUT!! I have a mission trip planned to go back to Haiti in April! Have you ever been on a mission trip? Ever thought about it? I did think about it many years before going on my first one! I always thought I would go on a medical mission trip, but God had other plans for me. Two-and-a-half years later, I have been six times! Sometimes I "nurse" while I am there, but most of my time is spent investing in the kids! Sharing God's love with them and just loving them! My first trip was May 2011. You can find my pics from that visit on here in earlier posts. It changed my life. Here I was thinking that I would go bless some kids in a third world country when truthfully I was the one blessed. Always pay it forward! You will always be the one that is blessed. I love my Haitian Sensations and can't wait to see them again in April! It can't get here soon enough! Blessings, Wendy

WHOAH!

I was reminding today to get back to blogging. Not that I have anything all that interesting to say, but I enjoy writing for myself. When I started this blog.... it was to be a little journal about my life for my own self and for my daughter. It was to have a place to post pics and be reminded about all life's little happenings. Now, it has been another 9 months since I have journaled. BUT... I am going to restart. Let me see... where did I leave off? I went back to work in Feb. after being off for six weeks. I love my job and the doctors I work for. I am so blessed to have a job with Bible-believing, Jesus-loving bosses. It is a fast paced and very busy clinic. I have worked there as a pediatric nurse for the past 10 years. MARCH 2013 March 1st marked the second anniversary of my mom's death. I can hardly believe 2 years has passed since she passed away. It was literally the hardest thing I have ever endured. I miss her every day, but I am thankful for the legacy she left me and how I have been able to share love more abundantly b/c of her love for me. APRIL/MAY 2013 I celebrated my 39th birthday in April. I also found out this month that I would have the opportunity to return to my beloved Haiti. This would make my fifth trip to Haiti. I have had the beautiful experience of ministering to the Haitian people and loving on 120 kids in an orphanage. I was able to spend 2 weeks altogether in Haiti. It came as a surprise that I would be able to return since I had just taken off for six weeks. God has really blessed me. My Tori-bug was not able to go (I had not renewed her passport from when it expired). I missed my family at home terribly, but it was a fabulous trip. I said I would never go without her again (or at least one of my family members). Seeing my "kids" in Haiti was so awesome. Myself and all of our team members held a vacation bible school for the kids. I was in charge of crafts. Putting together five days of crafts for an entire orphanage was mind boggling. If I forgot something, it wasn't like I could run to Walmart and buy glue dots!! HAHA JUNE/JULY/AUGUST 2013 Tori-bug turned a teenager on June 14th. Hard to believe I had a teenager in the house. Tori is the light of my life. I have always said she is my mini me and it is true. She is! We didn't get to do much camping this summer. Life was busy b/c I had already used my vacation time to go to Haiti. Kevin continues to own and operate a heating/air business and thankfully God has blessed us with work in this area too. He was really busy all summer! School started back in August and Tori-bug started 8th. grade. Back at the top of the totem pole in her middle school. I remember when she first started in middle school in 6th grade she got in the car the first day and said she loved middle school b/c they "treat you like an adult, not like a little kid like they did in elementary school". Now she is really experiencing that (maybe too many responsibilities now). Tori-bug is still very active in gymnastics although we pulled her out of her gym in May and placed her at a new gym in July. She did take about 3 weeks off in there, but you can't have too much time off in this sport or you fall way behind. We have found a gym that really suits our needs and she is LOVING it again! She had sort-of lost her sparkle for gymnastics the past year with one injury after another (first a back injury/sprain then a stress fracture in her foot). She lost a lot of skills that she had already mastered, like her backwalkover on the beam, but she quickly gained it back after being at the new gym. SEPTEMBER 2013 Once again, I was surprised by a trip to Haiti. It kind of fell into my lap. My dear sweet Haitian friend and "son" had an appointment at the US Embassy on Sept 12, 2013 and I wanted to be there. Pascal speaks excellent english, but I was worried about him only being able to speak conversational english, NOT English-English!! I worried about him going to the appt. alone. Melissa, our American missionary was not in the country at the time so he was going alone. I had a dear friend purchase my airline ticket and I flew out on Sept. 11th by myself. Very scary for me to fly alone internationally on 9/11, but knew that God had called me to do so. This again made my now 6th time to Haiti. I am almost an expert at flying now :-) I have learned to speak quite a bit of Haitian Creole although I still can't carry on much of a conversation, but I know a lot of single words and can get by. I need to tell about my Embassy experience. Pascal was nervous as a cat the morning of the appt. Everybody in Haiti dreams of coming to America. They realize that even a short trip here would show them so much of a different life. I have prayed about Pascal coming to visit me for 2 years. We got up early that morning and I had bought us matching outfits. Corny I know, but I had a very nice baby blue shirt and tie for him and a blue/white dress for myself (my Easter dress). We get downtown PAP, the capital of Haiti and see hundreds of people in line waiting to get in to the Embassy for their appt. PAP is the busiest city in all the world (I am not really sure about that- haha, but it sure looks and feels like it to a blonde-haired, blue-eyed white girl from Georgia)! We walk up to the line and finally figured out there were two lines and which was the correct one to be in. A nice lady and her nephew were standing in line behind us. When Pascal got up to the first of the line, they said I couldn't come in. I thought he might cry and that I would too. What was I going to do while he was in the appt?? I told him, unsure of myself, but with all the confidence that I could muster, that I would be fine. He handed me his keys and cellphone and went in. I walked across the street and sat down in the blazing heat on a sidewall. The US Embassy had a little shopping mall like place across from it and the stores were closed but there were two armed guards there and this white girl was going to stand next to them!! I tried to look "busy" on my phone, but I was truly scared out of my mind. Here I was in downtown Port-au-Prince alone and not knowing how long it would take Pascal when a young man came up to me and said in perfect English, "hello ma'am. How are you"? I replied back that I was fine. He sat down and started talking to me and said that was his aunt in line behind my friend. He asked me who Pascal was to me and what he wanted to go to America for and that his aunt was trying to go back to Miami again for a wedding. He asked me what I was going to do while Pascal was in the appt and I said I guessed I would just sit here and wait. He said it was about to be REALLY hot and there was no way I could or should sit in the hot sun. He asked if I felt like I trusted him enough to walk to the store in the shopping center. I did. Don't ask me why, but I did. He was a very nice young man, maybe 20 years old. This was so out of character for me that I could hardly believe I said yes, but for some reason I felt God telling me I was fine. We walked slowly behind the armed guards and into a little park. The stores were all closed, but there were several lawn care men sweeping, cutting, and what-not in the park. It was historic and beautiful. Lots of trees, beautiful flowers, and park benches. I never knew Haiti was this beautiful. All you can see from the street is poverty, cars everywhere, and people begging on the streets. Lots had already asked me for money and kept "eyeing me". He started telling me his testimony and his story. Turns out he is a computer genius and did Christian ministry in an orphanage. His job was to do speaking engagements and set up sound systems for ministers to have revivals. I couldn't believe my ears! We talked for more than 2 hrs and I lost track of time. I was able to ask him many questions about what Haitians believe about Americans, is racism prevalent in Haiti, what they think of our president, and share with him how Americans think of Haiti. I also asked stuff like what he thought Haitians can do to help themselves and how someone like little 'ol me could make a difference in his country. His answers were surprisingly candid. I wish I could remember all of his answers. They did impact me though. Turns out also that his aunt is the professor of nursing at the largest university in Haiti. That was a God-thing too b/c some of our kids in the orphanage want to be nurses and perhaps she could give us information on some of their programs. He asked me for my phone number, but I told him I didn't give it out. He was confused about that b/c he wanted to be my friend. I explained that good women don't give out their numbers to men and especially in a third world country and the fact I was married. He wanted to know if he could find me on FB and I said yes and he gave me his name and I wrote down my name for him. He said he would look me up on FB, but never did. When I got home, I looked for his name too, but guess what? I couldn't find him. I honestly believe it is because he was an angel. Perhaps or perhaps not, but to me THAT day on THAT busy street in PAP he was to ME! I was not scared one tiny bit. Pascal had been standing and waiting on me for over an hour. He couldn't see me down in the park and remember I had his cell phone and his car keys! I knew he couldn't leave me. Pascal was denied the visa that day (they don't even really give you a reason why) but he WILL come to the U.S. some day. I know God will make a way. God Bless! Wendy

"Haiti is WILD"

Well hello friends! Long time no see. I swear I was trying to do better and getting back to blogging and I just never manage to get around to it. Since I last wrote, we have came and went to Haiti for Christmas and I had major surgery 5 days upon returning to the States. My surgery was planned. I've been out of work 6 weeks and I'm so ready to go back. I have the absolute best bosses in the world! They have been so good to me and I'm ready to get back to normal. Going to Haiti for Christmas is wild and we had the best time. I'm going to blog my Christmas experience for you and also my Tori-bug's perspective. Getting to spend 7 days with 120+ kids was an experience like you can't even imagine. Like I said, it was wild! In a good kind of way. We were able to share so much this visit and learn so much about them individually. My hubby got to go too. We are already planning next year (not really bc I never plan my next visit) but we would definitely go again at Christmas time.

I'm trying.....

Hello friends! I'm trying really hard to keep this blog updated a little better. It sure isn't bc I don't have lots to share that I've not been blogging more regularly. Lord knows I have lots to talk about! I've been doing a sheet fundraiser for my next Haiti trip! I'm selling 1200 count sheets and I've done quite well. I've sold more than 200 sets so far and have already earned enough money to purchase our plane tickets back to Haiti in Dec. I've even earned enough to ask my sister to go along with us. My sister has Lupus and therefore can't go when it's hot (she can't be in the sun). She would love to go but we are trying to convince her hubby that it's ok she will be gone over Christmas. I'll be posting more as the time nears but we are so excited about spending Christmas morning with 120 orphans!

What a year!

WOW! A lot of time has passed since I last updated this blog. I kept promising to update it and telling myself how much I love to blog but never got around to it. Let's start from December 2011. Tori-bug and I, along with a friend Amber took off for Haiti Dec. 1. I tried my best to prepare both Tori (my 11-yr-old) and my friend about things they might see, smell, and experience. I'm not even going to pretend I was not a little anxious with three females traveling alone to an extremely poor country. Haiti can be dangerous but thankfully we were very safe. After getting settled and introducing Tori and Amber to everyone we headed over to the orphanage. The kids absolutely fell in love with my little "blanc" or white girl that was their age. All the big girls thought Amber was beautiful as well. We got to do so much on this trip. Decorated for Christmas, made homemade Christmas ornaments, even bought two 4ft Christmas trees. We had 120 baked ornaments hanging all over them. The trip was very short and I hated to leave but it went by fast. Tori came home with this fire lit under her to serve again and was determined she would go back when our youth group went in May. I was trying to appease her so I said she could if she raised her funds. Little did I know that little thing would have all of her money raised before me! I thought I'd have to send her in May without me but I was able to get my fundraising too. This past May our church took a group of 23 of us. The orphanage director was not able to be in the country during our trip so myself, Brian (our youth minister), and my nurse friend Lillie lead this team. It was the largest team they had ever had visit them. Great experience and lots of new ppl went with us. I was able to reconnect with my dear friend Paschal (who calls me affectionately "mom"). He's 35 and has two kids. I'm only 38! Hehe! They had just had their second son Carlinsky in Jan. a lot of my friends helped us raise the money to get this child born safely in the D.R. Mom had lost a baby the previous year and she has lots of pregnancy issues. I love this family. They are like my own. Our project this year was to tile the boys dorm We also painted it and their bunkbeds. We were able to build a dresser for the girls to put their clothes in too. This trip was a little more stressful with me running the team house and organizing bc I'm not used to that. But, we made it. I think the highlight of this trip was the guys sleeping on the roof each night. They absolutely loved it! Every group that came after us has chosen to sleep up there as well. NOW, on to the most exciting news! I have just purchased our plane tickets to fly back to Haiti Dec. 22-29. My husband, Tori, and myself! Spending Christmas morning with 120 orphans is going to be the best!

WE ARE LEAVING ON AN AIRPLANE!

Tori-bug and I are getting so excited about our trip to Haiti. We leave in 28 days!! Woohoo!! I can't wait to see all the kids at the orphanage and I am excited to see how Tori-bug interacts with kids way less fortunate than she is. I think it will make her to have an even bigger heart than she already does. She said she was willing to give up her Christmas presents for the chance to go.

I was really nervous about taking her with me to begin with b/c she is so young. I didn't want to overwhelm her with the sites of pure devastation, but after we prayed about it, we felt like God wanted this opportunity for her. I didn't do any fundraising this trip (warning..... you will probably be getting a support letter for us to go back in May..lol) so coming up with two full price tickets was a big deal. When Tori-bug found out that it costs so much she said she will give up all her Christmas to be able to see these kids and take THEM Christmas. What a sweetheart! Isn't that what we want our kids to know about the true meaning of Christmas anyway? It's not about them getting, but giving to others like Jesus Christ did for us. This will be a great learning moment for her and she will never forget it. All 127 kids were sponsored for Christmas. Thank you, Jesus. What a blessing! Another friend, Amber is going with us too so this will be her first trip and I believe her first mission experience. Hopefully between the three of us, we will be able to make a difference for the few short days we are there. Please be in prayer with us for safe travels, safety while we are there, and an experience like no other. May those kids experience the true gift of Christ through us three girls.

Wendy

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

Here are some of our pics from Haiti. I wanted you to be able to put a face with a name. The boy to Kevin's right (in the black shirt) is Tirelli. He had just turned 15 when we were there. He never left Kevin's side the entire time. Most of the kids in the orphanage don't act their stated age. Some don't even know their age. He is 15, but acts more like 11-12. They just don't have the same socialization that our kids have. Tirelli wants to be an interpreter when he grows up. A very good career that could be. He speaks English pretty well and definitely understands a lot of English. I would venture to say that more than half of the kids can speak English fairly well inside this orphanage. Most of the older kids can speak it and understand at least some. The younger kids, not so much. When you first get to Haiti they won't open up to you very much. They are leary about you, but when you show up several days in a row they start to share with you and become comfortable. The older kids usually don't think they will ever see you again so they have a harder time opening up to you. I told them that I would be back. They will be thrilled when they see a familiar face again in December. It is so hard to leave them. At least I will be able to tell them I will be back again at the end of May. I honestly never thought I would like doing this kind of thing when we first decided to go. Now, my heart is so invested in these kids. I think about them constantly and worry over what they are doing and how they are getting along. I worry about the money and them having their basic needs met. It makes me want to send every extra dime I have to them. I am not a rich woman by American standards and I don't have a lot of money, but I have SOOO much more than they do. I know that my $30 a month is truly being spent to feed, clothe, and educate them. I feel so strongly in the mission that Melissa is running and I know what a great job she is doing so sending my support to help a child every month is easy for me. Who doesn't waste $30 a month on stuff we really don't need? $30 a month goes a LONG way in Haiti if you get it to the right people.

This picture was taken at the team house. We stayed in a very nice house by Haitian standards. We had clean facilities, bathrooms with showers, stove, refrigerator, and freezer. We ate EXTREMELY well. Full breakfast (eggs, bacon, blueberry pancakes, juice, and oatmeal every morning. Mikela (in the middle next to Melissa, who is holding baby Leekson) is the team house mom. The average life expectancy in Haiti is like 45. Scary isn't it?? Mikela cooked and cleaned for us three meals a day and did our laundry (with the help of the other two young ladies in the picture- Yprolin (holding Takesha) and Woodland). Yprolin lives at the orphanage and she helps a lot to look after Leekson and Takesha. She brings them back and forth from the orphanage to the team house when there is a team there. These two young ladies are 18-19 years old and have lived a lifetime already. Mikela is 42 I think they said. Neither of them speak much English. Woodland has lost both her mom and dad. She was the young lady crying that Sunday when we came home from the beach (I think I wrote about that story). When I finally figured out why she was crying (b/c she doesn't speak English) it was because it was Mother's Day in Haiti and she missed her mother. I had just lost my mom 2 months prior to our trip so I sat down and boohooed with her. We used a whole roll of toilet paper, but we bonded without words. I love that girl. Please say a prayer for her. She is having a difficult time at present. I hope I can dig a little deeper into this situation when I return in December.

Something I recently found out is that once a child turns 16 they are no longer adoptable. Not sure why that is, but that is the way the Haitian government runs things. We are hoping that the new president will relax some of the laws in Haiti so that some of the kids could get a temporary visa and passport so they could come go to school in America or at least come visit. How they expect these kids to learn a new way of life and take it back to their country to teach others is beyond me? I am hoping we can get Melissa's orphanage some chickens (laying hens) when I go in December too so they can at least have protein in their diet once a week or so. They used to have some laying hens, but once they get to about a year of age they stop producing eggs so they ate them. They need more. Also, prior to Amber and I going in Dec. I am going to learn how to milk a goat so they can milk the goats they have for calcium. They do have several goats running around inside the orphanage, they just don't know how to milk them. I'm making it my personal mission to learn how, teach them how, and see what happens :-). That ought to be fun!! Lol. Anybody wanting to help me by purchasing a chicken- they cost $10 each and if you know how to milk a goat and are willing to teach me, hit me up!!!

Derline is my girl! Don't know why I didn't get Kevin to take mine and her picture, but she is the young girl in the pink dress. She is the same age as my Tori-bug. She is a fiesty little thing that is all attitude. She wouldn't let anyone get near me the whole 9 days. She said I was hers. Well, besides Dieunor (pronounced Juno). Dieunor is in the looney tunes shirt. This was at church on Sunday morning. Dieunor is a very sweet, mild mannered boy that is being sponsored by my friend Mama Nell. Sonson is in the orange shirt and is being sponsored by my friend Linda Gail.

We have all these little guys in the above picture sponsored monthly and for Christmas. Want to help? There are still things you can do!

God bless you all!

Wendy

It's been a while!

You know what they say....... Time flies when you are having fun!

I haven't updated this blog in a long time partly b/c my laptop was down for over a month back in June and July. The days just seem to pass by lately is the only other excuse I have. Everything has been going great. I never finished my journaling from Haiti. I already have plans to return next year May 29th. I am also now sponsoring the two children that Kevin and I connected with while we were there. Derline is a precious 11 year old girl that I fell in love with. Kevin is sponsoring Alteus St. Claire, aka "Tirelli". That is not at all how his name is spelled, but that is how they say it. Derline's name sounds like "Daylynn". Tirelli is 15-years-old and a very sweet kid too. Imagine Missions started a Christmas sponsorship program too where you select a child or in our case the child we sponsor monthly and you buy Christmas for them. They sent us a small wish list of things that they would like to have. There is no mail system in Haiti so everything has to be sent via Melissa Young, who runs the orphanage. Somehow she has to get all 127 kids gifts to them so I decided that I would make a very short Christmas visit in early December. My friend is going to go with me and I'm seriously considering letting Tori-bug (my 11-yr-old) go too. That way we can take the 11 children that we have gotten sponsored locally to them before Christmas. I think my friend Amber is going to fall in love with Haiti just like I did. Hopefully, she will want to go back with us for our regular mission trip at the end of May. My baby girl is dying to meet Derline so I am praying about letting her go for this very short trip. We will fly down on Thursday and fly back home on Sunday. I feel safe enough for her to make the trip, but it is very costly---- $600 for just a plane ticket for 4 days. I will have to see if I can come up with the money for the both of us to see if I can make it happen. She says she is even willing to request her Christmas gifts from grandparents, family, etc. be money instead of gifts so she could go.

Tori-bug is gearing up for gymnastics season to begin. She told me a couple of months ago that she didn't want to compete this year. She loves gymnastics, but for some reason didn't want to compete. She was back and forth, back and forth, then finally said last week that she didn't want to compete. I was a little bummed out b/c she is so good at gymnastics that I didn't want her to regret her decision. The first competition fee installment was due last Thursday and she tells me on Wed. night that she didn't want to compete so I didn't pay it. Last night (Thursday this week) she says she DOES want to compete. I texted her coach and asked if it was too late to pay the fee and she said she would let me pay it so now we are back to competing. I am so happy. They had a mini-meet at practice yesterday and she looked so good. Her kips on bars are still a little off, but we don't have our first meet until December so she has time to get it together.

I continue to miss mom horribly. The days are better now though. I don't have that extremely raw feeling in my heart anymore. I think about her constantly and I have to smile every time I go by a Chick-fil-A or if I eat there. Mama LOVED Chick-fil-A. Six months seems like a lifetime without her, but I know she is dancing in heaven with Jesus. A friend of ours lost her mom about 2 weeks ago and it brought back so many memories when I attended the funeral. Hopefully, I can help others that are now going to be living without their moms now too. Nobody understands that feeling unless they have been through it.

Well, thanks for checking in with me! No telling when I will update again so I won't even begin to make promises :-)

God Bless!
Wendy

Hait- day 4 Saturday May 28, 2011

Well, well, well. They didn't finish the concrete inside the house last night. They were only able to get 3/4 of the front room done. A teenager that went with us had me awake most of the night (it's a long story) so I got back to bed about 3:30am. I'm exhausted! My energy is not up today. We went over to the house to start sifting sand again and the girls started painting. They were able to get the back room done. Hopefully the guys will be able to start on the outside after lunch. Us girls are going to go over and start handing out the shoes. Lillie and Emily went to finish sorting out the storage room this morning b/c Lillie is one-handed now :-(
We are home for lunch at the moment. Hot dogs and mac 'n cheese.

Saturday night

The boys were able to finish the second room with stucco. We went over to the orphanage to pass out shoes. That was priceless!! We brought them in a few at a time and sized them. They also got a toothbrush and a pack of toothpaste. It was interesting b/c some of the kids were being picky about what shoes they got, but most of them were okay.. The older girls wanted nice church shoes/sandals. The older boys also got a Galilee Mission Run shirt. The older boys like tennis shoes.
We were also throwing a birthday part for the "May" birthdays. We had about 6 different kinds of cakes and some juice. The 11 kids who were celebrating their birthday got 3 items as a gift. We had wrapped them in plastic disposable colored tablecloths. What was funny is the kids don't really know their birthday so when they come in and see a gift with their name on it, they figure out it must have been their birthday that month. It is cute to see their face light up and them say, "It's my birthday".
Melissa is doing a fabulous work here. She really is. Her funding is not at all what she needs and it frustrates her to be able to keep up with everything that needs to be done. Example: 2 flat tires and a battery on our first day here. On the second day, one sink and one toilet wasn't working. Both the refrigerators (in the team house and the orphanage) went out the third day and yesterday (day 4) we noticed the drains in the kitchen at the orphanage weren't draining properly. It is really burdening me to know that this awesome lady is trying to keep this place running. I'm gonna ask all my Facebook friends to sponsor a child. Only 75 kids to go!!
An ER doctor from Canada came yesterday to tour the orphanage. He is connected to two very wealthy men who had been supporting an orphanage in Ethiopia. The person running that orphanage was misusing the funds and was put in prison so now they are thinking of supporting Melissa. That would be way awesome. Every dime goes to the kids. She will tell you all of her budget and where your money is going. People really do want to know where their money is going to want to sponsor. I assure you, she is doing right by it.

Friday 5/27/11 10:45pm

We started the day today taking shoes over to the orphanage. We organized them on the shelves in the storage room. It looked like we had about 200 pairs of shoes. Tomorrow we are going to bring the kids in 4-5 at a time to size them. The older boys are also gonna get a Galilee Mission Run t-shirt (a mission run that raised money for us to take over there). We also have to celebrate May birthdays tomorrow so we were able to wrap up a few things for the ones celebrating their birthday. We will have a big birthday party- even cake (gato)!! Today the boys continued the work on the house. Sifting sand, mixing concrete, and putting stucco up on the walls. They got the inside walls done today.

"Finnie" (FINISH!!!)

We will be able to start painting the inside tomorrow. We ate a good dinner tonight of white rice, sausage, and bread. After dinner, Lillie fell out of a chair (it broke) and sliced her hand open on a glass Sprite bottle. We quickly took her to Open Hands Hospital in Port-Au-Prince for stitches. She had to get 9 stitches!! We joked with her that was one for every day that she was here. She would always remember Haiti!! It was a little harrowing trying to get to the hospital, but once we got there- it was all American run staff. The physician was Angelia and she was from Manhattan. They even had LIDOCAINE!! Thank God for lidocaine!! Everybody at the hospital was phenomenal.

Now we are ready for bed!!!

Thursday- 8:30pm

This young lady is the only person near this house (young or old) that actually picked up a shovel and helped us.

Our first church service at the orphanage. It was awesome. The guys had been working outside in the heat all day, but the kids didn't care that they were hot and sweaty.

Etalin in front of her home prior to the renovation. Etalin works as a cook at the orphanage, but she lives in a little small community just down the road from the orphanage. She earns $37/mth. for her work at the orphanage!

This is a small child that lived behind Etalin. I'm not sure if he was family or not, but seeing this child was extremely hard for me.

Getting started on Etalin's house.

WHEW!! Today has been so physically hard! We didn't sleep well last night. It seemed like half the house was awake. Mainly Emily! She couldn't fall asleep for some reason. Cheryl was digging around in the bag looking for her some Melatonin. I was up at 5:00am anyways.

We went over to Etalin's house to work early this morning after eating scones, bacon, eggs, and fresh mango. We had to sift sand- a 2-part process. Once to get out the big rocks then again with a smaller sifter to get even smaller rocks and sand. They use a very fine sand to make stucco to put inside and outside the house before painting. Her house is going to be pink! The men worked hard and put up a tin roof today too. What was amazing was that there were probably 25 men looking/standing around watching all the women and girls work. This was BACK-BREAKING, very physical labor we were doing!! One very small girl, who looked to be 8-10 years old picked up a shovel and started helping us throw the gravel into the water holes while all the strapping, young men watched. It was crazy!! I rewarded her with bugspray. Bugspray is a huge commodity here. Everyone wants it, but nobody can afford to buy it!! It costs $14 a bottle. I also coated all the little ones around there. The mamas were wiping it off the children to put some on themselves.


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