Sunday, March 23, 2014

Where is God leading...


I came across this picture the other day when someone posted it on Facebook...

I think I could confidently say this sums up the last 3 months of this journey that I'm on.

If you would have asked me three months ago I would have had my whole life planned out for you and the direction in which I was heading. But as the picture shows.....God's plan has shown to be a little different than I had expected. 

In the last month and a half I have had to deal with some not so fun truths about life and where God is leading me. 

So adoption won't happen for me until I'm 35, even though we had thought it was now 30 with the "new law." So I'll wait on God's timing of it all...as hard and painful as it is. 
God continues to teach me patiences. I guess I need a few more lessons in patience and waiting on His timing. 
Whats a few more years of learning...? :) 

Here I am...arms wide open asking the Lord to lead me and guide me in the direction He wants me to go. 

I've been praying about going home for awhile to seek God's new path for my life. I have big dreams and desires for things I want to do in Haiti, but I don't have all the answers. My heart hurts a little thinking about going back to MN for longer than two weeks, but I also feel that I need to share what God has put on my heart with others and see how to make it a reality here in Haiti. I think it is also a good time on this journey to take some time to reconnect with family, friends, supporters and seek out to raise more support so that I can continue on this amazing and exciting journey here in Haiti. 

I am excited to go back to MN and connect with everyone, but it's also a little scary and sad at the same time to be leaving this place that I love. 
Trusting God in this all and know that He will be with me and be my peace. 

God has big plans for me and Haiti and I'm excited to see where He is going to lead me and which path this journey is going to continue down! 

Stepping out in faith and trusting that God has a perfect plan in His perfect timing! 


Even though this last month has been extremely difficult for me, I know and believe with all my heart that God's hand is in it all and He is planning something great! :) 


Thursday, March 20, 2014

Grace Village Life!!

Here's a little update in pictures of life at Grace Village lately...

Enjoying a little game of Spot It!! The kids love it (adults too!) :)

This little princess warrior is ready for battle!! :) 


These two little cuties were quite proud that they were able to create the "taptap" 

I know you know it...but I love every thing about these hands and this amazing woman!! Marie is such a blessing and always brings a smile to my face every time I see her!! 
(Looks like one of the recent teams painted her nails for her) ;) 

These two stunning beauties! 


 This guy is working hard all the time and is getting so good!! 


Dieufort has been having some complications for quite sometime. We took him to the hospital and he was so full of joy when we went to visit him and bring him some food. 
He gave all the glory to God. 
I love this man and his heart. 
He is always so happy to see us if we see him while walking in Titanyen! I always make sure to look by his house to see if he is sitting outside! :)

 We celebrated some birthdays last month and a few of the kids decided it would be a good idea to put the frost all over their faces! 
Kids will be kids!! :)

These birthday boys got a piece as big as their heads!! Of course they ate it all...they may have shared with their friends! :)

Such a little stinker! She's ready to lay a big 'ol kiss on someone...
trust me she tried! :) 

And of course...Marie, my momma or has Marie would say...I'm her momma!! 
Either way I love this amazing woman so incredibly much! 
No matter what she always makes me smile! 

Much Love From GRACE VILLAGE!! 

Monday, March 17, 2014

When the answers no...or not right now...

Sometimes I feel that life is going full on in the right direction and God is opening doors and all I have to do is keep walking through them! Those are the times that I love! ;) But recently that hasn't been the case. The doors aren't swinging wide open on the path that I had desired. Mind you, "The path that I desired." You see I had things all planned out about how this whole adoption thing was going to go and what my next year or so would look like.

Over the last month I have connected with several people, meet with other orphanage directors, lawyers and people at IBESR (social services). I got information, information that I, for the first time in a long time, felt was reliable information; needless to say I didn't get the answers that I necessarily wanted though.

I struggled. And if I'm honest I probably still am struggling with it all. But I also know that God is in control. I struggle that things in Haiti are never clear. There is no set direction or path for this adoption world. Information seems to always be changing--does anyone even know what the "new law" states?? It's things like this that make me want to scream and pull my hair out and bawl my eyes out.
But I always have to come back to the fact that just because things are going as "I" had planned for them to go, I know God has bigger and better plans...I just can't see that big picture right now....so I pray and patiently wait for Him to guide me and lead me.

I know that my heart is in missions and in Haiti and it ALWAYS will be. I pray that I can continue to serve in Haiti for years and years to come. I know that God has put adoption on my heart and that He will bring it to completion in His timing with the child He has specifically chosen for me. These things I know and even though days can be hard and weary at times, He is in control and I have FAITH and TRUST in HIS PERFECT PLAN and TIMING!

So although it feels like the answers are no...or not right now...
God is in control and He knows the desires of my heart.  
A very fitting new piece of metal art. :) 


Monday, March 10, 2014

God is pretty sneaky...

God is pretty sneaky sometimes....literally minutes after I posted the blog about when life feels messy and things don't seem to be lining up God leads me to read Jesus Calling for today March 10th.

Jesus Calling March 10th 

YOU ARE MINE FOR ALL TIME--and beyond time, into eternity. No power can deny you your inheritance in heaven. I want you to realize how utterly secure you are! Even if you falter as you journey through life, I will never let go of your hand. 

Knowing that your future is absolutely assured can free you to live abundantly today. I have prepared this day for you with the most tender concern and attention to detail. Instead of approaching the day as a blank page that you need to fill up, try living it in a responsive mode:being on the lookout for all that I am doing. This sounds easy, but it requires a deep level of trust, based on the knowledge that My way is perfect. 

Psalm 37:23-24
The Lord makes firm the steps
    of the one who delights in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,
    for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

Psalms 18:30
As for God, his way is perfect:
    The Lord’s word is flawless;
    he shields all who take refuge in him.


Thank you Lord for gently guiding me to what I needed to see and read today to confirm that YOUR way is PERFECT! Teach me to have that deep level of trust!! 

Middle of a mess

When you feel like your in the middle of a mess...

Sometimes life just feels messy. Everything about it doesn’t seem to be lining up. 

But according to who? Who can decided that everything isn’t lining up in their life? 

For some reason I feel that I have the power to say that life is messy and it’s not lining up, but just because it’s not lining up according to my standards or what I "thought" it was going to be like doesn’t mean it’s not lining up. As a matter of fact it IS lining up and lining up better than I could ever imagine or desire. 

The problem is I just can’t see that yet. I can’t see the big picture as to how it will all line up in the end. Only God knows how the “mess” will line up. My job is to let go of it and trust that God is in control. Trust that He is going to guide me and direct me. Seek Him and His plan for my life and ask Him for wisdom in all things. 

People are going to try to cut me down, say mean things, think I’m crazy for doing what I’m doing, and be unsupportive--we're human. But I’m not on this earth to please them. Maybe they are doing those things because they are dealing with their own struggles. Not mine to judge or to figure out. 

But what I do need to learn to do better is LET IT GO. I need to let it all go and live in the present moment and live joyously! I can’t control anyone else, I can’t fully control my situation or my future, but I can control myself and how I react to it all. Life is short. I want to learn to let it go and be happy even in the “messy” times when things don’t seem to line up how I think they should. 

Surrendering it all to God and trusting with all my heart that God is working and He usually is working the most when we feel like our life is a mess.

I need to readjust my focus and remind myself to look at all the things that GOD IS lining up in my life at the moment! When I take the time to do this I can see that God is definitely working in my life and bringing so many pieces together in ways that I could have never imagined! 

So in the “messy” times when life doesn’t seem to be lining up I pray that I can readjust my focus and remember:

GOD is working! 
GOD is doing amazing things (even in what seems “messy”)! 
GOD is faithful! 
GOD knows the desires of my heart! 
GOD is able to move mountains! 

GOD is good...in ALL things!!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Creole classes....

It has officially begun.....
Creole class....



                       

Thank you so much to all those who made this possible!! It really will be such an amazing gift to be able to fully communicate with the people I love on much better deeper level! 


Hard at work doing my homework!! Yep....Homework!! 
class...3 days a week for 2 hours...

Ok this is how I really feel about the homework! ;) 
Lets just say I don't think my brain works like this anymore!! 


Yikes....this is definitely a love/hate relationship!!


I know in the long run it will be great for me but who in the heck created so many rules....and all the memorization....


You could say I am easily distracted...but I sure do look happy don't I!! ;) 


Ok maybe I need to find a little quieter area to study! :)



The best part is I have some great kids who are also great teachers!! I promise I was doing my homework....with a little bit of help of course!! :) 

Pray for me and that my brain can take this all in and I can use all this to do amazing things!! 
:)