What have we been up too?
MARCHING FOR LIFE...of course!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
My not so SILENT, silent retreat
Welp, I'm out of silence.
A few days earlier than everyone else.
I got pretty sick.
Doctors office...check
Hospital....check
Pulled out of silence after four days because I couldn't go 20 minutes without running to puke..check (sorry about the detail)
BUT: GOD MOVED!
I'm not sure exactly how to explain it, but I do know that God was so present with me during my time of suffering was so evident.
We have been traveling a whole bunch and will continue to be traveling one more time this month. We will be heading to Washington DC for the March for Life. Let me know if you are going to be there.
Praying for you.
A few days earlier than everyone else.
I got pretty sick.
Doctors office...check
Hospital....check
Pulled out of silence after four days because I couldn't go 20 minutes without running to puke..check (sorry about the detail)
BUT: GOD MOVED!
I'm not sure exactly how to explain it, but I do know that God was so present with me during my time of suffering was so evident.
We have been traveling a whole bunch and will continue to be traveling one more time this month. We will be heading to Washington DC for the March for Life. Let me know if you are going to be there.
Praying for you.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Silent Retreat
After a world wind of a Winter break I'm headed back to Georgia tomorrow at 6:30am. This break has been filled with:
5 missionaries visiting my house
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| Some just to sleep... |
A trip to NYC to see the Radio City Christmas Show
Tons of family time.
Ringing in the New Year with my missionary brothers, and some new friends
On January 3rd I will begin an eight day silent retreat that will end on January 11th. I wont have access to facebook, email, twitter, texting or phone calls, but praise the Lord. I'm excited to dive into what Jesus has to say to my heart during this time. But I'm also a bit nervous. I beg you to pray for an openness in my heart and an attentive spirit to the ways God is going to be speaking to me.
Haiti Days 5-9
Obviously I haven't kept my promise of writing blogs everyday. But I'm just going to wrap up the last bits of Haiti.
As reluctant as I was to going to a hospital in Haiti it was a beautiful experience. American hospitals make me really nervous. I just don't like them, and often times they are sad. I was expecting horrible conditions, and a lot of heartbreak as we were heading to the hospital. One of my mission sisters leaned over, grabbed my hand, and said "Don't worry. I'm nervous too". I guess I can't really hide my emotions as well as I thought I could. The rest of the way I sat in silence praying for God to give me the courage to be a witness of his love. The first room we went into was the pediatrics. These kids were just laying in there with their mothers at their bed side. A young baby who had a high fever for a few days, and a young girl, maybe 12, with typhoid. As Father Louis prayed over and with each of the kids I couldn't even begin to speak for fear that the only thing that would come out would be tears. The young girl prayed the "Hail Mary" in Creole with us, and I nearly lost it. She didn't have anything else. There was no TV to occupy her. Her room was decorated with cute characters like a pediatric wing of an American hospital. She had her mother, the bed she was laying in and Jesus. It was a beautiful moment to be a part of. Witnessing the young girl and her mother pray together brought tears to my eyes. So often I take for granted having all these material things to make me "comfortable". That was the moment in the trip I realized I didn't need a lot of "things", I just needed Jesus, family, and an unshakable faith.
XLT is a huge night of adoration, with a talk and some praise and worship. The full time missionaries had been planning their first XLT to happen during our time in Haiti. The week prior they began visiting schools inviting teens to come join us for a procession, followed by the XLT event. We couldn't post it on facebook, mass text the teens, or make a youtube video. The missionaries had to go out and personally invite hundreds of teens. The afternoon had arrived and little by little teens started arriving at the base. The rain also came with them. As they gathered we prayed a rosary for the rain to go away (at least I think that's what the priest was saying in creole) and by the end of the rosary the rain had stopped. We began our procession only two hours later than planned (that's pretty good for "Haitian time") and boy did we praise the Lord. Our cantor had a band in it, and we had hundreds of teens singing, dancing, yelling, and praising the Lord. As we traveled through the streets to the church we invited more teens to come, and they dropped what they were doing and followed. Two hours later through the mud and rain we all knelt before our Lord and adored him.
I had been hearing a lot about the orphanage "Moving with the Spirit" during summer camp, and from other Life Teen Missionaries so I was super excited to finally get to visit. The orphanage was beautiful, and the kids were so loving. During this day in the trip I realized that in order to love someone I don't have to "say or do" the right thing. I just need to be a witness. Taking the time to stoop to the kids level, and play a game with them, or stumble through some horrible creole, really lights up their day. The beautiful little girl in the picture below climbed into my lap after a few hours of being really shy. I knew one creole song and so I sang that song with her over and over again. It wasn't until I stopped singing that I realized this small little voice singing with me. It was the simply action of sitting on the floor with this little girl, rocking her back and forth and singing with her that helped me to realize my actions do make a difference.
Our final day in Haiti we were given a few hours of quiet time to begin to process what God was doing in our hearts. We also got to pray over the country of Haiti as an entire community. Some of the sisters and brothers joined us. I challenge you, the next time your in the car to pray over the town your driving in. To ask God to be in the center of the lives of each person that comes through that town.
As reluctant as I was to going to a hospital in Haiti it was a beautiful experience. American hospitals make me really nervous. I just don't like them, and often times they are sad. I was expecting horrible conditions, and a lot of heartbreak as we were heading to the hospital. One of my mission sisters leaned over, grabbed my hand, and said "Don't worry. I'm nervous too". I guess I can't really hide my emotions as well as I thought I could. The rest of the way I sat in silence praying for God to give me the courage to be a witness of his love. The first room we went into was the pediatrics. These kids were just laying in there with their mothers at their bed side. A young baby who had a high fever for a few days, and a young girl, maybe 12, with typhoid. As Father Louis prayed over and with each of the kids I couldn't even begin to speak for fear that the only thing that would come out would be tears. The young girl prayed the "Hail Mary" in Creole with us, and I nearly lost it. She didn't have anything else. There was no TV to occupy her. Her room was decorated with cute characters like a pediatric wing of an American hospital. She had her mother, the bed she was laying in and Jesus. It was a beautiful moment to be a part of. Witnessing the young girl and her mother pray together brought tears to my eyes. So often I take for granted having all these material things to make me "comfortable". That was the moment in the trip I realized I didn't need a lot of "things", I just needed Jesus, family, and an unshakable faith.
XLT is a huge night of adoration, with a talk and some praise and worship. The full time missionaries had been planning their first XLT to happen during our time in Haiti. The week prior they began visiting schools inviting teens to come join us for a procession, followed by the XLT event. We couldn't post it on facebook, mass text the teens, or make a youtube video. The missionaries had to go out and personally invite hundreds of teens. The afternoon had arrived and little by little teens started arriving at the base. The rain also came with them. As they gathered we prayed a rosary for the rain to go away (at least I think that's what the priest was saying in creole) and by the end of the rosary the rain had stopped. We began our procession only two hours later than planned (that's pretty good for "Haitian time") and boy did we praise the Lord. Our cantor had a band in it, and we had hundreds of teens singing, dancing, yelling, and praising the Lord. As we traveled through the streets to the church we invited more teens to come, and they dropped what they were doing and followed. Two hours later through the mud and rain we all knelt before our Lord and adored him.
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| Bring them Jesus |
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| What would a Life Teen event be without a good dance party?! |
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| "Our God is mighty to save" |
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| Thank you Lord for stopping the rain. |
I had been hearing a lot about the orphanage "Moving with the Spirit" during summer camp, and from other Life Teen Missionaries so I was super excited to finally get to visit. The orphanage was beautiful, and the kids were so loving. During this day in the trip I realized that in order to love someone I don't have to "say or do" the right thing. I just need to be a witness. Taking the time to stoop to the kids level, and play a game with them, or stumble through some horrible creole, really lights up their day. The beautiful little girl in the picture below climbed into my lap after a few hours of being really shy. I knew one creole song and so I sang that song with her over and over again. It wasn't until I stopped singing that I realized this small little voice singing with me. It was the simply action of sitting on the floor with this little girl, rocking her back and forth and singing with her that helped me to realize my actions do make a difference.
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