Fourty one and a half

As I begin this post, there are only 41 1/2 hours left until I leave for Haiti. 41 1/2 hours. Crazy in light of the fact I have been thinking about this since March! All the prayer, all the fundraising, all the meetings and prep are finally culminating in this huge trip. This will be my first trip to a third world country, my first trip to a country where poverty is dominant, not to mention the physical and emotional devastation that is still evident due to the earthquake in Haiti last year. I am beyond excited to see what is going to happen on this trip. Honestly, even though this has been almost 5 months in the making, I still feel unprepared for all that we will experience there. I feel so blessed to be able to share this trip with two close friends--the fact that God put this trip and these people on all three of our hearts unknowingly still amazes me and affirms the knowledge that he wants me on this trip. That, and the fact that through the generosity of so many friends and family, this trip was fully financially funded. That part of this whole experience still amazes me. I've never had need to raise so much for this trip and I'll be honest, it was intimidating. But I just have to say, I am in awe at how He provides. God has proven this time and time again in different situations in my life, and yet when he provided this time, I still found myself amazed. I think it was the fact that He showed me the depth of generosity of people and their desire to be a part of the opportunity to serve, that surprised me the most. Honestly, I just felt surrounded by love and support when I would receive checks and little letters and notes filled with prayers for our team's safety, work, and the Haitian people. It was a type of generosity that I've never experienced before and it was beautiful. 

I cannot wait to meet some of the Haitian people who I've heard so much about in the last few months. I am so looking forward to building relationships with them, hearing their stories and gaining a more true and realistic awareness of what their lives are like day to day. I am just praying that God will allow me and my team to be open to what they have to share, to have me listen and understand with a heart that is willing to put aside my biases and my preconceived ideas of what life is and should be like for these people. I think, most simply put, I just want to learn to love as Christ loves. I know it is a simple desire, but it's one I think we overlook a lot. I mean, what a huge aspiration, but one we are called to as followers and children of God. We need to love as fully, as unconditionally and uninhibited as Christ does, even though we recognize that we fail in this everyday, at least I do. On this trip, this is what I pray my main focus will remain as, to love without bias, as fully as I can, and do this fully by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. I am not sure how this will look and honestly, I think it will be different in each situation I am in, whether its with the kids in VBS, hanging out with my team around camp, or with the people I meet at the market. But no matter the location and no matter the person, the purpose and the calling for all of us to love remains the same, so I just want to be open for Christ's love for these individuals to show in my actions and responses in this next week.
Please pray for this desire to kind of pour out of each person on our team this week!