expectations for tomorrow

Oh sweet Irene... how I appreciate the cool breeze you have brought to Port au Prince, but how broken my heart is for the people in other countries who were so unfortunate to be blessed by your presence this week. For those of you worrying about us in the storm, you can rest easy knowing that we have only had clouds, a little wind, and a few rain drops. The Lord has spared Haiti! Praise Him!

I wanted to give you an update of the last few days here. First of all, yesterday we were finally able to reunite Manny with his Daddy! It was a bittersweet goodbye.. but I know that it was the right thing. As I said in my last post, we are here to reunite families, not tear them apart. We met his dad at the clinic where he was dropped off, and below is a picture of the meeting....

this is what we are all about!

Needless to say, I have slept like a rock the last two nights [notice I did not say "like a baby", which is like an oxymoron if you ask me]. I feel that I have officially accomplished #81 of my "101 in 1001" List which reads: Keep a kid overnight. On any given night, Manny and I were up 2 to 3 times. However, on his last night here, Manny went out with a bang! Here is a breakdown of our last sweet night together: 11:00 bedtime, up from 11:30 to 12, sleep from 12 to 1, up from 1 to 2, sleep from 2-2:30, up from 2:30 to 3, sleep from 3-5:30, then up at 5:30 for the day. Are you kidding me? At some point during the night while we were up, I was so frustrated, and I thought to myself  "this is how shaken baby syndrome happens.. because if I didn't have control of my anger I would shake this baby" haha. Then I was thinking to myself that when babies go home from the hospital there should be a handout on what to do if your baby won't sleep at night, and pretty high on the list should be "switch out with your husband every 2 hours".. which leads me to the point that if the moral, financial, or emotional aspect of having a kid before you're married doesn't deter you, the lack of sleep should! But of course, he looked at me with those big brown eyes and batted those long eyelashes at me, and smiled, and laughed for no reason at 6 in the morning, and my heart was stolen all over again. I'm sad that I don't have him anymore, but I know it is best for him to be with his Daddy!

You should know that your prayers are so important to me. You read in my last post about the spiritual warfare, and it continues. The 4 babies are still not back to the children's home. Many other issues are not resolved, and there are new issues arising daily. But tonight while I was reading the first chapter the whole book of 3 John, I was reminded of my purpose here and what that looks like no matter what is going on around me. 3 John 1:7a says "For they have set out for the sake of the Name..." This is what it is about friends. Whether you are waking up tomorrow in Knoxville, Lawrenceburg, Port au Prince, Clarksville, New York, Dominican Republic, Texas, California, or anywhere else, if you are a Believer and follower of Jesus then your [and my] only purpose is to live for the sake of His Name. I don't know about you, but that really narrows down my goals and lifts the weight of expectation off of me, knowing that I only have one thing that I am supposed to be doing and that is living for my Jesus. Breathe easier and sleep sweeter tonight knowing that is all you have to do tomorrow :)

Really quick, just for fun, I want to give you a couple highlights from my day:

1. My friends Sara, Kessy, and I were having a good conversation today about love and various other potentially uncomfortable topics, when Sara asked Kessy something that made him embarrassed. Instead of saying "I feel awkward" [which is definitely what Sara would have said], Kessy said "Ooohh Sara.. you just put my two feet in one shoe!" We found this incredibly amusing, because we had never heard it before. Apparently it's a Haitian proverb, and it makes all the sense in the world when you think about it. What could be more uncomfortable than having both feet in one shoe? haha.

2. Tonight someone asked me "what was your high and low of today?" and it made me feel like I was in a community group at Calvary. Missing you guys like crazy!

3. My sister's wedding pictures are finally unlocked, so I got to see them today! Mom, I think that we got a good Christmas card picture for sure. And Sis, everyone I have showed pictures to here thinks you were the most gorgeous bride with the most gorgeous dress they have ever seen... probably because you were! Missing my fam too!

Prayers for you tonight from Port au Prince!