Yep, you read correctly. Jessica is going to Haiti with me in April. And to say she is excited would be an understatement! So I thought I would take a moment to tell you about this amazing daughter of mine.
Jessica is 11 years old as of last December 16th.She is my first born. I think the first thing you might notice about her is her smile. It reaches her eyes and just begs you to smile with her. It is always there and ready to brighten your day. After spending some more time with her, there would be no denying that this child has the love of Jesus pouring from her heart. Her capacity to love and forgive and love some more is utterly dumbfounding! I often find myself in awe of her soft gentle spirit. (Don't get me wrong, she IS a preteen and has a mouth to prove it when her hormones are raging! LOL ) She is a super sensitive person who is VERY intune with others feelings. Especially if it is someone who is hurting.
She is smart and VERY artistic! She loves anything to do with art. She loves to explore and is waiting for the next big adventure. She is willing to try anything new and give it her all. She likes to learn and will pepper you with questions if given the chance.
Jessica has been asking for a baby brother for a very long time. At least 5 years. I told her she would have to pray and ask God about that one. So for 5 years now, faithfully she has prayed. And now God has blessed her with a little brother. She is sooooo excited about getting to meet Jonas and love on him. In fact I may have to fight my own daughter for time with my own son! LOL. I have a sneaky suspicion that she will be bitten by the Haiti bug like the rest of us. In my heart I have always felt she might be a missionary someday. Who knows, maybe it will be Haiti!
But what I am excited about the most is her love for children. She LOVES them! She is always wanting to play with and look after other people's children. It is pure sunshine radiating off her when she is among a bunch of little ones. She hurts when they hurt, she laughs without abandon when they laugh, she gives of her heart to each and everyone.
She has begged Todd and I to allow her to go with us to Haiti. Todd and I had to do a LOT of praying about it. We asked her why she wanted to go? She said she wanted to go to another country (which we thought was her main desire), that she wanted to meet Jonas, but then she said something that warmed our hearts. She said as much as she wanted to go see her little brother, she wanted to go love on the other children in the orphanage, especially the ones who didn't have forever families yet.
SMILE.... you know we parents train our children and hope they take the lessons with them, and when you actually get to see them in action it causes you to fall to your knees and thank God for them. But also I pray even harder that I will not screw up this precious being he has entrusted to my care!!!!!
So after much praying and talking to her about the conditions and what she would experience while down there, we have agreed to let her go. Her safety ultimatly lies in God's hands. And that is what we are trusting in.
Watch out Haiti....here we come!
Hugs, Kristina
8 comments:
I might have to take praying lessons from her... I want a Jonas. In like 5 years. Or more. :)
She sounds like an amazing young lady; I can't wait to meet your family.
I'm really excited for her. I can't wait to see her with all the kids!
I'm looking forward to meeting her. It's going to be fun to watch our children as they learn why they love this palce called Haiti, a place they have never been! She's a little older then Kynsely and Dylan but I still thin kthey will have fun together!
Casen, she wants to meet all of you as well. She listens so intently when Todd and I are talking about anything to do with Haiti. You are ALWAYS welcome here.
Michelle, I cna't either. In fact Todd had a hard time saying ok for her to go because he wanted to be able to see her experience this. Thankfully he gave in. Mainly because Jessica told him she was really looking forward to mommy daughter time. LOL she pulled on his heart strings and didn't even know it!
Gail, I told Jessica 2 of your children were going and she is really excited about meeting them and having come others close to her age there as well.
I am so excited for Jessica. She does have a huge heart and I can't wait to hear all about what God teaches her while she is in Haiti. I'll be praying for your trip. Have fun!!!
This is sooo fun! I can't wait to hear about the trip from her perspective- do you think she'll post her thoughts??? What great girls you have!
i am really excited that she will be coming! jonas is so spoiled already and all the kids ask for their brothers or sisters to come visit them, and of course he will be the one to get it!
i am also really excited that so many of you will be bringing your children to haiti! thank you for trusting the Lord in that way and for being a great example to others, both in the states and here! this will be an amazing experience for your children (biological and adopted) that they will not forget!
Oh! thats two bad i am going down agian in July it would be cool if i could meet her! Oh well i am sure the clinic will keep me busy!
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