I am so sorry it has taken me awhile to post about my trip. I haven’t had an internet connection and I have been too busy to get to the library to post one.
Monday my job was to bake the cupcakes for the April birthdays. That was interesting to bake Haiti style! But Megan, Ellie and I made the most of it. It was a sweet time spending time in the kitchen with two of my girls. We laughed and giggled and had fun being in each others company! And of course we all enjoyed licking the spoons and bowl!
That afternoon we decided to stay at the guest house after lunch to have some private time alone. We went swimming and boy did we have fun. One of the other ladies on the trip stayed with us. She played photographer for me, thanks Janelle! After swimming we took showers and laid down for a nap. It was the BEST decision I made all week. It was such a relaxing afternoon together. Peaceful and restful…ahhhhh!
Tuesday evening came way to fast. We had to say our goodbyes. Once at the O and once before the kids went back to the O after dinner. We left early Wednesday morning and wouldn’t see them again. It went better than I thought. Ellie and I went to the office of the guest house where Donette (the manager) helped me tell Ellie that we were leaving in the morning and that I would miss her a bunch and loved her so very much. Ellie was really quiet but said she understood. I also told her that Todd would come visit soon, to which she quickly told Donette that she didn’t want her papa to come she wanted me too. We all laughed. Poor Todd, a momma’s girl! Yeah!
Our flight was delayed an hour and a half, not a surprise there. So we enjoyed time together as a team looking thru the shops at the airport and having a leisurely lunch. Once we landed in Miami we weren’t sure we were going to make our connecting flight. I was rushing poor Megan around. She was so tired but never once complained. Well, come to find out there was no reason to rush. Our plane was being taken out of commission due to technical difficulties. So we waited another hour and a half for them to locate another plane. As we were finally pulling away from the gate all the power went out. The whole plane had a collective groan and a lot of, “you have got to be kidding me’s!” Turns out a cable was pulled away not a big deal. They got it reconnected and we finally took off. Once in Chicago we headed to my brothers house for the night. And then Thursday morning we finally took the first flight to Evansville. It felt so good to be home again. It was a good trip. It was nice spending time with Ellie. And Megan getting to see Haiti and spend time with her sister.
Hugs, Kristina
This trip was amazing, testing, tiring, joyful, full of personal surprises, and full of blessings. God was so generous to me on this long trip.
As I have shared in the past, I wilt in Haiti. My experience has been that while in Haiti my insecurities are amplified, and thus it is a struggle for me. Well…..no more!!!! I found strength on this trip. Not in me, but in the Lord. Sunday night was really rough for me. Colleen took mercy on me and let me call home. It was good to hear Todd’s voice but made my homesickness worse. I went to bed a bundle of nerves. I started praying and asking for God’s strength to sustain me till I returned home. I didn’t want a spirit of defeat, but one of victory. I listened to my mp3 player Todd had downloaded the songs our choir sings. I laid in the dark lifting my hands to Jesus and just worshiped my Lord and savior. There is power in praise. And it was in that moment that I feel like God delivered me from the wilting. Thank you Jesus!!!!
When we first arrived in Haiti we had to go to the guest house to eat supper. Then Colleen made the decision we would in fact go to the orphanage to see the kids. We ended up staying a good 2 and half hours. It was dark outside so we got to experience how the children deal with no electricity at night, or as we experienced, the electricity going off and on with no rhythm or reason. It was really cool to see the difference in the dynamics at night. Of course I went straight to the upstairs nursery to find Ellie. Turns out she didn’t want to be found. She ran from me. No biggy. Seriously, it didn’t bother me. I learned a long time ago you have to give your children space and meet them where they are. The nannies on the other hand were fussing at her to go to her momma. I told them it was ok. But they picked her up and put her in my arms. Got to love those nannies! Once she was in my arms and I started talking to her I think it finally clicked for her and she got a death grip on me and wouldn’t let me put her down! Chuckle.
The other little ones gathered around us and we loved on all of them. They were so patient in taking their turns at receiving love and praise from us. It made me think about Jesus and the little children. Megan quickly had a favorite. (I’ll explain more in the next post) It is always neat to see which child wins your heart over. For Jessica it was Bethany, for Megan it was a new little girl, Julie.
We left about 8:30 and headed back to the guest house to settle in for the night. I didn’t realize what a LONG night it would be for me. Ellie is not a good sleeper. So I laid her on her little mat on the floor and told her it was time for bed. She started crying. I was so worried it was going to keep the rest of the team up. I couldn’t put her in bed with me because the bed was a skinny twin so there wasn’t enough room for both of us. So I sat on the floor, gathered her up in my arms and started singing softly to her. I sang every song I could think of. Slowly she started to relax. I went from being frustrated at the situation to loving every second of it. It brought to mind all the times I had sung and rocked my girls to sleep. How cool is it that God provided this moment in time where he gave me something that I thought I had missed out on with Ellie?
She finally fell asleep. But unfortunately she didn’t stay that way very long. Ellie and I did this little dance all night long. She would wake up, stand by my bed with this sad look on her face. Crawl up on me. Fall asleep. I would then lay her back down on her mat. This played over and over again all night long, every hour on the hour. Needless to say I welcomed morning even though I was beyond tired!!!!
The next day was rough. For two nights I hadn’t gotten sleep, I was exhausted! All day long I contemplated the idea of having her sleep at the O instead of with me. I know how on earth could I consider this? Well if you hadn’t had sleep for two days wouldn’t you?
The guilt set in. Here I only have 6 full days with her not knowing when I would be back. I wanted every minute I could with her. But I had to rise above my desire and do what was best for both of us. What finally made my decision was that afternoon Ellie wasn’t acting right. She just wanted to be held. We took her temp at lunch time and she had a fever. So the new missions manager, a retired family physician, took a look at her. She had the beginning of bronchitis. He started her on antibiotics immediately. He said he would feel better if she stayed at the O that night for observation and to get her meds in her on regular intervals.
Whew! The decision was made for me. I asked the good doctor if he would be the bad guy and have the nurse (who speaks Creole) to tell Ellie that she had to spend the night at the O, doctors orders. He did. Oh, I wish you could have seen the daggers Ellie gave the doctor as the nurse explained to her. She also told her I would be back in the morning to be with her.
Ellie came to the guest house for dinner and we got a few hours together before Megan (volunteer at the O and a friend of mine) came and got Ellie and other children to take back to the O for the night.
Ellie and I both got a good night’s sleep. Thank you Jesus!
The whole trip went by in a blur from there. Most of it was spending time loving on the kids and enjoying time with Ellie. We fell into a routine. Megan and I would get up we would eat breakfast as a team, then head to the O. We went back most days to the O for lunch and relaxed for a bit. Then we headed back to the O for several hours before heading back to the guest house for dinner. After dinner we played with our kids for a couple of hours and then Megan would come pick them up to sleep at the O.
Yes, I had Ellie sleep at the O every night after the first night. I had to realize she is different than Jonas so I have to make decisions based on what will work best for her. Jonas slept thru the night like a rock. Ellie does not. And that is ok and I shouldn’t feel guilty, though I did.
Saturday we took an outing to the Baptist missions. Even though I have been there 2 times previously, I got to see different parts of it this time. They actually have a zoo, well a small one. We couldn’t take Ellie with us so Megan and I had a mother daughter day together. It was so much fun. Megan and I had fun bartering with the street vendors. Megan had money to spend and she wanted to get gifts for her friends.
As I have shared in the past, I wilt in Haiti. My experience has been that while in Haiti my insecurities are amplified, and thus it is a struggle for me. Well…..no more!!!! I found strength on this trip. Not in me, but in the Lord. Sunday night was really rough for me. Colleen took mercy on me and let me call home. It was good to hear Todd’s voice but made my homesickness worse. I went to bed a bundle of nerves. I started praying and asking for God’s strength to sustain me till I returned home. I didn’t want a spirit of defeat, but one of victory. I listened to my mp3 player Todd had downloaded the songs our choir sings. I laid in the dark lifting my hands to Jesus and just worshiped my Lord and savior. There is power in praise. And it was in that moment that I feel like God delivered me from the wilting. Thank you Jesus!!!!
When we first arrived in Haiti we had to go to the guest house to eat supper. Then Colleen made the decision we would in fact go to the orphanage to see the kids. We ended up staying a good 2 and half hours. It was dark outside so we got to experience how the children deal with no electricity at night, or as we experienced, the electricity going off and on with no rhythm or reason. It was really cool to see the difference in the dynamics at night. Of course I went straight to the upstairs nursery to find Ellie. Turns out she didn’t want to be found. She ran from me. No biggy. Seriously, it didn’t bother me. I learned a long time ago you have to give your children space and meet them where they are. The nannies on the other hand were fussing at her to go to her momma. I told them it was ok. But they picked her up and put her in my arms. Got to love those nannies! Once she was in my arms and I started talking to her I think it finally clicked for her and she got a death grip on me and wouldn’t let me put her down! Chuckle.
The other little ones gathered around us and we loved on all of them. They were so patient in taking their turns at receiving love and praise from us. It made me think about Jesus and the little children. Megan quickly had a favorite. (I’ll explain more in the next post) It is always neat to see which child wins your heart over. For Jessica it was Bethany, for Megan it was a new little girl, Julie.We left about 8:30 and headed back to the guest house to settle in for the night. I didn’t realize what a LONG night it would be for me. Ellie is not a good sleeper. So I laid her on her little mat on the floor and told her it was time for bed. She started crying. I was so worried it was going to keep the rest of the team up. I couldn’t put her in bed with me because the bed was a skinny twin so there wasn’t enough room for both of us. So I sat on the floor, gathered her up in my arms and started singing softly to her. I sang every song I could think of. Slowly she started to relax. I went from being frustrated at the situation to loving every second of it. It brought to mind all the times I had sung and rocked my girls to sleep. How cool is it that God provided this moment in time where he gave me something that I thought I had missed out on with Ellie?
She finally fell asleep. But unfortunately she didn’t stay that way very long. Ellie and I did this little dance all night long. She would wake up, stand by my bed with this sad look on her face. Crawl up on me. Fall asleep. I would then lay her back down on her mat. This played over and over again all night long, every hour on the hour. Needless to say I welcomed morning even though I was beyond tired!!!!
The next day was rough. For two nights I hadn’t gotten sleep, I was exhausted! All day long I contemplated the idea of having her sleep at the O instead of with me. I know how on earth could I consider this? Well if you hadn’t had sleep for two days wouldn’t you?The guilt set in. Here I only have 6 full days with her not knowing when I would be back. I wanted every minute I could with her. But I had to rise above my desire and do what was best for both of us. What finally made my decision was that afternoon Ellie wasn’t acting right. She just wanted to be held. We took her temp at lunch time and she had a fever. So the new missions manager, a retired family physician, took a look at her. She had the beginning of bronchitis. He started her on antibiotics immediately. He said he would feel better if she stayed at the O that night for observation and to get her meds in her on regular intervals.
Whew! The decision was made for me. I asked the good doctor if he would be the bad guy and have the nurse (who speaks Creole) to tell Ellie that she had to spend the night at the O, doctors orders. He did. Oh, I wish you could have seen the daggers Ellie gave the doctor as the nurse explained to her. She also told her I would be back in the morning to be with her.
Ellie came to the guest house for dinner and we got a few hours together before Megan (volunteer at the O and a friend of mine) came and got Ellie and other children to take back to the O for the night.
Ellie and I both got a good night’s sleep. Thank you Jesus!
The whole trip went by in a blur from there. Most of it was spending time loving on the kids and enjoying time with Ellie. We fell into a routine. Megan and I would get up we would eat breakfast as a team, then head to the O. We went back most days to the O for lunch and relaxed for a bit. Then we headed back to the O for several hours before heading back to the guest house for dinner. After dinner we played with our kids for a couple of hours and then Megan would come pick them up to sleep at the O.
Yes, I had Ellie sleep at the O every night after the first night. I had to realize she is different than Jonas so I have to make decisions based on what will work best for her. Jonas slept thru the night like a rock. Ellie does not. And that is ok and I shouldn’t feel guilty, though I did.
Saturday we took an outing to the Baptist missions. Even though I have been there 2 times previously, I got to see different parts of it this time. They actually have a zoo, well a small one. We couldn’t take Ellie with us so Megan and I had a mother daughter day together. It was so much fun. Megan and I had fun bartering with the street vendors. Megan had money to spend and she wanted to get gifts for her friends.We also got to go to the outlook. It is at the top of one of the mountains and you can see out over most of Haiti. An observation deck built into the side of the mountain. We got a team photo!
Monday my job was to bake the cupcakes for the April birthdays. That was interesting to bake Haiti style! But Megan, Ellie and I made the most of it. It was a sweet time spending time in the kitchen with two of my girls. We laughed and giggled and had fun being in each others company! And of course we all enjoyed licking the spoons and bowl! 
That afternoon we decided to stay at the guest house after lunch to have some private time alone. We went swimming and boy did we have fun. One of the other ladies on the trip stayed with us. She played photographer for me, thanks Janelle! After swimming we took showers and laid down for a nap. It was the BEST decision I made all week. It was such a relaxing afternoon together. Peaceful and restful…ahhhhh!
Tuesday evening came way to fast. We had to say our goodbyes. Once at the O and once before the kids went back to the O after dinner. We left early Wednesday morning and wouldn’t see them again. It went better than I thought. Ellie and I went to the office of the guest house where Donette (the manager) helped me tell Ellie that we were leaving in the morning and that I would miss her a bunch and loved her so very much. Ellie was really quiet but said she understood. I also told her that Todd would come visit soon, to which she quickly told Donette that she didn’t want her papa to come she wanted me too. We all laughed. Poor Todd, a momma’s girl! Yeah!
Our flight was delayed an hour and a half, not a surprise there. So we enjoyed time together as a team looking thru the shops at the airport and having a leisurely lunch. Once we landed in Miami we weren’t sure we were going to make our connecting flight. I was rushing poor Megan around. She was so tired but never once complained. Well, come to find out there was no reason to rush. Our plane was being taken out of commission due to technical difficulties. So we waited another hour and a half for them to locate another plane. As we were finally pulling away from the gate all the power went out. The whole plane had a collective groan and a lot of, “you have got to be kidding me’s!” Turns out a cable was pulled away not a big deal. They got it reconnected and we finally took off. Once in Chicago we headed to my brothers house for the night. And then Thursday morning we finally took the first flight to Evansville. It felt so good to be home again. It was a good trip. It was nice spending time with Ellie. And Megan getting to see Haiti and spend time with her sister.Hugs, Kristina
5 comments:
Sounds like you & Megan had a wonderful trip!
I'm so happy that you and Megan had a wonderful trip...it sounds like it went just about as perfectly as you could ever dream for! Zoe and I looked at each picture and decided that they were all our "favorites"! So many cute shots Kristina :-)
I love reading your stories! Thanks for sharing Kristina!
Sounds like a great trip. So glad you got to go!
It was so nice to meet you and Megan on this trip and watch you spend time with Ellie. I have so many wonderful memories! I loved hearing you sing to Ellie on that first night. I hope we will be blessed enough to travel together again....and, you are definitely invited to Cincinnati! We would love to have you!
Post a Comment