ramblings of domesticated singleness

this week in haiti i experienced abounding joy in the midst of overwhelming despair. this week i saw beauty rise from the ashes of poverty. this week i encountered community in the midst of chaos.

this week haiti stole a piece of my heart.

i spent my time trying to drink it all in, while the beautiful haitian women spent their time trying to pump it out. the well beside our window allowed us a small glimpse into the lives of those who come each morning to draw enough water for the day. the living water is truly enough.

i’ve been home for a few hours now and my mind is just now beginning to process what my heart now knows. it’s just so much to digest and so overwhelming to comprehend. i spent much of the week purely observing, often in shut-down mode, fearing the force of the impact.

it was difficult to find words to express my thoughts to my teammates. perhaps there are no words to reflect what i’ve seen. but there is a call to action, for this i am certain.

tonight as i read through some of my teammates’ blogs, i laughed at some of the great memories we shared. re-reading my favorite sharting incident made me laugh and then, with that small laugh, the flood broke lose. the bottle of emotion spilled over… and the tears fell.

the hope, injustice, love, and filth… haiti is real.

tomorrow will be a day of stillness and solitude, with hopes of making my thoughts more collective and coherent. thank you for praying for us as we were traveling. the lord was so good.

in four hours (eek) i leave for the airport and head to miami to meet up with the rest of the team… and from there, we are off to haiti!

so incredibly excited about this trip! thanks to all of you who donated money and purchased t-shirts… you helped me fill two duffel bags FULL of food and supplies for the people we’ll be working with!

i won’t have my computer with me this week, but i might be able to sneak in a post or two. if you would, keep our team in your prayers as we travel!

aaron and jamie ivey
kim rhodes
marcus and chrystal gafford
jason and sara hyatt
debra parker
matt and lauren papa
amy gayhart
me

keep an eye on the blogs… you never know what might pop up this week!

nothing like a little db to make you smile.

we leave for haiti in two days. i simply cannot wait!! i am so excited about this trip and the opportunities it affords: a chance to serve some amazing people in haiti, to make new friends with the fun people i’ll be traveling with, and to love on some sweet kiddos. my prayer for this trip is that the lord would use us and utilize us in the most effective way while we’re there… no matter what that looks like. i pray he would use us to love and refresh the hearts of the sweet, sweet people who do work in haiti 24/7.

have i mentioned that i’m excited?!? ’cause i am.

and i would also just like to take a moment to address a chronic issue in my life. i would like to draw the attention of terry swann (my daddy-o) and bud wainright (maris’s papa) to this image:

that is my backpack. packed for a trip to haiti. for EIGHT days. everything i need is in there, minus a few toiletries (only because the airline won’t let me carry them on!). could a high-maintenance girl pack like that? no way. could a big-haired high-maintenance girl pack like that?!? heck no.

from this day forward, i will be known as high maintenance no more.

thankyou very much.

my apartment REEKS of gas. isn’t that a bad sign?

ha.

**edit… i just figured out that the lighter in my gas stove went out and i guess that’s where the gas is leaking from. uggggh. it smells so bad! but my landlord is out of town, so i guess i’ll just open some windows and turn on the fans!

birthdays are great days, indeed! today was a wonderful day and i’m exhausted… about to pop in a movie and relax for a while.

this morning i woke up and thought to myself, “self, it’s your birthday. you need cake!” and i surely did walk right down to my new favorite bakery and get the biggest strawberry cupcake they had! i had actually just planned to get a couple of their mini cupcakes (which are much easier on the calorie count), but they were already sold out. aaaaand so i had no choice but to eat a big bad fatty strawberry cupcake all by myself. for breakfast.

i spent most of the day running errands and finishing preparations for my trip to haiti this week. in between all of the happy birthday phone calls and text messages, i had the chance to see a few of my old students from fbce and that was fun! emi took me to dinner at olive garden where we had a great meal, nice wine, and refreshing conversation… i love that girl!

oh! and maris‘ annual calling and singing me the most pleasant version of ‘happy birthday’ was truly a highlight. it is every year! this year she happened to call while i was in a store and i put her on speakerphone so that everyone else could experience the joy. i still can’t figure out why they had such pained looks on their faces.

thanks to everyone who called or texted or sent emails/facebook/myspace messages! you’re all wonderful!

now i’m off to make a list: 28 things to do in the next 28 years. should be interesting. i’ll share a few of them with you soon!

i must admit, turning 28 has been a difficult idea for me to grasp. none of my other birthdays in the past have made me feel old, but this one is a slap in the face. buuuuut… sweet melissa has certainly helped start this year off on the right foot! isn’t she a beautiful girl?!?

although my official birthday isn’t until saturday, melissa took me to dinner tonight at luna de noche, where we had a scrumptious meal, and then we walked across the street to the house of blues and caught marc broussard’s show.

marc was simply wonderful and gave such a great performance… the man really knows how to engage the crowd! i’ve been some incredible shows in the past few years, but none of the audiences compared to tonight. it’s been at least 3 or 4 years since i’ve seen marc perform and there is such a difference in his spirit… he is so joyful and transparent. it is so neat and intriguing to see! it was a great show.

melissa, i am so thankful for you and your precious friendship… thankyou for making tonight such a wonderful night! i love you dearly and always enjoy our time together. thanks to you, year #28 is off to a great start!

lesson of the day: don’t make important decisions when you’re highly stressed and under large amounts of pressure… because your brain is not functioning properly and you may overlook tiny [yet very important] details.

such as booking a flight in the pm instead of the am. ugh. it’s been a long time since i’ve done something this stupid!

as i was printing out my flight itinerary for next week (dallas-miami-haiti and back), i noticed that my flight from dallas was at the wrong time. yep. 7:30 pm. not 7:30 am like i’d intended. i had a million things going on when i booked that flight and i have no idea how i missed such an important detail.

so i got on the phone with the travel agency (and talked with a really sweet girl… so glad, because i was pissed and attitude was something i couldn’t handle!), only to find out that it would cost $355 for them to change my flight. that’s more than i paid for the round trip from miami to begin with!!!!! ugh. then i called the airline directly and tried to get them to change my flight… juuuust to bump it up a few hours, that’s all.

yep. for either $431 or $518, they’d do it.

holy cow. just to fix a minor mistake, this is costing a lot of money [that i don't have]! i ended up just canceling my original flight and booking another for a grand total of $318. it’s ridiculous to book an entirely different flight, but it was cheaper than changing my original one!

ugh. i make myself sick. ha.

hello, birthday money… meet my deflated savings account.

one: bug just died from the flipflop of wrath.

two: days until the marc broussard show with melissa.

three: pieces of furniture had to be moved in order for the flipflop of wrath to kill the bug.

four: days until i turn 28.

five: times i’ve listened to this song today.

six: is the number of lightbulbs in the recessed lighting of my livingroom.

seven: is not what time i’ll be getting up tomorrow morning. ha.

eight: days until we leave for haiti!

nine: months and 15,000 hits ago, i switched from blogger to wordpress.

ten: items live in my refrigerator right now.

eleven: totally awesome people are going to haiti with me.

twelve: is the number of kids i’m sure i’ll want to bring home from haiti with me. i’m sure.

what can a dollar really do? it can make a difference in herman’s life… check this out and be a part of it!