Haiti: pre-refelctions ...

And we're off ...

It wasn’t until yesterday that I actually started getting excited about the trip. I wasn’t dreading it, but it just didn’t seem real, and I was honestly a bit unsettled by all the unknown factors … our team coming from all over, what we will be doing, the devastation. Part of me wishes that I could conjure up my feelings from the first time I went, but mostly I am glad for a blank slate, so I can take it all in anew. I’m sure things will come rushing back when we touch down, greeted by familiar sights, sounds and smells … and the suffocating heat and humidity. I unfortunately do not have a window seat, so will not be able to see the tent cities that now stand in lieu of homes. As we approach, it’s funny that from afar, things still look so ‘normal’. Of course, it was bad before … I can hardly imagine it being worse.

I keep reflecting on how much has changed since my last trip, and how I see even what is the same in a different light. I am frequently overwhelmed by the ways God has lavished His love on me in the last week, filled with an “almost intolerable sweetness … the bittersweet, indefinable but wholly delightful ecstasy of a new happiness.” (Yes, ladies, I started reading :) I know that God is going to move in big ways this week, and am excited to see how He brings the members of our team together as a powerful force for Him.

Prayer points:
* One of the team members was unable to make our connection in Miami, so will be flying in a day late, and Ben Holeton will be going to meet her and bring her back. Pray for their safe arrival in Port-au-Prince and travels to Jacmel.
* I got sick with a sinus infection right before we left. Pray for quick healing instead of getting worse (I am particularly concerned about ear infection with flights) and that no one else gets sic

Make sure you check out my Facebook page for pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=215549&id=583499324&l=54a6624c86 ... they say so much more than I could ever write.