A day in the life. . .

What today looked like-
5:00 wake up, not because I have to, this morning I think it was to call my Daddy!
5:20 read the Bible and pray- ok so this only happens at this time maybe twice ever- and only on Thursdays- for some reason I am a better Christian on Thursdays.
6:00 talked to my AMAZING Daddy! I sure miss his hugs!
6:20 pancakes and eggs-Emory is awesome!
6:30 gather up anything I can think of to take to the school or for the community- today it was fluconazole, tylenol, kleenex, tiny plastic bags, and some crackers.
7:00 look for the keys to the motorcycle that Greg is claiming he gave to me!
7:10 bumpy ride to Jubilee Blanc- Greg likes to hit every bump just to see how many times I will have to replace the tire!
7:25 unlock the school, cabinets, and foot lockers- start washing hands and giving out crackers to our 21 students in the morning!
7:40 fuss at children for coming in the classroom when they know they are supposed to eat in the other room
7:45 help kids brush their teeth and let them look at books until school starts
8:00 rush the slow eaters into the classroom, tell Daniela for the 12th time to sit down
8-10 testing kids individually, excited when Rachel knows almost every sound for each letter! Sad when others don't
--with breaks every now and then to bandage bleeding heads or pull out splinters
10-11 typing a Kreyol report card- that was a first!
11-12- LUNCH IN JUBILEE- I can't begin to describe that part- a mixture of incredible joy, extreme sadness, and when my guys don't help me- intense aggravation!! I will spend a whole blog on lunch in Jubilee some other time
12:30 afternoon class is settled in, check on the work I have the little boys outside doing- picking up trash with no end in sight!
12:45 potty break and visit my guys working on the new school outside, make fun of the one I always see propped on his shovel- while he tells me how hard he is working!
12:50 kiss a dirty naked baby who is just standing around
1:00 teach Bien-Edson, Sonson, Judson, and Josbens for the first time ever how to play a memory game on the computer
--- blown away by how fast they can pick it up-
Lickson sleeps in my lap while I watch the excitement as Daniel, Yolanda, and Titonton type their names for the first time ever!
1:45- another pus-filled sore to clean up and then its outside for RECESS!!
Mobbed by children I haven't gotten to see much today because I haven't been in the classroom, Ashline lays on me, Claudia gives me kisses, girls behind me braid my hair
2:40 try to finish the report card, instead have to do prinipal duties- Stanley te fe dezod anko. After trying all I could to get around it, end up having to take him home, as we get closer his grip is tighter and tighter. Explaing the whole way that he is too smart to act up in class and that I didn't want to take him home but if he can't listen it was what I had to do.
3:00 Mama and Daddy aren't home, so I say we will wait for them--uncle shows up and spanks him while I am there- I hate it so bad I have to intervine--that is enough.
He hides behind me and grabs my hand in his- breaks my heart- so I take him back to school with me- I don't want him to get it a second time with his parents.
4:00 Watson takes him back home to make sure they know his punishment is over and we will try again tomorrow
4:15 AS I gather my stuff up, a dance party breaks out in the classroom- I teach them to shag to Run it Run it and Word up! Greg busts out for all to enjoy!
4:30 give out some more meds, put away all the school stuff
4:45 pull Daniela off the motorcycle so we can go home
5-7 finish report card, hang out with the boys, checkers and name calling,
7 wonderful dinner with wonderful people
7:45 wrestling with Marvins and Kervens, Fritzno is pouting
8:30shower- but not sure why I bother to wash my feet
8:50 crunch some numbers with Marvins, he is a business man now
9:20 sit at the computer and write an incredibly boring account of an absolutely incredible day!
- That probably wasn't even half of it, but its a glimpe of what my days are like

Communion

I don't think I have ever had a more beautiful communion than I did yesterday in the salt flats of Jubilee. It all started cause I had to pee. Very holy right? Seriously though, I was going out to my spot behind the piles of dirt when I saw that the 20 men working on the new school were all out there. So I start to do an about face and find somewhere else to go when Jackieby yells to me- li bon, ou Ayisyen, ou ka fe- its good, you are Haitian, you can go there! So I head back there and do my thing, and they just keep on working- so now I believe I am officially Haitian! Anyway, I start to walk back and these guys are going at this work, digging for these huge foundations in the heat of the day when I realize they probably aren't drinking any water. So I get some money to Jackieby so he can get some water for everyone and after that just kind of forgot about it. A while later someone calls me and says someone needs me outside. So I head out to where they are working and Jackieby asks me if I like juice and hands me a bowl and tells me its for me. And then he gives me this piece of bread and tells me that he had enough for everyone to get some. So here I am standing with all these men who are working so hard and they ask me to come and share in this bread and juice as they tell me - this will help us work hard now for you. I don't have the words to really describe that moment, but I can tell you it was one of the most amazing moments I have had in Haiti. Then the kids came around and they start sharing with all the kids they could. This is what we were created for- community within the body. Casey challenged me one time, talking about what communion could really be like compared to how we do it now, and now I know. And it is beautiful.

Sometimes shedding someone's blood is the only way to help them and sometimes shedding your own is the only way to love them.

I don't want to neglect all the beautiful things going on here, but once again I start to write and all that can come to mind is the little boy's face- His name was Mejlin, he was ten years old, and he had some sort of developmental delay. He got away from his family two mornings ago and went out to the ocean, they searched for hours and hours and finally found him after he had drowned. I had only talked with him a couple of times, but two of his sisters help me out in the school. I tried to love on the two girls the best I could, but there are no good words even when there isn't a language barrier. I went to see the family and got to pray with them and thank Jesus that he isn't sick anymore and he won't be hungry or hurting again, but I can't imagine what that Mama is feeling right now. I think I understood what they told me was that he was too young for them to put him in the morgue, so the little boy was in a little shack in the back of their house. I don't think death has ever felt so real or so unreal all at the same time. Please pray for this family, for Nerlande and Lovemita- and their other sisters as well.

I watched a girl wipe up peanut butter off the floor today to eat it. And I am not talking the kitchen floor that gets lysol twice a day. I am talking about a concrete slab where a hundred kids walk with their bare feet after they walk through the mud and other things. It is one thing to see a child pick up rice that fell, but to wipe up this tiny bit of peanut butter- I don't even have words

Easter in Jubilee

Although today I did miss helping my little cousins hunt eggs and the big dinner with all the family, last night with my other family was absolutely incredible. I must say is was probably the closest thing to actually honoring the true reason for this holiday that I have ever done for Easter. Last night we gathered up some equipment and went out to Jubilee and showed the Passion of the Christ on the side of the school/feeding center. We must have had at least a hundred people gathered around watching the story of what Christ did for us. What was even more incredible was that it meant at least a hundred people in Gonaives was not out celebrating "satan's victory over Jesus" instead! I didn't think I would be able to watch that movie again, and the second time hurt just as much as the first. But watching it with all these people, all of us getting to have an idea of the sacrifice that was made for us, and seeing the power of that sacrifice, it was incredible.