First off, don't get me wrong....my hubby is AWESOME as a Dad and can handle his own here at home. HOWEVER...I often worry about the 'little' things that go on every day that he may forget about. I have lists that go along with all of this; lists that I start making as soon as the trips are planned and I know I am going. Grocery lists, kid lists, chore lists, bill lists, Honey do lists and it goes on and on. I worry about things like-who has a P/T Conference when? Did they remember to feed the dog? Cats? Fish and Turtle?? Did they lock the doors? Are they locked out? Things that every OCD mother thinks about when leaving her family...there are other moms out there like this...right???!!!
I have been fundraising for this trip. It kind of came up out of nowhere and I had the very strong 2x4 to the head telling me to JUMP and do it. I have been to Haiti 5 times. All the times I have gone have all been for adoption related 'causes' or work in the Creche our children are from, New Life Link www.newlifelink.org
This trip will be with new people, new Ministry www.mtmhaiti.com and new priorities...medical care. You see, I am a Retired EMT and EMT Instructor and have always enjoyed reading up in the medical books and have a keen sense of memory when it comes to non-traditional/Jeopardy type stuff...(Don't ask me how old I am or where I parked my car, but ask me the name of the guy who played Tatu on Fantasy Island or the name of the little thing that connects your lip to your face and WHAMMO! : Herve Villichaize & Lip Frenulum...seeeeeee)
Now, put that together with my LOVE for Haiti, my
and let it MELLOW if YELLOW. WHY? because it is something I feel called to do.
While fundraising for this trip I have been asked the usual:
1. Why dont you volunteer HERE, which is people's not so subtle way of saying: Hey, what about America? Well, I go where MY heart is called to go...what have YOU done for anyone...anywhere...lately?
2. What have those Haitians ever done for us? Well, IF they had the ability I am sure they would help...but between starving, fighting to live life everyday and generally being stuck on a island...that kind of hinders their ability to help. HOWEVER, the ones who have been lucky enough to make it to the land of the Free & Home of the Brave, they become people like: Edwidge Danticat--Famous Author, Wyclef Jean--Hip Hop Artist, Jonathan Vilma --The New Orleans Saints' linebacker and the list goes on and on.
3. Does any of the money I give actually go to help anyone?? As a matter of fact-YES! It has helped buy my plane ticket, room and board for the 7 days I am there, 50lbs of much needed medical supplies I am buying to take and puts ME in Haiti.."BOOTS ON THE GROUND" (ala Mitch Coats..hehe)
So, as I sit here, thinking of all the things I still need to do, should do, probably wont get time to do and realizing it is 11pm and I should be sleeping so I can go to W..O..R..K.. tomorrow, THANK YOU to ALL who have donated, no matter how BIG or small it may be; every Mission Trip beings with nothing but $5 & Someones dream of helping someone else.
Here is a poem that has ALWAYS meant alot to me...it is MY LIFE'S PURPOSE & behind ALL my trips to Haiti:
WE PRAY FOR CHILDREN: By Ina Hughes
We pray for children
Who put chocolate fingers everywhere,
Who like to be tickled,
Who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,
Who sneak Popsicles before supper,
Who erase holes in math workbooks,
Who can never find their shoes.
And we pray for those
Who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
Who can't bound down the street in new sneakers,
Who never "counted potatoes,"
Who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead in,
Who never go to the circus,
Who live in an X-rated world.
We pray for children
Who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
Who sleep with the cat and bury goldfish,
Who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money,
Who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
Who slurp their soup.
And we pray for those
Who never get dessert,
Who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
Who can't find any bread to steal,
Who don't have any rooms to clean up,
Whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
Whose monsters are real.
We pray for children
Who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
Who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
Who like ghost stories,
Who shove dirty clothes under the bed,
Who get visits from the tooth fairy,
Who don't like to be kissed in front of the car pool,
Who squirm in church and scream on the phone,
Whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.
And we pray for those
Whose nightmares come in the daytime,
Who will eat anything,
Who have never seen a dentist,
Who are never spoiled by anyone,
Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
Who live and move, but have no being.
We pray for children
Who want to be carried
And for those who must,
For those we never give up on
And for those who never get a second chance,
For those we smother.
And for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind
enough to offer it.
We pray for children. Amen.
