Hey guys! It’s Saturday, and I arrived in Haiti on Monday (May 21st)! It’s been a busy and productive week, and I’ve loved every second. It’s been exhausting already, but in the best way. I have said this before, and I’ll say it again – I love seeing the way the Lord is working and making himself known throughout the world, especially in Haiti.
For this first week, we went to Village Time, which is basically doing ministry in the local villages – praying with people, building relationships with people in the villages, and loving on people. I’ve also been involved in many work days – painting houses and investing in people that way. I love learning more about how Mission of Hope is submitting to the Lord in all that they do, and the knowledge the Lord has given to them about poverty alleviation. Big things are happening here y’all, and it’s all the Lord’s grace!
Things move incredibly quickly around here, and the staff constantly encourages us to seek the Lord first and foremost. That is one of the most beautiful things I’ve learned so far. YES, we are here to love on and minister to the people of Haiti, but if I do not grow closer to the Lord through this time, I’m robbing myself of what the Lord wants to reveal to me.
All of the other interns are wonderful, and I feel like we have known one another for a lot longer than a few days. I love how deeply we share a connection because of our foundation in Jesus.
As far as prayer requests, I would say focus – that we would not lose focus of why we are here…that we are focus first and foremost on the Lord, and what He is revealing to us. Pride – that I would not see myself as “better than/above” the Haitian people, but that I would revel in the grace that Jesus has offered to all…that I would daily recognize the sin in my own life, and walk through these ministry opportunities as fellow sinners saved by a perfect Savior.
A couple of the quotes from the book “When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself” have really stuck out to me and I’d love to share them:
- Human being’s primary purpose is to ‘glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.’ This is our calling, the ultimate reason for which we were created. We were created to serve and give praise to our Creator through our thoughts, words, and actions. When we do this, we experience the presence of God as our heavenly Father and live in a joyful, intimate relationship with Him as His children.
- [we need to] understand our brokenness and to embrace the message of the cross in deep and profound ways, saying to ourselves every day: “I am not OK; and you are not OK; but Jesus can fix us both.”
- Our relationship to the materially poor should be one in which we recognize that both of us are broken and that both of us need to blessing of reconciliation. Our perspective should be less about how we are going to fix the materially poor and more about how we can walk together, asking God to fix both of us.
- Healthy relationships require transformed hearts, not just transformed brains
- We must not shy away from declaring biblical truth, for our confidence rests in the power of the Word of God and in the active presence of the Holy Spirit to overcome our inadequacies.
That’s just a quick update on some things going on, and things God is teaching me. What a beautiful life! What a gracious God!
I say this OFTEN, but I am amazed by Jesus. I can’t get enough of Him. Even when I find myself going back to anxiety and stress, the Lord reminds me that everything I do is to bring Glory to Him. This life IS NOT about me. I am here to know Christ and make Him known. What a gracious Savior I have, who lovingly corrects my wrong thinking, and who has already conquered sin. This love, is beyond my understanding.
Casting my anxieties on Jesus,
R.
I mess around in photoshop because it’s more fun than studying or writing papers. 
I think it’s evident that I need summer to get here soon. ha.
I looooove instagram. It’s pretty much lovely. That being said, here is a little bit of my life via Instagram
I’m currently obsessed with All Sons & Daughters.
Sunday mornings at Grace Fellowship! i.love.my.job.
it snowed!
Beautiful Valentine’s date with Matt!
Marbles! such a fun game! and it helps that Lisa & I beat the boys. 
flowers blooming on campus! it’s the little things, y’all.
pull-n-peel twizzlers! too fun.
homework, homework, homework.
That’s life, in a nutshell.
Today at work, I looked through old videos and archived and made sure there were back-ups of videos. I found myself stopping and watching several videos that we’ve edited over the years.
Funny videos.
Baptisms.
Life Stories.
Mission Trip Videos.
Camp videos.
And many more. Basically, I sat at my desk with tears in my eyes because I am amazed at the life change that the Lord has allowed me to see while working here. I am amazed at the heart change that Jesus has done in my own life, and the beauty of the Gospel. As one of my beautiful homegroup sister’s (Lillian) posted on facebook yesterday: “GOD. IS. GOOD. And He can redeem ANY life; no one is beyond the saving power of the cross, and our messy lives are evidence of that.”
Amen, sister.
Enjoy this baptism video!
Y’all. This song. This band. is amazing. I love how honest they sing about what Jesus is doing in their lives. I’m so thankful for the Gospel. It amazes me every day.
“‘Cause I am a sinner
If its not one thing its another
Caught up in words
Tangled in lies
You are the Savior
And you take brokenness aside
And make it beautiful
Beautiful”
*I had to write and perform/narrate (ahhh) a creative writing piece for one of my Communication classes this week, and so I wrote about my brother and his fiance’s sweet proposal story. I figured I should share it since I already wrote it all out
The busiest week of my life was three weeks ago.
It all started on a Tuesday, driving to College Station.
I was headed there to witness my brother’s (Ryan) proposal to his girlfriend (Jessie).
My view of the proposal was…different than you may imagine.
I was in a tree.
Hiding.
With a camera.
Sounds creepy, I know…but it’s not.
See, Ryan had asked me to photograph the moment.
The entire thing was a complete surprise to Jessie.
She had no idea we were even in College Station.
There is a reason she didn’t think we would be in College Station.
And this fits into all of the wedding madness of this week.
That Friday my mom was getting married back where we live
Four hours away from College Station.
So, it’s logical that we have to be at my mom’s wedding.
But, back to the proposal.
I get to College Station Tuesday night,
Wednesday is “Proposal Day”
My brother and I spend the morning chopping down limbs of a tree.
I needed to get the perfect angle.
He found the perfect place on a nature trail where they go running a lot.
The tea-light candles were set up perfectly along the bridge.
We laid out pictures and letters they had written each other on a bench.
It was PERFECT.
And it was about 2:30 in the afternoon.
A key part of this story is that Jessie is student teaching, and this was her first week.
So, we knew she would get out of school anywhere from 3-5.
I was hoping more along the lines of 3…
But that’s not what happened.
Another important part to know is that my brother’s friend Andy plays violin.
And that Jessie loves the violin.
So, Ryan asked Andy to play the violin while he proposed.
So, my brother goes to wait outside the school to surprise Jessie and “go on a walk”
So she thought.
While Ryan is waiting at the school,
Andy and I are waiting in the middle of the woods on this nature trail.
FOR ALMOST 3 HOURS.
But we’ll get to that moment when they get here later.
Where is the engagement ring?
Hidden under a leaf.
Weird, right?
It was a great thought, so Ryan could get down on his knee at the predetermined location and
BAM.
the ring would be right there.
One problem.
We had been there about 2 hours and things were going fine.
However, we didn’t plan on a runner coming through the woods
WITH A DOG
Who would find the ring box and think it was a chew toy.
I WISH I WAS KIDDING.
But I’m completely serious.
I see the dog running around with the white box in his mouth.
I almost passed out.
Thankfully, the dog dropped the box, and no harm was done
Except my rising blood pressure, that is.
Fast forward to when Ryan and Jessie finally get there.
He walks up to the bench and she is frozen…she knows something big is about to happen.
I’m hiding in the woods like a paparazzi and the violinist is behind me.
I can’t hear anything that is said, but I see the action.
He gets down on his knee.
Her eyes get big.
She opens her mouth and puts her hand on her cheek.
He puts the ring on her finger.
They kiss.
It’s beautiful.
Then, we come out of the woods when Ryan calls for us
Jessie was so surprised, and it was perfect.
I drove back to Bridgeport after we ate dinner
And I stayed up until 4am editing the pictures and video I shot.
That was the first of “relationship/wedding week 2012″
Thursday evening I had a bachelorette party for my friend Joy.
Friday morning my mom got married.
Friday night I had Joy and Brad’s rehearsal dinner.
Saturday was Joy and Brad’s wedding, which I was a bridesmaid in.
Sunday morning the sermon was on marriage.
Busiest week of my life.
Exhausting, yet lovely.
