24 Hours

(These entries are being posted online after our trip was completed.  The entries in the blog will be a collection of thoughts and lessons before during and after the trip.)

     So for several months now we have been preparing for this trip.  It has been awesome to watch God do his work even before we have departed for Haiti.  I was skeptical that we would be able to take this trip for financial reasons, but God has provided.  My daughter Paige, wrote letters to friends and family telling them of the trip that she has envisioned. Days later, she received letters from them with financial and prayerful support.  One of my favorite things about this trip was to find out just how much my daughters are loved by these people.  They wanted to help these young girls find out what God had in store for them.

     Every week we have gone to meetings discussing the Haitian culture, their situation, their language in preparation, yet we are just a day away, and I feel like we are venturing into the complete unknown.  I have no idea what to expect, and yet I truly am not afraid.  I am so excited I can barely sit still.  My prayers are many, but among them is that when I return, that I will share the news of God's mercy and grace with everyone.  I pray that this trip makes not only a difference for a few Haitians, but for myself, and for those I come in contact with when I return.

     I have been thinking lately about different times in my life when I have come in contact with people who have shared their faith, or let me know that I was moving in the wrong direction.  I have become more aware that these are not chance happenings, but divine appointments.  I hope that in the future, God will use me to answer the prayers of others.  I hope that I can be an instrument of my Father in Heaven.   I pray that I will feel the presence of those who are lost or hurting and show them God's Love.

     Our team decided that we should have a team motto.  We decided on, "Here I am, send me."  We took this from Isiah 6:8.
Isaiah 6:8

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

      For the week leading up to the trip, every chance I have had I have been singing a song that we used to sing at my church when I was growing up.

I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard My people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin,
My hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear My light to them?
Whom shall I send?

Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have born my peoples pain.
I have wept for love of them, They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone,
Give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak My word to them,
Whom shall I send?

Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.

Lord prepare our hearts!