I've been home from Haiti less than a week, and my emotions are still all over the place. As usual, those closest to me are asking questions, sometimes probing questions, trying to see where I am, how I am emotionally. And it's truly a moment-by-moment thing.
On the one hand, I came home with my heart so full. So, so full. God has brought an amazing team together at Haiti Awake, and recent additions to our team have eased my burden so much. For this, I am thankful. I found so much joy in my 12 days in Haiti. So much joy. I was not exhausted like I have been in the past because "Men anpil, chay pa lou" (many hands, burden not heavy). I wasn't necessarily longing for home (but really, where is my home now?) as I often am after being away from my family for an extended period.
At the same time, I came home with my heart once again tender toward so many things. Tears haven't been too far from my eyes on any given day. I often pray that as I continue to see and experience more of Haiti and her people that I will not become jaded, that I won't become callous, that the things that once broke me won't become routine and common. Like so many, I pray the prayer Bob Pierce once prayed, "Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God."
So tonight I sit here in the quietness of my Wilmington home, missing the sounds of Haiti (the rooster who crows both day and night, the barking dogs, the beeping horns, the ridiculous nightclub down the street . . . ), I am filled with immense thankfulness for all that Haiti has become to me - and to so many others - through Haiti Awake.
And I pray that in some small way God will enable me to give back a little of what I have received from the most precious people in the most precious place.
Here are just a few photos of some extraordinarily beautiful moments.