For so long I have quoted Proverbs 16:9 to prospective teams along with catch phrases like "God knows who's supposed to be on your team,"  "Be ready to be flexible," and "Plans change every hour in Haiti."

It is one thing to be the one saying those things.  It's another thing entirely to be the one living them out.

Although we could not have anticipated the events that began on the night of July 6, we are thankful that none of our children, staff, or guests were ever in imminent danger.  Further, though we were so eager to welcome our friends from The Bridge, we are grateful that JetBlue 1709 never landed in Haiti but was instead diverted to the Dominican Republic before returning to the United States.

I sat with one of our interns, Alexandria, this morning, and we both had the same thought.  Many people don't really know what to say to us, so they make caring statements like, "I'm glad you're home.  I'm sure you're glad to be here." 

Alexandria and I agreed - it's not easy to answer the question: "Are you glad to be home?"  The reality is we weren't happy to leave, we wanted to stay, and because of the way everything happened, we didn't get closure in so many ways.

Those of us who were there are thankful that so many of you have understood our need to decompress and process through the events.  Maybe one day we'll be ready to talk about certain things freely.  Maybe we never will.  Thank you for understanding and giving us space.

Thank you for loving Haiti Awake, for caring, for praying.  How incredibly blessed we are to have so many people love the people we love and are privileged to walk with through this journey called life.

We didn't take many pictures that weekend.  In retrospect, I wish we had documented everything a little better, but capturing the moment while living it isn't easy.  Below you'll find a few videos and photos that give a small glimpse into a weekend we'll never be able to forget.