I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.
Jeremiah 1:5
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
I have now made it 5 months living in Haiti and tonight as I was sitting sewing one of over 100 pairs of shorts that I need to sew, I was thinking about how amazing it is that years and years ago my parents chose to put me in sewing lessons, having zero idea how it would come into handy in the future. My parents are wonderful and faithful people. I don't know if it was God's calling that they chose to put me in sewing lessons at the age of 6 or more of a personal decision (my grandmother was an amazing seamstress). Regardless, it is mind blowing the way God knew, before I was even born that I would be given this skill and that years later I would be using it to serve Him and further His kingdom. When I look at the ladies in our sewing program and I think about their lives compared to mine, even down to the simplest detail, I think about how incredible it is that God is in control of every little detail, for EACH of our lives. There are so many people on this planet and for Him to be able to keep track of such small details for every person is unfathomable.
I've had many people ask me if I have learned much Haitian creole since being here to which I reply that unfortunately I have not learned as much as I would have liked because I can rely so much on my French. People then often ask where I learned my French and when I tell them that I went to an immersion school and started learning in Kindergarten, I can see the wheels turning in their head. "Did her parents know she would be working in Haiti someday?" "Why French and not Spanish, when Spanish is so much more useful in the US?" Now my parents had a logical reason, my dad had studied abroad in college, but God had a bigger plan. He knew what my future would hold. He knew exactly the path I would take to end up here.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ok well here is a little life update since it's been a couple of months since I've written a blog post. July and August were both very full months with a lot of coming-and-going and lot of adventures. I had a couple of missions teams here that were just amazing and then I headed back to the US for a family reunion. This was my first time back in the US in 4 months and it was great. It was truly a wonderful time spent catching up with my family. I then returned to Haiti after a week and jumped right back into things with a couple more missions teams. In between all this craziness, I had a day or two to do some adventuring with one of my favorite people (yes he is my boyfriend; his name is Johnny; yes, God is doing some very amazing things and is in complete control; I'll give our story another day). We got to go to Furcy, a small region of Kenscoff (the town I live in) and we hiked for a couple of hours to find a hidden waterfall gem. It wasn't quite like an Oregon waterfall, but it was unexpected and was beautifully hidden! Well worth the hike!
After a week or so of a break, my family came to join me in Haiti. This trip was a complete blessing because they have supported me through 4 other trips to Haiti and as nervous as my mother is with me being here, they have fully trusted God. For them to have the opportunity to come and see where I live and what I do was so important for me because of all the support they have provided me. They may never fully understand "why Haiti" but at least now they can picture where I live and what I do (and of course they got to meet Johnny which went wonderfully!).
