The finish line coming into focus

We received word that on October 2nd our dossier was delivered to the USCIS in Haiti. When I read the news, a huge weight had been lifted, followed by a few moments of nervousness.

We have been waiting 2 years to bring Lydie and Samson home. During that time, the Lord has molded us, healed us, strengthened us. We have developed friendships that will last for eternity. We've learned about bonding issues, abandonment issues, and a little bit of creole. We've learned how to make Haitian rice and beans and we've learned all about car seats, toddler beds and cartoons.

Often times we have heard comments from other parents like, "oh you just wait" or "your life will never be the same." These statements aren't meant to be positive but poke at the fact that so far our lives have been pretty easy because we haven't been parents. I probably would agree with them.  I know parenting is the hardest job on the planet. I get that.

Most parents become parents the fun way. You know what I mean. We are becoming parents through agonizing silence and waiting, fears of cholera and hurricanes. We've endured background checks, psychiatric evaluations, mistakenly shredded documents and the death of our adoption processor.

I am not looking for sympathy. Everything we have endured these past 2 years will be rewarded with two of the most amazing kids I've ever laid my eyes on. They are worth all of this. So when I hear comments from some about how parenting sucks, it makes me sad. It makes me sad for their kids, because kids are not stupid and they listen to what their parents are saying.

We don't know for sure how long this last step will take. It could be one month or it could be two. But we know that God will give us the grace to finish what He has called us to do. Then the real fun begins....

The Dark Truth

On this Labor Day,  my blog is dedicated to child slavery.

Here are some facts:

• Slavery is not legal anywhere but happens everywhere.
• Modern slavery shares two key characteristics that distinguishes it from slavery in the past:  slaves today are cheap and they are disposable.
• There are 27 million slaves in the world today. The majority are children.
• Slavery: Forced to work without pay, under threat of violence and unable to walk away.
• The modern-day slave trade is now called human trafficking.
• The average costs of a child slave can be as little as $40 – $90
• Slave holders use many terms to avoid the word slavery: debt bondage, bonded labour, attached labour, restavec, forced labour and indentured servitude.
• Obstacles stand in the way to ending slavery: lack of resources and lack of awareness.
• In Haiti, there is an estimated 225,000 children (mostly girls between the age of 5-17) living as a "restavek" or slave. That's 1 in 10 children in Haiti!

In the western African country of Ghana, there are an estimated 7,000-10,000 child slaves. These children are as young as 5 and 6. My niece and nephew are that age. I can't imagine them being forced to work 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Recently I heard someone being asked if they would ever be involved in a country like Haiti or Ghana. Their response was an adamant "NO!" The reason they gave was "it's like spitting in the ocean. There's so much need out there, does it really make a difference?"  Though I can understand the immense need, it shouldn't stop us from trying. A life is a life, no matter how small it may seem or how vast the need is. 

Here's a ministry that is making a difference, one child at a time. This Labor Day, please take a moment to view this short documentary and ask the Lord how you can make a difference in the life of a child. 

Mercy Project Website: http://mercyproject.net/

Mercy Project Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/mercyproject

Mercy Project Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/mercyproject

The Day in the Life of a Nanny

Kelly Chambley, the originator behind rubble-wear has written a few thoughts about the nannies who care for our children and her vision for the future of rubble-wear.  Thank you so much for joining me in this important, eternal work.

A couple of you have inquired about some of the nannies still living in tents and about how that could be with as they have a full-time job at Maison. I know many of the nannies personally and I kind of want to give you an idea of what The Oak Project is trying to establish with the nannies and a little insight into their lives.

The pay they receive is extremely low. It's enough to feed them, however after that, they depend on miracles to get their kids into school which is expensive in Haiti.

The nannies many times choose their kids' education over allowing themselves to eat. Many of them have expressed to me that in Haiti, if you do not find a way for your child to get an education, it is like choosing a long slow death for them.

So, if they lost their home a lot of them live on the property that they had but in a make shift tent. Some have asked if there is any way to build them at least a "room" to live in.

The dream behind rubble-wear is to one day have the funds flowing from it to meet all of these insanely huge needs. In the past couple of years, by God's good grace through rubble-wear and donations we have gotten Glorieuse and her family out of tent city and into an apartment. We have paid Clairvia's rent for six months, we have put a roof on Fifi's home (and are now re-roofing it), we have helped Madame Gaston bury her mother and be able to give her an actual burial. (most of them cannot afford this and the details of what happens to their family members, I'd rather not go into).

I have visited a few nannies in their tent cities and it has been the most sobering moments of my journey. I cannot tell you how thankful I was that I am deeply convinced God is good and in process of redeeming all things before I stepped foot into one of these tent cities, beyond it's borders.

Tent City is a pride-swallowing, wretched place to live. When it rains, parents many times pick the beds up off the ground and hold the beds all night so the children can sleep as their floor has become mud. Most tent cities have a "mayor" who runs things and many times that "mayor" is not the most splendid of characters. In most tent cities you have to pay money to simply go to the bathroom. Most cannot afford this "luxury" and are forced to use the bathroom outside in front of other people.

We have been sure that Madame Gaston got her b12 shot. One donor paid for Mommy Deula to have surgery for a lump to be removed from her breast and she is healthy and wonderful now! Last year, Mommy Matte become very sick and was losing blood. She had no way to find help. Through donations and RW we were able to get her 3 pints of blood and follow up visits and she seems to be okay. I am still incredibly frustrated that we cannot find a place to diagnose her and I am still trying. Getting blood was a week long feat in itself. We carried blood in buckets on tap taps to get it from one place to the other and the stories go on. We have done a lot more than that but those are the ones coming to mind right now.

We want to see better for the nannies and RW is a hopeful way that we can develop something sustainable for them that also teaches them skill. They are anxious and willing to learn so much.

Many of our "team trips" there are to ignite hope in the nannies and to give them some days of rest and nurturing. These trips to the beach where we play, build friendship, do group therapy or discipleship have been something that made them feel alive. Mommy Clanide talks about how they feel seen for the first time. How she looks forward to a future for the first time in her life. How she has been valued by others and it has changed the way she looks at everything. At the beginning of every trip we take them on I tell them the example about how a mother has to take the oxygen first on an airplane if something happens so they will have the strength to care for their kids. And how these trips are a chance for them to INHALE and rest. They always feel so guilty at first and once they just get a simple example and some permission to rest, they laugh so hard and sing and cry non-stop and they are revived. We are taking a group of nannies to the beach again in October and we will be looking for sponsors for them to be able to go.

These ladies are my heroes. Their joy and their long-suffering is absolutely unreal. It has been extremely rare among these women to find one who approached us as a pocket full of money. The biggest request they ever have is to help their kids go to school.

I cherish them so deeply and I want to thank you guys from the very bottom of my heart for donating toward them and for caring about their journey. So many people just look at the children...thank you for looking at them and being brave enough to see their need and extend your grace.


Thank each of you for your love and giving The Oak Project an honor to do what the love of Christ compels us to do....bridge you to the displaced and fatherless and bridge them to you.

kelly

RubbleWear!

I just received a new shipment of RubbleWear from my friend in Chattanooga. It arrived just as Tropical Storm Isaac was bearing down on Haiti. RubbleWear is an awesome way to directly support the nannies that care for our children. We have learned that a few of the nannies have lost their homes in the storm.

RubbleWear is created from the rubble remaining from the earthquake. They collect rubble from the streets and make them into beautiful necklaces.

My friend, Kelly, will be taking money down to Haiti at the end of this week to give to the nannies. I would love to send her a large check from the sale of these necklaces. Would you consider helping out? Each necklace is $25. Thank you, friends!

1

2

3--Sold!

4--Sold!

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9--Sold!

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11--Sold!

12--Sold!

13--Sold!

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16--Sold!

17

Clarity

A few minutes and we are outside the city limits....excited to witness the best meteor shower of the year, one day early. The truck is parked off the beaten path and the lights go off. Suddenly, it's nature in my face. Fully aware of my surroundings, I begin to think about the probable coyote lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce. The air is cool and the sky is clear. It's a moonless night.

I ease into my environment and gaze, head shifting left to right trying to spot my first meteor. Since we are a day early, the shooting stars are sparse, but it's still totally worth it. It's the end of summer for us. The school year begins on Monday. Tonight is the last hurrah.

The vast expanse of space renewed a fear in me tonight. The good kind. The kind that gives you a taste of who God is. It's overwhelming, really. We timed our excursion perfectly to witness the space station fly overhead. I exclaim with great enthusiasm that there are in fact people living on that thing. That's amazing. We must be terribly full of ourselves. Now we are landing car-sized robots on Mars.

I love the fact that God gave mankind attainable playgrounds to explore. The moon. Mars. The ocean floor. With each new discovery there is another reason to worship the Creator. He is indescribable.

The silence is uncomfortable. I realize at this moment that my life is out of balance. I had forgotten how to be quiet. There's just too much stuff going on. All. The. Time.

Tonight I thank the Lord for the clarity He brought to my mind and heart. I thank Him for the healing He gave to a little one-year-old boy. I thank Him for two kids, thousands of miles away, sleeping under the same bright stars.

He's still working on me

Remember that old Sunday school tune?

He's still working on me. To make me what I ought to be. It took six days to make the moon and the stars..the sun and Earth and Jupiter and Mars. How lovely and patient he must be...He's still working on me.

I'm sorry faithful readers. I've been a terrible blogger lately. There has been no shortage of things to write about, chiefly we received word, while surrounded by my wonderful family, that Lydie & Samson have passports! It goes without saying how great this feels. We are on the last step in this adoption process. The finish line is in view.

God has not wasted this time of waiting. There are things he's been working out in both of us. He's been healing deep hurts in our hearts (my heart especially). We've been blessed to have meetings with a couple from the church we've been attending to work out some things.

Sometimes it's a painful process...to identify the wounds and why they hurt so bad. But it's freeing to know everything can be taken to Jesus and He mends it.

Then, just like that, a dear friend calls on a Thursday afternoon and says his one-year-old son's kidneys appear to have stopped functioning. All of a sudden the difficulties and reality of a very broken world come rushing back. But then I witness the love of two parents, caring for their child and God's mercy falling all over them.

My heart struggles with handling this. But as I sat in the hospital room with my friend, we wonder how anybody could navigate the tough stuff without Jesus.  I'm glad Jesus is there for them. He's a wonderful counselor. And I'm glad He's there for me. I need Him. No doubt about it.

The Drunk Man

I can't sleep. It's Sunday, 12:15 a.m. and I have to work tomorrow. God's speaking to my heart. LOUDLY. He's been speaking things to my heart for several months now, but tonight it's blaring so loud I can't hear anything else.

Tonight we were sitting on our porch reading our books when an old man came walking up the sidewalk. He was mumbling to himself. As he got closer we both realized he was very drunk. He nearly fell over into our bushes in the front of the house and wandered back and forth on the sidewalk making his way to his house a few doors down. For a moment, my focus was directed inward. "What if this guy can't find his home and tries to go into ours instead?" But soon a huge wave of compassion swept over me.

We spent the afternoon getting to know a couple in the church we've been attending. He used to be a heavy drug user, alcoholic, abusive. Then, Jesus delivered him. He's a new man, a new creation. It was an amazing testimony of God's healing, saving power.

...So back to the old drunk man. Maybe a few years ago I would have chuckled a bit as he wandered down the sidewalk. Maybe I would have shook my head in disgust at his lack of self control. Not tonight. Tonight, I wept inside. I wept for a soul that's lost. I wept for those who are wandering. I wept for those who are chasing after things that will not fill their empty hearts in the end.

I've been pondering a message I heard several weeks ago. A specific question was asked and I cannot shake the thought or the answer to. 100 years from now, the ONLY thing that will matter is "what have you done with Jesus?"

As I listened to that incredible testimony this afternoon, I rejoiced. God IS still in the business of delivering people. He is the Great Shepherd and He is so gentle. He goes after the sheep that has wandered from the flock. He has an incredible, unending love for us.

Realizing the love that Christ has for me spurs me into action. All of a sudden, my heart starts to want what His heart wants. It grieves for things that grieve Him. Then He starts asking me to do things that might be a bit scary at first. But He is 100% trustworthy and soon the uncomfortable things He's pushing me towards become real possibilities.

He's working on my heart and that's a good thing. He's asking me to take another step of faith and that's a good thing too. What is He asking you to do?