The Journey Home

Tonight. 

They return. 

They've been gone a week. 

Half my family. 

Serving. 

Working. 

Sweating. 

Giving. 

Loving. 

In the Name of Jesus. 

To a people in need. 

I have missed them.

Their journey home, begun.

While they will long to be home; 

a piece of them will always remain in Haiti. 

I have not shared their experience. 

I am praying for understanding and wisdom. 

To hear their words. 

To see into their souls. 

I am looking forward to the homecoming. 

Hearing the stories and seeing the glow from time spent giving. 

Jesus came to serve. 

Matthew 20:28

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, 

but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

He came to give .

All. 

For us. 

 A people in desperate need. 

The walk to the cross; all he had. 

For us. 

Willingly. 

We may serve overseas. 

Or here in the states. 

Where ever. 

We are called. 

To give. 

To love. 

In the name of Jesus. 

Even when it's hard. 

Give. 

Love. 

Obedience. 

Each day is a gift. 

Unwrapped as the day unfolds. 

May this day be the day for you. 

The day to embrace. 

To turn. 

To live for more. 

To lay down the hurt. 

Seek the forgiveness so freely given. 

May we all give today. 

As Christ taught us. 

Matthew 25:40

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

May there be joy in the journey. 

Unexpected. 

Fullness.

Gratitude. 

Phillipians 1:3

I thank my God every time I remember you.

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy

And. . . They're Off!

It's the coldest night we've had so far.

There was much on the farm to be done. 

Much to do before they could go. 

To a people in need. 

There is winterizing the well. 

Because cows can not live with out water. 

There are instructions and lists to be made. 

Nieces and High School students willing to help. 

To rise before dawn in the bitter cold. 

To serve. 

And to think my farmer is letting it all go. 

He is willing to push aside the anxiety. 

The fear of something going wrong. 

To go. 

To head to a people made in the image of God. 

The same as you and me. 

Yet so needy. 

A people who live and breathe and have their being. 

He is going again. 

He's taking a whole team this time. 

Because when you're moved deep in the soul you can't shake the desire. 

You've got to go. 

So he is.

 So is she. 

They're taking the farm boy. 

And there, in the land of Haiti, they will give of themselves. 

They will leave behind death and the cancer. 

They will leave behind classes and bills. 

The stresses of this life. 

To go. 

To give. 

To learn. 

To share. 

Will you join me in praying?

Seeking wisdom from the God of the Universe. 

The one who called all these people into being. 

The One who knows the plan. 

The One who asks us to go. 

Isaiah 40:31

but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

What I Am Learning In The Silence

There is silence. 
Where I thought there would be conversations and sharing. 
There is very little. 
I struggle. 
I train my heart to pray. 
It is hard work.
Silence is good. 
Silence is healthy. 
I am not a silent person. 
I fill space with words. 
I sort through life's hardships shattering silence. 
But here. 
Now. 
With one in heaven and two in Haiti. 
Silence follows me. 
Internet scarce. 
Silence. 
A sound foreign to me. 
Unsettling. 
Until.
Until, I take notice. 
 I see what God is trying to do. 
This trip, I have been hanging on their every word. 
Waiting. 
(Not one my better traits)
Wanting to know what they have done, heard and seen. 
Not paying attention to what God wants me to do. 
It's not until they have been gone for 6 days that I see. 
Instead of waiting to hear; longing to talk. 

I need to be embracing the quiet.

Seeking strength from the giver of strength. 
Taking the time to search and dig deep within. 
The quiet is not the enemy. 
But when your mom has slipped into heaven's arms and your son not far behind. 
And when the memory thief knocks down the door to your dads soul and depression attempts to steal your farmer's joy, silence becomes deafening and the enemy. 
And any space needs to be filled with sounds. 
Because to travel to the place in the heart where all that silence resides is agonizing. 
So when the silence begins to permeate and the way unavoidable, 
God reaches down and allows a moment of clarity. 
The silence is a gift. 

To be prayed through. 
As a reminder to storm the gates of heaven for lost souls. 
And it's taken me six days to open my eyes to the need. 
With each fractured conversation there is a reminder and
 a call to bow low before the throne of the Almighty. 
He's given the silence. 
As a gift. 
Walking boldly into that silence today. 

Jeremiah 29:12-13
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, 
and I will listen to you.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.