painted hearts

We had the opportunity to paint 10 buildings at OLTCH.

The buildings started out looking like this.

And ended up looking like this.

Our friend Brett told us that we painted his heart. :)

A month ago I had only heard about this place referred to as Jasmine's.



Now a month later, I am realizing that I left more of my heart there than I had realized.

still processing Haiti

A month ago I was in Haiti. A month later I am still procesing the week I spent in Haiti.

A month ago we stopped along side the road and stared at this gate.

Little did I know that on the other side of that wall, was a group of people that would steal my heart. I remember vividly stepping back, wanting to take it all in when we first arrived at OLTCH. I was anxious about being around orphans again. (knowing the number that did on my heart during the time I spent at New Day.) I had to give myself a pep talk. The words of Karen, of Brian, of Hannah kept ringing through my ears.

"Love dangerously."

"Every child deserves to have a room of people weeping over them when they leave."

"God sets the lonely in homes."

"The Lord is the Father to the fatherless."

Honestly I wasn't sure my heart could take it but I knew that in the end it would be worth it. The over-arching lesson that I learned in 2011, partially due to the time I spent overseas, was what prompted me to walk through that gate.

"What a privilege it is to be involved in the lives of people."

Specially in the lives of orphans.

I knew that walking through that gate would be a risk.

But it was risk that I was willing to take.

Ella Grace

Every thing really does change once you have seen their faces, once you know their names and once you have held them in your arms.

This little lady went to be with Jesus yesterday afternoon. Her name is Ella Grace. She had only been at OLTCH for six weeks. One of those weeks was the week my team and I were there.

It's risky business to open up your heart, especially to the least of these. It's risky business learning to love dangerously. But it is SO worth it, even when it hurts, even when it doesn't make sense. One of the things that Karen shared with me during my time at New Day was this, "Mandy, the reason we do what we do in caring for orphans is that I truly believe that every child deserves to have a room of people weeping over them when they leave." (They may leave this life to be with their Maker or they may leave that place with their forever family.)

My team and I had the privilege of people a part of the "room" of people in the life of Ella Grace. We knew her name, we saw her face and we held her in our arms.

Pray for our friends at OLTCH. 

Praise Him for the life of this dear little one.

good words

I love it when I stumble across other people's writing that really stirs my heart.

Both of these quotes I read on other blogs that I (stalk) read. Really my main purpose in posting them again is so I have a place to write them down so that I can be reminded of these good words.

"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." -Miriam Beard

“So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute. Love the Lord. Love the world… Love someone who does not deserve it… Give your approval to all you cannot understand… Ask the questions that have no answers… Be joyful though you have considered all the facts… Practice resurrection.”

-Wendell Berry, from Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

orphans...

"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes." -David Platt

I think it's safe to say that everything has changed... 

these faces...

...stole my heart.