Mommy Journal Entry # 1 - Visit to meet my daughter - October 28 - 31, 2010

 It does not seem like I am back to reality just yet…..so pray for me as the transition continues. My life has forever changed since my journey to Haiti. God is so, so loving because He is giving me joy in my heart right now when all I want to do is to cry…… allowing me to recall all the amazing moments I had with my daughter.  "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truths and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." Psalm 25:4-5 (NIV)

            My morning began with overwhelming anticipation for the days ahead. I am in awe and I can’t believe I am going to meet my daughter! I left for this journey on Thursday, October 28, 2010. I prayed that morning that God would continue to provide clear confirmations to me for this journey. As my flight was in route from Miami to Port Au Prince, we encountered a few storms and there were some amazing cloud formations. We flew above the storms and I began to daydream about seeing my daughter for the first time. As I looked out the window, I saw the clouds in the formation of a huge cross. I knew right then that God was carrying me, providing those precious confirmations of His plan and calming all my fears and anxiety.

            As I landed at the airport in Port Au Prince and arrived at the baggage claim area, none of the chaos around me seemed to matter. All I wanted was to see was my husband’s face, who was meeting me there, so he could take me to our daughter. After we were through customs, it was only a short walk to the van where Onise was waiting. Oh, Father how majestic you are as I saw her for the first time! I believe that whatever bags I had at that time, I dropped as I frantically tried to get the van door open…… so I could jump inside to give her a BIG hug and kiss. Our bond was instant and as she looked at me with her precious, dark eyes I knew from that instant that God has just created a miracle in my life. During the entire van ride to Tabarre, she held my hand and her poppy’s hand. She touched my hair over and over and we exchanged lots of hugs, kisses and SMILES. Onise was sporting her UT shirt that poppy had brought to her the previous day when he had arrived. She also had her mP3 player of music that Poppy had given her and she wanted to share with me so I could listen. One of her favorite songs on the mP3 is  Everything Glorious by David Crowder Band(please listen to this song if you have never heard the lyrics). I struggled through many tears and huge lumps in my throat as we sang this song together.

            The first evening we stayed together in Tabarre at the mission house. We had our first meal together which Mona had so graciously fixed and it was absolutely delicious dinner. The menu was chicken, rice, Haitian slaw, fried sweet potatoes and plantains. Stacy and I let Onise open most all of her gifts from family, friends and from us that evening and she was all SMILES the entire time. Later that evening we shared several (4 to be exact) 5 gallon buckets of water to take a bath. She loved it when I would pick up the entire bucket and pour it over her like a shower. I so can’t wait until my baby girl can take a shower here with warm water. She really liked the pink loofah scrub, the scented body wash and cocoa butter lotion I brought for her! She is truly my baby girl because she likes to bath and lather on plenty of the body lotion. J We also gave her a new toothbrush as well because of the cholera outbreak. We ended the evening the three of us snuggling up in bed together while we had three floor fans blowing on our bed to stay cool. Stacy and I just watched Onise as she slept and in the silence of the night we just SMILED because we could not believe that God had ordained this beautiful journey for us!

            On Friday morning, October 29, I woke up very early while the sun was just rising. Stacy & Onise were still sleeping and I heard what I thought was singing – Praise music. I got up and grabbed my video camera and sure enough as I looked out the windows at the end of the house, I could see the tent cities and I could clearly heard people singing Praise and Worship music to the King. After just being in Haiti for one day I have truly seen the Lord and His presence. Seeing all the devastation and how people live in these terrible conditions but they are still Praising the Lord! So humbling.

            Onise enjoyed waking up with her Mommy & Poppy by her side and she ate lots for breakfast. We had a delicious breakfast that was fixed by Mona which consisted of scrambled eggs, oatmeal and fresh grapefruit juice. I have never had oatmeal so fresh and so tasty (I believe Mona’s secret ingredients has to be lots of brown sugar J ) Stacy and I had brought some Starbucks instant coffee and we managed to get the microwave to work and heated up some bottled water for a cup of Java! I took some video of Poppy and Onise that morning as they were playing around and loving on each other. I just wish we could take her home with us now and I am already dreading Sunday when we have to leave her.

Onise & Mommy!