everything beautiful in its time

I realized shortly after updating the other day that my usual "don't post anything until I've proofread it several times" rule for myself is a good idea...and that failing to abide by it with Thursday's post was not such a good idea.  I was tired and in a hurry to get it up before losing internet, but I realized shortly after posting it (at which point internet had disappeared and therefore I couldn't do anything about it), that it probably sounded a lot more negative/complainy* than was intended.  Sorry about that... I'll be sure to re-read this one 8 times before it goes up :)

Anyway, overall things are going well here (despite the following paragraph).  Internet access has been sporadic, and the times that it's been working, I've usually needed to use it for homework before doing anything else (lame), thus the lack of blogging.  That and the fact that I haven't quite figured out what to say...because honestly, for whatever reason, though I have been to Haiti more times than I can count and haven't experienced anything new thus far on this trip that I hadn't seen/heard/done even as little as two months ago, I've had a harder time readjusting to being here than I would have expected.  I'm thrilled to be here...thrilled to be back with the kids at Notre Maison and to get to see everyone at Heartline...but I think the Lord is increasingly opening my eyes to the many, many needs here.  Again, I'm not really sure why/how it's any different than any other time I've been here---none of these things that are "hitting me hard" this time are things I was unaware of in the past---but maybe the Lord is allowing me to feel more and more of the way He grieves for the injustice and pain that is in the world.  And though the past few days have been more difficult than I'd anticipated, I'm thankful---thankful for what the Lord has been showing and teaching me, and all the more thankful for the opportunity to be here and (by God's grace) to love these kids.

I started out today in Ecclesiastes, and 3:11 really stood out to me: "He has made everything beautiful in its time.  Also, He has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."  I desperately needed that reminder this afternoon, that God DOES make everything beautiful in its time and that He is at work in ways even greater than I could ever imagine.

Some beautiful things from this past week (it is Monday, after all; the list must go on, even/especially in Haiti):

771. Sweet time with my Ti Nina.

772. Encouragement from Faith.

773. Getting to meet up with Jenny for lunch on Saturday, though it was way too short of a visit!

774. Seeing Lovely's face light up when I called for her to come upstairs to make a friendship bracelet.

775. This book; I don't usually read much while in Haiti, but I downloaded this to my Kindle app on Friday and finished it today.  The Lord has really used it to encourage and challenge me over the past few days; I highly recommend it!

776. A sweet gift of grace tonight in the form of kind words from one of the ladies here.

777. Roseline and Nathalie.

778. Fantastic weather; either this is unusual or I'd forgotten how nice it is in Haiti this time of year!

779. Successfully traveling across Port au Prince by myself to get to church.  For some reason taptapping intimidates me more now than it did when I was 18, but all went well  :)  I rode a motorcycle almost the entire way (which was not part of the original plan...); got there way faster, though!  Also had the interesting realization that I've only ever ridden a motorcycle when wearing a skirt, which can't be normal...

780. Spending time at Heartline on Friday (and heading there again tomorrow).

*new word.  Add it to your dictionary.