adventures galore

First of all, I am deeply sorry that I have not blogged in so long.  Just to give you a little bit of info, these past couple weeks have been fantastic!  I just never feel like blogging, as my time draws closer and closer to an end.  I have a mere 8 whole days left in this wonderful country.  It's bittersweet to say the least.

Anyway, the wonderful Shannon Kelley (who was a guest on a previous blog) let me borrow a very good book called "Love Does."  I highly recommend it, and I might even buy it for myself if I get the chance (welcome home present perhaps?).  You know when you read a book and it completely reminds you of who you want to be?  It makes coherent ideas out of strains of thoughts you already had.  This was one of those books for me.  

The main thing that I gleaned from this book is this: I used to lament not having plans for my future, but now I embrace it!

Up until now, I felt like it was a flaw for me not to know what I'm doing after I graduate.  I felt ashamed when I told people I was uncertain of what the future holds or where God is calling me.  Maybe if I were holier, I would know exactly what God wants me to do with my whole life.  Right?  Or I had this idea that maybe God leaves us in the dark until the last second and then tells us specifically what to do.  Right now (though I'm sure my thoughts may develop as life goes on) I don't really think that either of those is what God does about His plan for our lives.  As if I would have gotten God's second best adventure if I had gone somewhere else this summer or if I had come to Haiti with a different organization.  If I had gone somewhere else, I would have done different things and met different people.  That doesn't make it any more or less good though.  I really think that God uses our passions and He is pleased when we live out our dreams.  (I really think people who seek God have dreams that are just like His anyway.)  It is such a relief for me to embrace the fact that there is not a wrong choice.  I am going to spend my life loving God and loving people; the rest is just details.  Where will I go?  How will I raise money?  Will I get a normal job sometimes?  Details, details, details.  

So now I know exactly what I'm going to do with my life!  I am going to engage it.  Adventure isn't where you go or even who you go with.  A disengaged person can travel the whole world, and it's not an adventure.  An engaged person can explore the front yard or walk down the street, and it IS an adventure.  That's what I want.  I want to remember that every day is an adventure if I want it to be.  And I do.  

So that's my plan for now.  I'm going to embrace every opportunity - whether it's Honduras working with a sponsorship program, Lexington with a homeless shelter, Haiti with an orphanage, or Wilmore with my peers every day.  There are so many possibilities.  Anything can happen, and I love it all.  God works everything for our good (Romans 8:28).  Do you know what that means?  Everything is good for us!  If God is going to work a flat tire or a stolen wallet for our good, then a flat tire or a stolen wallet is GOOD!  It's all good!  Just being alive is good, and life is good!  Do you know what I mean?  Does this make any sense?

I know that wherever I go, whoever I'm with, whatever I do, God with be with me.  Good will come of it, and the adventure will continue whenever I seek Him.

Perhaps I will elaborate in another blog tomorrow or the next day.  So let me know what you think, and I'll respond.  =]  

The Wonderful, Beautiful, Lovely, Awesome Kelley's

Brad, Shannon, and Lena Kelley have been running the guest house here for about 8 months.  I have been so blessed to know them, and I'm not sure I would have survived this experience without them.  Lena adds a lot of sunshine to my life, and she is my movie and homemade popcorn buddy every few days or so.  Brad is exceedingly hospitable, to the point that he is angry if I don't consider myself a part of the family.  And Shannon, oh Shannon.  Shannon Kelley is a beautiful person.  Some of my favorite days begin like today - with me and Shannon sitting at the dining room table on our computers.  It's a very pleasant way to get work done.  She is the best photographer I've ever known, and she's quite the celebrity (though she won't admit it).  To prove what a wonderful photographer she is, here is a picture she took of me outside on the front porch.

I'm so lucky to be a part of this amazing family.  Now, keep your eyes glued to the computer and enjoy this inspiring guest blog by my dear friend, Shannon Kelley!

A couple months ago, at an orphanage we were visiting in another village, an older Haitian man saw my camera and asked me to take his picture. He proudly stood with his family, his wife and 4 kids, for the picture. After that I watched as the family hugged the oldest daughter and said goodbye as she walked back into the orphanage. They were there to visit their daughter at the orphanage. Here was an intact family with their child in an orphanage purely because it was the only option they had as they struggled to provide. They gave her a better life because someone offered to give her what they couldn't- at the cost of dividing their family. 

That moment was the culmination of God throwing us in the deep end and showing us His heart for us here in Haiti. That was the moment that I knew, deeply knew, that we were here to fight for families. 

As we move out to Les Anglais with Harvest Field we are so excited about how what they are doing out there molds into our heart for families. They are actively working on reunification of the kids in the orphanage that have families by lifting those families up to where they can provide for their children. They are focusing on lifting up families through vocational projects so that parents can provide for their kids. They are focusing on education and meeting medical needs so that families have brighter futures. This union of our family coming alongside Harvest Field is something that God has perfectly aligned. 

We sit and dream about a day in this community where families know that that when they are struggling that they have options and that there is a community around them who will fight with them to better their situation in a healthy, sustainable way. We want to be love to people and families in Les Anglais and meet them where they are. 

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Follow Shannon and her family at Shannon's Blog, where they chronicle their day to day life of living in Haiti, loving lots, and taking pictures along the way.







Now, enjoy more of Shannon's wonderful pictures!

days like these

Today...  I have to say that today was exceedingly unique.  I'm not easily surprised.  It seems that I expect certain things, and they happen.  Nothing is ever so different that I'm caught off guard.
One of the things that I have loved this summer is how full it has been of surprises.
So this is a missions internship, and I am a missions major, so I am fully equipped, right?  Well, I would say that there are a million situations that could have come up this summer that would have satisfied exactly what I already know how to do and what I have already learned.  There are a million contingencies I would have already known how to deal with.  Yet, the challenges of this summer have been different.  Most of the struggles have occurred outside the realm of what I expected and what I was prepared for.
And I really love that.  I love the adventure that is figuring out something that is completely new.  It's frustrating at times, especially when I feel like there is no right answer that I can get my hands on.
All that to say, today was really odd for me.
First, I received the best gift I have ever gotten.  Lovingtsky (whom I blogged about a few blogs ago) grabbed my hand right after I got out of the car at Tree of Life.  That in itself is not unusual, but he clearly wanted to show me something.  All I could make out was "me...you... house."  You know, my Kreyol isn't too great, but Lovingtsky also doesn't enunciate well because of his hearing problem.  He led me to his room and motioned for me to close my eyes.  I did, and he brought me into his room.  When he told me to open my eyes, he was holding a little house made out of cardboard.  (I will try to remember to post a picture one of these days.)  It has many sweet words on it like "I love you a lot a lot Shelby" in both languages.  Clearly, a lot of hard work was put into it, and he was so excited to give it to me.  I don't even know how to explain what that moment meant for me.  It was beautiful.  It was also a good reminder that the love that I have given away this summer has not been a waste.  My prayer is that he will always know that I love him because of God's love for all of us.
By the way, I don't think it was super easy for him to find those random scraps of cardboard... Just saying.  =]

That's not all, either.  If you've been keeping up with my blog, you know that we've been through a lot trying to find a home for these kids (three remain with Martine at Tree of Life).  Today, we dropped Dudeline and Dudevaline (twins) at Heart for Haiti.  It's this beautiful orphanage run by a great missionary from Holland (Papi Johan) who has lived here for 30 years.  My favorite thing is the family style living.  For every 14 kids, there is a dining room and two "aunties" who take care of them.  This place is so nice that it even has a POOL!  That's insane, you know.  It's probably the only orphanage in Haiti that has a pool.  Just saying.
The whole process was surreal.  I barely had any idea what was going on, but I did know that I could hold Dudevaline's hand and pray that she will transition well.  They were definitely happy to be finding a new home, but they were a little apprehensive after arriving.  They were shy, not that I blame them.  I can't imagine what it's like to just be taken to a new home with all new people just like that.  Without so much as a visit beforehand.  Papi Johan's wife (a Haitian woman who is basically in charge of the kids) was so wonderfully welcoming.  I understood her telling the girls that all these other girls are their new friends and that everyone will be nice to them and no one will be mean.  It wasn't hard to leave them there, but it was just really weird.  The only thing I can do is completely trust God.  I wish I could just raise them myself.  It would be so much easier to feel like I have any say in what happens, but I don't.  I am very thankful that we are going to be visiting them every Friday until I go back to America.  I just hope that we can make all this change just a little bit easier on the twins.  I love them so much.  When I was standing there, holding the twins' backpacks and their birth certificates, I couldn't believe that such a huge decision could be made so easily.

Anyway, please pray that my girls would be able to flourish in their new home.  www.hartvoorhaiti.com

And you can pray for me, too, because I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what the future might hold.  I've got a lot of ideas....

Love Shelbs!