Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Waiting...



Moments after news broke of the earthquake in Haiti I knew I wanted to go and serve. It was neat to see my awesome friend, Amy, felt the exact same and text me to and say "when they send teams from Seacoast to Haiti, want to go?" It was on our hearts, as it was for so many, but we knew that we had to be patient. This past Saturday our Missions Pastor alerted via Facebook that they'd be announcing 4 trips to Haiti at Sunday's service. One status update completely made my heart race. Was it time? Am I ready???

Last night as I sat in a room of 60+ people from my church who signed up to go with a moment's notice, I couldn't help but fight back tears. There are only 40 spots right now, as teams must stay at 10 people each due to travel logistics, so if you do the math there will be a good chunk of us who will not go. YET. Regardless of whether or not I "make the cut" this go round, I was privileged to sit in a room surrounded by people who embody my favorite verse "Here am I. Send me." Isiah 6:8. We may not have thousands of dollars to send over there but what we do have is time to give and hands to lend. Not only do these people care about the well being of people they've never met and will most likely never see again, but they are willing to put their lives on hold with literally a month to prepare, distance themselves from every comfort they have and loved one they have to serve strangers. Very cool and very inspiring.


As I wait to find out this weekend whether or not it's my time to go, I'm trying to really wrap my brain around what it'll mean, what it'll entail, and what exactly I will see. Not praying about this is not an option. Actually it's the only option I have right now. Here am I. Will you send me?


Until then...here's a little info about the area where the medical team might be stationed accordingly to the team leader (again, insert many, many prayers here):

Cité Soleil (Kreyol: Site Solèy, English: Sun City) is a very densely populated commune located in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area in Haiti. It has development as a shanty town. Most of its estimated 200,000 to 300,000 residents live in extreme poverty.[1] The area is generally regarded as one of the poorest and most dangerous areas of the Western Hemisphere's poorest country; it is one of the biggest slums in the Northern Hemisphere. There is little police presence, no sewers, no stores, and little to no electricity. *the picture at the top is a survivor of this city.

Friday, March 26, 2010

The Fanny Pack

So last week I had to run to the campus gift shop to purchase gifts for our presenters at a conference we were hosting. Apparently with it being Corps Day weekend, every shopper received a free fanny pack. Oh. Wow. Really? You shouldn't have.

As I left (sans free fanny pack) the lady by the door wanted to make sure that I had in fact received my free gift of said fanny pack. I had not and was 110% fine without my gift. Regardless of my gratefulness and "please give mine to someone who is visiting and not an employee" attitude, she was dead set on my leaving with a Citadel blue fanny pack. Now what on earth am I going to do with a fanny pack?? Especially one that says Citadel Bulldogs? Duh. I'm going to rock that thing!

Today seemed like a great day to sport it around the office to pick my spirits up, so rock it I did. Sort of. I noticed that there was no clasp in the back for easy access and there was definitely no adjustable strap either. Did they expect this to be one size fits all AND do they expect the wearers to step into and out of it every time they wanted to wear it? Hello, awkward. No wonder this thing was free! Someone must have gotten a sweet deal on these defunct things.

After shimmying the fanny pack up my legs and over my hips, I was now ready to wear my Bulldog gear with pride. Or at least I was until my coworker nonchalantly asked if I was wearing a lunch bag around my waist. "What? How stupid would that be" I thought to myself until everything I had just done to get the lame thing on flashed through my head. OMG, I am wearing a non-adjustable lunch bag around my waist. How did this happen?

Thanks Citadel gift shop for my new and way more cooler than a fanny pack lunch tote. I will, in fact, rock this tote sandwich and all. Although I might just slide it over my shoulder next time and not my hips.