Skip to main content

School on My Mind…Haiti in My Heart.

                As I sit here tonight (the night before the new school year starts), tons of questions are floating through my mind. Checklists with seemingly no end are reeling through my mind like the credits from a major motion picture, and the nervousness/excitement of what this year may hold is as real to me as the night-before-Christmas-jitters we all experienced as children. Though the results of this year’s relationships, the educational successes, and the individual struggles are yet to be written, the expectations are there. The goals have been set. The plans and prayers are in place to achieve everything we (my students and I) set out to do.
                Despite everything that’s couch-potatoeing in the forefront of my mind right now with simple and menial concerns of my first-world mindset, I can’t help but revert back to what I experienced this summer in Haiti. The heat. The sweat. The amount of water I drank. The bugs. The bug spray. The huge roach on my pillow in the middle of the night. The fear and sleeplessness that followed. The no-running-water. The braided hair. The bucket showers. The food. The beans and rice. The hotdogs-and-spaghetti for breakfast.  The sweet (gross) porridge.The crunchy goat. The tasty fish. The Coca-cola in reused glass bottles. The precious women that gave all day and all their hearts to prepare food for us…
               
The children.

…the way they smiled. The way they laughed. The way joy danced through their eyes. The way they hugged. The way they held my hands. The way they danced. The way they said my name. (“Wwwwosemawie!!”) The way they sang at the top of their little Creole-speaking voices. The way they worshipped Jesus. The way they received love. The way they gave it back in unprecedented portions.
                Tears sting my eyes as I write this, knowing that tonight, although many of my “kids” (ahem, students) are getting ready for warm showers, cozy beds in air conditioning, soft-glowing nightlights, and bedtime prayers all around Lynchburg tonight, a large portion of my heart resides half-a-world-away, in the-middle-of-seriously-nowhere, Tiburon, Haiti. Because, you see, my kids are there, too. Preparing for cold-bucket-dirty-water showers (possibly walking to the nearest river to do so). Laying down in ultra-uncomfortable lumpy beds (maybe made of piles of dirty clothes). Playing with lightning bugs (perhaps?). And pouring out sweet choruses of bedtime prayers that ascend up into the Heavens and touch the heart of an Almighty God, Who sees and hears.  
                With all said, I hope and pray you sleep well tonight, my beautiful Haitian kids. While I have school concerns racing through my mind, know that your faces have captivated my heart. Your sheer existence has altered my very being. Thank you for teaching me what it’s like to be a student of your good example.  I cannot wait to see you again Summer 2012.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The "Grape Lollipop" God

  When I was younger, my siblings and I very quickly learned which errands to go on with my mom and which errands to run far away from. The one errand in particular I want to share with you this morning is when my mom would go up to the bank. Now, I don’t believe this bank is in business any longer; but back in the 90s, my mom would go to the drive-through teller at Barnett Bank. Whenever you went to the drive-up teller at Barnett Bank, they would give out lollipops to the kids in the car, which is probably while they’re no longer in business today because the Hill kids depleted them of their lollipops back in the 1990s.   But seriously, mom would pack all of us in the car, she’d talk with the bank teller, she’d get her envelope full of money, and they’d ask how many kids were in the car… she’d say 5. They’d say “send back some of the money to cover the cost of all those lollipops, lady.” No just kidding. But on those bank errands, everything was fine. Things went surpri...
Post a Comment
Read more

Things I'm learning.... (reprise)

Quite a few years ago, I wrote a list of "things I'm learning…" It contained advice, quotes, and sheer observations about the life I was living and the life that was carrying on all around me. Well, today, I thought about that list for the first time (in a very, very long time) and thought perhaps I should re-create it, in a sense, based on where I find myself in life right now. at this very moment. Nothing came from quote websites or the like… it's all fresh from my little Rosemary brain. Hope you enjoy it, and it brings some encouragement and comfort and COURAGE your way - no matter where you find yourself along life's journey today. :) Things I'm learning... 1. Assume that everything has nothing to do with you, until directly told otherwise. Even then, know that you can't possibly know the full story. There's always something going on behind the scenes. 2. Don't try to please people. Please God. He'll deal with the people. 3. Sometimes k...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wednesday's Wisdom

Listen to this beautiful song I just discovered (thanks to a friend)! Then, read my "Wednesday Wisdom" below. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGAzVbQC-18 Treat everything in life as an opportunity, not a right. Perspective changes everything from how you wake up in the morning to how you interact with others all throughout your day to how satisfied you feel at the end of every day. Every day. Every moment in every day. Every breath that makes up every moment of every day is a God-given opportunity, not a right. Enjoy the disguised and undisguised blessings He sends you constantly and consistently.
Post a Comment
Read more