One Week In

I have now lived in Haiti for a full week.  It has been a hard week, a wonderful week, and a week filled with adventure.  I am not going to lie, I am very sad.  I'm not sure I've ever made a transition this drastic in my entire 26 years of life.  I realize this is the first of many, but the first is a little shocking.  I miss my parents, my sisters, my cousins, my life in Waco, and I miss familiarity.  This place is not home.  It is a country I prayed for, a country I felt invited to by the Lord, but it's not home...yet.  This week I have worked hard to make a space for myself in our house.  I purchased furniture from a carpenter who makes beautiful dark wood pieces, got a Haitian cell phone plan, and have eaten new things.  Below are a few pictures of life here so far.  Do not be alarmed by the large size of the house.  There are a lot of us in this large house.  4 single girls, a married couple, and 2 more single girls on the way.  We will be tight :).

 This is our "street"

 Again, don't be alarmed, there are a lot of us in there

 Kate and I making curtains for her room, making Haiti home.

A very peaceful and beautiful beach we spent our day off at

One thing that I have loved this first week is the nearness of God.  I have never experienced him in this way.  I feel the loss of my life in the US in a very real and painful way.  It is a strange feeling and I keep asking my team, am I ok?  They keep telling me I'm grieving.  As weird as this sounds, I love grieving.  The heart of God is so for those who are in mourning.  I have never known God to be this near, this real, or this loving.  It is a fierce love with an intense pursuit.  Over the last 8 years I have fallen in love with Jesus, but this is incredible.  I hurt so much but he loves so extravagantly.  He has never changed, but I am now changing and experiencing a whole new part to who God is.  It makes my sadness incredibly worth it.  He is worthy of all things.

I live on an island, with an amazing team, and I have a palm tree with coconuts in it in my courtyard.  God is so kind, so good, and so extravagantly pursuing me in Haiti and you in whatever country you are in.