Need distracting? Call in the grandchildren!

It has been hard for me to tear myself away from the TV and computer. Everything that seems like it might be about Haiti grabs my attention immediately. It's exhausting - and I feel guilty about that. I'm tired from school and I feel terrible because my day hasn't been a tenth as stressful as those who are trying to rebuild in Haiti! Yesterday I really needed a break and it happened... in walked the grandchildren! Kayla (9.5) got into the craft bin almost immediately and began making all kinds of adorable things. I kept digging in my baskets and bins for more ribbon and stickers and other items to help her. Colton (6 -2 weeks) said, "Hi Grandma; where's Grandpa?" They are such buddies! Sierra (2.5) just wanted to cuddle. Saturday morning we i-chatted with Brian, Erin, and Gracie! Our baby granddaughter is growing so quickly. She certainly can talk ~ and in complete sentences that make total sense! Wow! I really miss her! It is good to focus on life, on this next generation that will carry the word of God into our world. Oh how I love my little ones!

Too Tired!

I can tell there's some let-down coming on. I am so very tired. I shut off the television. I love to watch NCIS and HGTV but now, in this post Haiti-quake world, I feel guilty when I watch TV for pleasure. As tired as I am, I think about those in Haiti, the victims, the relief workers, the missionaries and others who live there all the time and are now working around the clock. Their fatigue is immeasurable! The sorrow, the anger, the desperation. God help them! So I will go to bed early (probably wake up at 4!) and fall asleep praying for Haiti and wake up praying for Haiti and go through my day... praying for Haiti. Today, tomorrow, and every day for a very long time. I am grateful that the Lord is with us always - even now - at the end of the age!

On the front lines

I am worried about my friends, ex-patriots who live and serve in Haiti. It's not just their safety or having enough food and water but it is their mental and emotional health that concerns me. Some of these people were over-worked and totally stressed before the quake. I can't imagine how troubled they are now. I hope there will be people who step up and help them get a break out of the country. Even if they just head to the DR and relax at the beach for a long weekend, that might give them the emotional ability to continue. Most of these friends don't have the money to do anything for themselves and the fact that they are in Haiti in the first place speaks to their attitude of self-denial. They wouldn't think of spending money on themselves like that. But I know that a few days of rest would make a huge difference for most of them. It's only been a week. Most of them are working fourteen hour days and seeing things that people just are not prepared to deal with over and over again. This cannot continue, certainly not long-term. And this situation is going to keep demanding attention for a long, long time. God help them! God deliver Haiti!

God, Come Quickly

Why did it take such a tragedy to get me writing my blog again? I had so many good reasons to post before now. I have the finest husband in the world. I have two sons, of whom I am incredibly proud who each had the good sense to marry fabulous women who are the best mothers in the world. I have four grandchildren who are nearly perfect. I'm so glad they aren't because I believe perfection in children is highly overrated! I teach terrific junior high school students who are striving to become responsible leaders in the world that they will inherit from us. I have one high school class, three-quarters of whom I had as 8th graders. It is so fun to see what two years have done to them! It is not as though I haven't had a decent thought in my head over the past year and a half. It's not like I haven't been ready to argue a point, or two or three or more. But here I am, overwhelmed by the sadness in Haiti. Understanding the sense of what this will mean. It means re-creation not simply rebuilding. Will the world stay connected long enough or are we so ADHD that we allow the Golden Globes, Mafia Mania and other stupid things to take over. I've been thinking about Mark 13. Jesus tells us to get ready, that terrible things are going to happen and among those things are the wars (stupidity) and earthquakes (tragedy) and disease (so preventable) and changes in our sun, moon, and stars (environmental issues?). So discouraging, so troubling, so frightening. But he also said THEN HE WILL COME AGAIN. Oh God, come quickly!

My mind; I miss it!

I think I have lost my mind. Ever since Tuesday when the earthquake hit Haiti - a 7.0 in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere... Are you kidding? We lived in Haiti for twelve years, worked there for eighteen. These are people who scrape and labor and work so hard! My dad taught me that if you work hard enough, you will succeed. Dad was usually right, but he never went to Haiti. People work like crazy and still don't have enough to feed their families. And now... an earthquake of Biblical proportions. I am so angry. For pity sake, why? This is so cruel! I have faith, I believe in God, but right now I certainly don't get it. However, if this amount of death and pain is for some reason required of people, who are so poor and broken already by four huge hurricanes just two years ago, then I am ready for an equally major miracle of Biblical proportions!

I guess I do see some miracles. Not just the lives saved from the rubble, but the lives of some of my former students, people of privilege who truly enjoyed their lives in Haiti. They partied and danced and played at the beach. They have plenty of resources, could easily go to Miami or elsewhere to escape this mess but they aren't doing that. They are staying, working amid the rubble to save people, working in the hospitals to translate for doctors as they operate on the suffering. Getting absolutely dirty with the blood and dirt and grime of their broken country. Augh! My God, help Haiti; help my students to rise up, do good things in bad times, and to truly know that you are God. Help Haiti to heal. Help me find my mind... in You.