As you can probably tell from the title, today’s lesson that I learned was that there is so much joy in simplicity. Today was the first full day in Haiti and to no surprise, it exceeded my expectations. From giving out stickers to the kids at the orphanage, to watching (not playing, you’re welcome mother) a pickup soccer game. Today was filled love, laughter, and a whole lot of sunscreen.
To start the day out, we went to an outpost named Duma. The outposts are the poorer parts of Haiti. Although I am going to nursing school, I don’t have a degree yet so I wasn’t really able to help in the clinic part of the day. Feeling like I was just in way of everyone, I walked outside to do what I do best... play with kids. At the end of the day, feeling like I hadn’t really helped do much, Gail thanked us for all of our help. I was a little confused, but she followed that statement with “although you may have felt in the way, you did more than we could’ve asked for. Keeping the kids occupied so we could give the best medical treatment to everyone was just what we needed.” So after that statement I felt more at peace with what I thought was my lack of help.
Once we came back and ate some lunch, mostly everyone napped, but like always I had super high energy. So with that energy, I rounded up a few people and we headed down to the orphanage. Once Cardy found me, we headed outside to sit together. Before I came, I bought about 1,000 puffy stickers. So, I got them out and Cardy looked like he had won the lottery. First sticking them on his face and then putting them on his locker. I could tell he was so appreciative. This is where the lesson I learned comes in. There is so much joy in simplicity and it blows my mind how happy someone can be with so little. I wish that our nation was not so corrupt and we didn’t need “stuff” to make us happy and feel fulfilled. I have learned that God provides no matter what, and to be fulfilled all we have to do is find the joy in the simplicity of life.
After a long day, relaxation on the roof was much needed. Laying up there, looking at the stars, and reminding myself of how little we are in comparison to the whole universe was a much needed ego check. It’s normal to feel good about yourself when you do mission work like this. You feel like you’re making so much of a difference but the truth is, I am only here for a week no matter how much longer I want to stay and you can only do so much in that allotted amount of time. It’s what you do outside of this planned mission work that counts. Are you living a life that points to God or are you straying away once that fire is gone after a week? Last night someone told me that even in the darkest place on earth, when you look up to the sky, you can only see 5% of what is actually there. The other 95% is unknown. Are you living for the 5% that you can see and trust in or are you taking a risk and loving for the 95% that has yet to be seen and discovered? Life is a mystery and God’s grace is seen everyday if you pay attention to the little things.
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