Ripe Mango Chronicles

I have this vision, it’s like a cheesy scene in a movie; I’m running, slow motion, across the courtyard with my arms wide open. It’s hot, dusty, my hair is sticking to the back of my neck, my eyes are welling up about to spill over and I can’t stop smiling. I hear laughter and my name repeated over and over as the kids run out of the Hope House towards me. Every time I visualize the scene I get choked up. I’ve been away from my kids for far too long. I have missed them so much. I miss their laughter, their fingerprints all over everything and seeing their noses pressed up against my screen door. I miss hearing my name repeated a billion times a day, and waiting in my truck as Steevenson runs across the yard yelling, “Don’t open the door, I want to open it for you.” I miss seeing the teenage girls giggling while they watch the boys play basketball, I miss chasing the girls back to the Hope House far away from those very same boys. I miss saying, “Where are your shoes?” over and over all...

Sitting on a comfy red chair I look around the room. Amy is to my left, Bailey in the middle and Jeremy to my right. I can't help but laugh. Who would have ever thought the four of us would be sitting together in this super cute apartment in Austin, Texas? You see, Amy is from Oklahoma City, Bailey is from some teeny tiny town in Missouri, Jeremy is from Jacksonville and I am from the great white north. How in the world did this random group of misfits ever get connected??? Haiti. As I laughed about my fun afternoon with good friends it dawned on me that a large percentage of my closest friends are people I have met in Haiti. It seems as though Mission of Hope is a magnet for amazing people! The friends I have made through Mission of Hope are not your average friends. These friends are the 'for better or worse, in sickness and in health' kind, the life long kind, the 'would do anything for you' kind. The kind who open their homes to you, expecting nothing in return...

I realized this afternoon that I don’t often take time to look back on my life. I tend to think more about the things I have to do, or the things I hope to accomplish in the future. Today I had to go back through some old blog posts for a project I am working on for Mission of Hope, as I searched through the titles looking for specific entries I was very quickly sidetracked as each blog title brought back memories. As I read through the blogs I laughed and I cried and I realized how much has happened in the past few years! I have had the opportunity to travel to: - California - Oklahoma - Florida - Michigan - Texas - Dominican Republic - Panama - Canada I have lived through: - Hurricanes - Tropical storms - An Earthquake - Malaria - A Poisonous Spider bite - The death of a child I have been a part of saving the lives of: - Michelove - Mackenlove - Jeremiah - Hannah - Matthew - Iverson - Galaxon - Job - Smider I have named 3 children and had two children named after me. I have learned: ...

The ground beneath our feet is the base of everything physical. We find shelter on it, we eat food grown in it, we use fuel found deep inside it. We build our lives on it. I see my future on it. I dream from my bed, in my home, built on top of it. So what happens then when the ground beneath our feet suddenly becomes our enemy? What happens when this thing we’ve always trusted, always counted on turns against us? I had just walked into my apartment and put my bag down when I heard this strange noise, like nothing I had ever heard before and the walls started to vibrate. My first thought was that someone was drilling on the other side of my living room wall but within second the vibrating turned to shaking. The entire house was shaking. I looked at my doorway and my cement walls were waving like jello. I stood, shocked, not having a clue what was happening. Things were falling off the walls and smashing all around me. It was then I heard someone outside yelling, “Get out! Get out! Every...

Do you fear God? When Pastor Tim (Pastor of Hill Country Bible Church here in Austin) asked this on Sunday morning my heart started pounding. Do I fear God? YES! So much so that it makes trusting Him difficult. How can you not fear someone with the power to shake the earth? The Bible says; God is love. God cares about us. God listens to us. God forgives us. God is watching over us. God knows the numbers of hairs on our heads. God knit us together in our mother’s wombs. God is like a big fluffy bear all sugar and spice and everything nice, right?? Read again, the Bible talks about the fear of God over and over and over and OVER AND OVER. (I’ve been noticing this a lot lately since I have this whole new awareness of what it means to fear the Lord.) My new found fear of God has been really bothering me, I kept thinking it was a horrible thing to be afraid of God. I’m supposed to love God not be afraid of Him, right!?!?! RIGHT?!?!?! Pastor Tim’s sermon on Sunday really opened my eyes, and ...

It is due time for an update, this I know. I am very sorry it has taken me so long to write. It is not my intention to make you worry, it's just been a while since I've been in the mood to write. I had a wonderful time with the Canadian team at Mission of Hope. Being surrounded by friends and family instantly lifts your spirit. Being with the kids helps too. Those kids are such a blessing, to so many people. Myself included. I love them with all my heart. I've said it before and I'll say it again, they are my life. I live for them, to teach them, to love them to support them and to help them smile. In return they teach me, love me, support me and help me smile. Smiling has not been easy lately. I've been having a real hard time with everything. I've been exposed to so much pain and suffering over the years. It's been especially hard since Maggie passed away January 12th of last year. (One year, to the day, before the earthquake hit.) I've been exposed to...

People sometimes make strange comments when they find out I live in Haiti. Normally I just let them roll off my back, most of the time people don’t even know their comments are rude or inappropriate. The problem is I’m not quite there yet with earthquake comments. It’s all too fresh and all too traumatic. Eventually I’ll be able to let the, “It’s God’s judgment on the country.” comments and so on go…but right now they make me want to slap people! This makes meeting new people a little awkward and slapping people is just not right. My momma taught me that! The conversation usually goes a little something like this. Blah blah blah… Rachel: “It’s nice to meet you, too.” Other person: “So what do you do?” Rachel: “I’m a missionary in Haiti. I run an orphanage there.” Other person says with HUGE smile on her face: “In Haiti!! Really?!? Wow! It’s so amazing what’s happened there. Praise the Lord!” Rachel thinks to herself: What kind of crazy person are you? What part of hundreds of thous...