Ripe Mango Chronicles

It's been a stressful couple of weeks, lots going on, many days serving in a variety of ways off campus,  not a lot of office hours, work piling up with limited time available to accomplish everything, plus massive amounts of general Haiti frustration, think entitlement spewing everywhere ruining your day,  no ink or paper to print anything out and orphanage directors calling non-stop hoping I somehow have all the answers to their immediate needs (I don't, in case you too thought I just might). Now insert 4 kids who need their momma's attention too, have to get to school on time, finished homework and eat 3 times a day, every single day (!!!) and then take Kenol out of the equation because he is in Austin for meetings all week, so now I'm in charge of laundry (We're all re-wearing our cleanest dirty clothes tomorrow...sorry!) and today our nanny wasn't able to come to work because her mom is sick. Welcome to my life people. Sometimes serving is difficult, pa...

A few years ago I was talking to a friend of mine and said something along the lines of, "When life isn't so crazy I'm going to...". I still, to this day, think about what she said next. "Rachel, your life is always going to be crazy. You keep saying, "when things calm down", but things never calm down. You have to learn to live your life now,  in the midst of the crazy." I had to get my mind out of survival mode. On my walk yesterday I had this a-ha moment. I realized that I have finally made it out of survival mode. Instead of just trying to stay alive, just trying to get through the day, just trying to make it through until bedtime I'm actually living my life. I'm enjoying my days. I'm enjoying my children, my husband, my Bible study group, my friends, my work, my home. Praise the Lord.

I have this stirring in my heart. I don't really know what it is, or what it means exactly. I'm still waiting anxiously to make that discovery, however the thought I had tonight was this, "There is so much more." There is so much more than what I have seen. There is so much more than I have experienced. There is so much more for us to do. I don't really know what any of that means right now. I feel a stirring to help women, mother's especially, to come alongside them on their journey and be a listening ear, a place of encouragement and truth but also someone who can help them find focus and Biblical direction. I don't know what all this means, but there is a stirring in my heart. I'm excited to see where it leads.

In the past 5 days we've spent over 12 hours in church, and by we I mean all of us, the boys and Jubilee included. Kenol and the rest of the church staff led a conference and revival services every night this week. Each night was incredible in it's own way. Truly I tell you, you could not have been in the building and not felt the Lord's presence this week. One the second night Pastor James Alcindor was speaking and called out to someone in the crowd, "There is someone here who struggles with thoughts of suicide. You are constantly in a battle for your life. The Lord loves you and wants to deliver you from this tonight. If I'm speaking to you come forward." A young woman slowly made her way down the aisle, with tears in her eyes. Pastor James walked out to meet her, and spoke powerful words of love and encouragement over her, and then prayed over her. It was such a powerful moment. I tried to imagine how she must have felt, to be called out by God in that...

When I first came to Haiti in 2004 the orphanage was full of adorable little kids. At that time the majority of the kids were between the ages of 4 and 9. It was seriously the perfect age group for an orphanage, the kids were SO EXCITED about every activity, everything I did was amazing, every activity was fun, they just wanted to spend time with me, sit with me, hold my hand and gaze up at me like I was a super hero. I would walk through the door and hear cheers, literally CHEERS from all over. It was a glorious time to be alive! Slowly those 9 year olds became pre-teens, I wasn't quite as awesome anymore but I could still talk them into playing games and singing songs. A few more years passed by and all those adorable children became pimply faced teenagers with raging hormones and wild mood swings. There were no cheers when I walked in during those lovely years, it was more like groans and dirty looks. I believed deep down they still loved me - but it didn't alwa...

Disclaimer: If you believe in an easy, rose coloured Christian life, and want to remain in that beautiful bubble filled with gumdrops and unicorns please do not continue reading this post, because this post is going to talk about real life. Let me just start by saying being a Christian is hard: in any country, in any circumstance. I’m selfish, I want what’s best for me, I want what benefits me, I want to feel appreciated for what I do, I want to feel valued and honoured. I’m a sinner who gets up every morning and tries hard to pull off my earthly desires and put on Christ. I’m successful, sometimes, but often I try to put Christ on, on top of my earthly desires. That doesn’t work out very well. It makes for complicated Christianity. I am currently reading the book Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity by Jen Hatmaker Yesterday morning I read this passage before I went out into the world harvest field. When Jesus’ followers asked...

Nine years ago today, at the tender age of 24 I boarded a plane in Toronto, Ontario and began this beautiful adventure in Titanyen, Haiti! So so much has happened since then. As I've been reminiscing today I wrote out a number of my favourite memories. There are so many more I know, but here are a few!  God moments and special memories from years 1 - 8 in Haiti: Attending the first ever high school graduation from MOH school  Attending my first kindergarten graduation and being SHOCKED by the dances Attending the ground breaking ceremony in Bercy.  Reading the eulogy at Maggie's funeral. The kids Christmas pageant - they still remember all the songs  Hiking to Simonette with my parents. Visiting Clifton in California  Jerry, Paula, Matthew and Eric's trip Good Sam kids staying here post hurricanes Learning how to switch gears, and hit the gas on a motorcycle before learning where the brakes are - and driving past the van der Mark's yard screaming m...