Time

I couldn’t help but to compare.  It was only three weeks ago that I was in a tent across the Atlantic Ocean on a little island called Haiti. My life will never be the same again and I know my trip to Haiti last month was only the beginning of more to come.  Last night  was quite different.  I was only a ½ mile from my home in a tent set up on our land.  There were some similarities…I was on an air mattress.  I had my snacks stashed in case I got the munchies.  I was stocked with bottled water.  There were many more differences.  Instead of hearing roosters and the all night pounding on voodoo drums, I heard whippoorwills and howling coyotes.  Instead of the warm night air, I felt a cool breeze and even a bit of a chill early morning.  Instead of the yelping sound of starving dogs fighting for food, our Chihuahua snuggled close to my side under the covers and happily had a snack or two of her own.     
No, I didn’t take off on a camp-out with just my Chihuahua last night…this involved the entire family.  Trey, Kali, Tommy and Hyatt all joined me and Chica in our tent under the overcast skies and cool breezes of a Texas late spring night.  We wondered if we will need to upgrade to a larger tent once the twins arrive.  Probably.  We prayed for Gaelle and the twins last night.  Our time together was so simple but by the excitement in our kid’s eyes you would have thought we had just given them the newest and latest high demand toy on the market.  Trey and I have had many opportunities to explain to our children that money and things don’t bring true satisfaction.  Sometimes we want to give them what they are asking for but we just don't have the finances.  Other times it's not in their best interest to get one more webkinz or another wii game just because we can.  Sometimes I find it hard to sell the “true satisfaction” truth to my children…like maybe my own fleshly desire to give them the material things they are asking for overshadows this very truth in my own heart.  Last night this truth was not a hard sell.  In fact, it was a time of building this truth into such a certainty within the deepest part of my soul that I can’t imagine me forgetting it anytime soon.  All it took was setting aside time to just be with each other.  No other distractions and no interruptions…just Trey and I with our children sitting in the tent with a few snacks and our Chihuahua.  It was free but at the same time worth more than any amount of money.

Joy and excitement overflowed from our children as they played with their flashlights, fixed their beds up just right, then rearranged their sleeping bags and their locations about ten more times until they were sure they each found the perfect spot.  So simple.  So fun.

 

I have no doubt that the memories created last night will stay with us forever.  It just takes  time.  I admit I can easily get trapped into believing my time is mine to choose where to spend it.  But that is not really true at all.  My time all belongs to the Lord and if I am walking in His ways, He will guide me exactly where I need to be spending my time.  Last night I was blessed to have had the time to just be with my family…we all know each other and love each other more because of that time together.  It’s this way with our heavenly Father too…the more time we spend with Him the more we know and love Him.  It’s totally priceless! 

The orphan children were not peering through my tent windows when I woke up this morning.  The beautiful sound of the Haitian pastors singing and praising God was not dancing through the air either.  I was blessed to have experienced those memories and I long to relive them again one day. 

This morning was altogether different but no less wonderful.  I woke up to the healthy and sleepy eyed faces of the ones I love most.  It was just me with my family all to ourselves in complete privacy and peace.

  I thought of the refugee families living in tents outside the orphanage with their tents literally an arms length away from the next family's tent.  I thought of how many of these families only months ago had a job and a home but due to losing everything in the earthquake are now in tents each night not because they are looking for camping entertainment purposes, but because this is now their home with no other place to go.

Lord, help them.  You are the only one capable of transforming ashes into beauty.  May your hand move over Haiti and your Kingdom be furthered as you restore hope and everlasting life to these people.  It’s all very overwhelming and I wonder how adopting our twins…two of the thousands upon thousands will make a difference.  Then I remind myself that to Raphaella and Wanna, it will be all the difference in the world.  Lord, show your favor upon these two little girls and guide us in your ways as we continue to open up our hearts to love them.