Update::Hurricane Tomas

Still no word on the baby we've been praying for.  People who have lived here much longer than I have promise that no news is usually good news.  I pray we hear word soon.

Praise God, the OB team examined our young mother with the cyst in her breast.  Nothing but a fibrous mass.  No reason to worry.  Huge sigh of relief.

The hurricane is upon us.  The rain started yesterday at around 3:00. We've had a couple hard, strong bursts of rain, but overall it's just been consistent and steady.  Other parts of the island have not fared as well.

 

Our family is fine.  We were never really worried for ourselves.  We live in a house.  We have plenty of food and water.  The worst we were preparing for was to be without power.  We're set up pretty well to run without power on inverters (batteries).  Power has been on and off.

Our heart has ached for the people living in tents in Haiti.  I spent time in my first tent city yesterday.  I stood there with what felt like a weight on my soul as I stared at tents as far as the eye could see.  "What will this look like in 48 hours, God?"  Since there was nowhere else for these people to go, there they were...sitting in tents.  Moms, babies, dads...it was shocking to me.

Please continue to pray for the people living in tents.  We're still hearing predictions of rain until Sunday.  Any rain is an issue in Haiti.  The streets flood quickly.  I could barely walk in the tent city yesterday due to thick, nasty mud.  That was BEFORE the rain started.  There is a real fear that cholera will spread.  Cholera is a water based disease, and with this much water running through this country, cholera spreading is a legitimate fear.

Those are the biggest reasons to pray, but can I just be honest?  My heart hurts just as much over the simple things.  Mentally, I can't imagine what it must be like to deal with so much mud and yuck day in and day out in these tent cities.  I saw women walking around the tent camp yesterday...big and pregnant.  Can our hearts break for them today?  Can you imagine trying to find comfort as a pregnant woman in these conditions?  I had a hard time getting comfortable the last couple months of my pregnancies and I lived in a nice, beautiful home, filled with pillows and expensive couches, beds, and recliners.  If you are pregnant reading this, will you stop and imagine what life would be like living in a tent city?  How would you sleep?  Middle of the night trips to a yucky bathroom.  Sad.  Maybe as you try to find comfort during your pregnancy with all the perks America provides, God can use those times when you still aren't comfortable to prompt you to pray for Haiti's women. I'm imagining so many of my sweet pregnant friends praying for Haiti's moms.  I'm not even pregnant, and that makes me teary eyed.

And what about the mothers with babies in those filthy tent cities?  I think one of the saddest myths about people living in poverty is that they don't care about the things we care about.  This is not true.  It's a lie.  From working at Heartline, I can promise you...these women love their babies.  They dress them up.  They try their hardest to keep their children clean and healthy.  I can't tell you how many times a poor, Haitian mother has freaked out that Hudson had a rock in his mouth.  Freaked out.  I look over at what is going on and I'm like..."Oh...okay...it's just a rock.  He eats them all the time.  He's gross."  I have been totally schooled by Haitian moms over issues like these.  I'm sure I'm talked about behind my back as the crappy mom who lets my son suck on rocks.

So with that picture in your mind, imagine how difficult it is in the tent cities for these mothers to care for their babies the way they want to care for them.  I watched these women fighting for dignity yesterday in the tents.  Warriors.  Unyielding.  Doing everything it took to keep their kids out of the mud.

It started raining hard in the middle of the night.  I woke up and prayed for these women and children.  Jesus...be with them.  Help them find rest.  I've heard sad stories of entire families sleeping standing up...or trying to sleep standing up because of the mud and rain.  Can you even imagine?

With or without a hurricane, the way these people have to live is a tragedy.  For the last 10 months, every single day, what is happening in Haiti is tragic.  The news seems to only point out the tragedy during natural disasters, but I'm here to shout it...the way people are living in the tent cities without a hurricane should never be allowed.  Animals in the States live better than these people made in the image of God.  Heartbreaking.  This should not be.

So far, we've been blessed that this has been the lamest hurricane we've ever experienced.  I'm a Houston girl. I know a good hurricane. Praise be to God, so far Tomas seems to be well behaved.

I think this is what mercy looks like.

Please continue to pray for Haiti and hurt for this country.  We're thankful that so many of you are asking God how you can help and respond.