Happy Love Day

I remember like it was yesterday, when I posted on this blog my honest feelings towards Valentine's Day two years ago. I remember sitting on my bed, getting over being sick.. (maybe I was sick because of Valentine's Day, I'd rather not say... My mother reads this..)

Over the years, I have learned that Valentine's Day is something more than Hallmark cards and chocolate hearts. It's a day to celebrate love. Yes, yes, I know. We already have all year to love. People think Memorial Day is great! But shouldn't we remember those who fell for us everyday? (Nothing against those fighting for us, I am extremely thankful. This is just a parallel.) February 14th is simply a day to remember love. All the loves, I believe, not just the romantic love.

I've been thinking about the former Three Angels kids, confident that their days were each abundant with loves. This brings me to my knees. Thank you, God.

Valentine's day is for everyone. You may celebrate it in the view you wish, and in the way you wish. I choose to celebrate Valentine's Day by seeing it as a special day dedicated to the gift of Love which God planted in me only after I knew of His great love. By thanking Him for the love of His Son and for all the different loves which He has made a part of my life, I had a wonderful Valentine's Day.

God is love. 1 John 4:8

Forever Home

All Three Angel's kids are home with their families, never needing to say goodbye again. It was an amazing weekend of homecomings. Lord, we praise you...

(unfortunately, blogger isn't letting me put more pictures up right now, but here's a glimpse.)

PRAISE GOD!!!

ALL 26 THREE ANGELS KIDS WILL BOARD A MFI PLANE THIS AFTERNOON AND LAND IN FLORIDA TONIGHT!!! ADOPTIVE PARENTS WILL MEET THEM AT THE AIRPORT!!!

Three Angels Update!

As I type, all Three Angels kids are at the Embassy as my mom works to get them travel documents. Our goal is to get them into the U.S. With God's help this could happen TONIGHT. All we need now is those documents in hand and a plane that can fly them into Florida. Looks like the 23 of the 26 who are in the adoption process are staying with their forever families. Pray, Pray, Pray.

God has been to merciful through all of this! He kept all our kids and most of the staff safe as builds were falling on others. He has opened so many doors by providing a safe place for the kids to stay. God is most certainly in that Embassy right now.

Pray that we get those travel documents in hand. Pray for a plane that may fly these Haiti beauties to safety. Pray for the adoptive parents, as this is a sudden homecoming for their children. Pray for safety, pray for guidance, pray for peace. Let's pray these kids home!

(pictures are the 26 kids at the Embassy this morning)

Haiti Earthquake 2010 Prayers & Praise

What I want to say is too long for a Facebook status... I'm sure you have already heard of the earthquake and it's devistation in Haiti. Good news is the all the Three Angel's kids and staff who was there at the time are safe! Because the Three Angel's building has cracks in the walls, our kids and staff were found on a lot across the street, for it seemed safer.

The overly popular Carribean Market (which sits walking distance from TA) is in shambles. St. Joseph's Guest House and home for boys has been comfirmed as damage. And I'm sure you have seen the photos of the Presidential Palace, which lies completely on the ground. There is so much more in Haiti which has been shaken -- homes, business, schools, hospitals, families and hearts.

Although we have praise, prayers are still needed. There are still other employees which are sadly still unaccounted for, along with loved friends and family, sponsored students, and beloved birth families. I pray for Nicky Pierre, a young man dear to many Three Angel's families. I pray for Alix, the 3A school headmaster. I pray for Fritzon, Reggie, Jimmy, Michel, all our nannies and families. So many more are hurting, more than can be said. I beg you to pray and pray and pray for all of Haiti, for although we each have ministries in destress, the whole country is suffereing.

Aftershocks have carried on into the morning as people are trying to salvage what they have left and search for their list of loved ones unaccounted for. Last night, a friend of mine living in Haiti said that Haitians were gathered together outside praying and praising, singing beautifully to the Lord. Even during the harder hardships, Haiti is still setting the example of great praise. In the midst of trapped victims, fallen buildings, and ground that is not sturdy (literally) praises are being sung to the One who deserves them.

I have not forgotten that things in the States are not perfect. However, if you are being called to help, please go to http://threeangelshaiti.org. If you choose to only pray, I thank you. Prayers are what kept our children safe last night as buildings came falling down around them.

Please after the news forgets, after the word dies down in America, don't forget. People will still be weeping, hurting, and Haiti will still struggling through recovering -- which will be a slow process. Don't forget, pray until you feel your prayers are no longer needed, then pray more.

James 5:15 "And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up."

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and the faultless is this: to look after orphans and widow in their destress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

(photo before the earthquakes)

Dance

I found my old jazz shoes in my closet today. Upon my discovery I recalled that love I hold for dancing. My heart quickened as I touched the worn leather. I had no choice but to slip them on.

I took ballet and tap lessons, as most five year-old girls would. Despite my lack of gracefulness, I loved it. When I heard that my loved dance teacher was going to be replaced, I quit, unfortunately believing that her replacement was bound to dislike me.

There's a place in my soul for dancing. The real kind of dance. Ballet, Lyrical, Tap, Hip-Hop, Modern, and Jazz (being my favorite). I'm not currently dancing. I wouldn't even call myself a dancer. None the less, I'm drawn to it. Something is stirred within me when watching a woman flow along with music. Dancing has been loved generally by society. Writers use dancing to parallel a myriad of emotions and personify many inanimate objects. It has been stereotyped to equal happiness or glee, to which, by human nature, most are attracted.

Six years later, with an urge to dance, I bought a pair of tan leather jazz shoes and attended classes on Saturday mornings. During one of the first meetings, my teacher told my class mates and me: "Jazz is ballet with attitude." With those words I feel in love all over again. My heart was for Jazz dancing. Spinning, leaping, sharp, bold body movements was enough to make me simply giddy. I looked forward to my classes. My heart would leap when I did, and my lips would turn to a smile every time my hair kissed my face while spinning. I remember wanting to appear professional, and was pleased when the teacher would ask me to demonstrate for the "newbies." I still remember the first jazz routine I learned, and dance it out every time Matchbox Twenty's 3A.M. comes on, when I'm safe from another's eyes (but you don't know that(; ).

Why am I writing this, opening the door for all to see? I'm not positive. I suppose after feeling those old shoes hugging my feet once again, I needed to dance out my heart. Seeing as I am a fearful dancer, I'm sticking to my routine of dancing with my fingers and pirouetting with some words.

Captured

The other day while I was painting in an art studio, I was captured by a lovely woman using a purple pastel. It wasn't until she revealed to me her sketch that I knew of this. When I saw it, I was touched. No, she did not put into it a long period of time. No, at her artistic level this portrait was not a challenge. But to see the lines that make up who are on paper, through another pair of eyes is a touching affair.

I have been thinking a lot about lately who I am, and who I want to be. What I am holding in the picture is a paint pallette. I like that remarkably for I know I paint the story of my own life. Recently being out of school, homeschooling, going to college, and having new freedoms to my own choices are all large elements to my current need to ponder who I am.

What I love most about the portrait is that it is fully me. It has no limitations to the various aspects of life that makes me who I am.

The pallette is important, for I love art, in any and every way it may present itself.

But what if that shape for a pallette could also be viewed as a book. It is no secret that I love to read.

Maybe it's one of my journals that I love more than life itself, where I have penned my heart and poetry over and over.

Maybe it's a sheet of music, from which I might sing or press piano keys into song with a love that spills out of my soul.

Or maybe, just maybe it's a plane ticket to my beloved Haiti.

I also love that my face is hidden. It cannot be determined if I'm happy, sad, excited, laughing, crying, smiling, or enduring. I do all these things. The Elisabeth in purple pastel could be too.