Saturday morning, Reginald, & God's Love

I wrote this out in my journal on Saturday morning-- excuse the journal-esque writing.

Saturday morning - what a fun morning.

We did not have electricity after midnight so I woke up burning up at 3am -- beads of sweat. So I got up, opened the windows and battled the mosquitos. I had 3 mosquitos in my room when I woke up around 7am and had an ant infestation as well. "This is Haiti." I got out of bed, very sticky and muggy, and went downstairs to see what was going on. I had some corn flakes, milk (warm b/c no electricity), peanut butter, and suger. I boiled hot water for coffee-- thank God for Nescaffe-- never thought I would say that. (The individual packets of nescaffe are so handy, Aunt Amy! Thank you!)

When I say it was a fun morning.. i'm serious. It was a fun morning-- all the above details are just details about what it's like here.

Thank goodness for beautiful Haitian children that have such personality and life and purity. Reginald has got to be the cutest kid ever; I'm totally in love with this kid.

           

He loves to eat, loves to drink 'dlo' (which sounds like glow--- means 'water' in Kreyol), loves to wash his hands, loves to color, loves to pretend he's taking photos and selfies. He loves talking. And he loves hugging me every time I see him. He also loves playing with his red dinosaur. His pants are chronically too short for him and his butt crack is consistently coming out of the top of his pants (because his pants are too small). He's 3 years old and his mom dropped him off to Yoti (our security guard here at the house) one day and said 'you take care of your child!' (No DNA testing in Haiti so who knows if he's Yoti's son or not). I pray for this little guy every day. I pray that he will grow up to know the one True God, that God will fill the holes in his life with Himself, that he'll grow to be a strong, bold, follower of Christ and leader in his community and nation. I pray that he will go to school and learn. That this harsh world will be kind to him and when ti's not, that he will be resilient and know deeply how much God loves him. 

Sitting here watching Reginald play his way across the porch, sing, talk, climb, smile, laugh, and pose for pretend selfies with my Haiti phone --- I'm blown away that my heart for Reginald is only a small representation of how much God cares individually about each of us. I'm in full on tears at this point... basking in God's love. We can always approach our daddy and he views us as His children. God- your love for us brings me to tears. Why is it so hard for me to see that you love me this way?.. 100x more than the strong love I have for Reginald!? Maybe it's because I'm struggling with my relationship with my earthly father at the moment. 

This little guy is so full of life. He's so lovable. He's innocent, he's maleable, and he always wants to eat whatever I'm eating. He was abandoned by his mother (not an uncommon story in Haiti) -- oh how she is missing out on this little guy's life. God thank you that you love me like I love Reginald and 1 million times more. Again... so hard for me to understand and so hard for me to accept. 

I am living in a gift that God has hand-picked for me. I get to be in Haiti. What a treat. He is so good to me. He loves me so much. He prepared me for this. He is crazy about me. He gave me gifts that He is so proud of me for using.

I sit here on the Porch listening to an iPod that was a gracious gift from an old friend. (I rarely used this iPod in the states-- no need when there's phones, internet everywhere, computers, radio, and virtual overstimulation all the time). I'm so thankful for this iPod at the moment because it's the only device I have here in Haiti that plays music without internet (p.s. there's no Pandora or Spotify in Haiti). As I sit here crying, I am blown away that God would use a 3 year old Haitian boy to show me how much He loves me. Thank you God for your healing power. Thank you that you love me and are proud of me. Thank you for having compassion for me. Thank you for Haiti. Thank you for this beautiful country and beautiful people that have seen so much sorrow. Thank you that you have good plans for this nation. God bring revival here. Sweep across this nation. 

Thank you God for Reginald, for your unfathomable love, for Haiti, and for Saturday mornings. 

1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.  Matthew 18:1-5 NIV

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14 NIV

15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Luke 18:15-17 NIV