Haitian Love

Wow. What a difference one week can make. It's funny, I went to Haiti praying that my heart wouldn't be completely broken. I was afraid that I would go, see the poverty, feel so sad for the Haitians, and come home feeling helpless. That is so far from what really happened...


The Haitians taught me so much about true contentment in the Lord. Compared to even the poorest Americans they have nothing. They live in make shift huts, mostly constructed out of tarps and pieces of tin. They have no running water and no electricity in most places. They kids don't have any toys, except for maybe an old wheel or piece of rope. And many people are thankful to get one meal a day. Despite all this, they are so happy. Happier than most Americans I know. Their joy is real. It's real because it is not found in material possessions but truly in the Lord. The Haitian people are materially poor, but spiritually blessed. 


I did come home with a heavy heart, but not for my Haitians brothers and sisters, for Americans. Because we are so distracted with all our stuff we are spiritually poor. We don't rely on God for our every NEED, and therefore our trust in Him is weak. 


I can sum up the biggest lesson I learned in one word, less. Less of me, less material possessions, less worry. And in place of these, more Jesus, more loving people, more giving, and more trust in the Lord.  


Haiti has forever left a hand print on my heart. When I think of Haiti I will no longer of a country in despair. I will think of the smiles on their faces, the beautiful little children, the openness of their hearts, and the contentment in the Lord. 


As content as the Haitian are, they are still in great need of so many basics like food and clean water. 1 John 3:17-18 says, "If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,how can the love of God be in that person?  Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." It is our job to love our brothers and sisters and provide for their need. The bible tells us over and over again to love one another. It's so easy to get caught up in our own lives and forget about the rest of the world. But this is what being a Christian means to the core. Love God, Love People. How do you show God love? By loving His people. I pray that we as American Christians can start to truly live out our faith in "actions and truth". I also pray that God will show me areas of my life where I can give more. And I pray that God will continue to bless Haiti for their love and faithfulness. 

Me with the Principal/Pastors daughter, so sweet. 

Getting her first ever school picture taken. 

Sisters in Christ. 

Best Birthday Present

This morning, thanks to my roommate, I got to go visit one of my students out at K1. She is such a sweet and kind hearted little girl, not to mention adorable! This is her very first year at Kanakuk and today is also her birthday. She is the first student I've shared a birthday (we were both pretty excited about it when we found out) so I really wanted to give her a big hug and tell her Happy Birthday.

Lucky for me, Chelsea has connections! She works for Kanakuk and took me over to kamp to make my birthday wish come true. My student was so surprised and excited to see me. As we stood there talking and hugging I asked her what her favorite part of kamp was so far. She looked up and me and said, "Well I don't really know...but I accepted Jesus in my heart last night." I melted in a little puddled and tried to hold back my tears. I gave her another huge hug and told her how proud I am of her. What more could I possibly want for my birthday? She now has Jesus in her heart. Truly the greatest gift EVER!

Forever Changed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgEl9LkejD0 

      I listened to this song for the first time last week while I was driving home from Nashville. As I listened and soaked in all the lyrics I began to cry, and not just a few tears...full on weeping. Why? Because I was reminded so much of my beautiful mother and how blessed I am to have her in my life. And thankfully we won't be to verse 3 of this song for a while (she's still so young). As I listened, I started thinking of all the ways I'm changed because of her love. She is amazing. She has taught me so many lessons from how to put on make-up, how to clean the bathroom, how to treat others, and so much more. Her strength and knowledge inspire me. She is the one who makes our family operate. Without her we would be a complete mess. I often tell people she is Super Woman. And I really do wonder sometimes if she has super powers. I am forever changed because of her love for me and my family. And I hope one day I can be like her.

I love you mom. Thank you for always loving and caring for me.

Trust

Have you ever had a moment where the Lord hits you square in the face with truth? When it feels like God is literally grabbing you by the shoulders and saying, “Listen to me you stubborn little child.” I love those moments.

I had one last weekend. I was feeling sorry for myself and I began to let the lies of the devil into my heart. The biggest lie devil continually tries to feed me is that I’m not enough. Not pretty enough, strong enough, thin enough, smart enough, and the list goes on. I spent the day feeling pretty yucky and in this constant argument within my head, battling back and forth the between the lies of the devil and the truth of the Lord. Finally, on Sunday while I was driving home from church God grabbed my attention and told me to trust. Trust Him. And believe that He is enough and through Him I am too. God gave me the clarity to see that every need I have is more that met in Him alone. Even my wants, He sees and fills. For example, I want a family someday. It is something I strongly desire. God showed me that while I don’t have children of my own yet, He has given me a career where I have an entire classroom of children to love on each day. 19 little hearts that need love, and He’s trusting me to do just that, love them, and at the same time He’s fulfilling one of my greatest desires.

God also put this little poem on my heart. While I was journaling I wrote down this poem to help me remember that trusting God is simple.

Taking

Rest

Under

Simple

Truths

God’s word is the truth. And He promises good things to those who believe and TRUST in Him.

"Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word." -Psalm 119:35-37

Miss Bass is going to Haiti!

For years I’ve wanted to go on an overseas mission trip, but never really pursued the idea. A couple of months ago I read the book Kisses for Katie. After finishing I felt God had  placed a strong desire to go on an overseas trip and soon.  I was ready to pack up, move to Uganda, and start adopting babies (it’s a really inspiring book!) but instead I began to pray.

I prayed about the opportunity to go an overseas mission trip this summer; however I had no idea how to even begin planning a trip. So needless to say, after a couple of weeks, life went on and I didn’t further pursue mission options. I did however start to look into so pretty awesome summer vacation ideas. I was getting pretty close to booking a luxury vacation at an all inclusive resort when I heard of the Haiti opportunity. I was sitting in church and saw the video announcement and immediately felt that tug in my heart again. I knew I had to go.

So I began to pray, and quickly received my answer. Go. One evening I was talking with my best friend Lori and she said, “Sometimes, you just have to keep walking. You keep walking through the doors until God closes them.” She’s a pretty smart girl and I’m blessed to have a friend like her, she is a wise encourager.

From there, things have fallen into place naturally, just as they do when God has His hand in things. First, because I had been planning a vacation I had some money saved. I know without having a little saved already the cost of the trip alone would have slowed my enthusiasm. But it didn’t. I plan to fund most of the trip myself, and I trust that God will do rest. Second, I found out that the main purpose behind the trip will be visiting the school that our church built in Carrefour Defort, Haiti. We will going to meet the students and teachers and to build relationships with them. Our days will include taking school pictures, playing with the kids, doing home visits, putting on talent shows and worships services. As I heard this I thought, “seriously could this trip be more fitting for an elementary school teacher?” Not that I’m incapable of manual labor, if the purpose of the trip was to go build a school and carry cinder blocks, I would do it whole heartily….but building relationships with kids is what I’m most passionate about. It’s like God is saying, “Here you go Janae, look what I have for you.” Now I don’t expect it to be easy. I fully expect to be pushed and stretched physically, mentally, and spiritually. But I couldn’t be more excited about getting to love on those brown eyed kiddos.

Our team leaves on June 14^th (the day after my 25^th birthday) and we will return home on the 21^st. I would love and appreciate your prayers as I prepare for the trip, as well as prayers for a safety. Most importantly I ask that you pray for the lives in Haiti we will be coming in contact with and that their hearts will be open to building relationships.

 I’m so excited! Miss Bass is going to Haiti!!!

We Are Branson

    I love living in Branson. It's the strangest little town, but has some of the nicest people I've ever met. This has proven so true over the last 48 hours. In the aftermath of the tornado that hit early Tuesday morning I have seen so much love in this town. My roommate and I were completely unharmed. Our only set back was losing power for about 36ish hours. With just that minor set back I had so many friends and co-workers offer to let us stay with them. It's really comforting to know that although I don't have any "family" here, I do have my Branson family here to love and support me.

   This morning I wasn't sure what to expect as I headed into my classroom. I knew the kids would have lots to say. And they sure did. We took about 30 minutes to share this morning. And even though a lot of them talked about being scared, overall they were so mature about everything. I honestly think my 8 year olds are handling this better than some adults.

    I did have one student that lost her house. As she told her story in class, we all discovered that her trailer was crushed during the tornado. Tonight I had the opportunity to visit with her and her mother for a few minutes. Her mom showed me pictures of the trailer, over half of it was flattened. Luckily her mother received a phone call warning her the tornado was coming, and she was able to get my student and her sisters to a nearby house for shelter. If they wouldn't have gotten the phone call my student would have been crushed inside her bedroom. Seeing that picture just brought a whole new sense of danger and relief to my heart. I'm so thankful she is okay. God is so good.

    In comparison to what happened in Joplin last May our damages are nothing. We didn't lose any lives and only had reports of minor injuries. In fact many parts of town are completely unharmed and open for business.  But it is still hard to see the community you love hurting. Thankfully, this is a community that shows love and compassion daily, under "normal" circumstances. I know we will continue to help each other through this. We are love. We are compassion. We are family oriented. We are neighbors. We Are Branson.

I do have a few cute quotes from the day:

"I don't understand how the trains were able to keep going and blasting their sirens during the tornado?" -she was confused by hearing people say the tornado sounds like a train and hearing the warning sirens (don't worry we got it all straightened out).

After I explained that I still didn't have power as of this morning on of my girls said:
"Oh...so that is why your hair is in a ponytail..."

After saying we were lucky to only have minor injuries one of my special needs boys said:
"Oh no! Minors! They are so bad!"
-As part of our school discipline policy student receive minor and major forms for poor choices. It was kinda hard explaining the difference to my little guy.

And this one was sweet, from the little girl who lost her house:
"My clothes, toys, and all that other stuff don't mean anything. We can buy more. But you can't buy a new me."

Early Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day! All the pink, hearts, and chocolate, what's not to love??

Being a teacher on Valentine's Day is the best. I can't wait to celebrate with my kids on Tuesday. I'm sure I will be blogging about it next week. But I wanted to quickly share a gift I received today. This is from one of the most shy girls in my class. She is very quiet and reserved. Her home life is not the greatest and she's often very sad. However, she is a wonderful student and very talented at writing poetry. I'm always telling her how much I love her poems, so in return she writes me them all the time. She even made a folder for me to keep them all in!

This morning she brought me this. It made me cry. I will keep it forever. Such a great way to start the Valentine's celebration!

Roses are red

Violets are blue, 

You love me and I love you too. 

You're the best teacher so far,

I wish 3rd grade would never end. 

I will never forget you when it does. 

Now look in the mirror in the heart

and you will see someone very important to me.