Haiti: Day 1

   Our time in Haiti was so amazing, words can't fully describe what my heart wants to share.  Over the next several blog posts, I will be sharing with you each day of our time in Haiti.  These posts will consist of photos, what I learned, and what we did.

  My whole family  woke up with me and we were out the door before 2am to eat breakfast at Perkins.  Yep, my family's pretty cool. :)

  We arrived at the church at 3:15am on Tuesday morning all awake and ready to go!  

at the airport, saying goodbye to Pastor who was kind enough to get up so early to drive us to the airport

  After making our way through the maze of people who wanted to "help" us with our bags, we saw Nate and Kristi and we were off!  Nate and Kristi moved to Haiti one year ago and are a part of our church.  To see all they are doing in Haiti was simply amazing!

  When we arrived at the Guest House, we unloaded our bags and got settled in.  We then walked down the road to see if we could help this man (below) fix his broken sewing machine.  Jean does a lot of sewing so she was eager to help this man.

 The rest of us looked at the fruit.  Quenepas (otherwise known as Spanish Limes) are only in season in August.  They are amazing!

Quenepa
source

   This sweet little boy was sitting here with his mom.  What a cutie!

  Kristi went down to Haiti with a goal of helping women learn to grow gardens.  Here is Kristi's at the Guest House - it's on top of the roof!  She has helped grow several other gardens, a couple of which we got to see!

    Our day ended (as it did the rest of the week) on this wonderful veranda.  At night, it was usually breezy and a wonderful place to play team games and team reflections.

Fun little fact that I'd written in my journal: the water trucks deliver water bags to the villages.  These bags are about 4"x4".  The trucks actually play music like an ice cream truck does here in the States!  Fun to see!

Day 2 coming tomorrow!

  In Christ,
     Sierra

in 36 hours...

In 36 hours, this group will all be leaving their houses to meet at 3:15am to head to the airport.

I can't wait for this trip to Haiti!  We have such a wonderful team, and I know God is going to work through each of us and in each of us.

I can't believe we're only 36 hours away from leaving!  Not only that, but I can't believe all we'll be doing within those 36 hours: packing, working, shopping, and school (at least I'll be doing school!).  Not to mention any preparations that have yet to be made.

Your prayers for our safety and health are greatly appreciated.  I recently read a book called When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert.  This is a wonderful book to read especially when going on a short-term mission trip.  Anyway, this book included the following quote:

"Until we embrace our mutual brokenness, our work with low-income people is likely to do far more harm than good." (pg. 61)

Which leads me to my next prayer request: please pray that we will realize our mutual brokenness and have a godly mindset as we head down to Haiti.

With love,

Sierra

my high school graduation party

on saturday, june 29, 2013, I officially graduated from high school.

close family and old friends joined us for the ceremony;

distant and close family, old and new friends alike came to celebrate at my open house.

it was a blessed day - i couldn't have asked for a better one!

i'll narrate the day in pictures taken by: lydia, brita, and frankie (thanks!).

after my parents each gave really nice speeches, they presented me with my diploma

then i gave my graduation speech.

my youth pastor spoke (thank you, pastor blake!) and we were done - i was graduated!!  we moved on to picture time.

my cousin and her wonderful family.  hadn't seen these guys since january!

my cousin and his sweet family.

my aunt and uncle

another cousin and her husband

my great-grandma, me, and my grandma 

cousin and her family 

my best friend, lydia, and i

amber and i have been friends since before our preschool days!

my wonderful family!  we all look exhausted...we forgot about the family picture till the end of the day. :/

love these two!!

little bro, aidan

my sister, frankie

now on to the decor/food pictures! :P

for dessert, i had milk & cookies - and it was so pretty, you're getting more than one picture.
thanks to my cousin, megan, for the beautifully decorated sugar cookies on the left!  i didn't get to
taste them, but they disappeared quickly!

last angle. :D  thank you, terri, for taking charge over the milk & cookies!

my friend, laura, surprised me on friday evening by paining this beautiful banner!  i am keeping it forever and ever.  see the 2013 in there, too?!  this banner makes me happy.  thanks, laura!

inspired by my friend jenn, i decided to make this newsletter type thing!
(there's a back, too, which you can somewhat see in the next photo)

aren't those center pieces pwetty?!  sandi made them for me - thank you!

our tent set-up

this kid. :)

we were all set when we had my friend, lizzy, lifeguard.  at one time, we had about 20 kids in there!

my "then & now" board.

i had more of a display table, but didn't grab a picture of that - slipped my mind.

i got, for the first time, individual photos of some of my LIVE girls and i!  super special for me. ;)

and that was my graduation day!
such an amazing time

in love,
sierra

opportunity left a voice-mail

  late December 2012:  our church bulletin announced there would be two mission trips to Haiti coming up.  one in summer 2013; one in winter 2014.  at that time, I had to tell myself "no" because of what was currently happening in our family: my dear grandpa was dying of cancer and living with us.  there was no chance I'd be able to think about it with all that was going on.  so I told myself "no" and forgot about it.

  early June 2013:  I emailed our church secretary about the winter 2014 trip to Haiti.  there was no new information, but I asked to be placed on the email list when they knew something.  I wasn't committing to anything, but I did want to consider this opportunity.

  last Wednesday: my mom and I are in the kitchen.  talking about different opportunities that God's placed in my life.  opportunities which span the next year and a half.  which do I take?  which do I put on the side-lines for now?  which do I say "no" to?  I mentioned that timing-wise, the trip in August, which I had missed the opportunity of going on, would have worked better than February.  I'd still consider February, though.  I knew a three people on the August Haiti team - two of them I'd gone to Brazil with last year.

  Friday morning: I got an email from our Brazil team leader who also was leading the August Haiti team saying "I just left a message on your phone, please check your voicemail.  I have something I'd like you to pray about."  I didn't know what it was...but I went to check my phone.  as I was listening, tears started welling up as I realized that I was being handed an opportunity of a life-time.  Christine invited to join the team!  I couldn't believe it.  I finished the message, hung up and called my mom.  she knew about it since Christine called her, first for permission to ask me.  apparently, one of my fellow Brazil team members asked if I could join the team.  Christine approached the whole team to ask if I could join.  she called the ministry to see if they had room.  she called the travel agent to see if there were more seats on the plane.  she called my mom to see if she could invite me.  and then she called me and made my day!

  on August 13th, I will be flying to Haiti with six others from my church to work in orphanages, schools, a church, etc.  exactly what we'll be doing there is not yet determined, but I can't wait!  this is so exciting for me!  the ways God blesses me is sometimes more than I can handle and I honestly want to break down and cry.  my parents told me they would pay for the trip as a graduation gift - what's a better graduation gift than traveling and doing missions?!

  there are other missions opportunities that I have on my plate which I'll need to decide on over the next several months.  I'm hoping that my time in Haiti will maybe help me make decisions on some of those opportunities.

  God is good! don't forget it!

  Sierra

no more training wheels!

  Saturday, June 29, 2013, I officially graduated from high school, although I finished high school work mid-May.

   Sunday night, after everything was cleaned up and finished after my grad party, I told my mom, "Now that I'm officially graduated...now that it's final...I feel like a real adult."

  It's true.  I feel like a lot has changed in my attitude in the past four days.  But in a good way.  God has opened several doors of opportunity within the coming year and a half, and it's going to take a lot of prayerful consideration to find out just where He wants me.  But I know that He'll show me and I'm just looking forward to taking this one day at a time.

  These will be days full of school...of work...of intense Bible study...of a lot of prayer...and discussion...full of fellowship....of getting involved in new places...of school...of making adult decisions.  It's gonna be crazy.  I know it will be.  But as I am transitioning into full-time adulthood (finally - I'm an actual college kid!), I am ever-so grateful for my parents who are willing to give me advice and help me make the right choices.

  When you are really small, your parents probably stuck you on your first tricycle.  Then you moved to training wheels.  And finally, you could pedal all by yourself, but your parents still ran along with you just in case you fell and needed help back up.  And eventually...you and your parents could go on mile-long bike rides together, always there in case someone fell, yet you were fully capable of riding by yourself.

  I feel like this past year and a half or two years, I've had my training wheels.  And as of Saturday, they were taken off!  For the first time, I'm on my own, but I still have my parents there to guide me and help me when I need it - and I will!  I have a feeling which I can't explain: scared...excited...nervous...joyful...confident...unprepared...sad...responsible...Spiritually strong...Spiritually inadequate...purposeful...indecisive...and the list could go on.  It's all mixed in one.

  But I have to say, as I've said before.  This "new unknown" makes me pretty excited.  And I have full faith in God that any struggles I face, He'll be my shield.

  As I went through my graduation cards after my party, I found two common passages referenced: Proverbs 3:5-6 and Jeremiah 29:11.  However, I found three cards which each offered a different verse from each other and from any other card I'd received.

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desire of your heart."  ~Psalm 37:4

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."  ~Romans 12:12

"But be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you."  ~1 Samuel 12:24

God bless,

   Sierra

PS: coming soon...graduation party pictures.  (happy)

this is the first day of the rest of my life

today, i finished high school.

i'm excited - who isn't when they reach this milestone, right?

but more than excitement for reaching the milestone,

i'm excited for the future.

i'm eager to find out what the future holds.

i'm anticipating something...

yet i don't know what.

what's out there?

what does my future hold?

what will my life look like in 5 years?  10?

heck, what will my life look like next year?

there's so much uncertainty, it makes me so excited!

i'm not a flexible person - i like a plan.  i like a schedule.

but the unknown of the future is...exciting!

i want adventure.  and uncertainty is adventure.

i want to travel.  now i can.

i am earning my college degree.  i get to finish.

i want to develop and grow my discipleship group.

with high school out of the way, i can.

i don't know what i'm waiting for

but i do know...without a doubt...that i'm here for a reason.

i have yet to find that exact reason.  but God has a plan for me.

and knowing that He knows even though i don't...is exciting.

~sierra

three doors -- only one left open

I gotta start with a little background first before I go into this really cool story about how God has been working in my life.

 In January, I started cleaning for a homeschool family twice a month.  Since it wasn't all that often, it worked well with my school and my schedule in general.  It left me worn out, but I enjoyed talking to the kids as I cleaned and hearing their stories about Tonka trucks, camping trips, and forts.  This family has four children, but the mom's parents lived with them, also, due to health reasons.

 At the beginning of March, I "accidentally" stumbled across an internship opportunity at the Target Corporate Center in Minneapolis.  It was an internship for the job as a Business Analyst.  Long story short, that job had always sounded very interesting to me and for a really long time, I'd wanted to work at the Target Corporate Center (and truly, I have no idea why...).  So after long nights putting together a resume that actually mattered, a high school transcript, and filling out the application form, I applied for this internship.  I knew that whether or not I got the internship, that whole applying experience was good for me.

 When the middle of March rolled around, my dad took me out for breakfast and told me of yet another opportunity.  First, let me say that he is the co-owner of a small business that builds elevators - nothing electrical, just "the box".  His company builds custom elevators and you can see their work in Chicago, Santa Monica, even Dubai in Abu Dhabi!  Anyway, his two sales men have been asking for a "third person" to deal with emails and some phone calls and handle other odd jobs to help them so they can focus on the bigger things that may (and do) come up.  My dad's co-owner has a son who is my age, and they were thinking that together, this summer, we could fill this position for these sales guys.  My dad told me at breakfast that morning that they were only just considering opening the position but wanted to know if I'd be interested.  I said yes, I'd be interested.

 So when I got home from breakfast that morning, my mind was reeling with questions like, "If I got the internship, what would happen with the cleaning job?" and "If I got the internship and my dad's position, I'd still have the cleaning job - how do I go about that?".  I was worrying about having to make the decision of which job I would have to keep, because I could only take one.

 Well, the week following breakfast with my dad, I got a phone call from the mom of the family I clean for.  A position opened up and she was able to put her parents in a nursing home.  Due to the fact that this opened up a lot of time for her family to be able to keep up the cleaning duties, she didn't need me any longer to clean.  Although I was kind of counting on that extra income, I knew that it was probably for the best, and I wasn't upset or even disappointed.  I had a peace about it.

 Last week, when I was in Virginia, I got an email at 1am as a group of us were sitting around the table playing games and talking.  I could see it was from the Target Corporation and it said that my status had been updated on my account - I had to log in to see it.  So I tried.  Due to several reasons, such as the fact that I was on my phone, plus, it was one o'clock in the morning, I was unable to remember my account information, so I had to wait.  The next morning, I still had no luck, so I texted my sister back home and had her get on my laptop and find my account information.  Finally, I was able to log in!!  What I saw made me almost sigh in relief.  I had not gotten the internship.  My heart barely sank, I was totally fine with it.  Yes, it would have been completely amazing had I gotten the internship, but the months leading up to this summer would have been stressful, I would have been nervous, and I would have been commuting almost an hour and a half each way every day.

 I called my mom and told her.  She said she agreed - it was probably a good thing I didn't get it.  I called my dad.  He didn't answer.  When I got a hold of him 30 minutes later, he said he had been in a meeting.  He had been meeting about that "third person" position (I'm going to have to find a title for that position).  They decided that I could start at the end of April!!!

 Now, if you didn't catch the exciting thing in all that, I will say this:

I had three very open doors.  And one by one, God shut the doors until there was one left open.  And it happened to be the door that I would have felt most comfortable walking into; the one that is more likely to lead to bigger possibilities; the one that I get to work for/with my dad! 

 Only God could do that.

I thank Him I only had to wait in the hallway for a little while...

 I just had to share that with you.  I don't believe in coincidences.  I believe in a God who orchestrates everything according to His purpose.  You probably hear a lot of people say, "we just can't see the bigger picture yet".  Sometimes, in life, people have to wait a long time to see just a glimpse of the bigger picture.  This time, for me, I didn't have to wait very long.  Only three weeks.  But what would have normally been disappointments, got me more and more excited that God had something better in mind.  I didn't have to make that decision.  It was made for me and set before me.  I couldn't ask for anything more.  

 In my Bible study group last night, we read from Ephesians 3.  This is what verses 20 & 21 say, which I believe fit very well with all that I just said:

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen."

To Him be the glory forever and ever!  AMEN!!!

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."     ~Romans 8:28

God bless,

  Sierra