Leaving on a Jet Plane... (well, almost)

We will leave for Haiti this Thursday.  Most of you know what an unexpected blessing this trip is.  Adoptive parents really aren’t allowed to volunteer at the orphanage, but for some reason GLA is allowing us to volunteer for 2 weeks over Christmas.  GLA did ask that we not broadcast our trip, and we absolutely want to respect their wishes…  However we also wanted family & close friends to be able to follow our trip – so this volunteer blog will remain private for that reason.

We feel completely blessed just to be in Haiti, and are committed to serving the orphanage and the kids while we are there.  Now... that being said, obviously we will get to see Samuel Chancelet, which is the driving factor (not going to lie about that) but at the same time, we know it will be quiet at GLA and I hope to get those babies out on the balcony to play!  Joe will also spend some time at Fort Jacques (new orphanage site.)

Well… in reality?  We have no idea what to expect.  Joe’s experience was a bit different from the life of a “normal” GLA volunteer this past summer, so we can’t really use that as the baseline.  And given it is Christmas (and they try to keep things quiet) we really don’t know how things will be run, or what staff will even be on-site.  But we are going into this with a “whatever” and flexible attitude.  Because again… we are just glad to be going and that we are able to give time to GLA.

This trip came quickly upon us…  and while we are “mostly” packed and ready to go, there are still some loose ends to tie up.  It’s amazing how fast the “extra” 2 suitcases filled up with orphanage donation items, gifts for our friends’ children & staff members and some vital necessities like hand sanitizer and extra socks!  We had to weigh the suitcases and one came back at 47.6, which means we can still cram in 2.4 pounds!  Have to make the most of every inch we have!  :-)

We have been able to share our “orphanage visit news” with our two closest adoptive family friends (Cathleen/Kent & Heidi/Brady) so Cathleen was able to send over some cute outfits, medications, crafts for the toddler house and Christmas gifts for the kids (we are so glad we can be there to give him some extra Christmas love.)  And it will also be the 1^st birthday of Heidi’s son while we are there, so we plan to help him celebrate!  Heidi and Brady arrive at the orphanage on 12/15 for some judge paperwork, so we will actually have one night of overlap (Friday) with them, if all goes as planned.

We had our “Christmas” with M&D (Jill’s parent’s) this past weekend and it really did feel like Christmas as we did all the usual routines (church, Christmas Eve gifts, Christmas Day stockings, a concert (Gospel Christmas) and even had a ham for dinner.  So it is odd to keep hearing about Christmas music, deal for Christmas shopping, and events & programs going on.  It feels like it should be New Year to us!  

How are we feeling?
Very excited…  absolutely anxious…  blessed and thankful. 
But afraid of the return home. 

We walked in these shoes before (this past summer) and know what we will mentally face once we are back home.  It will be so hard to leave Samuel Chancelet in Haiti, not knowing (once again) how long it will be before we see him again.  Because the next time will be when we go get him… We have been praying that we would exit the “Court” stage before December end, but it doesn’t look like that will happen.  I think once we are past this week, things in Haiti will come to a halt for the Christmas holiday.  This is tough to face, but certainly not a new feeling (hearing no status change for weeks/months.)

We will take an afternoon flight to LA on Thursday and then a red-eye to Miami.  We should arrive in Haiti on Friday around 12noon (local time.)  Haiti is 3 hours ahead of PST.

So, we invite you to follow along on our Haiti adventure.  Check the blog often because this will be our main communication tool.  It’s easy to take a quick snapshot and upload it “on-the-spot” so we will try to do that along the way!

Please leave comments on the blog if you feel compelled.  They come directly to the Blackberry and it's always nice to know people are out there when we are feeling homesick.  :-)

Suitcases with Donation Items & Gifts