Prayers for Haiti

        Yesterday Haiti, one of the poorest and politically unstable countries in the world, was hit by a devastating earthquake with a high magnitude of 7.0. The capital city of Port-au-Prince was hit the hardest with the destruction of the presidential palace and hospitals across the city, estimates are that over 100, 000 are dead. Doctors without Borders, a major NGO in Haiti has reported that its 3 hospitals are unusable and the head of the U.N Mission in Haiti is also reported as one of the casualties. 
        My heart breaks for this country and for its people. As many of you know, I was part of a missions team in 2006 that went to Haiti to work for the orphanage God's Littlest Angels. One of the girls on my team is very connected to Haiti as her aunt worked at an NGO in Port-au-Prince (the main area that we were serving in), and her family also adopted a little boy from the orphanage we worked at. I have sent her a message hoping and praying that her extended family is safe and that the orphanage was not hit too hard, but I have yet to receive a message back... Please keep Haiti in your prayers!! God is good and faithful even in our darkest hours, and I am praying that Haitians will turn to Christ in this moment of despair and find hope in His promise. I am so worried and saddened by this disaster, but I know that God has a plan even amongst all the brokenness and devastation in His creation.

        These are some photos of my time in Haiti, I miss this beautiful country and wish that I could be there right now helping them in their time of need. Please, please pray for this broken country, for all those who have lost a loved one, who have lost homes, who are alone, the children and the suffering. They need our voices and our love. 

A Slightly Late, Slightly Different New Years Resolution for 2010...

After reading Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schimch's Sunscreen Speech from 1997, I've decided that my New Years Resolution for 2010 will be based loosely on her advice. I like it. Although I'm not entirely sold on the sunscreen...I like my tans and my sunshine, but I suppose I can settle for SPF4. Cheers to 2010!


Wear Sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine. Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idel Tuesday. Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself. Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year- olds I know still don't. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone. Mayber you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody's else's. Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Dont' be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room. Read the directions, even if you don't follow them. Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths. Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders. 

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out. Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will Look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen...