Little sister & big hero.

Some of you may remember my sister Lillian and her family who survived the Haiti earthquake a little over a year ago. I posted about it  ( I can't figure out how to link a page so it's last January 28 and there is a video where they share their story-----. If you haven't heard their story, I seriously recommend it. You will be blessed). 

Well, the one year anniversary of that date has come and gone. Lillian and her family are here right now, waiting for baby #2 to make his/her arrival.  We love having them so close! 

Lillian is my little sister by 5 years. I was the oldest sister and she the youngest sister, with 2 sisters between us. And as children, that 5 year gap didn't seem to close, until I turned 21 and she 16. She didn't seem so 'little' anymore. And although we had many memories as sisters  growing up, we could relate more and understand each other better. And made many fun memories that year before I got married. She has always been unselfish. I don't know if there is anyone that I know personally, actually, that I could say would be as unselfish as she is. 

Her prayer when they left for Haiti, was that she would connect to her husband's culture somehow. Rodney was raised as a missionary child in Haiti, and he lived there up until about 2 years before they got married. He is the 'White Haitian'. They had planned to go down for 3 months while he taught one of his Father's Bible school terms. She planned to learn the language and like I said 'connect to his culture'. They were there one week before the earthquake happened. 

1 week!

Her prayer was answered - she connected in ways she NEVER dreamed of.

And it has changed their lives. 

But she's ok with that. 

She has lived in a tent since then. 

But she's ok with that. 

It's not easy, we can tell, and she doesn't pretend that it is, she's just at peace. 

She's overdue with her baby, and she's ok with that. 

She lived in the tent until she was 8 months along, giving up her brand new house in Haiti, to another couple who needs it more right now. 

And she's ok with that. 

And although there were times of homesickness and tears, she would always tell us, "But I don't want to come home until I learn what it is God is trying to teach me here."

She had days of not much food at all. One meal actually on most days.

She was ok with that - always giving to the teams that were there helping to rebuild before she took for herself. 

Why??

Sometimes I feel this 'pang' of jealousy, like, "Lillian, you HAVE rights, demand them" "Don't let people run over you" "Stand up for yourself"! And it's easier at times to feel that way then to celebrate with her and learn from her. 

You know why it is easier to feel jealous? 

Because then I don't have to change. I don't have to feel convicted. I don't have realize that it's my 'self' that I'm full of. 

She has given up 'self' and replaced it with 'His Spirit'. 

And today she did it again. Not with any pomp or show. Nobody else found out (unless I told them). Just quietly. 

Patrick was home today for the first Saturday in, I don't know how long. She didn't know that when she called. And remember, she's a week overdue. She called around 11 and said, "Hey, we want to come get your kids and take them for lunch and keep them all afternoon, so that you and Patrick can go out." No fireworks, no glory to herself, just because she has chosen to give up 'self'. 

So they did.

They came and picked up the kids.

The picture seemed so turned around to me - should I not be the one doing this for her right now??

They took them to McDonald's and schlepped  them all over, all afternoon. Until suppertime actually. 

It brings me to tears. My little sister is a spiritual giant.

She doesn't know I'm writing this. But I believe...

...She'd be ok with it. Cuz she knows her motives, she's living beyond herself. She has learned to 'listen' to what the Spirit is saying. She isn't superwoman and wouldn't want me to paint her that way. 

I want what she has, and I'm going to ask for it. 

I'm tired of 'Mj' getting in the way. 

I'm so glad that my Heavenly Daddy decided to allow us to have them here with us instead of taking them home with Him, in the earthquake like the 40 in their house who didn't make it. 

I think I know one reason He allowed it...

...for me to learn from her, more about Him.

I love you Lillian & your little family! They plan on returning to Haiti probably sometime in March. 

Mj

Here I am, back at my site.

Like meeting a long lost friend.

And not sure where to start to catch up.

But I have to start somewhere, sometime.... And I've been missing all my friends from the other side of the screen. 

So I'm not going to say much tonight... just that I'm back.

I need this.

It's an outlet.

A much needed outlet for me.

This winter has been tough.

I'll get into that some more - later.

And I may 'change things up' a bit around here. We will see. 

But it's good to be back. 

Mj

The shopping trip of a lifetime......

So last year on my 30th birthday, I got a lovely card from Patrick along with some money. He said he wanted to take off work for a day to take me shopping. But that we would wait for a while, save up a nice amount of money, and then go. Well, we use an 'envelope system' from Dave Ramsey, so every paycheck I would put our allotted amount of money for our clothes into my little envelope. It didn't seem like much every week, but over a couple months I was getting very excited! I was saving $26.00 per week for a year - so do the math if you like......

In the meantime, at our school's auction, my cousin was selling a babysitting weekend. Well, we bought it not really knowing when we would use it, but we got it for a steal ( anyone who has to pay for babysitting will understand this)! When we were trying to plan our day of shopping, it hit us that we should take the entire weekend!

So we started dreaming! I started making a list of things that I really wanted. And we talked about all the fun things we could pack into 3 days. 

We decided to run a race together on Sat. morning, and spend the rest of the time shopping or doing what ever we wanted! We dropped the children off on Friday evening early and shopped for a little then grabbed some sushi. We decided to spend the nights at home, since it was central for when we wanted to shop. It was so much fun to run with Patrick, and we ran together until the end, when Patrick took off in a sprint before I was ready. He finished 12 seconds ahead of me. I was so proud of him! I think we will make a pretty good team!

The rest of Sat. was spend shopping, re-fueling at Starbucks, and eating at the Cheesecake Factory! We ended the day with a movie! Oh and I found a local theatre that has jalapenos that I can put over my popcorn! YUM!! When we spend time in San Antonio 2 years ago, I was introduced to that, and have craved it ever since. But couldn't find a local theatre that had the hot peppers. Sunday morning we slept in and grabbed some breakfast at Bob Evans. I spent the rest of my money and we picked up the kids!

I don't know when the last time was that I could walk through any store I wanted, pull off anything I liked, try it all on, and then take as long as I needed to decide what I wanted. And that is exactly what I did. I was amazed at how tired I felt after each day - but it was a 'good' tired! Patrick was such a sport. He had his new IPad that kept him occupied, and if I had a question about something, I would take a pic with my phone and text him the picture - he would get back to me with his opinion!

So guess what this year for my birthday? And it's coming up again in a few weeks!! <img src="http://s.xanga.com/images/laughing.gif" width="15" border="0" />

Mj

Just 'chattin'