Saying Goodbye to Marlene

SHE'S HOME!! Praise Jesus that Marlene made it, she went home in the arms of her mother rather than a casket. Her life is a miracle. I am so thankful to the Lord that I got be a part of it these last seven months. We laughed a heck of a lot together and there are so many moments that I will never forget. I don't think this is the of my relationship with Marlene and her family, we will see what the Lord has for our future. Please continue to pray for her as she transitions back home and gets back to "normal" life. 

Marlene's journey (PS she is turning six next month):

June 8 - 14lbs, slight kwashiorkor in feet and legs

June 13

June 23 - me and Anna were freaking out that night about how chubby she looked :)

July 2

July 7

July 10 - with Anna

July 16

July 26

August 9 - Saying goodbye, the day before I left. 20lbs

November 22 - Up to 25lbs!!

January 2 - Incredibly healthy and looking so grown up!! 27.5lbs

January 4 - All dressed up and ready to go home...or so we thought. She ended up staying an extra week. Lucky for me :)

7 months ealier...

January 11 - Official goodbye. 28.5lbs She DOUBLED in size! The Lord is good.

Marlene with her Mama when she was admitted

Mid-July with her two brothers and mom. (The youngest, Gethro, passed away this fall)

Going home!!!!

One of the reasons that made it a lot easier to say goodbye to Marlene is her precious mother. This woman is truly a diamond in the rough. Marlene was always talking about her mom and how she takes her to church and prays with her and how she loves her mom so much and she was always letting me know the next time her mom was coming to visit. She consistently came to see Marlene and words cannot express her excitement whenever she got to see her mom. Please pray for Marlene's mom as she raises her 3 children (Marlene and her older brother and sister) and deals with the loss her youngest, Gethro.

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

James 2:5

Back in Haiti

Of course my heart has been so full these last four weeks. Often times with peace, joy, contentment, but other times I have felt incredibly overwhelmed and full of sorrow. I have been so thankful to have incredible women by my side through it all. The Lord is good in providing beautiful friends to laugh with (a ton) and cry with as well.

The first few weeks I helped a lot more in the clinic than I did this summer. I learned A LOT...that is for sure. Every day the clinic is open for dressing changes from 7am until whenever everyone has gone through. Also, Lori, Licia, Anna, and other volunteers have been spending a couple hours in the afternoon/evening to change Claudette's dressings. She came in 9 days ago with severe burns from her chest to her ankles because her dress caught on fire. Please please please pray for her. She is in a horrendous amount of pain!

Other happenings the past month:

I got to meet this precious little guy, Renald.

We took a little trip to church with 3 of the girls: Primane, Roselande, and Gerline. 

It was HILARIOUS watching Gerline attempt to jump on the trampoline after church, especially when I got on and started bouncing her around. I had fun...not so sure about her :)

The girls got to come out to eat with us for a little treat at Karibe, a local hotel in Port-au-Prince that has GREAT food.

Gerline:

Roselande:

Primane:

On Christmas Eve we brought over some of the older kids from the Rescue Center to make Christmas cookies. That day was definitely a day of great memories.

This is Djeuvens who I asked many of you to pray for. This is a picture of him the day before he passed away. He was in really rough shape for the last 48hours. He was such a smiley, happy little guys and it was so awful to see him in so much pain.

Goodbye Djeuvens boy. Safe in the arms of Jesus.

This picture was taken New Years day which is Haiti's Independence Day. One of their traditions on that day is to eat soup joumou which is "pumpkin soup." I expected the worst but to my surprise it was GOOOOD! All of the kids in the Rescue Center also got soup joumou for Independence Day. Jackson was eventually woken up and given some soup as well. :)

Me and Anna went into General Hospital in Port the other day to pick up a lady and her toddler to come and live here in Cazale. After we picked her up our route home took us past the Presidential Palace. This picture was literally taken two days ago...this gives you a really good idea of how earthquake "clean-up" is going as far as the government goes. Pray pray pray.

Finally, it's time for me to say goodbye to Marlene. We thought that she was leaving this past Tuesday, but lucky for me she will probably be around until this next Tuesday. Marlene has DOUBLED in weight since I first started caring for her. I cannot believe how big she has gotten. Her little feet and hands have even gotten so much bigger. I know that Marlene has an incredible mother who loves the Lord and it is SO encouraging seeing how giddy Marlene gets when she talks about going back home with her mom. It is not going to be easy to say goodbye, but in the last 8 months that I have known her I truly saw a miracle of the Lord in front my eyes. 

The Lord is so good you guys, He truly truly is. I only have 10 days left here (this time around) and I know it is going to be harder than ever to leave. I know He will sustain me, He will calm my heart when it can't help being away from here, and I know that He is the Savior of these precious people, He is their hope.