How did we get here?

So this is how this went down…

July 11, 2013 Learned about an opportunity to help run a guesthouse in Haiti. Prayed, asked for counsel and decided to take the leap of faith to raise support and commit to one year in Haiti, serving orphans, adoptive families and mission teams.

I (Aimee) sat in my office at AWAA and overheard talk of a blog post that was going up about a guesthouse in Haiti.  The house would be a place for adoptive families and mission teams to stay while completing their adoptions or serving in Port-au-Prince. Immediately my thought was “I want to move there.” I said it out loud jokingly but the idea just seemed right.  I’ve been involved with adoption for almost 4 years and love being a part of the process of children becoming a part of a loving family.  My current role was helping families with the paperwork aspect of the process and over the past several months I began to wonder what I could do to have a more active role in a family’s adoption and serve people in-person, rather than from behind a computer screen.  This seemed like the answer.  I then realized that “I” am now a “we” and quickly texted Tim. It went something like this…"AWAA is opening a guesthouse for adoptive families and mission teams, lets move there.” This was just the beginning of many conversations we’d have over the next few weeks. We sought much prayer and counsel and after weighing all of the input, we decided to take the step of faith. Just like when I moved to VA, it was more difficult to picture NOT taking this step than it was to take it. Even if it sounded crazy.

I saw a quote by Sheila Walsch that said, “Most people will not understand what the love of Christ compels you to do, but do it anyway.”  As we found ourselves counting the cost of going to Haiti, they were real and important. Things like grad school, lease, uncertain income, quitting our jobs, raising support quickly, storing our belongings, being newlyweds, wanting to start a family in the future, saving, investing, health risks, spiritual warfare, etc…we knew that with these factors were real risks and uncertainties, but even in the midst of all of these questions, God gave us a sense of peace and assurance to just take one step forward. So we did and one by one, these potential issues or roadblocks quickly vanished. It some cases quite literally. Our faith has already been tested and our trust in God increased.  I have never felt so literally incapable of meeting my own physical, spiritual, financial and emotional needs. This is something we’ve never done. I’ve never needed to trust God so completely with my future down to the very need of finances themselves. He is God. He is good.  He has paid my eternal debt and loves me more than I’ll ever be able to fathom. I have felt a literal “end to my abilities and resources” and been put in a place of total reliance that I never have before. It would seem that this would cause me to clench my fists and hold on more tightly to things than I ever have, but miraculously, I see God doing the opposite. He is helping me see all that I have as HIS more than it is mine. He provides all we have and is capable of taking care of my needs more than I could ever do on my own.

Here begins the journey...