LOVE TRAIN!!!

People all over the world (you don't need no money)Join hands (come on)Start a love train, love train (don't need no ticket, come on)People all over the world (Join in, ride this train)Join in (Ride this train, y'all)Start a love train (Come on, train), love train

ITS TRUE! EVERYONE CAN JUMP ON THIS TRAIN! 

Since I'm posting this on Valentine's Day (or as I affectionately refer to it: "Single Person's Awareness Day")--I was reminded that LOVE is not just something shared between significant others. I love a good Molly Ringwald or Julia Roberts movie as much as the next girl. BUT LOVE IS SO MUCH BIGGER THAN THAT!

Love is for EVERYONE! It transcends every boundary that humans have set up to separate ourselves from each other. And it took a little boy in Haiti to remind me.

2/4/13:  I sat in a small room with a table, 2 chairs, and a tiny window. I had just finished my first day of triage when a very energetic little boy named Roobens came in  trying to talk to me in Creole.  I smiled and nodded but he was insistent that I understand what he was saying. He went to find his cousin and brought him back to see me and I continued to try and make out what they were saying.  My interpreter, Weed-Mark, said to me with a smile,  "they want to know if this is your house."

I looked up and both Roobens and his cousin were grinning ear to ear. I explained (through Weed-Mark) that "no, this is not my house." It didn't dawn on me until after they had left how perfectly simple our interaction had been.

You see, our first day of clinic had been filled with many "adult" things.  I, like many of our team, had been asking a lot of "why? After personally listening to the health problems of over 75 patients, the circumstances that separated us were so clear and in my face. I felt the guilt. I had clothes, food, access to healthcare, a plane ticket back to the United States. I wanted to know WHY my new friends didn't have these things. I felt the barriers of socioeconomic status and nationality.

Before I let my existential crisis get the best of me, Roobens reminded me of the innocence of a child. He got it right. It didn't matter that I was white and he was black, that I was American and he was Haitian. He didn't know that my bathroom is probably bigger than that entire room. For him, it was a day at the doctor. Its his normal. Its all he has known. He just thought he was visiting my house and he was excited and wanted to show his cousin as well. It was refreshing. He hadn't analyzed our differences but instead treated me just like he would any other new friend. And in a world full of ways to divide us, I was comforted in knowing that Roobens was accepting me into his normal.


Does anyone remember that vacation bible school song "come and go with me, to my father's house, its a big big house with lots and lots of room, with a big big table with lots and lots of food." It had great dance moves that went along with it and if you know me, I love anything that comes with dance moves.

I remember making the motions with my hands, arms outstretched as wide as I could go when we sang "big big house" and "big big table." There might have even been something about a big big yard to play football. I don't remember feeling particularly evangelical when I sang the song, I was 9 and I'm pretty sure I was focused on making my arm movements better than the person next to me. 

What I do remember is understanding that God's house was big enough for EVERYONE, and his table was big enough for EVERYONE, even big enough for me to share with my enemies (shout out to my mom for helping our 3rd grade sunday school class memorize pslam 23)

Growing up I was able to observe inclusive Christian communities and it had a huge impact on my view of service. Service was something we did. And luckily, at FPC, we did it with a smile. I WANTED to grow up and be part of service because everyone had smiles on their faces. I'm under no illusion that service does not come without some sort of sacrifice, but the "big kids" and adults I saw always appeared "filled up" by their service. It provided them joy!  A different kind of joy than a Zack's hotdog or unlimited tokens at Skids Kids (remember, I was 9). Service was never seen as a chore or punishment, it was a part of living. Cross-cultural relationships are very special and IMPORTANT! I have been intentional about letting that sink in over the years as I've participated in my own acts of service.  

What about people who didn't observe "service" growing up? What about people who don't particularly feel like "missions" is important or really applies to them? I choose to believe its not their fault--maybe service just wasn't something that was instilled into them and it doesn't matter the reason. ITS NEVER TOO LATE!!! Getting involved with something bigger than yourself will change your life. 

"Compassion is something other than pity. Pity suggests distance..compassion means to become close to the one who suffers. But we can come close to another person only when we are willing to become vulnerable ourselves. A compassionate person says 'I am your brother, I am your sister, I am human, fragile, and mortal just like you. I am not scandalized by your tears nor afraid of your pain. I too have wept. I too have felt pain. We can be with the other only when the other ceases to be "other" and becomes like us. "
--Henri Nouwen Here and Now: Living in the Spirit


BEING IN HAITI, around other people who believed in service, WAS IMPORTANT. Ofcourse people shared why they came to Haiti each year and what service meant to them, but also a joint understanding that Haiti brought them to a place within themselves and in their relationship with God and his creation that they could only seem to tap into when they were physically in Haiti. They got more out of it than they put into it. Every time. Each year.


I talked about Bill and his experience with the crescendo during his visits to Peru in this post. Click on "Bill" to read it.

Love is for everyone, and I do believe Celine Dion was onto something with her hit "Love Can Move Mountains."

Love makes us do silly things. It also causes us to do amazing things. It forces us to rethink our priorities. It urges us to answer the call. It takes us to Haiti where we experience love in the tiniest fingers and toes and in the largest mountains surrounding the walls of our compound. 

THE REST OF THE POSTS WILL BE COMING TONIGHT! IF YOU'RE STILL HANGING ON, IM SENDING YOU A VIRTUAL VALENTINE!