Wow I really can't believe it's almost 2009. I remember when I was little thinking about how far away 2012 seemed (the year I'm graduating in) and now it seems so close!!
2008 was not too bad I would say, I met a lot of really cool people, had a lot of fun times, starting reading my bible every day, realized how much I love language and photography, and lots of other stuff too.
I want to know what your favorite part of 2008 was. In 5 words or less :)
Here's mine: Everything I did involving Haiti.
(that includes both the Febuary and July trips, Isaiah project, going to the Haitian church, learning more Creole...) :)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
A New Face For Marlie
This morning I didn't really feel like doing much of anything, so I turned on the t.v. while I was eating lunch. I pulled up the guide on the screen and started looking at what was on. Nothing really caught my eye, so I kept looking until I got to TLC. The show that was on at the time didn't really interest me, it was about this lady that was living with half a body because of some disease she had. The show that was going to be on after it, on the other hand... one o'clock could not come fast enough for me. I amused myself with Full House for an hour waiting for this show to come on. And the reason the show looked so good to me... the girl in it was from Haiti!!! She had a birth defect, and I can't remember what it's called, but it was the worst case of it in medical history. The bones in her face were extremely distorted and caused a 16-pound growth to form on her face. She couldn't hold her head up without her hands. She couldn't breathe easily at all. She couldn't eat. Her family thought she was going to die. The girl, Marlie, locked herself in another room so no one could see her. She tried commiting suicide once, but her dad caught her before she slit her throat. She was 13 years old at the time.
This is the story.
Her dad never watched the news, but one time he did, and there were these twins from Haiti on it who were nurses and had dedicated their lives to saving people from their country. He contacted them somehow and the nurses came to the house to look at Marlie. They both said that at first they wondered how she could be human and didn't think there was anything that could be done for her. But then they both thought about their own kids and decided they had to do something for her. So they worked at getting money for her to come to the United States on a medical visa to have emergency surgery. It happened, and the two nurses, Marlie, and Marlie's mom all came to the U.S. for about 6 months. In this time, the doctors performed two surgeries on her face, one on the midsection and the other on her jaw area. They did not think she would be able to have a nose again, but during the first surgery they built one for her. In the second surgery, they took out the rest of the growth and put in a metal jaw. By the end, she was dancing and smiling. Before she could hardly open her eyes and couldn't move her face at all. Her dad and two sisters came to visit her in America at the end of her surgeries, and then the whole family flew back to Haiti. She was going to come back some other time to have the finishing surgeries on her face, and the doctors said that when they are all done, she will be able to walk around without anyone looking at her different, she is going to look like everyone else.
Part of it was filmed in Haiti, and the two nurses, and the family were speaking in Creole. Most of it was translated over so you couldn't hear it, but there were a couple of parts where you could hear them talking. They showed some in Port au Prince and some in the city where Marlie was from... I can't remember what it's called though. There were tap-taps, market, the airport, roads, houses, everything.
Anyone up for a quick trip?? ;]
This is the story.
Her dad never watched the news, but one time he did, and there were these twins from Haiti on it who were nurses and had dedicated their lives to saving people from their country. He contacted them somehow and the nurses came to the house to look at Marlie. They both said that at first they wondered how she could be human and didn't think there was anything that could be done for her. But then they both thought about their own kids and decided they had to do something for her. So they worked at getting money for her to come to the United States on a medical visa to have emergency surgery. It happened, and the two nurses, Marlie, and Marlie's mom all came to the U.S. for about 6 months. In this time, the doctors performed two surgeries on her face, one on the midsection and the other on her jaw area. They did not think she would be able to have a nose again, but during the first surgery they built one for her. In the second surgery, they took out the rest of the growth and put in a metal jaw. By the end, she was dancing and smiling. Before she could hardly open her eyes and couldn't move her face at all. Her dad and two sisters came to visit her in America at the end of her surgeries, and then the whole family flew back to Haiti. She was going to come back some other time to have the finishing surgeries on her face, and the doctors said that when they are all done, she will be able to walk around without anyone looking at her different, she is going to look like everyone else.
Part of it was filmed in Haiti, and the two nurses, and the family were speaking in Creole. Most of it was translated over so you couldn't hear it, but there were a couple of parts where you could hear them talking. They showed some in Port au Prince and some in the city where Marlie was from... I can't remember what it's called though. There were tap-taps, market, the airport, roads, houses, everything.
Anyone up for a quick trip?? ;]
Monday, December 15, 2008
As I watch myself fall into a little thing I like to call "Calorie Overload" time after time, I start to wonder about all the starving people in the world. They probably will never experience this version of a stomach ache resulting from eating too much junk food. They get their own kind of stomach ache, if you can call it that. Starving, empty bellies for all these people. All the young, younger than me. All the old who have never known everything different. This is life.
I've tried it before, to see what it felt like. I did a minor fast, 49 hours. Then after that, I went to one of the many cupboards in my house, stocked with food. I never doubted that. I never in my life have had to wonder if there was going to be food when I got home. I never worried that I wouldn't get to eat the next day, or the next week. Everyday life for these people all over the world is nothing like mine. I can't understand the pain they feel. Even if I try, just a fraction of the time that they go without eating, I don't have to worry about where my next meal is going to come from. And yes, it hurts after a while not having anything in your stomach. The difference is that for me, at any time, I could have said "Okay, I'm done. Time to eat," walked over to the kitchen and gotten myself something.
Now I have a different pain. One in my heart. I want to help. I want to do something. And that pain grows stronger every time I realize that the majority of my time is spent focused on myself.
So I need to make some changes. I wish it was as easy for all the hungry people out there to change as it is for me. And I don't think it's going to be that easy for me to change, but I have the option to. These people don't.
I am change.
I've tried it before, to see what it felt like. I did a minor fast, 49 hours. Then after that, I went to one of the many cupboards in my house, stocked with food. I never doubted that. I never in my life have had to wonder if there was going to be food when I got home. I never worried that I wouldn't get to eat the next day, or the next week. Everyday life for these people all over the world is nothing like mine. I can't understand the pain they feel. Even if I try, just a fraction of the time that they go without eating, I don't have to worry about where my next meal is going to come from. And yes, it hurts after a while not having anything in your stomach. The difference is that for me, at any time, I could have said "Okay, I'm done. Time to eat," walked over to the kitchen and gotten myself something.
Now I have a different pain. One in my heart. I want to help. I want to do something. And that pain grows stronger every time I realize that the majority of my time is spent focused on myself.
So I need to make some changes. I wish it was as easy for all the hungry people out there to change as it is for me. And I don't think it's going to be that easy for me to change, but I have the option to. These people don't.
I am change.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Trying to wait patiently
To get out of this place
This place I don't want to be
Pleading a case
I'm never going to win
Trying to get out
To get out of this sin
My mind wants to doubt
My heart wants to trust
To trust His perfect plan
I know that I must
Let Him be God, let me be man
But it hurts and I'm breaking
I need to move, need to go
My heart is aching
Time passes so slow
Just gotta believe
Believe in His plan for me
I just gotta leave
I just gotta be
-written today when I got bored during art :)
Monday, December 1, 2008
Thoughts
Have you ever heard the saying "If you have a penny for your thoughts, and you put your two-cents in, what happens to the other penny?" I heard that a while ago, and thought of it today. So folks... a penny for your thoughts??
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