2010 Trip of a Lifetime--to Haiti

This morning I was laughing at myself over the way

I am obsessing about taking an outfit or two to my

2 little girls in Colombia.
What do I take? Will it fit? What would they love?

I was remembering that in 2010, just months after

Jack died, I took 3 outfits to each of 19 girls in Haiti.

I was going to repost my blog about that when

I discovered that I had never done one!

I did find pictures from the trip, which I can't

resist sharing with you!

I hope this doesn't appear "braggy," but it was

so special and for various reasons could

not happen now.

Hang in there with me while I tell you how this

came about.

My Edward Jones rep is Britton Wilson who

is Rob's dear friend and roommate at Baylor

and who now offices in Boston.

His secretary is Linda Evans, who is my dear

friend, first by phone and then in person!

Linda's daughter, Kaitlyn, was serving at a 

wonderful orphanage in Haiti called 
Child Hope International.

Kaitlyn had said how badly the girls needed clothes,

but that they could not safely be sent by mail.

The Lord placed on my heart that this was 

something with which I could help!

At this time American Airlines would allow

me to check a 50 pound box to Haiti.

So I began to shop!

When my friend Carol Smith heard about my
venture she told her daughter, Kara.

Kara is an AA flight attendant who was

excited to go with me! And, guess what?
As a flight attendant,

she could check not 1 but 2-50 pound boxes!

Kaitlyn meticulously gathered sizes and sent me a list.

We carried each girl a dress, a pair of jeans, and a top!

Kara and Carol got flip flops for each (a biggee)

and we took some extra games and treats, etc.
Actually...there's no telling what all we carried!

And here we are weighing in at the airport:

 One box weighed 55 pounds, but

the agent acted like she didn't notice!
We were good to go!

Look what all we had in there:

18 new dresses 

 Just part of the tops

 18 new pairs of jeans

 Beautiful bracelets for all

made specially by my precious friend Charlotte Irwin

who has gone to be with Jesus.

And flip flops for all, including some for boys!
Underneath: the jeans!

Underneath: Hundreds of energy drink packs

furnished by Carol!

Now you might have noticed the number above was

 just 18. We had one baby, who you'll meet later!

Here are her things!

Oh, yeah! Dresses, jeans, and a top!

Here Kara is picking up one of our 50 pound boxes

from the conveyor belt in Port au Prince!

Ah, youth! I could not have done this without her!

Kaitlyn met us at the airport to pick up our boxes.

She brought two of the girls with her.

One was the baby, Estaline.

The other was an older girl named Mikaline, who
bonded with Kara immediately.

Here we all are--
That's Kaitlyn, Mikaline, me, Kara, and Estaline. 

We were on a return flight to Miami soon after
we delivered our boxes.
Now I wish I had gone to the orphanage and
spent a night, as Kaitlyn invited me to do.
I would have been safe.
This, however, was as far out of my comfort 
zone as my family and I were prepared for!
And farther than some of my friend's zones allowed!
(I'm lookin' at you, Adelene Howell and Beverly York!)



Some of the tent cities as we flew away and back
to our prosperous country.

Kaitlyn sent me a picture of all the girls wearing
their new outfits.
I've been on luxury cruises to exotic destinations,
but not one was any more exciting than this trip
and seeing those girls wearing those clothes.
No money better spent--no effort more rewarding.
To God and God Alone be all Glory.




******************


Kaitlyn is now Kaitlyn Evans Trabucco.
She and her husband Chad live in California 
and have a beautiful baby daughter, Navy!



I still sponsor Estaline, the baby in this story.
Here is her picture on my refrigerator!

I must admit that I did not remember all
these details.
There were notes on some of the pictures!