i ran across this picture the other day on this computer. it's strange, because there aren't very many pictures on this computer. it brought back a flood of memories to my mind.
this was taken in 2009. may 2009, to be exact. my best friend and i went to the dominican republic to work on a wall for a compound a missionary group is building. we were also able to help a missionary with a dress shop she was setting up. it employs women who need a good, honest job. and people from the US donate their dresses. it is really an amazing thing. we did a lot of other little things, but those were the two main jobs.
awesomely enough, we were able to meet up with some of my very best friends, family really, who are ALSO missionaries in the dominican republic. that's erica up on the left hand side, and i'm holding her daughter mali. a lot of people think mali looks more like me than her parents, which is both funny and strange. they also have another daughter, brinkley (i think in the car seat). erica's mom is my spiritual mother, and i can't even begin to tell you everything this family has taught me. i would be afraid to see where i would be today without their influence. i can't even put it into words. maybe one day i'll at least try.
a week after we returned home from this trip, my dad passed away and my brother was incarcerated for drug issues. it was a difficult month. something you definitely don't expect to happen when you return from an amazing mission trip. i hid out in my house for weeks. and every time daniel and i would venture out, i would see someone i knew and lose it. it was the hardest time in my life.
in august, daniel and i decided to take our "vacation" to the DR and help out nathan and erica. it was the best thing we could have done - over any beach or european country.
then in november, daniel decided it would be a good time to leave when children would come up to the Lord, and we would get pregnant in December (but not find out until January).
needless to say, it was a year of ups and downs. i miss my dad so much it physically hurts sometimes and i have to try really hard to not be overcome with emotion when it comes to my mind. i wish he could have met piper. i wish he could see me as a mom. i hope i would make him proud. i wish he could see daniel graduate from medical school in a year. i wish.. i wish.. i wish..
but as i sit here i have to turn it back to praise to God. things could be SO MUCH WORSE. i used to always measure my life to people who i thought led perfect ones. now i try to see how fortunate i am, even when it doesn't feel like it. i am so thankful my dad received a proper funeral and burial, as opposed to an earthquake making someone in my family go missing and not being able to find their body, etc. i can't help but think, as a mother, of all the families in Japan who are looking for their children... and food for them and warm shelter. it breaks my heart. so even though it feels like sometimes i have the worst situation possible, God always shows me His ways are higher, and i just have to trust Him.
