Preparing my heart and mind

So far, I’ve told you a lot about my preparations as far as physically getting ready to go. It took time to get those things done, but for the most part it was fun, and I was looking forward to the trip.  I had been praying a lot about it, too, and God had blessed because everything had gone pretty smoothly (from sewing doll dresses and picking the right color photo album to buying my ticket to Miami!)  My ticket to Miami only cost me one dollar, thanks to an air miles voucher, and I had done a trial packing of my suitcase which came in slightly underweight.  I was just about ready and I was getting pretty excited.
 
About two weeks before the trip, a FedEx truck pulled into my driveway and delivered my “Compassion Trip Guide and Journal”.  

This was really exciting, because now I would finally have a lot more details about the trip, such as which project centers we would be visiting (HA-336 and HA-778), and where we would be staying (Hotel Club Indigo). The book had a wealth of information on everything about the trip. 

 

 It also had a thought provoking journal section.  The first paragraph of that section says, “Thank you for choosing to participate in what we hope will be one of the greatest adventures of your life.  Just as each individual has a different motivation for coming on a trip like this, the way each of us processes what we experience is unique.  It’s not uncommon to be overwhelmed by the entire spectrum of feelings, both positive and negative”. 

I read this very calmly.  I didn’t expect to feel overwhelmed.  Hey, I had traveled to third-world countries a few times before.  I wasn’t worried about the section on “Culture Shock” either.  Since I’m writing this 2 months after returning from Haiti though, I can tell you that I experienced more of both of those things on the trip than I had expected.  But also that I knew during those times that God was with me and He gave me the peace that passes understanding while feeling those things. 

Okay, so now I was prepared-- body, mind, and heart - at least as well as I could be.  I had my official Compassion ID, and my itinerary.... it was time to go to Haiti!