Averted Vision (Krystle)

In the past week we have been here by ourselves Kelly, Manius and I have had several discussions about our different cultures and what America (Michigan) vs. Haiti is like. Manius has great interest in hearing about where we live because he would love to attend college in America. However when he hears certain things I think it makes him nervous because our cultures are SO different. Rest assured though he trusts God with all his heart and if God tells him to come to the US for school he would go without even looking back. Now when Kelly and I were in school we learned about the history and geography of places all around the world but out of everything we studied I can't imagine two cultures being more different then Haiti and the US. From the food we eat to the way our schools are run, even to the way we worship, it is all so different. What I was explaining to Manius though was that "different" means nothing but that; different. Either way is not the right way or the wrong way. It may be hard to adjust to some things, which it is, but we are all made by our Creator and He loves us all the same no matter where we live or how we do things as long as it is done in a way bringing glory and honor to Him! It is such a big change being here by ourselves and I have found myself struggling with homesickness more then I would like to admit. Every night as I climb into bed and I'm laying there looking out my window I see the big cement wall that is built around the orphanage and topped off with razor wire just like how you see it in the movies at prisons. But if you look up you can see the stars bright and shining in their full glory because there are no lights on in Haiti to cloud your vision, and I can't help but remember something my Grandma Pickett told me about her trip to Haiti over fifty years ago. She was on a boat headed for an island where she would be staying but she had to spend the night on it. She said it was absolutely filthy with rats running all over and I know she couldn't have helped feeling lonely that first night, but she told me as she was looking up at the stars that those were the same stars over her in Haiti as they were back at her home in America. I can completely relate to what she was saying now and it gives me comfort at night to see those stars and know they are the same ones that all of you back home are sleeping under as well! I just finished this book yesterday called 'Bridge to a Distant Star'. It was three different stories about three different families who were all thrown together in the collapse of the Sunshine Bridge in Florida. In each of the three stories there was at least one reference to stars. Have any of you ever noticed how when you look directly at a faint star in the distance, it disappears but then you can see it out of your peripheral vision? This is called averted vision. When you look directly at the star it disappears but if you look to either side of the star it appears again. I keep reminding myself when I am focused on God and he seems to disappear for a second to look in my peripheral vision because it's probably just a slight change in plans! Much love from Haiti!

Krystle