I love dark chocolate. It’s just the right combination of rich chocolate flavor, without being too sweet. Bittersweet chocolate, on the other hand, is just a tad too harsh to my tongue, and in my opinion, is only good when mixed with something sweet.
I’ve been back in Haiti for just over a week, after spending a week in the States. Coming and going between these two countries is definitely a bittersweet experience. The glaring differences are a bit harsh – but thankfully, spending time with friends and family was sweet enough to offset the conflict in my heart.
My week of being spoiled began with being met at the airport by the boys, my mom, and Patsy and Jerry. After being presented with flowers, I was whisked away to Rice Cooker, and was treated to my favorite chicken with green vegetables and an egg roll. And then I must admit I requested a quick trip to the DQ to pick up a bag of Dilly Bars.
The week in the States flew by in a whirlwind of chocolate sodas, cherries, strawberries, sourdough bread, mushroom pizza, steak, strawberry-rhubarb pie, and Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream. I got a big kick out of driving. Hopping in the car and going wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted, with actual traffic rules, seemed like a novelty. And then there were the superstores…Wal-mart, Target, and Meijer. To be honest, I walked into those stores open-mouthed like a seven year old at Disney World. Huge plastic golden corn-cobs hanging from the ceiling, twenty check-out lanes, fifty different types of cereal. Talk about overwhelmed.
Everything seemed so clean and green and nice and easy. And while I loved every minute of being spoiled in the States, images from Haiti kept creeping into my mind’s eye. I don’t ever want to take my clean, green, nice and easy lifestyle in the States for granted as I did before we started this journey.
It was a bittersweet trip. I loved every bit of fellowship, every dinner with friends and family, every night with my mom and Patsy and Jerry, every lunch with girlfriends, and worship with church families. It’s impossible to try to squeeze in five months of relationship into a short burst of time and so hard to say goodbyes again. But, each minute was sweet and worth the hard farewells…it turned out to be just the right mixture to keep me close to the Lord.
I’ve been back in Haiti for just over a week, after spending a week in the States. Coming and going between these two countries is definitely a bittersweet experience. The glaring differences are a bit harsh – but thankfully, spending time with friends and family was sweet enough to offset the conflict in my heart.
My week of being spoiled began with being met at the airport by the boys, my mom, and Patsy and Jerry. After being presented with flowers, I was whisked away to Rice Cooker, and was treated to my favorite chicken with green vegetables and an egg roll. And then I must admit I requested a quick trip to the DQ to pick up a bag of Dilly Bars.
The week in the States flew by in a whirlwind of chocolate sodas, cherries, strawberries, sourdough bread, mushroom pizza, steak, strawberry-rhubarb pie, and Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream. I got a big kick out of driving. Hopping in the car and going wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted, with actual traffic rules, seemed like a novelty. And then there were the superstores…Wal-mart, Target, and Meijer. To be honest, I walked into those stores open-mouthed like a seven year old at Disney World. Huge plastic golden corn-cobs hanging from the ceiling, twenty check-out lanes, fifty different types of cereal. Talk about overwhelmed.
Everything seemed so clean and green and nice and easy. And while I loved every minute of being spoiled in the States, images from Haiti kept creeping into my mind’s eye. I don’t ever want to take my clean, green, nice and easy lifestyle in the States for granted as I did before we started this journey.
It was a bittersweet trip. I loved every bit of fellowship, every dinner with friends and family, every night with my mom and Patsy and Jerry, every lunch with girlfriends, and worship with church families. It’s impossible to try to squeeze in five months of relationship into a short burst of time and so hard to say goodbyes again. But, each minute was sweet and worth the hard farewells…it turned out to be just the right mixture to keep me close to the Lord.