Unless the Lord build a house the laborers work in vain.

In three months from now I will travel with a nine person team to Jacmel, Haiti. We will come from 4 states and all different backgrounds. I am the only one on the team that has met all of the others on the team and stilll...we are a family. When our week is complete we will have laughed and cried, shared meals and living quarters. We will bond together in unity. The work of our hands will teach us the strengths and weaknesses of our family and we will learn to work within that reality. We range in age from about 30-60 yrs old. We all have jobs and lives and families in the US but for 7 days we will be living a seperate reality. And..we will never be the same
But this stroy is not about us. It is about another family. A family whom we have not yet met who has been living in inhuman conditions for nearly 2 years. A family who lost their home and possibly family members on Jan 12, 2010 when the 7.1 earthquake rocked their world. But by the grace of God and the sweat of their brow they have survived
The word of God tells us : "To him that has two give to him than has none." This adventure we are planning is an act of obedience. So we set out obey.
When I first started planning this trip I was talking at my job to a customer who inquired about how things were going in Haiti. I told her that we were going to build a house. She asked "How much does that cost?" I I said well the house is about $6,000. and then the team must raise about $1,500/ea for their fees and air. On the spot she wrote out a check for $6,000.00!! So each of our nine team members is now raising their own fees. When you all live in the same town it's easy to pull together fund raisers. But nine people from four states and seven different towns don't have that option. So we are all doing what we can to raise the necessary funds. We are selling Haitian sea glass necklaces which also help support the deaf community in Jacmel, Haiti and you can contact any one of us if you are interested in buying one.
If you would like to donate via paypal to this trip please use the paypal donate button on this blog. If each of our face book friends donated $2-$5 we would most likely be all but covered. If you want to donate to one person in particular here are the team members names :Stacey Gange, Denise Goodale, Tim and Jenna Phillips, RJ Hutchinson, Chris Boone, Cece Disharoon, Bonnie Strawser.and Doris Frame. And thank you for building with us. If you would like more info you can visit Joy in Hope on Facebook or go to joyinhope.org
If you need a tax receipt please let me know so I can make the donation accordingly.

Getting to Haiti

Jacmel Bay has been evolving over the last year. It is exciting to see how things are developing!

From the beginning I knew that this business had to do more than just be a little business to give me part time employment. I desired to see  lives touched and jobs created.

When I sell my work a percentage of the proceeds goes back to Haiti. I love creating sea glass jewelry and find it a really satisfying way to spend my time. That is just one element of Jacmel Bay.

Working to create work for eight members of the deaf community in Jacmel, Haiti is another part. Here is how that works.

Jacmel Bay supplies artist with materials that are not readily available to them in Haiti. I work with them training and overseeing the project. Some necklaces are sold directly to customers by the artists to visitors in Jacmel. Other necklaces are purchased directly from the artists and I check them and package them. (This step will later be taken care of by others in Haiti.) These necklaces are used in two different ways. Joy in Hope missionaries have these necklaces available for personal fund raising when they are in the states on furlough. They only pay the cost of the necklaces and are not charged a handling fee. The processing and handling is a donation by the company. (As was the initial start up costs for this project.)

Another way these necklaces are being used is for fundraising for individuals or groups who desire to travel to Haiti on short term mission trips. I am really excited about this program because it is such a win/win/win/win situation. My artists win because of the quantity of necklaces we will be buying will in a short time will be able to give them a very decent wage. This is great for any workers in Haiti but especially great in the deaf community. Jacmel Bay wins because even though there is not a big profit per necklace selling larger quantities make it possible to offer huge discounts. The short term missionary wins because the necklaces sell easily and in a short time can raise the necessary funds for their trip. Then Haiti wins because those short term missionaries go to Haiti and help rebuild the country. It's a big circle. I love it~

Here is how it works:

You decide you want to go.
Jacmel Bay sends out 20 necklaces packaged to each team member. (At no cost at the front side of the sale.)
Necklaces can sell for up to $25/per necklace. At the end of an eight week period  $8/per sold necklace is due to Jacmel Bay. Unsold necklaces are returned. More necklaces can be ordered at any time during the sale but each order of 20 must be paid for first.
OR  you can get an even bigger discount if you purchase the necklaces outright. All necklaces paid for at the beginning of the sale will cost only $6.00 per/necklace!
Shipping fees will also be chagred as well as NC sales tax for NC orders. (on the amount paid to Jacmel Bay).
Contact me at dgoodale@ymail.com if I can answer any questions or if you are ready to get started! If you will be traveling with a team I will need some advance notice to be able to well supplies with sea glass necklaces from Haiti.

My Baby's Baby

How blessed I am to be sitting here. For the third time in four years I am with Melody as she awaits the birth of her baby. Seeing a contraction register on the monitor as she talks to her daughter Evie on the phone she doesn't miss a breath.

It has been a long week. When I first arrived here in PA I was sure there would be a birth within the first day. Sometimes Castor oil and long walks, mowing the lawn and scrubbing the floors, acupressure and progressive relaxation or weeding the garden don't achieve the desired results. God ordained this child's birth and in the end He is in control of all of her days. So we waited and we wait.

But what a blessing this wait has been in some ways for me. For the first time in maybe 35 years I know what my natural sleep cycle is. I actually have gotten eight hours of sleep a night every night. I love going out to get the chicken eggs. I love the abundance of fresh berries and the long walking trails. Mostly I love spending some really good time with my grandchildren. I love when they call for me to ask for my help. I love when it just seems normal to be with them and it's not such an 'event' that Nana is there. I love the gentleness of my daughter's lifestyle. I love that Melody cloth diapers and carries her babies in a sling. And uses cloth napkins.

So we wait. We slow down and we wait. We allow God to usher in this little one and thank God that we can't choose and we thank Him that he really does know best. And we wait and we rest. In Him.

What's in YOUR hand?"

In April and May Jacmel Bay posted necklace give-away challanges on face book. I would love to make this more meaningful while still keeping it fun. I need some input from my blog friends as well as my facebook friends. Maybe an essay contest. Or an ideas for new products that Jacmel Bay could start producing with the artists in Haiti. Or maybe who can raise the most pennies to donate Joy in Hope in a months time.

When God got me started on this path it was with the question "What's in your hand?" So now I ask you..."What's in YOUR hand?" I would love to hear your ideas on how we can have fun, promote the cause of rebuilding Haiti and win a necklace in the month of June.

Sea treasures. His treasures.

Today was an unusual Sunday. Steve had gone to an early church service and was then going out in the kayak. I worked at the Post Office for a few hours then went to church. After church Gretchen and Jon did not need me to babysit.The sun was shining and I had nothing pressing to do.

According to books and websites Nags Head, NC has some of the best seaglass hunting on the east coast. I live just ten miles from these beaches but I have never been very successful in the hunt here. I think maybe Jacmel Bay in southern Haiti has spoiled me for any other beach.But I wanted to find something and I knew it was there. So I searched. I found lots of pretty shells and a few stones that I picked up thinking "I may be able to make something with this. It's pretty. It's worth keeping." And I slipped them into my canvas shopping bag. Living in Dare County, NC we all carry these bags in the trunks of our cars..No plastic bags to gag our fish. These bags come in handy for lots of things. Today the bag was used to collect ocean treasures.

The water was clear and blue today. When I dipped my toes in the surf I was surprised that there was no sting of cold. My rolled up jeans came unrolled and I just let them. Tourists were there. How did I know they were tourists? People who live here do not wear bathing suits on the beach on May 1st and shiver. We wear sweatshirts and rolled up jeans. As I walked, and walked, I talked and talked, in my head, to God. I asked Him for treasures. I told Him I would not be greedy. I asked Him what He wanted me to know about the search this day. And this is what He told me:

I search because I know the treasure is there. How do I know? I have found it before and others have too. He told me that sometimes in life we find other treasures that are not really the ones we are looking for. These treasures are worth finding and picking up and keeping but they are not totally satisfying. So when I found a pretty shell or stone it was like an inspirational story that gives me some understanding or helps me to see the world around me. Like a Chicken Soup for the Soul kind of treasure. Nice but not enough. I also understood that because I am a Christ follower it does not mean that there is no value in the teachings of non-Christians. Some things are worth picking up. Other things are better left on the shoreline. But I know what I am looking for and I continue my search.

Finally nearly ready to give up the search for today it catches my eye. A tiny hint of green in the shallow surf.I have to keep my eye on it as the wave gently laps over my treasure and threatens to steal it back to the sea. Jeans wet to the knees I go after it. A tiny perfect nugget! Success!! And God tells me sometimes you must go further, look harder and not be afraid to get wet.

For a moment I thought..."Time to go." But I didn't want to! Having a little success while exciting and satisfying called me to keep on searching..there was more treasure waiting for me. And I found more..two browns, a clear and then I FOUND IT! the largest piece I have ever found this side of Haiti. There it was! Perfect, beautiful, smooth, finished green sea glass half buried in the sand a few feet into the surf.

And God showed me that finding a nugget of truth makes one hungry for more and more. A hunger that won't be satisfied until we find "IT".

And when I climbed into the car, wet and sandy, wind blown but satisfied I knew that my treasures in my canvas bag could not compare to the treasure in my heart.Walking on the beach with my Abba Daddy picking up sea treasures, picking up His treasures.

A Calling

Sometimes when I set out to teach or share on a certain subject I learn more than I teach. So i was last night. I was invited to share about my connection to Haiti and about Jacmel Bay. I asked God "What should I be talking about?". Honestly, given a platform I am not at a loss for words. My problem is narrowing down so I don't have too much material. I heard God say in my spirit "Talk about what you know." Where this led was to talk about the subject of being called. I shared about Gwenn first being called to Haiti and how unlikely it was. What occurred to me that a calling is totally different than a gift or a talent. In fact, a calling I think more likely is something one thinks they are totally unsuited for. For me once again it comes back to the story of Moses in Exodus 4. He augured with God that he really could not do the thing that God was calling him to do. He feel totally inadequate. And when in obedience he threw down his staff and saw the miracles follow he began at least a little bit to understand that this "calling" was as act of obedience and had nothing to do with talent or natural ability. When God called Gwen and Nick to Haiti it was not a 'reasonable' thing for them to do. Nick was a computer whiz and Gwenn then a stay at home mom was educated in Ag science and had written articles for NC Sweet Potato website. They were not prepared to live in a third world culture and raise a bunch of kids! Nor am I a business person. FAR from it! The great thing about it is that in knowing I am not adequate I can better trust a God who is "more than enough". In/ fact in knowing that I CAN'T do this makes me less likely to lean on my own abilities and personal strengths. Most people would say I am a good mother. Why? Because I have great kids. And because being a mother came easy to me. I enjoyed it, I was capable and confident most of the time. For my adult life I have believed that being a mother and now a grandmother was my 'calling'. Only now...like this week do I understand that that is not entirely true. Now I still think that is was/is the most important thing I have ever done and would not want it any other way. I now believe that by God's grace and hand I was fashioned by the circumstances in my life to be the mother/grandmother that I became. My mother's creativity and passionate involvement in my youth, the longing for a father and a stable home, caring for my nieces and nephews when I was not more than a child myself..all of these things made me well fit for my parenting role. So in a way I suppose I could take credit sometimes for the "well dones" that I have received along the road. I was involved with and available to my children. That is why I now feel that being a parent is not my "calling". My passion, yes. My joy, forever. My honor, always. My calling?? I don't think so. As all of this is just now unfolding to me I think I get it. The reason that I can't shake off this thing that I am so unsuited for.... God asked me "What's in your hand?" And as I in obedience release that which I hold so tightly (my fear and my inability) I am beginning to understand that this is my 'calling' and as I obey I will continue to see the miracles unfold. Like Moses I will look for the cloud by day and the fire by night for I know that I need to be led and I am not able to know the path or go the path on my own ability.

Was it a morning like this?

This is a link to a blog I wrote on my first trip to Jacmel, Haiti 2 years ago this week. (link here)