Words of Thanks

Even though we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Haiti, these kiddos have SO MUCH they are thankful for.  Here are just a few of those things.

"Thank you, God, for..."

And the one I am constantly thanking God for...

Happy Thanksgiving!May God make you rich in the things that matter...joy and laughter and love.

What They Teach Me In Kindergarten

As a kindergarten teacher, I do a lot of…well…teaching.  Numbers and letters, shapes and colors, Bible stories and history lessons.  I teach students how to sit still, how to use kind words, and how to be good friends.  All day long, I teach.  But I also learn.

Even at four and five years old, my students have valuable lessons to teach me.

Lina teaches me to always have a tender heart.

Lina is truly one in a million.  Her gentle kindness makes our classroom a better place.  Her sweet smile lights up the room.  Her grace and patience for others inspires me to be the patient and gracious teacher she deserves.  Lina cares for others and beautifully reflects the heart of Christ, silently teaching me to do the same.

Amos teaches me to always lend a helping hand.

Even when it isn’t convenient.  Even when it isn’t easy.  Even when there are other things he could be doing, Amos is always ready and willing to help.  Amos loves to carry my bags, clean up toys, and run any errand I need.  He reminds me that we are called to serve others with happy hearts.

Duke teaches me to laugh.  To laugh at the world, to laugh with others, and to laugh at myself.

Duke is always ready to laugh.  When Anna’s shoe comes flying off in the middle of a math lesson and everyone is still glancing around to figure out what happened, Duke is already in fits of laughter.  When I read Goldilocks and the Three Bears aloud and use a silly little voice for Baby Bear, Duke catches my eye, then burst out laughing.  Sometimes, he literally rolls on the floor laughing.

The best part about Duke’s laughter?  It’s contagious.  When Duke starts laughing, it’s never long before everyone else is laughing too.  Including me.

Nikka teaches me to be true to myself.

Every time Nikka has a chance to choose a book, she ALWAYS chooses The Little Engine That Could.  Taking it from the bookshelf, she holds it up, looks at me with big, round eyes, and says, “sivouple li l pou mwen.”  Please read it to me.

 “We just read it together this morning,” I say…but I can’t resist.  Putting down what I’m doing, I sit on the carpet beside her and begin.  “Ti tren ki te kapab la,” I say, opening the book to page one.  I never get tired of reading that book to her because I LOVE that she loves it.  And I love that she would rather read it five times in one day than read five books she doesn’t love.  And I love that she’s always true to herself, even when I say, “again?”

I could go on forever.  The lessons my students teach me about love, loyalty, trust, and hope are innumerable.  Every day, they teach me something new.

As I learn from them and teach them, I pray that I am teaching them more than just numbers and letters, shapes and colors, Bible stories and history lessons.  I pray that I am teaching them to be strong, to have faith, and to live with joy.  Wouldn’t we all do well to learn more about these things?

Two Days in Kindergarten

The first few days of kindergarten are always a crazy wonderful combination of the honeymoon-we-all-love-each-other stage mixed with the deer-in-the-headlights-because-everything-is-new-and-terrifying stage.  Not to mention the four-year-olds-still-don't-know-how-to-do-school-yet-so-we-spend-all-our-time-learning-to-raise-our-hands stage.  Then there's the fact that I have to stop my lesson every five seconds because sweet Nicka has these long legs that she doesn't have control over yet and can't quite figure out how to bend them in order to sit crisscross applesauce.

Here are a few highlights from the last two days.

Centers.


Independent play


Recess


Crafts




Working hard - learning numbers, letters, colors, and shapes


Flag raising ceremony (mine are on the far left)


Lunch


And an after school visit from my former students.


 (miss this girl!!)

 (checking out the new tattoo)

Well, there you have it.  A quick glimpse into my crazy, wonderful world!

CLASSROOM REVEAL

I’ve been back in Haiti for two weeks now and I am pleased to say that life has settled back to normal…well, as normal as life gets around here.

As I’m settling back in, the number one task on my to-do list is…that’s right…back to school prep!  Preparing for the new school year is a daunting enough task as it is, but this year, on top of the normal cleaning, organizing, and planning, I also had the GIGANTIC task of moving classrooms.

It was with the weight of this task on my shoulders that I walked into my old classroom Monday morning and was greeted with 6 weeks worth of dust, bugs, and rat droppings.

…great…

But I was also greeted with something else.  Ten smiling faces and twenty hands willing to help.

My new classroom used to be the computer lab, so while my high school helpers moved out the computers and furniture, my younger helpers got started on moving book baskets and wiping down anything and everything they could get their hands on.

Here was my new classroom first thing Monday morning.

Those high school boys made quick work of it and before I knew it, Jhaskiline was sweeping the floor and Melissa was washing away the cobwebs from the walls.  Pretty soon, it looked like this.

 But that was the easy part.  We still had all of this in my old classroom to deal with.

My helpers were more than happy to take care of that.  Here they are wiping down literally everything.  (I had to stop Kayla from turning every page of The Beginner's Bible to wipe them all down.)

After all that hard work, they deserved a play-break.

3 days, 10 helpers, 2 large buckets of water, 4 dirty rags, 2 spilled bags of stickers, and a million pieces of scattered glitter later... here is the final product...

Colors wall, school supplies bookshelf, craft shelves, toy tubs, and classroom library.

Student table, number signs, letter signs, and WELCOME sign.

Carpet (to be) area, focus board, morning meeting board.

Teacher chair, morning meeting board, Whole Brain Learning rules.

Behavior management.

Daily schedule.

The whole enchilada.

Who? What? Where? When? How?

Answering Your Adoption Questions

After announcing my adoption, I was flooded with questions from friends and family.  Thank you all so much for your love, concern, and interest.  Here are some of the questions I have received, and the best answers I can give right now.

Where are you in the process now?

I am in the very beginning stages of the process.  I have spoken with IBESR (Social Services in Haiti) as well as a number of hospitals and orphanages.  Before I can dive deeper into this process, there are two things I need to do.

1-Fundraise (I am in need of both one-time gifts and monthly sponsors)

2-Move.  I absolutely LOVE my current house…but it isn’t a situation that would work for a family.  I am currently looking to rent a home closer to the Kids Alive campus.

Once I have finished fundraising and moving, I will be able to continue in pursuing the adoption.

What children will you adopt?

I don’t know yet.  I won’t know for a while.

How many children will you adopt?

I am praying for two.  I know it will not be easy for a child to be adopted by an American mom in Haiti.  I think the kids would really benefit from having another person who is “in their shoes,” walking the journey with them.  Someone who understands them on a level that even I can’t.  A partner, playmate, and sister.  That’s my reasoning behind praying for two…but I’m leaving it up to God and trusting that His judgement is better than mine!

How old will these children be?

I would love to have young school-age children (two-and-a-half or older) because it would mean I could continue teaching as I am now.  However, there is a very real possibility that they could be babies.  Whatever daughters the Lord gives me, I will embrace them with arms wide open.

Is the adoption through Kids Alive?

No.  Although I am working very closely with my bosses at Kids Alive, they are supporting me through the adoption, but not orchestrating it.  The kids that live at the Kids Alive Children’s Village are not adopted out of the ministry.  Once kids come to us at Kids Alive, they are not orphans anymore.  With us, they find homes, families, mothers, fathers, and siblings.  My adoption will be separate from Kids Alive.

Do you have a timeline?  When will the kids come to you?

That is entirely dependent on how long it takes me to fundraise and move.  If I am able to raise funds quickly and settle into a new house in the near future, the process will be shorter than if those things take a long time.  Once those two things are complete, I may have a better idea of how long the rest of the process will take.

Will you continue teaching at Kids Alive?

I love teaching kindergarten and I would love to continue teaching.  Of course I will be taking some time off when the girls first come to me (forming attachment after adopting is crucial to both parents and kids).  After that “maternity leave,” I hope to continue teaching kindergarten, but only if my girls are school-age.  If God gives me babies, I will continue to work at the Kids Alive school, but my role may temporarily change to one with a more flexible schedule that would allow me to both care for my children and impact the lives of the Kids Alive kids that I love.

It Takes a Village

How you can help bring my family home.

There is SO MUCH that I want to tell you about the adoption process, and don’t worry!  I plan to answer lots of questions in another blog post coming soon.  But first, I want to answer one major question that people are asking:  How can I help support your adoption?

Well, thanks for asking!  Here are a few ways you can help support my adoption TODAY!

1.       Pre-order a tee-shirt.

Want to look good and change the world?  Just send me an email and I’ll give you all the information you need on how to purchase this personalized adoption tee-shirt.

erinahiggins@gmail.com

2.      Make a one-time donation or become a monthly sponsor.

Did you know that for just $20 a month, you can provide for one child’s adoption fees?  For just $40 a month, you can send her to school.  A one-time gift of $80 provides her with a bed while a few people chipping in $500 provides for connecting power to her home.

Whether you can give a one-time gift of $10 or a commitment for $100 a month, your donation is SO important to me.  No donation is too small!  To give securely online, Click here:

https://secure.kidsalive.org/p-2501-erin-higgins.aspx_ga=1.62234159.2050691254.1468069216

Don’t want to transfer money online?  No problem!  Just send me an email (erinahiggins@gmail.com) and I’ll get you information on donating in a way that works for you!

3.      Pray for me.

Never underestimate the power of prayer.  I can tell you with great certainty that there has not been a single day on the mission field that I have not needed your prayers.  I value your prayers more than I can put into words.

Pray for me through this process.

Pray for my future children.

Pray for God to provide all the funds we need to become a family.

Thank you so much for being a part of this journey.  It takes a village to raise a child – and in this case, it takes a village to bring a child home.

Called to Adopt

How I knew adoption was the next step for me.

I will be the first one to say that adoption was not my Plan A.  It wasn’t my Plan B.  Or my Plan C.

As a matter of fact, I think I’m all the way on Plan Q by now.

But the beauty of this is that God often uses closed doors to lead us to what He has for us.  When I started this journey months ago, if someone had told me “you’re going to adopt,” I probably would have said, “nope.  Not ready.  Not gonna.”  But now, because of the journey it took to get here, I can say with 100% certainty that I am ready to say YES to adoption.

Here’s how the journey began…

I love my job.  I love my ministry.  I love Kids Alive.  Ever since I moved here, I have felt that it has been a great fit.  But in April, I started to feel like something was missing.  Actually, I felt like something had always been missing, but I was only now beginning to realize it.

The more I thought about this missing piece, the more I felt the depth of its presence in my life.

When I first moved to Haiti, I felt called to minister to orphans and vulnerable children.  And that is exactly what I have been doing.  But three months ago, God revealed to me that I am not here to simply minister to them and teach them at school – I am here to care for them in a deeper way.  That was the missing piece.  Caring for orphans.

I didn’t know what this would look like, but I was ready to pursue whatever God had for me.  I prayed hard, sought out counsel from friends and family, and started working with Kids Alive to figure out how to go about this.

I prayerfully made a plan.

God said no.

I made another plan.

God said no.

Every time a plan fell through, I felt a combination of discouragement (is this ever going to happen?) and peace (God’s got something BIG planned, I just don’t know what it is yet).

Finally, one evening in June, I got an email from Kids Alive with the following suggestion: Adopt a child!

When I read that line in the email, a dull sense of numbness took over my chest and began to spread.  Maybe I had read it wrong.

I read it again.

Adopt a child!

Nope, it was still there.  Black text on a white screen glowing up at me from my phone.

I skimmed the rest of the email, then scrolled back up and read that line again.

Adopt a child!

It was still there, suggesting the same thing.  The numbness inside of me slowly changed to excitement.  Uncertainty.  Willingness.

I wasn’t sold on the idea yet, but I was getting there.

After meetings with IBESR (Social Services here in Haiti), conversations with other organizations, and afternoon talks with adoptive families who have been through (and are currently in) the process of national adoption, I finally got it though my stubborn head that YES, this is what God has for me.  And YES, I am all in.

It has been a crazy journey to get to this point, and I know that the journey has only begun.  If you want to know more, feel free to email me at erinahiggins@gmail.com 

Also, keep your eyes out for another blog post soon about how YOU can help bring my family home!