If you have not been part of my Gratituesdays for awhile, you have been missing a real treat. Our women, on Sunday mornings, are sharing parts of their spiritual journeys. Then, I turn around each Tuesday and tell about my thanksgiving of their stories. You can access past Gratituesday posts over on the right sidebar. This last Sunday, my technology did not work well (my cell phone camera seems to have bit the dust) and my stomach was making a negative statement .... but, the Holy Spirit was well at work in the life and stories of my sister-in-Christ, Karelle. Here are pictures of Karelle sitting at the end of her sharing and Katherine introducing Carla who led us in Karelle's "new favorite song" while she also signed it.
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I dearly love this sister-in-Christ, Karelle, who grew up in Haiti. Karelle's faith has been stretched and tried by fire the last several months as she has watched with horror and waited anxiously for word about her people.... her country.... Karelle's story began by taking us back to her earliest years...
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When Karelle was 1 and 1/2, her father left Haiti for a paying job in the USA to support his family back in Haiti. He was faithful in sending support back to his wife and two daughters in Haiti. Karelle's mother was very good about keeping the girls connected with their daddy by mail and stories. It would not be until Karelle was nine years old that she would see her father again. Finally, at the age of 14, she came to the states to live with him and go to school. It was a difficult transition for her. She felt the burden of needing to cook, clean, and help her father while going to school. They butted heads a lot during the next four years. He died when she was 18.
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Fast forward more than a decade to today. Karelle is married to Steve, a fellow Haitian. They have two beautiful children. Her mom has come to the states and now lives with them. Both Karelle and Steve have good jobs. Karelle is a media specialist and Steve works for Rutgers University. The couple own a beautiful home and are part of a vibrant and active church family.
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Steve and Karelle have experienced many ups and downs over the years. The death of Steve's brother to heart failure, as a young adult, was very traumatic for them a year and a half ago. Marcel lived nearby and had been worshipping with our church family.
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January 13 would have been Marcel's birthday. Steve came home early from work, the memories fresh on his mind. Then, once the television was turned on Steve and Karelle's world was rocked again. They saw horrific pictures, on every network, of the aftermath of the 7.0 earthquake in their homeland of Haiti.
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Karelle prayed through the night, first on her knees and then prostrate. She cried out to God for mercy, grace, and forgiveness. They kept the television on and waited. As the hours turned into days and weeks and.... January became filled with calls from relatives and staying close to news sources. Finally the word came that all of their extended families were safe, including Steve's father. Other friends called to tell of lost loved ones and tragedy upon tragedy. Karelle felt guilty sleeping in her bed, taking a shower, or even getting hugs from her kids because her people were not able to experience these things.
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Karelle said that in spite of everything, she had no trouble praying and pouring out her requests to our Father. She started going through her Bible and past notes from our transformed moms "Masterful Moms" class two summers ago. She came across Philippians 4 and the words "His grace is sufficient..." that sustained her to some degree. Yet, she still became more tense and anxious. She be began to have great difficulty with acid reflux and excruciating pain. Karelle said, "I could not understand how to let go and let God..."
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One day at her doctor's office, her doctor asked, "Do you believe in God?" Karelle said that she felt like it was Jesus standing there and looking in her eyes saying, "Karelle, do you believe in Me?"
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It was then that she knew she had to make some serious decisions. So, her first step was to begin to count her blessings on a regular basis...
- God's grace
- Family
- Living in USA
- Family's safety
- Steve's patience
- Her mom's mental stability through this all
- Her father and Marcelle had not lived to see this day
The list continued and continues...
The next step was to choose to sing! She remembered an old saying, "to sing is to pray twice." She would sing! Her new favorite was the theme song at our women's retreat and one that we've now begun singing a lot at our church services, called HERE IN THIS PLACE. It begins with the words, "Lay your burdens down..." (It is still not available for my playlist). Her young son now joins her in "singing Hallelujah's"!
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Marcelle's birthday has forever changed to the day that 270,000 to 300,000 Haitians lost their lives in one day. Karelle's church family has given an outpouring of love, support, and monetary gifts to help. We were able to help her aunt secure housing in Haiti. We also sent one of our young R.N.'s down on a medical mission. There's a lot that needs to be done over the years to come. Let's not forget our Haitian neighbors.
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Karelle ended her sharing time with the following words: "I hold onto these truths... when things are tough, I say:
- His grace is enough.
- He is in control.
- For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
She continued with, "I wish that I could say I'm strong all the time and don't ask "Why?", but I am not strong all the time and I still ask 'Why?'... ... I'm happy to report that each day I read the online Haitian paper and see that more and more people are turning to Christ..." Karelle now knows that it is in Christ that she can only have peace, for He is THE ONE WHO GIVES ME PEACE...
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Many came up to hug Karelle afterwards and give her encouragement.
One in the audience, Debbie, and daughter shared the joy of the moment. Debbie's due date for her fourth child was Sunday. She still waits....
There are other posts on this blog directly related to this post. You can link to them here:
- Beginning of Masterful Moms class: http://momstransformed.blogspot.com/2008/06/master-full-moms.html
- The death of Marcel: http://momstransformed.blogspot.com/2008/11/people-need-lord-otherwise-life-is.html
- Steve baptizing their oldest daughter: http://momstransformed.blogspot.com/2008/12/its-about-cross-its-not-i-who-live-but.html
- Karelle and two children - Christimas 2008: http://momstransformed.blogspot.com/2008/12/its-about-cross-baby-was-born-to-die.html
1 comment:
Wow! That is such an amazing story! Praise God that he gives us the strength we need to endure things that we just don't think we can handle! I love your blog...thank you for taking so much time with it and for being a blessing!
Sarah
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