Taking Time for Self-Care

We had a great visit to the states last November, and we really enjoyed seeing many of our family and friends, as well as connecting with many who support our mission. We spoke at a few churches as well. The traveling was very time consuming, and we didn’t stay anywhere more than 3 days. It wasn’t ideal for rest and relaxation, but we are very thankful that we were able to see so many familiar faces!

When we got back we went right back into full time mission mode! Given our crazy schedule with very little downtime, it was highly recommended that we take some time off to rejuvenate and care for ourselves. Self-care is a theme that keeps coming up with family, friends, coworkers and even teams that visit our campus. How can we effectively do the work God has put before us if we’re in a constant atmosphere of high stress with little downtime? We all need downtime, time to reflect, time to spend with our spouses / significant others, and time away from work. What do you do for self-care?

Since we live on campus with our kids, we typically work from 7am to 9pm most days. Some weekends we’re busier than we are during the week since we don’t have as many staff working on weekends. We’re working on setting boundaries after the work day is over and on weekends, but we’re not quite there yet. We still get after-hours non-emergency medical requests, regular requests for movies, requests for the TV to watch soccer, and kids playing in areas that are unsupervised. We are helping them understand what the difference is between a want for themselves and a need.

We were having some fun coming up with the benefits of a little getaway, and here’s what we came up with:

• • TAX PREP!
  • We’ve got mail!  Our US mail cannot all be sent here
  • To let Randy’s heat rash heal
  • To let Randy’s mosquito bites heal
  • We need a hair cuts!
  • To get more than 5 hours of sleep in a night
  • To let our brains stop thinking about how to speak in Haitian Creole
  • To sit in a comfortable chair
  • To find some fresh strawberries and blueberries
  • For Randy to go for a run without having to dodge people, motorcycles, cars and taxis
  • For Randy to get in some training runs for an upcoming 5K in Haiti
  • To get a break from constantly thinking about kid, staff, team, generator, inverter and water challenges
  • To enjoy some some of our favorite foods and our favorite restaurants
  • Rejuvenation through 40 miles of running, hiking and kayaking
  • To have a brief getaway from our 7-day work weeks
  • To have power, water, internet and cell phone coverage 24/7
  • To stock up on some of our favorite things that are really expensive in Haiti
  • To watch the closing ceremonies??? Okay, not really!
  • Hot showers!
  • To go a night without a mosquito bite
  • To visit our permanent address in Florida
  • To visit with our favorite prehistoric-sounding creatures – our local sandhill crane families!
  • Time to share an update on our activities!?  (We got this started anyway!)
  • Denise needed to eat ice cream
  • Randy was craving lasagna

We had a little getaway to Florida last week.  Overall, we’re very thankful for the time away. We had a great visit with Randy’s parents and have really enjoyed some downtime, time to get some exercise and to get some personal things done.

We’re constantly reminded that self-care is critical for longevity for all of us.  How can we care for others if we ourselves are not in a good place?  Are you taking care of yourself so you can be a blessing to others?  We all need that!

We’re back in Haiti now, and Randy’s parents are with us for the week!  We’re getting settled back into what we need to do – including hosting teams that visit us.  We’re doing the best we can to keep the lights on and the water tanks as full as possible through our power challenges while trying to assist in resolving those challenges.  The kids are amazingly resilient and have adapted to our powerless nights.