Of the four flights it takes me to travel to and from Haiti, the most difficult for me is the flight leaving Port-au-Prince to fly to Atlanta.  It’s a mixture of hope and sadness.  I’m leaving behind the stress of a 3^rd-world country and knowing a hot shower is in my future.  Also, I’m leaving behind the hugs and laughter of my Deaf friends and not knowing when I will be able to visit again.

Through my tears, I stare out of the tiny square window of the plane as the houses, the buildings, the boats become tiny shadows as we climb above the clouds.  Eventually, I can only see the island’s landscape and then the outline of the island, and then only water.  Then I begin to talk to God.

He and I discuss the events of my visit – the mistakes, the struggles, the laughs, the victories, the frustration, the poverty, the successes, the Deaf kids and their futures.  We talk about everything.  He knows how my heart breaks and why. He knows why I continue to travel to Haiti.  Since He is the One who gave me this dream for Haiti, He intimately knows my dreams for the Deaf community.

A few weeks ago, on my flight out of Haiti, the sun was burning so brightly through the tiny window, I had to adjust the small knob above my seat to let some cool air circulate around me.  I stared into the sun and continued to talk with God.  In His gentleness, He showed me how much bigger He is than all of my concerns.  In the clouds below the shadow of the sun, I saw an image that represented all of my sins and all of my fears.  Above that cloud image was the immensely bright sun and even the sun’s shadow was enough to cast light on the dark cloud.  God reminded me of His Majesty and Glory.  He is so much greater than anything I encounter here on Earth.  Even the shadow caused by His Light can overcome times of uncertainty in life.  And I am thankful.

This is the picture of the sun out the plane’s window that I’m trying to describe above in this post. God is Light!