With #1 son here for a few Spring Break days, I was allowed to "forget" that I will be heading to the Dominican Republic this next week. I get to help my friend, Connie Rock, as she leads a team in Santa Domingo.  

Monday, I realized that my prayers for the trip & my colleagues had been supplanted by feeble-hearted "please don't let me screw up" bleatings.  

Tuesday, I learned how to ask for and receive help when my tire blew on the way home towards Kenan. 

Wednesday, I learned again to pray, "Thank You", and laugh and laugh as smack talk flipped a kayak.  

Thursday, as Kenan moved through airport security, I remembered how to release both him and his sister to a God I cannot see.  

Friday, following a midnight premiere, I prayed for enough strength and lucidity to keep moving.  

It's Saturday as I write this and my prayers are scattered like my packing list.  

What I'll be packing

clothes

hope

shampoo

a pillow

my bible

a peace that ebbs and flows

wonder

a few skirts & tee shirts

girly gizeh birkenstocks

a few pesos i purchased from a friend just back from the D.R.

a too loud laugh

hands open to what just might happen in that island nation

What I will leave behind

blind one-eyed cat

worry

shorts

my books

my kids and friends who are like family

sweet new yoga mat

foggy commute & the Biscuit Shoppe on Cleveland HWY

the 7th ring of hell that is Atlanta traffic

my Americanized expectations

the freshly planted pansies & herbs on my patio

a need to know everything before i go 

legacy-building

what i think i know 

& what i think i'm worth to you, to the folks i love, to a kingdom where the first become last and last become first

Join me will you?  

As always, I have a special talent for international incidents and shenanigans so your prayers, good wishes, and bacon-fueled thoughts are more than gold to me.  I'll be skimming back over the water Friday, April 6...Good Friday.  Friends have reminded me that my life may be headed for a 10-day spin cycle of wringing out the excess and feeling a bit tipsy from the needs presented and the needs we drag behind us.

We will be dealing with the real hunger games - poverty, despair, lack.  As Americans, we will be dealing with our own lack - loneliness, disconnection, and an assumption of what the Unseen God is all about.  

I'll sometime have access to the blog as I'll update the team blog (they'll be writing, I'll be posting about this adventure) at http://dr.myadventures.org/.  

Much love and Thanks for you,

Allie

Trip FAQ:  

• The Dominican Republic shares an island with Haiti (Hispanola)
• We'll be in Santa Domingo for the most part
• Our team originates from a High School in Virginia
• We'll be helping to build/repair homes in the morning & hanging out with the kids in the afternoon
• I know...DON'T DRINK THE WATER

The Stateless people of the Dominican Republic: 

http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/dominican-republic-haitians-stateless-legal-documents-citizenship-human-rights-crisis 

Wikipedia's Dominican Republic page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Republic