2020 might be in hindsight, but it was still a transformational year that will not be forgotten. I was watching an interview with Jimmy Falon, and he was expressing the courage and creativity it had required to continue hosting his show from his house as the world was quickly overtaken by fear and pandemic this past spring. And it got me thinking.

This was a year where so many people found creative and courageous ways to keep each other going. We all know about the many medical heroes and front-line workers who went to work each day, knowing they were putting themselves at risk and showing up anyway. I want to be careful how I word this because I do so appreciate all the men and women who had necessary jobs to do and did them!

But, I think there was a whole other kind of courage displayed among the countless people who became “un-essential” this year. People whose entire lives suddenly focused on their immediate family and their neighborhoods. Individuals who fought their own mental health battles. Individuals who desperately wanted something important to do but instead found themselves unemployed or on unscheduled staycations.

I know I’m rewriting a story we’ve heard a thousand times, but it’s worth reflecting on your own part in it. This year I spent four months in the states, grateful to be with family but feeling a little trapped, unable to travel back to Haiti. Then I spent five months in Haiti, unable to travel home because of the various Covid restrictions and my own family’s preferences for quarantine time.

So when I got to fly home for Christmas, I was so excited and then surprised that I felt bored within the first few days back. Believe me, I can rest and relax with the best of them, but I’m also one of those people who really would choose to do something helpful or productive when that’s an option. And in Haiti, I have that. Honestly, just try sleeping in and doing nothing all day there! People will literally come get you out of your bedroom and hand-deliver requests to occupy your time.

So in that mindset, I had messaged a friend about the timing of booking my return to Haiti and how I was doing nothing while at my parent’s house anyway in the locked down version of the states. And being wiser than I sometimes give her credit for, her response was “being there is not doing nothing”. She continued on, encouraging me that time spent with my family was important and meaningful. She has spent weeks herself nursing both her parents through Covid, and her perspective was enlightening for me.

So I pushed my flight out a week farther than I had intended and am spending unapologetic time being here. And when I return to Haiti, I will do my best to be there.

All that preamble yet again to get to some of my actual life updates. The past few months in Haiti included Thanksgiving with other local missionaries, sweet time learning language and playing with the kids who live at Grace Village, being a part of the children’s ministry in Titanyen, growing relationships with the elders in Titanyen and Cite Soleil, a fun girls’ weekend at a local beach, being godmother in a friends’ wedding, and so much more. I will include a bunch of photos after this blog.

I have come out of the past several months, extremely grateful for the people I get to do life with, whether that’s in Minnesota or in Haiti or wherever I find myself.

I’ve also been looking at wrapping up my time of living full-time in Haiti. No, not immediately! But, I will probably be moving back stateside before the calendar flips again, perhaps over this coming summer/fall. I still have a deep love and connection with the people I’ve gotten to do life alongside in Haiti and I want to keep those intentional connections throughout my whole life and travel there as often as possible.

So, that’s me right now. Fluid plans and an open heart. I hope you also feel encouraged to be where you are and know that it’s not nothing. And have a very happy new year!