Face Time

I feel like I'm going to have a panic attack. Everything is hitting me at once the huge responsibility we have to gather the money for the loans and I just want to cry. Faith or fear? Faith or fear? Right now everything in me screams fear.... fear that we won't get the money we need, fear that the fundraisers we have will be total flops, fear that we won't be able to get any of these huge companies to agree to even allow us to send them info on what we are doing and follow up with them. Should I keep going? I think you get the idea.

I could write this and let the tears fall but the reality is I have to tell my mind to shut up because Haiti was NOT in the plan for Open Hand and yet too many pieces came together to make it apparent that this is where we are to start. Start. Not end. Start. A model that we can replicate over and over throughout other third world countries. To help put a stop to human trafficking before it starts. To change the course of an entire family forever. That is so huge. Children being able to go to bed with their tummies full, bodies clothed, a roof over their heads, and an education. Everyone in the families needs met. But not just met... we want these people to thrive not survive. Thrive. We are hearing horrible stories about children in Haiti being burned by their parents as punishment for taking more than they should have when it is meal time. This is unacceptable. Every person should have the right to go to bed full. Every.single.one.
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Alright, I've had a couple of hours to relax... well to try not to stress only to be told that a huge chunk of money we were hoping to be available for us to use has been used for another project. Anyone have a brown bag I can breathe into?

So it's Friday night and I'm home alone printing up flyers for our fundraiser next weekend, cutting them and printing up stickers to give to people so they won't forget to mention Open Hand. As I'm doing this I'm thinking to myself it's a really good thing I'm a highly organized detail oriented person because I don't see how some people can start a non profit. This is a lot of work. Granted, we are a team of two. Two non paid stay at home full time mothers and wives. Anyone else see the crazy in this? OH is mine and Alisha's baby. Nobody else is going to care like we do. Nobody else is going to spend countless sleepless nights, days on end of mundane tasks, all the hours and hours of putting together everything that is needed to trying to get what we need most.

Ooo, I bet you thought I was going to say money, right? Well.... I was going to say something else that our friend Freddy, from Burundi taught us, "First you get their hearts, then their purse strings will follow."

Put us in front of people and we can get their hearts. That's all we need. The opportunity for people to give us 5 minutes of face time and I guarantee we will get it done.