Our Neighborhood

Six years ago we were blessed with the opportunity to move into a relatively peaceful neighborhood in east Omaha.  While we didn't exactly fall in love with the house, we did  fall for the mesh of cultures living right outside our door.  The beautiful green space at the end of our street and the friendly neighbors are what have made these last couple of years fly by.  It's been interesting to "force" people to be neighborly, but Nick has a knack for it and remains in contact with several of our neighbors who have left the "hood."

Nick helping with park clean-up

We've been members of the Leavenworth Neighborhood Association and paid our dues for the last 5 years, but never actually took part in the going-on's in the territory. We were highly "encouraged" to get involved in our city and neighborhood when we were in Haiti of all places.  So, a couple of months ago, we began attending meetings and Nick helped with a clean-up project. Nick is now sitting on the board for a two-year term as secretary and I help whenever needed. It's kinda funny, but so simple at the same time.  Neighbors are really an extension of family, but they just live closer!

The warehouse crew

Recently, we took part in our association's Christmas Cheer project.  They provide each student at Jackson Elementary a gift bag full of books, notepads, crayons, hat and gloves, and various goodies. Jackson Elementary is primarily Spanish speaking and on the lower-income end. A group from our association and a couple volunteers from the local Campfire Kids Club, joined together one snowy Saturday morning in a warehouse where we sorted 6 pallets of books that the company donated for our gift bags. Isn't that awesome?! We then gathered again a couple weeks later and packed the gift bags for grades Pre-K-6th. 

Packing bags

Nick delivering bags to classrooms

Through this involvement with our neighborhood, we're finding that something so simple as our time can make the biggest impact. To change this crazy world, you must first start at home.

Running Omaha at Midnight

This last weekend, Nick and I participated in one of the BIGGEST event's in our life's history. The Omaha Midnight Run. Now for those of you who have been living under a rock, ignoring my post, or happen to live out of town and haven't checked Facebook recently, let me take a moment to fill you in on what the Omaha Midnight Run is.


The Omaha Midnight Run was a 5k held on the streets of Downtown Omaha, on Friday, September 9th. It was the second run put on by a group of young adults who came together despite social and economic backgrounds, race and religion. Young people coming together who just want to make a difference in their city. This year our group decided to partner and donate all the proceeds to the Abide Network. The Abide Network is a non-profit organization transforming the inner-city through neighborhood restoration and beautification, mentoring programs, block parties, helping the elderly, and the list goes on and on.

The masses ready to run!

In fact, I have a unique tie with Abide Network as my mom and step-dad worked for them at one time. I remember it clearly when my siblings and I were moved from our comfy secure neighborhood to a place where we were the minority and gunshots were the nightly lullaby. It was through the relationship with Abide that my parents were able to adopt my sister Michaela(Hebrew for "who is like God")  Michaela was born to a mother who was serving time in jail for child neglect and was not allowed to keep the baby as she needed to finish her term. My parents took Michaela and after a few scary nights of her turning blue and not responding, she was diagnosed with severe fetal alcohol syndrome and had to have a trachea and feeding tube put in to survive. The doctors said she would never walk or speak and yet, that little girl moved so fast to get to her loved ones and had so much more to teach us than any scholar! She passed shortly before her second birthday and my life was forever altered after holding her in my arms trying to breathe her back to life. The Father had so many more lessons He needed me to learn and a path that I would need to walk down that would be incomplete without me going through those times. It was for my sister, Michaela that I readily jumped on board with the Omaha Midnight Run as it is children like her Abide is trying to reach and minister too.

Now indulge me as I begin a ramble of all the things that took place. I need documentation somewhere and writer's cramp is just so not appealing. So anywho, Nick and I jumped on board in various ways with Nick kinda helping out wherever he was needed and I working as the assistant marketing director. It was an amazing experience for us to meet new people, build relationships, get passionate about my city, and be reminded of my humble backgrounds. I was constantly reminded that this whole process of 28 years of life was for a reason. My path was carefully orchestrated in such a way that I had a choice to either get involved and use what I had learned or instead, choose to walk away and never really come into my meaning.

My side-kick Staci~I couldn't have done this without her!

So many relationships were made and built upon during this time. 

After countless e-mails, meetings, flier and water bottle distributions, knocking on what seemed like every business in Omaha for support, God really smiled down on our group and opened some doors. We were able to do a TV spot that was filmed by one of our own and ran on the local community channel. We were posted on several local sites and radio stations, were being contacted by businesses and locals wanting info, Southwest airlines donate round-trip tickets to the first male and first female to cross the finish line, bought the domains for www.omahamidnightrun.com, had an opportunity to do a interview on the Morning Blend-http://www.omahamorningblend.com/videos/127727038.html and Q98, had a gal from our group present to one of the largest companies in town who ended up giving a monetary donation, and were given the platform to speak in front of several heavy hitters in Omaha through the EMPOWER meeting. Every expectation, worry, hope, and dream was blown out of the water with the response we received-and that's just from the business perspective!

In the "greenroom" with Katie prior to going on the morning Blend

The actual night of the run held so many worries and what ifs that I found it to be quite strange when I arrived only to feel complete peace. The whole night was a major success with the mayor showing up at the beginning to give a shout out of pride for our city and the 1,200+ runners and over 100 supporters and volunteers  who came out to support the cause. The start of the race actually brought tears to my eyes as florescent streaks of color sped past me in effort to win the grand prize of first place. The night ended with fun, food, music, prizes and an awards ceremony for the top three runners. I was so blessed to be apart of such a city-changing event. The love for my hometown and it's people grew tenfold with each pound of the pavement.

Let us never forget to continue running the race!

We are truly a generation of revolutionaries rising up to take their place, rebuilding the ancient cities, and giving honor where honor is do. We achieve all this while not taking offense to the everyday going-ons and instead we work together paving the way for the next generation to go boldly in the direction God is leading them-may our children never be satisfied with the world we built, may they only yearn for the impossible!

Back Tracking Haiti~Day 6

BEACH DAY!!! This day was supposed to be a day of complete relaxation as we drove through Haiti sight-seeing on the way to the beach. Every year we go, we set aside this special day to recover, recoup, and rediscover what God did through us the week we served. It's really quite needed as Bob, Dr. Dada, and I agree. However, my body decided to pick up a bug and I spent the 6 hour truck ride, hunched over in pain, barfing out the window. It was pretty gruesome so I'll spare you most the details.

 Roadside Art Seller

Our first stop was a little hideaway atop the mountain where Haitians hawk their goods for a price. I LOVE bargaining with them and even though I was deathly ill, I made it a point to step out and buy a few things. Nothing can ever get in the way of a lady and her shopping! Nick bought two lovely little jewelry boxes and I bought a statue of a woman balancing a baby on her hip and a basket of goods on top of her head. This fits in perfectly with all the other little statues I have collected on our trips and was a tribute of all the things we women tend to balance in our lives. In fact it's kinda a remembrance for me of the last year. While we there, we were able to take a good look at the city below with a breath-taking view that included the shoreline and farther islands. It's a great spot to pray that God's will would be done over Haiti...

Mountain-Top View of Port au Prince

As I was about to fall over, we hopped back into the truck and headed towards the fallen capitol of Haiti and some shopping for those who could stand up straight. By this time it was only Fi, Dan and I in the truck. As we pulled up to the capitol building I made myself look at the ruins. It was in that millisecond of a glance that I felt overwhelming shame. Here I am an American, facing the devastated capitol of another country with it's countrymen living in squander right outside it's gates, and I'm gawking like a school girl on a class trip. I began to think upon the images that burned themselves into my head last year of Haitians sobbing at the capitol gates thinking there was no hope if this happened to their countries main government building. No direction for their country. I began to think about our response as Americans to the rubble of the Twin Towers and Pentagon. Will we always remember? Will we always be so patriotic? Will we always fly our flag with pride? Do people my age even care? (I think patriotism for my generation is another blog topic you will see soon so stay tuned!) There was so much to think about while taking video of the earthquake survivors who set up camp across their capitols gates. This ladies and gentlemen is the worst of it.

Haiti's Capitol

We were on the road again and this time inching along due to market day which everyone and their mom come out for and trucks without tires stuck in the middle of the road. The truck ride for me was waaaay more comfortable than those in the cage. In fact, one team-member said that the cage ride was "quite traumatic." We soon found ourselves free of the traffic, diesel smells, swirling dirt, and moving out into the country where the sight of the ice blue ocean greeted us on one side and displaced "city-Haitians" on the other. Not sure why, but the sight of the blue and gray tents dotting the mountainside with the occasional open fire and woman giving herself a bath in broad daylight, disturbed me more than in the city. See, these people are disconnected to their families and friends, the city, schools, it's market's-meaning fresh food and clean water, and placed in a new community of people they may never have associated with before and without the "assistance" other tent-cities are getting. My heart goes out to those families and I pray that they will have the strength and courage to rise above their situation and choose to live the life our God wants for them.


Finally, we pulled up to the Indigo Blue Resort! After getting our keys, Nick and I bolted for our room and left the newbies oohing and aahing over the ocean view. Not that we didn't care, but we new the ocean hadn't changed since the last time we saw it and we also new that there was air conditioning in the hotel room! Besides, the faster you change into your suit, the faster your your having fun. We were soon squishing white sand between our toes only to find half of our team with huge grins-heads bobbing in the salty cool water, while other's were fascinated to just walk ankle-deep in the waves looking at the fish and shells that washed up on shore.

The sight always catches my breathe as islands float in the distance beneath cotton candy clouds with the occasional sailboat dotting in and out of the scene. It's quite poetic really, the long wooden boats with their dirty sails swaying in the wind make me think of pirates, and the half naked men casting their nets and fishing lines to real in the nights dinner. It's such a beautiful place to reflect about God's provision through creation.

Arg! The Pirates Are Coming!!!

We the spent the remainder of the evening in the pool-due to jellyfish spawning starting at 5:00, sipping freshly squeezed fruit juice, kayaking, playing pool basketball, taking pictures, and just hanging out. Then we gathered for a scrumptious buffet style dinner and the last session of Dr. Dada's teaching on Nehemiah.

Da' Mayo Boy's  Kayaking 

Da' Mayo Girls Chill'n

Da' Mayo's

It was a wonderful way to end a trip filled with sights, sounds, and smells that will be forever burned into our senses and a way to say goodbye to a people whose faces are etched upon our hearts. A people who live in a country of such contrast between devastation and beauty, rich and poor, sick and healthy, good and evil. A people who God wants to use to change Haiti.