Word of the Day: Humility

Friday's Word of the Day:  Humility 

Prior to coming on this trip, I was assured that I wouldn't have to worry about bathrooms because I would sweat it all out.  I questioned this...because, I have been with this bladder for 37 years.  It has been able to produce regardless of location, condition and abundance.  This bladder is able to MOVE even when it isn't supposed to...just ask my poor husband who has had to stop every 90 minutes on road trips for over 19 years!

So, it isn't a surprise that on the first day, I raced through the door after a day on the water truck to hit the bathroom FIRST.  Day 2, I dreaded another day of limited to non-existant restroom opportunities.  Again, I was reassured that the heat would shed off those extra liquids.  NON!  As we played with the children at the orphanage, I came to the very real conclusion that I had to locate a toilete...now!  I asked one of the young girls and she took my hand.  We walked through the orphanage to her bedroom where she pulled out her bag.  Out of it, she retrieved her own personal stash of toilet paper and led me to the community outhouse.  The young girl guarded the door while I did my business.  What an embarassing and frustrating  experience!
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Day 3, I was determined NOT to need the restroom this day.  I limited my water intake and visited the restroom over 3 times before we headed out for the day.  I was in charge of my bladder and it was going to take note of my demands.  As you can predict, we arrived at the orphanage and I knew I was in trouble.  It was at least 3 hours before we would be riding the bumpy, rocky roads back to our guest house.  And, I was already confident that I wasn't going to be able to make it home.  Once again, I had to find one of the young ladies and go through the walk of "shame" of borrowing toilet paper and being escorted to the public outhouse. 

I was furious with myself and this human condition.  Why was I the only one having to go through this?  Then, as I had my pants around my ankles the realization came to me.  This is my lesson of humility.  I needed to be stripped away of my pride and arrogance so that I could truly serve God.  I needed to recognize that each face I touched, each hug I received, each moment that occured was NOT about me.  My humility of having to ask for the help of a child and to use their limited supply of toilet paper was a hard lesson to learn.  But, a lesson that I needed to learn in order to better serve and better understand my role here in Haiti.