saying i do... 7 years later

nate and i celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary,

 in a very special way.



on july 17, 2011, we renewed our wedding vows. 

it was a very simple, small, and intimate ceremony,

shared with close friends and family.

the lord has blessed nate and i beyond measure. 

though we are far from perfect,

and of course our marriage is far from perfect,

i'd say this day was as close to perfect as it could have been. 

the boys walked me down the aisle.

 it was honestly one of the sweetest moments of my life.

 laura story's song "blessings" was playing as i walked

toward the front of the church, where nate was waiting on me.

it was not your traditional service,

but it was exactly how we wanted it to be.

our friend, mentor, and incredible man of god, joe mayeux,

performed the ceremony. 

nate and i wrote our own vows, and didn't share them,

 until that day, in front of everyone. 

 of course it was emotional. but so sweet. we then took communion.

 nate prayed for me after this. again, incredibly sweet. i cried.

we hugged, cried, and prayed some more.

simply beautiful. how god can make beauty from ashes.

i'm so happy to introduce...

the renewed and recommitted,

 mr. and mrs. nate whitt!



adios honduras...

a few more pics...

what a week. full of fun memories. from clinics, to truck rides, to the market...
there were so many good times.



i LOVE LOVE LOVE this pic of me and my new (dentist) friends! santos, carlos, and abdi...
i miss ya'll! OBVIOUSLY!

friday was our last day at the compound. we woke up and decided to walk into downtown el pariso. it was hot. but fun! we were able to tour the new city hall (or something..) it was beautiful. but the best part about it was- the AIR CONDITIONING! seriously... it was the first time since we had left birmingham to be in the a/c! :) then we walked back to the compound to get ready for the pastors lunch! we were able to feed close to 30 pastors and their families. also, we sent a bag full of food and things home with each of them. it was a blessing to be able to serve the pastors.



the pastors listening to sister norma while sister ortilia was cooking spaghetti!!



i already miss this beautiful place.

after we fed the pastors... we went on an adventure! :) and in typical jamie fashion, i changed everyones plans on friday! ;) kristy, janet and holli had to leave and fly out early that morning. i knew the rest of us didn't really have plans except for the pastor's lunch. backstory: so on the way home from the clinic on thursday, carlos asked if i had ever been to the canopy. of course i didn't know what he was talking about. long story short... the copan ruins (about 2 hrs away) has one of the best ziplines (canopy) in the country!! of course i had never been, but i was pretty interested! so yeah... i mentioned it to norma, chris, and lisa. they agreed we could go, and the rest is history! :) we all loaded up and drove to the copan ruins friday afternoon... where we saw the most gorgeous scenery ever! a few of us risked our life braved the canopy tour, while the rest went to see the ruins. 

the view of the river from the mountainside

my jumpy pics... thanks SANTOS!! :-) these are my fav!!!!!

so i had to sign a waiver, basically saying i wouldn't sue anyone if something happened or i got injured. don't ya know that sorta kinda freaked me out a lot!! but i signed my life away!



funny story.. on the way up to where the zipline started, we were in the back of the truck. it was me, kristen, maria jose, rocio, and nick. and the 4 zip line guides. and hey wow, they were all super scrawny looking. i was totally not convinced if something bad happened they could save me! ;) so we were joking around and singing "if i die young!" kristen translated to them and it was sooo funny! they were probably like- omg, we should have charged these crazy americans double! haha! and then i totally asked the guy if he was a christian, and if we died would i see him in heaven. he assured me he would see me there should something bad happen! ;)

so if you know me, you know #1- i'm scared of heights. #2- when i get scared, i scream. a lot. #3- at times i can be a little dramatic. jajajaja! so yeah.. that makes for one screaming crazy gringa on the ziplines! i actually had an amazing time! it was so fun.. i wish i could do it again!! how about carlos and santos said they could hear me from below. true story!! :-) they knew it was me screaming. i wonder how?!? jeje

during the canopy tour, we were as high as 350 feet high and at some places we went 35 kmph!! there were 14 different stops along the way. on 4 of them the guides went with us, but the other 10 we were on our own! :) and i will say, the guides were great, even if they could have had a little more meat on their bones. they really were stronger than they looked! ha.

it.was.so.fun.

i'm SOOO glad carlos told me about the canopy- thank you!! and now would also be a fabulous time to say THANK YOU to chris and lisa for rearranging their schedules that day.. so that i could zipline! they were in the van like all.day.long. i do wanna say i felt horrible, but in no way MADE them change their schedules :)) they were just very accommodating! ;) however, they assured me it was ok, all the while reminding me yes, it was my fault they were driving all day. haha

some pictures with our new friends before we left the compound! :( so.sad.

saturday morning we rode back down the mountain to the big city. of course i was in the awesome truck! :D we got settled that afternoon and checked into our air conditioned hotel like place, called a hostal. can you tell this southern girl loves the a/c and hates to sweat? ;o) we walked to quiznos for lunch... then we (linda, lisa, nick and i) easily found got lost walking to the market! but it was ok, we were just enjoying the sights! :) anywho. i decided to be brave and ask the next person i saw for directions, and praise the lord, the man spoke english! so we finally found the market! after buying more souvenirs than i could fit in my carryon  a few things for the boys, we left the crazyridiculouslyscorching hot market!



ummmm. i totally love these pics! carlos and maria, and me and karla!



we met up with most of our group at pizza hut that nite for one last dinner. seriously, we had an incredible week. we made lots of new friendships and it really was so sad to know we wouldn't see our friends when we got up the next morning. there would be noone to say "buenos dias" to, and no bell ringing to signal our delicious breakfast was ready. no clinics to prepare for, no more bumpy truck rides. no more games of monopoly at nite, no more sharing my ipod. *sad*

BUT we had a great time at dinner and made the most of it! after tearful goodbyes, the group from argo headed back to the hostal.

i did get to see rocio the next morning at church. then norma and fares took me to the airport. i made the trip home by myself, since the others had either left friday or were driving to miami. amazingly, i got on the right flight, both in honduras and atlanta. when i landed in birmingham, i was greeted by the best sight ever... my awesome hubby, crazy boys, and my sweet parents! as sad as i was to be leaving honduras, i was ready to be back in bama. home.sweet.home.

adios honduras... see ya soon.

the boy from guatemala

our last clinic was on thursday.

clinic 4: the village of el caobal

for some reason, we got a late start at this village. i remember the pharmacy was not yet set up. and when i walked into the room next door where the drs were, dr carlos was checking a little boy's heartbeat. the minute we got there, it was apparent he needed emergency care. you could tell that his breathing was so labored, and his poor tummy was going up and down so fast. they didn't really have the medicines needed, but they started by giving him a breathing treatment. the boy was 15 months old. he was screaming and fighting the mask. the next thing i knew, he went silent. i thought he had given in and fallen asleep. sadly, not the case. he was unconscious. it was like a nightmare in slow motion. before i knew it, the drs grabbed the baby up, laid him on the desk, ripped his shirt open, buttons went everywhere, and the drs started chest compressions. hands down one of the scariest things i've ever seen. i remember thinking "this baby is dying. this poor baby boy is going to die. right in front of me." i walked out of the room and went next door and i was almost in a daze. we asked people to pray. remember, it was only 2 days earlier that we had seen the very sick 40 day old stop breathing. i could barely handle it. everyone stopped what they were doing and prayed. 


the precious people standing in line to see the drs started praying. and when hondurans pray, they PRAY! all together, loud, passionate, fervant. to watch and hear them pray is so humbling.
i forgot to mention this sick baby lives in a village in guatemala. his mother walked and carried her sick son 3 hours to our clinic. god is so good, and he worked all things for his glory. norma was able to drive to a nearby clinic and get strong meds for the baby. the drs worked and did all they could, and god worked through them and did the rest. the baby's fever broke and he began to slowly improve.
we have since heard that when the mother started walking back to her village, someone gave her a ride to another nearby village... where she then was able to get an ambulance to take her baby to the hospital. he was treated and is now back home in guatemala. PRAISE THE LORD!!



the people praying for the sick baby boy



sweet smiling rocio



really... i could just eat this baby up.



the dentists, and maria... hard at work.

fares... if you are reading this... i miss you SO much!
* obviously!! * :)

waiting in line to see the drs



we stopped to take photos on the way back down the mountain!



lord willin' and the creek don't rise. oh wait... it DID rise...


when we were close to el pariso, we realized all the rain had made the river flood the roads! we had to turn around and go another way. iittsshh.

thursday nite when we finally got back to the compound, we went to church. it was hot in that church building. (good thing i had taken my styrofoam plate as a fan. true story.) but hot as it was, the church services in honduras are always amazing. although the service was in spanish, you could totally feel the spirit of the lord there. german, one of our incredible translators, preached! again, not exactly sure what he was saying, but it was spirit led and spirit filled to say the least! i know that god will do amazing things in german!

ok i know it's almost been a month since our trip.. but it's so hard to write these posts. even after i write them, i'm not happy with them. words just can't describe what i experienced there.
anyways, one more post to come about the last fun days of our trip...

round two... honduras

clinic 2... the village of el triunfo

another rainy, muddy, stressful, dangerous, yet BEAUTIFUL journey

the clinic was at a very small school... the doctors and the pharmacy was set up in one room, while the dentists were in another school room, way up on a muddy hill. 

hence why i didn't go up there! or take pics :)

 we saw around 250 patients this day.

and the one that got me the most was a 40 day old baby.

he was so so so sick. we hardly had any medicines to help him.

the doctors told the mom he was so sick he needed to go to the hospital. 

the mom was scared. alone. overwhelmed. 

i.cant.imagine.

she had to be convinced by most every spanish speaking person with us to come to our clinic at the compound. finally, by the grace of god, she gave in. it was a very scary truck ride home. chris was driving the truck with the mom and the baby... more than once they had to stop b/c the baby was having trouble breathing. he had a very very bad case of pneumonia, with a very high fever.

i could talk all day and nite about this poor baby. how it broke my heart that his mom didn't want to bring him to the clinic. how he was so sick and pitiful. how all i could think of was my 2 sweet boys back home. after many prayers, we got them to the compound safely. the doctors spent countless hours helping the baby. dr emmanuel, dr carlos, and dr roque, thank you for your sacrifice, and your love for your people. i am praying that god draws you close to him and continues to use your talents for his glory! thankfully the doctors were able to get sweet baby gerson stabilized. after a very long nite of power outages, he was actually doing better the next morning. i was able to see him and pray for him again before they left for the nearest hospital in santa rosa. chris drove, and took german to translate. dr. roque went too, in case there were any problems with the baby on the way.

please pray for this sweet baby. last we heard, he was still in the hospital.

the next morning, i was able to use carlos' phone and call home. i talked to the boys, and absolutely lost it. i could barely talk to them, i was crying so hard. i just kept saying i love you babies. i miss you angels.
mommy will be home soon.
all i could think about was the sick babies we had been seeing, especially herson.
my heart was breaking.
the trip was so emotional for me...

clinic 3: the village of el limon
i think we saw more than 350 patients at this clinic.
we ran out of brown paper bags, and actually had to use gallon sized ziploc bags, one per family.
now that was crazy when filling meds.

prescriptions waiting to be filled

love these awesome friends! dr carlos, me, maria jose, and dr santos

the set up... another tiny school room... 

doctors and the pharmacists (7 people) in a very cramped space. but, ya do what ya gotta do!

the top pic is the drs seeing patients. then this is our pharmacy set up. liquid meds on one side... and pills/other meds in giant sized ziplock bags, huge crates, and anything else we could find to keep them semi-sorted and organized.

we were crazy busy at this clinic... i think the biggest one. the line of people never seemed to end. but, that's what we were there to do! help as many people as we could. also, dr cruz and his wife went with us to this clinic. he was very very appreciative of all that we were doing to help his people.

the CUTEST little boy ever!! look at him, so happy...even after just having a tooth pulled. i told him he was SO brave!! also, i LOVED abdi's artwork :)

iiitttsssshhhh! so while i'm being honest... i should say that i've never been a fan of going to the dentist! but these dentists were awesome! seriously... they were so kind and compassionate. so many patients came in with horrible toothaches and crazy problems. the dentists must have been super good, b/c the people didn't even make a noise or flench. even the kids... like ya'll, back home, i HATE even having my teeth cleaned. i lay there with my hands clenched and eyes closed, praying it will be over soon. and i've been known to cry while getting dental work done. just sayin. :)

anyways... obviously, these 3 guys have an amazing god-given talent. it was great to see them serving their own people. god has laid the dentists on my heart... so abdi, carlos, and santos, if ya'll are reading this, i'm praying for you! :))

dr carlos numbing up the patient.

awwww. sweet girl!

when you go to honduras, you do what you are asked to do. whether it's coral the people, give out worm medicine, translate medicine, work in the pharmacy, etc... you do it. even if you aren't "qualified." ha!

i felt privileged to work with these amazing ladies in the pharmacy. holli and i were kinda in the same boat, not very familiar with medicines! but we jumped right in and learned the system. janet has a nursing background so was more comfortable than me and holli. and of course kristy was the bomb! such a professional, even when circumstances were less than desirable. :)) i could not have picked a better group of girls to work with all week. oh, and not pictured was lisa... she took care of the liquid medicines and was under so much pressure. but she did an amazing job, and just kept on smiling! :)

 

 stayed tuned for part three!

pics and memories... round one: honduras

july 3, 2011, began my 8th trip to honduras. but it was my first trip in 5 years, so in many ways, it felt like my first trip ever. it was the first time for me to leave my husband and two small boys for more than 3 nites. and can i just say, 7 nites is a LOT longer than 3! {obviously...} it was the first time for me to fly in several years. the first time for me to go on this trip without dr. edwin leon and his family leading us. the first time for me to experience honduras through the eyes of a mother. but i can assure you, although the trip was full of firsts, it will not be my last trip! :-) 

and just like i knew HE would, god took care of us... he took care of us in honduras, as well as our families back home. each.and.every.step.of.the.way. he provided for us in more ways than i can describe. his timing was perfect. each day we experienced countless blessings and many miracles. 

i've been home a week and half... and tried to write this blog post several times. words just don't seem adequate. but i will try to share some of my pics and memories from honduras, 2011.

the beginning of our journey... going through immigration at the airport... interesting! 4 women + 8 HUGE checked bags + 4 carry-ons + 1 little honduran man with a cart = $5 well spent! :-)  the other pictures are us, going through the toll checkpoint, and other sights among the city. young children are very common at intersections, trying to sell things. and houses like the last one are sadly, everywhere you look.

crazy hyper me :-) upon arriving in honduras!

{ i should apologize here for any words/names/villages i misspell. } 

i am just a gringa, who is not very fluent in spanish. although my southern accent makes my spanglish funny, it is very limited, at best! ;o)

sunday we arrived in san pedro sula. a 15 passenger van and 4 trucks met us at the airport. we had 3 amazing honduran doctors who went with us- dr rockae, dr emmanuel, and dr carlos. we took 3 awesome dentists with us- abdi, carlos, and santos! :))) we had 4 incredible translators- german, rocio, karla, and my maria jose! :-) sweet norma led the trip, with her cute sons fares and estras. (that was totally a blessing from god... even though i left my 2 little boys at home, there were always 2 crazy sweet precious boys with us in honduras!) i can not begin to describe the close friendships i made on this trip. oh, and as always, sister ortilia and her daughter carla went with us to cook. *sidenote. oh my word... they are the best cooks EVER!! we even had HOMEMADE chocolate covered donuts one nite for dessert. true story! :) and along with all these amazing new honduran friends, we had 13 people from argo christian fellowship (k- you are included!) on our trip... 9 women and only 4 men! but no worries, the men pulled their weight no doubt!*another sidenote... if i forget to mention someone, i am SO SO sorry... i have no brain. and i still have not caught up on my sleep! :)

we drove about 2.5 hours into el parisio, where we always stay at the same place... it's called the compound. there's a bunkhouse for the guys, and a separate house for the women. then the newest addition is a kitchen. also the clinic that we started building in 2001 is located there. it's in use daily, and that is an amazing thing to see. sometimes we go to honduras thinking "i am only there a week, what good can i do?" but god is good and has allowed us to see so many projects completed and lives being changed.

~not to us, lord, but to your name be the glory!!~



as i said before, it was my first trip in 5 years. i forgot how bumpy the dirt roads were.. how HOT it gets in that tiny bedroom with no air, 3 sets of bunkbeds, and 6 crazy women... how hard it is to function with out a cell phone or internet (just being honest friends!) how stinky the bathroom is with no fans or circulation when you can't flush the tp (sorry for the details, just sayin..) how COLD the cold showers really are! ;-) but, for the few "negative" aspects of the trip, there are a million more awesome ones!! and really, it's not that i'm being negative. it's just a different world over there. culture shock, if you will. but, it's all part of the experience... and i wouldn't change a thing. ok, maybe i'd prefer hot showers... ;o)

anyways, sunday nite we got settled in, and tried to prepare for the first clinic we would hold on monday. that meant sorting, counting, labeling, and packing LOTS of medicines for the pharmacy. also filling backpacks with water bottles, bug spray, and go-girls (if ya dont know, it's probably best! haha) and "fixing" (a good ol southern word for ya!) sack lunches and snacks! we also had nightly devos, led by ken and john. great job guys... it's still a good thing to think about the question "how did you see jesus today?"

the road less traveled... seriously. lots of rain meant muddy roads. including a van that got stuck. and let me remind ya'll... before we left the compound early monday morning i said "i hope you guys are strong... and can push the van when it gets stuck!" jajaja. and get stuck it did!! it's ok, we parked it on the side of the mountain and hiked up the hill, then hopped in the back of the pick up trucks! def some scary rides on the way to the villages... but always good times in the "AWESOME" truck! ;o)

indescribable.

grandaddy and nick... riding in the back of the truck.. in the rain. what troopers!

monday, july 4.
our first clinic.
the village of santa cruz.

our lovely doctors, getting ready to see the patients.
i can not imagine how hard it was to see patients in the crowded little church. we had 3 doctors on one side, evangalism going on across from them, and the makeshift pharmacy set up on the stage. and more hondurans than you could count weaving in and out, being herded like cows! but the doctors were great. despite a few language barriers and messy handwriting (DR EMMANUEL) things went pretty smooth! :-)
as i said in the earlier post, we saw close to 1200 patients at 4 clinics. AMAZING!!

some of the precious people would walk for miles, then stand in line for hours at our clinic. first they would get worm medicine and a paper bag with their name and age. then they would sit and hear the gospel being shared. german and john did an incredible job... god used them each and every day... and we saw several accept christ as their savior, and some rededicate their lives to christ as well. i know the medicines that we give the people are important, but even more important is sharing the word of god. i feel like if we did not share god's word and love with the people, we would not be fulfilling our purpose of the trip. so after the patients hear the gospel, they see the doctor by family. the dr writes their prescriptions on their bag, then they give it to the pharmacy. we, the pharmacy techs, (me, janet, holli, kristy) would fill the prescriptions. then the REAL pharmacist, kristy, would check each and every bag to make sure everything was correct. ya'll... that is a HARD job. let me tell you!!! i don't think kristy ever took a break until the last patient had his/her medicine. that girl is a SAINT! after each bag was filled and checked, the translators would explain to each patient how to take their meds. above, rocio is explaining the meds to the people. that is also not a very easy job! but again, everyone did their job, with smiling faces! we had an amazing team, and def could not have done it without our translators!

fat babies are better! :-)  *pic courtesy of kristen bruce willis*

the kids are beautiful. their eyes, their smiles, their hearts. i love everything about them.

and the scenery is unbelievable as well.

i love to sit back and think about how AWESOME my god is... he spoke the world into existence in just 6 days. look at his beauty. 

it is amazing. matchless. glorious.

simply.gorgeous.

the dentists hard at work!! these guys were awesome. they were totally out of their element, as far as not being in a dentist office... but they made do with what they had. abdi (in green scrubs) and carlos (in blue) were extracting teeth in the top pic. and santos (in maroon) was giving a shot to numb this lady before he extracted her tooth. nick watwood was their assistant... and i have to say, he did a great job. :) they all did... honestly, i could barely stand to take pics of the dentists while they were pulling teeth. that is just so not my calling! ;o) OBVIOUSLY. actually, i'm pretty sure they would say i eat too much candy to be a dentist. jajajaja! again, these guys were amazing. their working conditions were crazy. as you can see, they are OUTSIDE pulling teeth. i mean... seriously! bending over, standing up all day, each day, to help these people in need. but i never heard them complain... and they were always happy. :))

clinic one = success.

crazy.

busy.

hot.

chaotic.
amazing.

exhausting.

but.so.rewarding.

  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' " matthew 25:40

honduras... 2011

honduras 2011.

amazing.

incredible.

huge success.

good times.

4 medical clinics.

3 doctors. 

saw close to 1200 patients.

3 dentists.

saw close to 200 patients.

extracted 300ish teeth.

god is good.

more to come... 

OBVIOUSLY! ;-)