chasing rainbows

i wish i had a picture to show for this. today i flew roundtrip governor's to nassau and back. on the way back i got to see at least 5 rainbows, one was a full arched rainbow. beautiful. made a left 360 after dipping into the left arm of the rainbow and when i turned about 270 degrees i saw the rainbow from a side angle. i've never seen that before. it looked like gumby with the top of the arc tilted back. it was amazing.

i couldn't help but feel like i was in a starburst commercial with the girl whispering into the headset, 'taste the rainbowww.'

the essence of life is to care

i don't know much about this guy, but i like his words. i ran across these quotes of his and want to share.

“We must be silent before we can listen. We must listen before we can learn. We must learn before we can prepare. We must prepare before we can serve. We must serve before we can lead." ~ William Arthur Ward

"The adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care (serve).. The secret of life is to dare. The spice of life is to befriend. The beauty of life is to give." ~ William Arthur Ward

this guy seems to have it together but i've learned that i'm skeptical of clarity.

top 20 for a rockstar summer

i'm determined that this summer will rock. i have a few things in mind that will make this bahamian summer complete:

1.) catch a bonefish (this implies that i really learn to fly fish...i'm on my way! still just practicing the cast-no fly yet)
2.) surf at surfer's
3.) play ultimate frisbee at gaulding cay
4.) go camping in abaco
5.) think about, and possibly, jumping off the rainbow cliffs (yikes!)
6.) out for good music: elvina's and cocodimama
7.) support ghana beyond france in the world cup to avoid losing a bet with a stiff wager: watching the exorcism of emily rose
8.) saturday-style kickball game in JC
9.) spear a grouper or a lobster
10.) visit the haitian farm at camp
11.) explore spanish wells
12.) lighthouse beach
13.) grow something from a seed and not kill it
14.) hitchhike
15.) night swim in the sea
16.) take jc kids flying
17.) hatchet bay caves
18.) bake bread with mrs. white
19.) go to a bahamian wedding (horatio and/or godfrey's)
20.) jc softball games

*bonus/unrealistic: take an invitation to lenny kravitz house to swim and sing a song*

summer reading list:
the hole in our gospel richard stearns
the heartbreaking work of staggering genius dave eggers
the confessions st. augustine
surprised by hope nt wright

may (to catch up)

may came and went in a flash. i spent most of the month traveling between florida, tennessee, haiti and the bahamas.

(i'm wearing a new favorite tshirt, just to give a visual: it has so much iron-on plastic that it crinkles when i sit, stand, walk, move in general. it's a picture of earth as a basketball with 'hoops for haiti' arched over the top of the worldball. on the back, there is a warrior on horseback of some kind with words: 'we're all in this together' slapped as the warrior's aurora.)

florida was a conference to gather about 60 transporters in one place to create an operation to supply haiti's needs. the room was absolutely not big enough to fit all the egos in one place. it was confirming though that the heavy hitters in the developing world arena mostly shoot from the hip. there is a ton of room for movements and ideas. stayed at the w hotel in fort lauderdale. kinky. the shower's wall facing the bedroom and balcony (and sequentially the rest of the world) was a window. i bathed bravely once, and then the next morning felt clean enough to people watch at the race for the cure and fly to nashville via auburn. auburn to pay homage, and nashville to surprise everyone like gene parmesan of arrested development.

mother's day, dad's birthday, jordan's graduation from ut, all the following week. loved being there for all of it. my dad was so surprised he didn't even recognize me. flew back to the bahamas the following weekend, scooting out just in time to avoid a macho thunderstorm passing over downtown island home airport in kn0xville, tn. turning out of the traffic pattern we navigated right around thunder, lightning and pillars of rain. it continued like that until we were out of the mountains and the rest of the trip to the bahamas was smooth. i had never flown over the kennedy space center and that flight was my first. there's a skinny corridor to take just next to it that you get a good glimpse at the shuttle and station. cool.

jumped into a week with auburn wesley foundation who came to volunteer with us for a week. anna bellamy took care of my grandmother for about a year and a half until nan passed away this past march. she continues to take care of my grandfather by taking care of the house and getting him out of the house keeping his mind going. she came down on the flight with me from knoxville and spent the week too. it was really great having her here.

the following weekend, i left for haiti to be there for four days. the purpose for our time in haiti again is to see if there are long term opportunities for bahamas habitat to meet needs sustainably with general aviation. the week was packed! got to visit 5 airports in haiti, 4 in the bahamas during the week including grass, gravel, paved, busy and empty alike. so much to write about there, but the gist is that our vision is to partner with existing medical personnel and supply them with volunteer pilots.

'what is it like in haiti now?' many people ask me this. i tell them that i can tell you what haiti looks like since the earthquake in january, not knowing exactly what it looked like before then but have a good hint that it wasn't strong, and now i imagine that it is back to where it was before the earthquake with many resources and great potential. what's the hold up? sustainability, long-term solution mentalities. i'm thankful that this is a problem in one sense. but, the most heartbreaking thing is seeing containers stacked full of food and relief items locked next to tent cities with literally thousands of people starving and desperate. what i saw a few weeks ago is consistent with what i saw 3 days after the earthquake. literally tons of relief items and resources, need pounding on the walls of terminal buildings and emptiness in between. so, what's the need? before the earthquake there were 1000 n.g.o.s. post-earthquake, 8000 applications are in line to receive n.g.o. status which grants duty-free imports. many of these are logistics organizations. there are about 9 million people who live in haiti, with about 7.5/8 million living right in port au prince. my heart is continually broken with those i meet in haiti, i'm thankful that there are ways to be in touch with one another's physical, spiritual, emotional needs. i echo mother teresa's prayer again, 'pray for me that i not loosen my grip on the hands of Jesus, even when ministering to the poor.' the mindset of discernment is a constant battle.

came back to the bahamas and was here through the rest of the month hosting teams and sorting the information and resources that i found during the previous weeks. also in the midst of being in haiti, jordan and allie, my brother and sister-in-law had a baby girl, named isabelle lee, or izzy. i cannot wait to see her in august!

mumford and sons rock

'roll away your stone' mumford and sons

watch this video

Roll away your stone I will roll away mine
Together we can see what we will find
Don't leave me alone at this time
For I am afraid of what I will discover inside

You told me that I wouldn't find a home
Beneath the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal
And all the while my character it steals

Darkness is a harsh term don't you think
Yet it dominates the things I see

It seems that all my bridges have been burned
But you say 'That's exactly how this grace thing works’
It's not the long walk home that will change this heart
But the welcome I receive with every start

Darkness is a harsh term don't you think
And yet it dominates the things I see
Darkness is a harsh term don't you think
And yet it dominates the things I see

Stars hide your fires
For these here are my desires
And I won't give them up to you this time around
And so I will be found
With my stake stuck in the ground
Marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul

And you, you've gone too far this time
You have neither reason nor rhyme
With which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine

“fairyland is nothing but the sunny country of common sense”

gk chesterton: easily my favorite author. i’m reading orthodoxy now and i love the man who was Thursday. he inspired cs lewis and the others in his league. from orthodoxy:

“the love of a hero is more terrible than the hatred of a tyrant. the hatred of a hero is more generous than the love of a philanthropist. there is a huge and heroic sanity of which moderns can only collect the fragments. there is a giant of whom we see only the lopped arms and legs walking about. they have torn the soul of Christ into silly strips, labeled egoism and altruism, and they are equally puzzled by His insane magnificence and His insane meekness. they have parted His garments among them, and for His vesture they have cast lots; though the coat was without seam woven from the top throughout.”

“the point is that this world is not too sad to love or too glad not to love; the point is that when you do love a thing, its gladness is a reason for loving it, and its sadness a reason for loving it all the more.”

“let us suppose we are confronted with a desperate thing – say pimlico. if we think what is really best for pimlico we shall find the thread of thought leads to the throne or the mystic and the arbitrary. it is not enough for a man to disapprove of pimlico: in that case he will merely cut his throat or move to chelsea. nor, certainly, is it enough for a man to approve of pimlico: for then it will remain pimlico, which would be awful. the only way out of it seems to be for somebody to love pimlico: to love it with a transcendental tie and without any earthly reason. if there arose a man who loved pimlico, then pimlico would rise into ivory towers and golden pinnacles; pimlico would attire herself as a woman does when she is loved. for decoration is not given to hide horrible things: but to decorate things already adorable. a mother does not give her child a blue bow because he is so ugly without it. a lover does not give a girl a necklace to hide her neck. if men loved pimlico as mothers love children, arbitrarily, because it is theirs, pimlico in a year or two might be fairer than florence. some readers will say that this is mere fantasy. i answer that this is the actual history of mankind. this, as a civilization and you will find them knotted round some sacred stone afterwards gained glory for it. men did not love rome because she was great. she was great because they had loved her.

haiti summary

(confession: ripped this from a formal explanation written earlier)

14 January 2010 Bahamas Methodist Habitat flew its first flight in response to Haiti's earthquake disaster that occurred on 12 January. That first flight continued onto a 60-day airlift to include 400 missions, 120 mission pilots/airplanes, and 250,000+ lbs. of critical medical supplies and food delivered. The first flight was into Port au Prince, we expanded to focus on outlying communities utilizing six airports: Cap Haitian, Les Cayes, Jeremie, Pignon, La Gonave, Jacmel. We partnered with Rotary International through whom we established on-the-ground contacts for needs and proper distribution. The contacts in Haiti were primarily medical-related but also included humanitarian organizations and orphanages.

The operation itself was simple. We established two warehouses to collect donated supplies: Johnston County, North Carolina (KJNX) and Fort Lauderdale, Florida (KFXE). Volunteers operated both these warehouses tirelessly. Banyan Air Service at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport operated the warehouse and served as our primary collection point for the States and gateway to the Caribbean, not forgetting to mention providing fuel at cost! When pilots flew to Haiti, (s)he would collect necessary supplies (medical supplies based on the phase of relief and rice, beans, oil) from their local community and/or top-off the load at our warehouse and come to Nassau, Bahamas. Odyssey Aviation made the staging operation there possible through the use of warehouse space, fueling at a discounted rate and facilitating international procedures for the pilots. Pilots would then base there in Nassau being dispatched each morning on specific missions depending on the load of supplies and the most pressing needs at the time. Right at about eight-hour days, pilots would return to rest and repeat for as long as (s)he was able and willing. All pilots generously gave their time and own financial support.

The airlift continued until Haiti's ports opened and commercial travel resumed operation. Our relief effort became inefficient and consequently less effective and we cleared our warehouses through the use of container shipments to Haiti. We, BMH/BH, are currently assessing how we might be involved in the long-term recovery phase as we partner with those whom we came into contact during the critical response phase. We are aiming to have a long-term plan established by the end of May after our assessment pilot determines what need, if any, we are capable of meeting in Haiti.

The government of Haiti has resumed tough customs and duty (arbitrary, and extreme) requirements. It is making it difficult to transport supplies into the country because of the requirement to pay extreme landing fees and duty. In one sense, they’re not to be blamed because this is the largest, if not the only, source of income for the country, but the corruption that in included is what rocks the willingness of many dropping supplies realizing that the goods will not be appropriately distributed and only making the officials more well-to-do. Again, when you are in the circumstances that press onto Haiti, the perspective is very limited. This is a definite place for prayers as there is a great deal of hope for those in Haiti and the country as a whole, but it’s stretching wineskins right now.