3 days.

I felt very blessed by the going away party! Thank you to those who came and helped plan!

I leave on Thursday! very excited =)

many thanks

the fam.


10 +



What about Sarah?

(c)987-642-7654

lifers.

heart.

it is necessary to take a moment and thank all those that walked me through this journey of leaving my job, moving x-country, finding a position in Haiti and following Christ.

family: i am blessed that i have two believing parents and they chose to raise my brother and me in a God following household. they are my strength. my prayer is to one day be as kind and gracious as my own mother and that i can be as wise and genuine as my father. when telling them of this ridiculous idea, they provided guidance and prayers and most of all love. I love you.

my little brother dan: the best decision maker i know. has anyone else gone through a moment when they realize they look up to their younger sibling? annnd he has already started sending a portion of his summer earnings to the orphanage. what a guy. (he's single, ladies)

blessed friends: after the 'what about chad?' post my sweet little love, Sarah, asked me, 'what about Sarah?'

well, sarah: i remember when i told sarah of my plans... she was in the shower. i guess that is as appropriate time as ever, right? i stood outside the curtain and said, 'Sarah? i have to tell you something'. after i went through the whole debacle of a story, lost my breath, and my nerves had calmed she said, 'you can't see me but i have a HUGE smile on my face'. that basically sums up the jump-all-in type of friend Sarah is. since then, the notes of encouragement, the vent sessions, the goodbye parties and ultimate support system came through in true Sarah style. if you ever get the chance to live 3+ yrs with Sarah Yoder, jump on it. (Jon) you won't regret it and you come out a better person on the other side.

my no nonsense friend: the maker of fun, the queen of the dance, the tell it how it is, the love you the way you are, the cheerleader. she knows just what to say which is always the bare truth yet she can still make you laugh. i will always remember when she changed my attitude 100% with the reminder of God's provision. (she typically needs no introduction and i am sure most of you know exactly whom i am speaking of- annie)

the many notes and emails: Jillian Leigh Woods: 10 years ago she claimed the appropriate title of "best friend" and continues to prove the essence and depth of our long friendship. thank you for the eloquent words you constantly provide and the wisdom that is well beyond your years. for reasons i will never understand she seems to be my number one fan, cajoling me to be who I am. she is also the woman who has travled with me to Italy, Greece, Spain, California, Mexico and x-country. next stop... Haiti?

thanks jill-looking forward to the next 10.

for all the others that have sent cards and emails- i am keeping them in a folder to read in Haiti when times get difficult. the care packages (mere & leo), the books (ash, gwen, chad), the leaps of joy in Wyoming (mary, dad) and all the hugs are pieces of heaven.

life group: i have been meeting with these lovely babes for 2.5 years every Thursday morning @ 6:15am. our commitment was "to do life together" and so we have. droopy-eyed, we would meet once a week to discuss what we were struggling with, joyful about, or just basic schedules. Some weeks I would have nothing to share (or wanted to press my snooze button) and others i would talk their ears off.

6 am mornings became notes left on cars, rides to airports, sweet texts, gaggles of giggles, battlers, happy hours, 3rd wheels, shoulders to cry on, weddings, vents, birthdays, bad dates, marathon fans, wine tours, no questions asked lifers. as my Dad refers to us, "life partners"

these 6 women walked this journey with me and held my hand though frustration, prayers and joy. i am eternally grateful for the blessing they have been to me. i couldn't have made this decision without their constant support.

tiffany & co: this company was beyond supportive of my decision to leave. if you ever have the unique opportunity to work for or just experience tiffany, you are lucky. furthermore, the high caliber of employees is what makes this company stand out far beyond competitors.

my tiffany co-workers: love you and miss you. your words of encouragement behind closed doors were priceless and your continued support is part of the reason i journey on.

the groupers.

support.

upmost thanks to these beautiful human beings.

Chelsea, the lovely sales manager @ Tiffany, has the prettiest little tikes I know- inside and out. Bella, her 8 yr-old daughter going on 20, has taken me moving to Haiti quite seriously. unprompted by parents or myself, she is making bracelets to sell at her school. she also organized a lemonade stand to raise money for my trip. what a little gem.

this child-like faith and love is an encouragement to me. Chelsea- you have raised a child with a heart of gold.

Bella- gratitude. i can't wait to see who you become and if you model your mother you will have faith to move mountains. i can feel your prayers.

What about Chad?

this quasi dramatic turn of events in my current life usually calls for a long explanation (read the last posts). i sometimes need to tell the whole story and all the details so you can fully understand why in the world i am doing this. after i rattle off my ever-repeating story (and not nearly as dramatic as i dramatize it) 9 times of 10 after I am blue in the face, choking on words, i hear, well what about Chad?

valid question. Chad (not the country- no one has yet to suggest I move there) is my wonderful boyfriend of a whopping seven months. happy to report- we are still together and still in love (not loving the distance).

Chad and i were set-up on a date that we had both been fighting against for quite some time. lucky for us, our friends were a lot wiser than us and finally made it happen. i was quickly taken back by Chad and his genuine personality and quick wit. i immediately felt at ease with him. if you have met Chad you know he is easiest person in the world to talk to and a great listener. basically the story unfolds from there (details, details) and after that date we were making every arrangement to spend as much time as possible together as he lived in SF and me in the barb.

all that to say, Chad has been amazing through this whole process. when I announced I felt that I should move to Haiti and serve- it was hard to tell who was more excited, him or me. he has been incredibly supportive and became my steadfast source of encouragement and a prayer warrior. we both have a sense of peace about the distance and are excited for what God is teaching us in this time of separation. right Chad? =)

it's complicated.

so i made this decision to move and go volunteer in Haiti, participate in microfinance and development, sell my things, quit my job, leave California friends and boyfriend and in doing so grow closer to God and lean on Him in all circumstances. blah, blah, blah. ideally all this was so fun and exciting; as I like to say, a no-brainer. everyone kept saying, follow your heart and the encouragement was pouring all over me! so wonderful!

until... God reallllly started working on my heart. to summarize- this was hard. for three whole months- i started packing and saying my goodbyes and stepping out of my dream job- yet i had no idea where i was headed. no organization in Haiti wanted me. (so it seemed) i emailed, connected and i networked with everyone i knew yet NOTHING was happening. no doors were opened. patience is a virtue right?

I heard lots of "no's", "not right nows" and "you don't speak creole" or "you have never been to Haiti". I would come home everyday from work and email new connections and friends of friends who had 'such and such' a connection in microfinance or Haiti or a volunteer organization. or fill out application after application. yet, still. no options.

i can not express how frustrating these months became. discouraging. there were times I wanted to give up. i was willing to be 100% flexible. i kept saying this whole time if God was calling me to go file papers in Pennsylvania then I would. if God was calling me somewhere other than Haiti then that is where i would be. but, why did i have no options? why was this so difficult?

during this time of frustration God was so good and kept encouraging me. He surrounded me by fellow believers and His Word. thank you to all my friends and family and co-workers who would lift me up and knew just what to say. i was lifted up on prayers during this time and you all kept reminding me that God would reveal His plan. Stepping out on faith means NOT knowing where the next step is.

Happy to FINALLY report... (drum roll please)

side note: received this information in the middle of Wyoming on my birthday.

I, Kaitlyn Marie Evans, will be traveling to Haiti on the 3rd of September in the year two-thousand ten with a wonderful organization called Child Hope International. www.childhope.org I will be doing a plethora of activities (operations, admin, microfinance, career development, coordinating) right up my alley. more details to come. honestly, the perfect spot for me.

but the main point is: Answer to prayer. Answer to prayer. God is so good. He has an ultimate plan. Praise. Praise. Praise.

let's give it a try.

my first attempt at a blog post- here it goes.

i am not one to be known as a blogger yet i have felt that it is important to keep friends and family updated on what God has been teaching me and bringing me through in the past few months. Oh what a few months! i know many of you have been praying for me and encouraging me and pushing me forward when times have gotten tough. i have said this whole time that i want my loved ones to be part of this journey with me because believers never travel alone. so here we go...

for those of you just joining in, May 1st (besides being Ashley's birthday) became the day one chapter in my life ended and the next one began. i had been feeling a desire for over a year to go serve and serve in a big way- giving up a lot of security in my life and devoting my life to the plans the Lord had for me. i felt this slight tugging on my heart and the quiet whisper of the Lord, yet i didn't feel like the timing was ever right. i had a passion for microfinance and began reading and researching what this actually means yet for whatever reason i never acted upon these longings. my heart also started breaking for the poor. here i was, serving the richest of the rich but i felt like i was being called to serve the poorest of the poor.

if you know me at all, you know I LOVED my job at Tiffany & Co. i couldn't have asked for a better job and better co-workers (you know who you are) and i could use up the rest of this blog talking about what a great company it is and how blessed i was to be in the position that i was in. At this time in my life God was calling me to do something different- just like He put me at Tiffany's for a reason. my three years there were blessed beyond belief and i will be the luckiest girl on earth if i ever again find a job that i loved as much that one.

January 12th- i heard about the earthquake in Haiti. i felt this earthquake literally hit home for me. you Californians may compare it to an earthquake happening in Hawaii (a place i have never been) but my family always grew up vacationing to the islands all around Haiti yet we had never visited there. for some reason my heart was really broken for this country and i could barely watch the news or look at the newspaper. i wanted to jump on a plane and help ASAP (which almost everyone felt). Yet this feeling didn't go away.

long story short(er), I prayed for "change" one night at a bible study knowing change was upon me. be careful what you pray for. this was a tuesday night. i remember a girl asking, what kind of change? I responded, I don't know. Just pray for change. the very next night Sarah, my dear and loving roommate and bestest of friends, announced she wanted to go live in a studio before she got married leaving our apartment of 3 yrs. I was really happy for her as it is important to do things you want to accomplish- and then i realized, oh geez. this is that change i was praying for. the Lord grabbed hold of my heart and said as clear as day, Go. That night I just KNEW without a doubt that I needed to go accomplish my dream now. someday I would have kids and a mortgage, and I needed to go serve NOW if I was ever going to do this. so i decided to quit my job, leave california, and start looking for serving opportunities in Haiti. When the Lord puts something on your heart, it is the only thing you can think about, the only thing you can talk about and the thoughts give you pure joy. My heart felt so light and full at just the thought of what the Lord was calling me to do.

that was a wednesday night. after prayer and a lot of talking with wise people i was in front of my boss Monday morning telling him my plans and giving him my two month notice...

since that night when i decided that i needed to go serve in Haiti and i needed to go do it now, i have never doubted this is what the Lord was calling me to do. this was His plan for me. i knew it was all in His hands and He would provide. and He has.