I mentioned here that there were a few moments when I doubted my decision to take our boys to Haiti, especially the youngest. Would it be too much? Would the physical and emotional challenges push them too far? Would they resent us for spending our family vacation fund for a trip to a third-world country? After all, the cool parents were taking their kids to DisneyWorld or Hawaii or Mexico or Europe. Not Haiti.

I struggled against these questions as we took our first walk down the garbage-strewn beach to the village of LaSalle. It was only the second day, and I was still warming up to the people and our purpose. I kept stealing glances at Jacob (12) and then Ryan (15), wondering what was going through their heads at the sight of such poverty and smell of such disease and filth. As we walked, over a hundred adults and children started to gather, our family getting lost in the crowd. I panicked momentarily, not knowing where my boys had disappeared to. And then I turned … and I saw Jacob had started a soccer game with some children …

And Ryan had made an instant friend …

And both had stepped up to pray for hurting families.

And then, like seeing the Earth from the vantage point of the moon, I realized that this whole family mission trip was much bigger than me.