Something More To Life: Respire Haiti

This past Christmas was a special one. It was my first as a
married couple with my wonderful husband, Chandler, and my mother gave me one
of the best gifts I could ever, ever ask for. As we all sat underneath my
family’s beautifully decorated Christmas tree opening presents, my mom came in
the room and handed my Dad, Brother and myself a small white envelope. When I
opened the envelope, tears immediately started rushing down my cheeks.
On the piece of paper was a picture a precious young boy
standing next to a cute little goat. Underneath, it read that my mom had made a
donation in my our name that would give a family in Asia a goat,
lamb or chickens that in turn would give them food and supplies for a whole
year. One goat! It was such a small amount of money and yet it would help this
sweet family flourish for an entire year and more (contribute here). I swear after
reading this out loud and showing everyone, there was not a dry eye in the
house. Thinking about that really put things into perspective for me and lit an
already growing fire inside of me to find more ways I can volunteer and help
people in the world. Then I read a book that changed me even more…

Respire Haiti from Kristi Hanusch on Vimeo.
With this materialistic, glamorous world I’ve found myself
living and working in, I often find myself feeling so sick of thinking about myself and my job and my life that
my head could explode. See the common theme here? Me, myself, and I. We all can get sucked into such a selfish
thinking (everyone’s guilty of it) that we forget how much others in the world
desperately need our help. As a fashion and lifestyle blogger, it is my job to
deliver the glitz and glamour, live this fabulous life, ‘keep up with the Jones’
Blonde Salads of the world if you will. But I think something much more important
needs to be addressed here. So today, instead of my planned regular
programming, I feel compelled to share something bigger than fashion,
lifestyle, and most certainly my trip to Aruba. A story that has touched and
saved so many lives around the world. A story that has urged me to seriously
sit down and plan a trip to offer whatever help I can, sans all the typical
glitter and glamour of this crazy life I live. Something with deeper meaning. And something that glorifies my
Father who has blessed me with the ability to live and breath and do what I do
every day.
Before our trip to Aruba, my sweet mother did it again – she
handed me a book she recently read that I had no idea would change my life and
inspire me like it did. She told me to take it to the beach and explained that
it was a page-turner, so I decided to give it a shot. What I got out of it was
so much more than that. The book, “Miracle on Voodoo Mountain”, tells the
remarkable true story of a young woman, Megan Boudreaux, who (at the age of 24) sold everything
she had, quit her perfect job in Louisiana and moved to Haiti after a
reoccurring dream and vision from God, calling her to help. She had no idea how
or what she was called to do. She just knew she had to trust the Lord and make
the jump. Once in Haiti, she quickly realized the calling. There were so many
children not enrolled in school and parents unable to afford to take care of them. Megan had to make a change and in only a few short years she made a difference.
She was completely unsure of the future, and had no idea why
God put it on her heart to travel to such a far away and frankly dangerous
place all-alone (what a strong woman!), but she listened and obeyed the calling
and moved to Haiti. The book, written by the young woman herself Megan
Boudroux, covers her journey creating the non profit Respire Haiti, which in
only 2 years turned into saving hundreds of orphans, children slaves (yes,
slaves), and victims of human trafficking. This video explains in an
extremely small nutshell, so you absolutely have to pick up the book “Miracle on Voodoo Mountain” to understand more about her amazing and selfless works –
plus it truly is a page turner. And be sure to check out her website to hear more of the story. God Bless all of you!

Check out Megan’s blog, too!

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  1. We can all do something to help others! If nothing else, prayers for Megan and the beautiful children in Haiti.

  2. I really love this post. With blogging in general, and I am sure even more with doing it full time, it is so easy to become jaded and obsessed with materialistic things. I love that this moved you so much and really care about a cause to post about.
    Seeing this side of you is what has kept me reading for years 🙂

    -Andréa

    A.Viza Style

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