-a visit home.
I got back on January 4th from the being in the US for Christmas and New Years. The break was just beautiful and relaxing in almost every way. I got to ride my horse (and my sister's) and I got my fill of nieces and nephews (well I'm not sure if it's possible to ever get my fill but at least I got to spend time with them and see all of them growing so big and preciously as they are). I could go into so much detail about a fun-filled two weeks at home with family and dear friends, but I will just say it's just what I needed- to spend time with some of the people closest to me.
-cure.
The first couple of days back at the hospital were exciting, well for one, just to see everyone again, and two, we had a lot of new patients coming in so it was exciting for us. We love seeing returning patients and seeing their progress, and it's great to also see our numbers growing and more new kids coming in!
It is super exciting to see the CUREkids program continue to grow and to see more and more kids' surgeries being funded. Seeing people really desiring to reach out and help others with what God has given them is very inspiring.
Translating in clinic for Dr. Jay continues to be fun, and there is normally always something to laugh about afterwards. There are the occasional stressful moments when I can't for the life of me communicate a word (recently it was "MRI") and Jozzeth (x-ray technician) who speaks a lot of English wasn't understanding me either. Finally Dr. Jay just wrote the prescription for it and told the patient's parents which hospital and doctor they needed to see for this. After clinic Jozzeth asked me to explain it to him again, and when I wrote it out and said, "See, M-R-I," the light bulb lit up! He thought I was saying MRI as one word like "emarreye." Ok... finally got that one figured out. Learning new things every day!
Last week we had one of our clubfoot patients come back, walking almost completely normally! It's been a long and sometimes very painful journey for Gerardo, making many trips here, but he is nearly DONE and it's awesome to see the change in his life and what the result of all that long and hard process produced!
Gerardo, day 1
Gerardo, day 134One of our missionary friends here, Tara, and her husband, Jorge, have a ministry called Reach Out Orphanage Ministries. Dr. Pauline (Dr. Jay's wife who is a pediatrician) went with Tara last week to one of the orphanages that they work with which has special needs children. We hope to be able to bring some of the kids who need treatment to CURE, and this new prospect of working with more orphanages in our area to help the poorest of Honduras is very exciting, so we appreciate your prayers as this unfolds! This weekend possibly after church we hope to visit the orphanage again (and bring a pediatric neurologist who is visiting) and make some progress with which children we will be able to help. It's very exciting for me personally to see CURE connecting more and more with orphan care!
-different worlds.
On the weekends I sometimes use the Bridgemans' car if I have places to go. I'm thankful that this is possible because they also have a van so it gives me a little freedom to do things without having to rely them or others for a ride. The first time I used it after being here again after the new year, I pulled into my driveway and dropped the keys in the cup holder, about to get out of the car and leave it unlocked with the keys in it- a sure sign that I still thought I was in Bear Creek for a second there.... in the recent days after I came back here from the US I was thinking about the oddness of having these almost two completely separate lives that in some ways could not be more polar opposites- cars just being one example! At home there, we leave the keys in the car. At home here, even with a locked car you STILL have to pray that no one breaks into it or steals it and make sure that nothing valuable is left in it. My next door neighbor Mario has told me several stories of his broken car windows and cell phones being stolen- he had a plastic bag with duct tape as the passenger seat window in his car for the first few weeks that I lived here. This is a minor story compared to many I've heard, so I continue to be wise to the best of my ability and trust the Lord to guide me and protect me according to His will, realizing that unfortunate events like this can really happen anywhere, although we see it a lot more here!
The other week I was reminded by a missionary friend, Kevin, who was passing through San Pedro from the states on his way back home to Gracias, southwest of San Pedro, of Psalm 23:5. The Lord will prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies. No matter what happens, we having nothing to fear with the Lord on our side. And when you see the enemies begin to sit down and eat at the table with you, it's a beautiful thing.
-life outside of the hospital.
The weeks are filling up with more and more activities. I'm thankful San Pedro is full of fun friends to adventure with!
-Tuesday nights a small group of us from church have Bible study, and right now we are working through the book called "Not A Fan" by Kyle Idleman. In my opinion the book is great so far and has opened my eyes to ways that I am actually more of a fan, rather than a follower, of Jesus. It's not really about being totally one or the other, but about daily working towards following Him above all else and not just being a fan of him. We are still early on in this study and I look forward to how we will grow through this experience.
Frozen yoghurt at Toppings (my new favorite place) with Dr. Canales after Wednesday night swimming at Coligio Medico.-muscial garage
There is this place very close to my house called the Musical Garage (mentioned above). After being here for about three months, I found out that every Saturday night they hold a worship service there. I decided to check it out, and it's seriously just about the coolest place ever. I quickly became friends with the guys in the band, and no later was I asked if I wanted to sing on their team because the band is comprised entirely of guys and they wanted a female voice. Well, they didn't realize that they are practically professionals and I just sing for fun. Although I do have some choir training, singing on this team was pretty intimidating, especially having to learn all the songs in Spanish! Most of it it Hillsong, Chris Tomlin, and other artists in which I already know the music, I just have to get the words translated into my head! The guys would not give up on asking me when I was coming to practice, so with all that "positive peer pressure" (as Dr. Jay put it) I went to practice and had a great time. We'll see how many Thursday nights I spend rehearsing with them before they let me actually sing on a Saturday night.... the true test of my skill :P
-football, not futbol
I was never a real fan of American football, although I grew up as an Eagles fan and cheered for them with the rest of my family. Since being in Honduras, though, I have enjoyed going to a futbol (Spanish for "soccer") game, and like cheering for our boys in blue and white.
When I game home from swimming one Sunday afternoon, Jay came yelling into the kitchen from the computer room "THE BRONCOS ARE BEATING THE STEELERS!" We then proceeded to crash our neighbors' house who have cable TV so that we could watch the second half of the game. Jay and I were going crazy- we hadn't had that much excitement since being here! Watching them win that game in overtime was a blast- I was already a fan of Tebow, and even though I'm still not officially a football fan, I'm now officially a fan of the Broncos.
watching the Broncs win!!-nica!
This past weekend was one of the best weekends I've had since living here, because I went to Nicaragua for my friend Melissa's wedding! It was wonderful to see her and her whole family after not seeing them for over two years! It was a beautiful wedding and fun-filled weekend. It went by way too quickly, but I'm so happy I was able to get down there. I'm super happy for Melissa and her new husband, Coburn, and all that their new life together with bring forth. I hope to be able to go back again before too long and see their new ranch and other exciting adventures they have going on there.
The only bummer of the weekend for me was that my camera was stolen so I don't have any pictures to share, but of course the trip was so worth it- cameras can be replaced, fun times like that cannot!
-success.
Today we had a great success- Pauline and I made the hour and a half treck UP the mountain with the three little girls (and Ace!) to the big Coca-Cola sign. This was our third time trying to make it to the top as it proves to be difficult with three kids in the heat. We made it up and played with some of the outdoor exercise equipment before making the hour treck back down. We met a nice guy at the top who decided to walk down with us, and while Pauline was praying the whole time that he wasn't with us just to steal her iPhone, I was enjoying making a new friend. Although I couldn't understand a lot of his "sloppy" Spanish, we managed to have a good time as we talked about our families and I taught him some English that he wanted to learn, such as "see you later, take care," and "I like to play soccer all day."
at the top! Part of the giant "C" from the Coca-Cola is visible behind us
a better view of the city behind us-encouraged.
When I opened my suitcase after arriving back here, there was a letter sitting on top of all my stuff. I opened it and saw that it was a sweet letter from my sister Abby. All my younger siblings have been proving to be good example to me in various ways, and this letter was definitely an encouragement from her.
On the front of the card she wrote "Romans 12:2." Not recognizing the reference, I looked up the verse and found this:
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
That was a perfect word for me to read after just arriving home here and beginning a new year- to remember the need to daily renew my mind and to not conform to the ways of the world around me, but in each moment to live in God's will, not mine. This is a life-long journey, and I'm so for the people I am journeying with.
