thoughts from an early monday morning...

Yesterday morning as I woke at 5:15 and was getting ready once again for another Monday, at that time, like most Mondays, I did not really want to get out of bed. Even though Monday is one of my favorite days because it's clubfoot clinic day and all of our precious babies come for new casts, bar shoes, or just a followup, there are still those days, usually Mondays, when I'd rather sleep, if you know what I mean.
As I was getting ready, still half awake as I dressed and took Ace outside to walk, I just felt so heavily on my heart to pray for several people on my mind, people that I pray for anyway when I think about them, but I don't know why the Lord put it so clearly and heavily on my heart the burden to pray, and not just so, but I felt so strongly the need to spend more time in prayer, just in general. In wondering why and where this was coming from, I realized that I felt this because in the recent times I haven't been serious enough in my communication with the Lord. I'm one who likes to pray throughout the day as people come to my mind, but often times recently I've been getting up early (as always) and going to bed extremely late, spending my days at the hospital and evenings with friends, which is great, but I needed the Lord's gently reminder that when I wake up so early and start thinking about the day and going through the motions, and then when I crash at the end of the day with energy for nothing more except to lock the door, brush my teeth and turn off the light, things start getting out out of focus. The days start to lose purpose and rather than feeling hopeful for life, either for myself or for others... it becomes overwhelming and worry begins to rob my peace and joy from the Lord. He reminded me to pray more intentionally, beginning and ending my day with Him that He may be the focus throughout, because this is what I need. Prayer is what brings me closer to the Lord, prayer aligns my heart with His, prayer is the power of Holy Spirit in us (Romans 8:26). Prayer is what moves us to action. As I pray for others, I see that I equally benefit. Prayer helps me to be honest with my weakness. The Lord already knows me better than I know myself; nothing is hidden from Him (Hebrews 4:13). Yet in my human nature I give excuses and pretend I have it all together. As C.S. Lewis said, we must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us. See, the Lord already knows what's in my heart! My need to pray, my need to be open, is for my benefit, that the Lord may cleanse me that I may not continue to walk in darkness. The more I give the Lord what is on my heart and He takes the burden from me, the more I see that there is no where else I want to be but in His presence.
My Monday morning turned from a tired, not-wanting-to-get-up morning to having a renewed joy for the day. Simply because it was the day that the Lord made, and He was in it. He is in each moment and has a purpose, whether I am aware of it or not. I had renewed energy because no matter how many hours I sleep during the night, the JOY of the Lord is what gives me strength! (Nehemiah 8:10).
While reading the Bible before clinic started, I began the book of First Timothy and I came to this verse: I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. (1 Timothy 2:1 NLT). What confirmation of what had been laid on my hear! My deep need to pray, not how I had been before, but with a new desire. To pray for others for their sake and for mine. To pray because as His child He desires to be with me and wants me to be closer to Him. And when I am with Him I realize that there is no better place to be, that life has joyous purpose, eternal purpose.

Psalm 51:10: Create in my a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.

Some of our clubfoot cuties... left to right, top to bottom:
Percy and his mom, Jorvin and his big sister Jenifer, Erik,
Manuel, Colmar and his parents, Juana,
Jorge, Daniela and her mom, and little Edis (who is now a much bigger and chubbier baby!)

musical garage

as some of you know, every saturday i am blessed to take part in the "session de alabanxa" (time of praise and worship) at the musical garage near my house. i have met some of my dearest and funnest (i know, it's 'most fun') friends there, and it has truly made my life better than i ever could have imagined it. last month they celebrated their second anniversary of having the garage and sessions every saturday and first of every month. i took some videos of this special event and put a little video snapshot together.
forever grateful for the Lord's provision of this place and these people- all the glory to the One who blesses us beyond what we can imagine (ephesians 3:20).
if you are in, near, or come to visit san pedro, it's the place to be!!!!!

Shrek The Musical...

THANK YOU dear friends who purchased tickets for this event to support our hospital!
My friend Abigail played the part of "Little Fiona" and sang her solo beautifully... for the other parts of the play she was a purple fairy! Enjoy the video and please know how grateful CURE Honduras is for your support to our hospital and helping to make this even a success!

CURE Honduras Benefit Show!

We are very excited to announce the fundraiser that Hands On Learning is doing with us here at CURE Honduras! The performance on June 12th will be a benefit for CURE- they are giving our hospital $5.00 for every ticket that is purchased. If you would like to purchase a ticket which will be given to one of our patients (who otherwise could not attend the show), you can make a check out to Pauline Bridgeman with "Shrek" in the memo line, and it will be forwarded directly to our hospital to help our patients. Checks can be mailed to the following address.

Jen Bushman

25 Maple Avenue

Hershey, PA 17033.

Pictures will be posted of our patients who attend the show!

This is Cesar.

Meet my little buddy Cesar. Cesar Cipriano. This is a picture of him from a few days ago, quite a different child from when I met him a few months ago.

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This is a picture that I took of Cesar the first day that he came to our clinic. He had bilateral clubfeet, but that didn't stop him from being able to run around. And run he did. He was probably the most out of control patient I have seen since being here for almost a year. He refused to take his hand out of his mouth, to look at anyone in the face, to smile, to come to his mother when she called him... he was totally doing his own thing, not wanting to be pinned down to have big uncomfortable casts put on him.

And really, that's understandable. It's scary and painful, and geez, if I can run around without any problem in my mind, why do I want to be immobilized? Cesar left that day not too happy. The poor little guy didn't understand what was happening, but he would soon find out, and it would change more than just his feet.

In the weeks that followed, he continued with his casting but was clearly not thrilled with the idea.

The first time that I remember seeing a smile on Cesar's face is when he was sitting on the bed in the ward with is mother the morning of his surgery. Something was changing, and I think he was beginning to realize what was happening to him. 

 

He toughed it through his surgery and recovery, and I was amazed to see him the next afternoon before he left, sitting outside happily playing with a toy truck and actually smiling when he saw me. He no longer had a temperament of anger but one of happiness and calm.

 

This is Cesar now. He is walking almost normally with two straight feet, and here he is showing us the special shoes that are connected with a bar that he wears at night to maintain the good position.

The stark contrast of his personality from the time he first came to now is shocking to me, and it still amazes me that this sweet boy is the same Cesar that I met just months ago. Healing is changing him from the inside out!

When Gabriel Comes Into Clinic....

My day gets a thousand times better!

living.

"Life is too deep for words, so don't try to describe it, just live it."

-C. S. Lewis

...So I will leave you with the few simple words that these days have been busy with lots of ups and downs as we seek to care for the children of Honduras in the best way, and I've been more than blessed to be a part of it at this time. Through the happy days as well as the really hard ones, it's comforting to have a solid group of friends who are all about fun but most importantly, God's glory.

I do want to share about my latest adventures outside of Honduras- last week during Semana Santa (Holy Week), our hospital was closed because basically all of Central America closes down during this week and heads to the beach. I was able to go a bit more south to Nicaragua and meet up with my dad and our friends (the Buzbee family who I visited a couple of months ago for the wedding of Melissa). It was great to spend time with just my dad as well as catch up with friends- around the pool, in the waves of the Pacific, and in rocking chairs on the back porch at night. Our days and nights there are never without immense amounts of laughter and very encouraging words. I can definitely say I would not be the person that I am (and am becoming) without their friendship.
While there I also visited Casa Havilah (their rescue home for girls) and it was great to see all the house improvements that are happening! The new tiles floors were just getting finished when I was there and it's looking beautiful. The girls that are still there since my last visit about three years ago are getting more and more beautiful, and there are now some new faces as well!
A fun surprise that I was got to be a part of was a celebration day for the boys at Casa Robles (boys' rescue home). Some of them were have trouble in school and behavioral problems, but they received their report cards the day before I left and they all had excellence!!! A lot of hard work and prayer went into this, and this was a sure reason to celebrate. So I was a part of the big celebration to Pizza Hut and the movies to see The Lorax. Our group took up two rows in the movie theater, and it was great to see so many happy faces! :)
Dad and I and Mr. Buzbee also met up with one of the Young Life Nicaragua leaders and it was amazing to see how this ministry is exploding in this country! We are really excited to see how we can partner with them as they grow and expand to other Central American countries and beyond. Dad and I first learned about Young Life in Africa when we were in Ethiopia, and I've been nothing but super impressed with the passionate and excited leaders as they train up strong young men and women of Christ.

After our time in Nica, Dad and I headed up a little north to Sanibel, Florida, where the rest of our family was and also some of my very best friends. The night that we arrived was my dad's 61st birthday, so we got to celebrate in Nica in the morning and then that night in Sanibel! I must say that although there were a lot of GREAT parts about that day, the best part was seeing my sister Emily after TEN MONTHS of separation! I never imagined that I would ever go that long without seeing her, but then again I don't imagine much of what happens to me anymore. Dad and I ended up going straight from the airport to an event of our friends' organization (the rockin' awesome Sanibel Sea School), where Mom and Emily were, so I tried to not make a scene as I hugged Emily and tried to hold back my tears and screams of joy. That week she caught me up on life in Rwanda and I filled her in on life in Honduras. My best friends from Pennsylvania were visiting as well as my best friends from Virginia, so there was lots of catching up to do and of course not enough hours in the day. There were lots of pool days and beach days and wave running and boat riding and bike riding and tennis playing and "soccer" playing (more like violent rugby) and children flying and picture taking and hammock swinging and playing with babies and reality TV show making... it was simply beautiful, but times like these seem to pass before I've had the chance to really take them in.
When our friends left after a full week flew by, my three oldest siblings arrived, bringing with them my seven nieces and nephews! I must say that these precious children are some of the biggest joys in my life. My whole family got to spend a beautiful Easter together and few days of great fun. Much to my own surprise and due to God's grace in our lives, I have to say it was one of if not the best family vacation that I've had yet.

Easter 2012. My family together.

And now that I am back in Honduras, I am simply thankful. I am happier now and than ever to be here and and am forever grateful to be here for such a time as this.
I will leave you with a precious picture that I took two days ago of one of our clubfoot patients, Angel Jose. He lights up with smiles when he sees the camera- I just love him!