T Minus 7 Days and Counting

Last night, I was looking at the weather for Antigua, Guatemala and discovered that the biggest adventure of my life is now on the 10 day forecast! And so it begins! One week from today, I will be leaving my ever so familiar home and family in Maine and flying over 3,300 miles to Antigua, Guatemala, where I have never been, to study Spanish for 3 months. After language school, I will be returning to Honduras in June, Lord willing, to work as a nurse at Hospital Loma de Luz on the South Eastern coast for a least a 2 year term.
I am so overwhelmed with emotion right now. Sad to leave everything and everyone so familiar and dear to my heart at home, excited to get to know God in a deeper way by following His calling, scared about facing the unknown, happy to be on a new adventure and then to return to the people of Honduras who stole my heart 3 years ago, overwhelmed by the generosity of people who are making my mission in Honduras possible. Above all, I am thrilled to have this opportunity after language school to work along side of other missionaries at Hospital Loma de Luz to bring hope and healing to Hondurans who have none. Yes, I am scared and nervous but I know that God is in control of all things and I am so grateful for that!
         Prayer requests:
         1) safety while traveling and staying in Guatemala
         2) that I will be able to easily learn Spanish so that I can effectively communicate with the Guatemalan and Honduran people
   3) that I will be fully funded by the time the end of language school so that I can immediately begin working at the hospital in Honduras

Comments

The Decision Between Life and Death

I have to honestly say that I'm so glad that God has called me to be a nurse and not a doctor. As a nurse, I do whatever the doctors tell me to do. The doc writes the order and I carry it out. Give Benadryl to this patient. Give IV fluids to that patient. Even though throughout my 8 year nursing career I have developed some level of autonomy, I always have doctors supervising me. I never have to call the shots on my own. I like it that way. I'm glad that they are always there and always know more than I do. It's comforting. I never have to make life or death decisions for anyone. The doctors do that. The warmer set up to resuscitate the baby I have the amazing God-given privilege of working with some of the most amazing doctors in the world who have also their families and homes behind to follow God's calling to care for the physically and spiritually broken in another country. They work an insane number of hours every week and when they are not working, t...

The Five Letter Word

"Quiet" ... My mere utterance of this taboo word in the hospital brings scolding from who ever hears it. The thought being that the word being spoken aloud will bring a return of the craziness. The hospital is QUIET! For several weeks now, the hospital has been in a tranquil state. Clinic has been running as usual every week day with the emergency room and labor ward being open around the clock. But it has been quiet! No traumas, critically ill patients, or babies on ventilators for weeks now. We are so thankful that God has given us some time of tranquility to rest. To rest physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually and to recover from six really difficult months. The tranquility has brought time to slow down, to enjoy time in the Word, to make cookies, to spend time with friends in the village, to get away for the weekend, to paddle out to the reef and enjoy the beauty of God's creation. Time to stop and watch in the hospital hallway as a young amputee walked...

Brutus and Tiny Tim

"CQ Balfate! We need help in the labor room NOW!" Visiting midwife Abigail's normally calm, nothing-phases-me voice came calling on the radio in complete panic one evening in June. I jumped over the mattress that a friend and I were trying to pull up my apartment stairs tripping the rest of the way down and ran out the door. "I'm not wearing shoes! Where are my shoes?" I run back inside, grab the nearest pair of flip flops I could find, run back out the door and across the two suspension bridges to the hospital. If Abigail was panicking, then something had to be really wrong. The baby was being resuscitated by Dr Isaac on the baby warmer when several other of the doctors and I entered the room. He was massive. This was no baby. He was a full grown todddler! "Brutus" (affectionately nicknamed by Dr Ryan) weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs 1oz. He was so big, compared to the average 6lb Honduran baby, that his shoulder was stuck behind his littl...

Mending Bodies and Healing Hearts

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