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

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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...

Stranger Things Have Happened

As several other single missionary women and I were sitting at the hospital bus stop waiting for the church van to pick us up this morning, we started talking about culture. I am not entirely sure of what started the conversation but Julie said, "Sometimes I feel like as an American I don't really have culture." "Sure you have culture!" exclaimed Annie, "You have a very mixed culture. An American culture. Americans are very independent, value their individuality and privacy, have high expectations, and very success driven." We went on to talk about the difference in American versus Honduran culture. Hondurans are very dependent on each other as a family unit and there is no such thing as privacy. Everyone knows everything about everyone even without Facebook. As a Honduran, if you are admitted in the hospital, everyone in your community knows you are there and what is wrong with you even if they don't personally know you. You might even get...

The Fight For Life

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Mending Bodies and Healing Hearts

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