August 18th, 2011 - God Places You where He Wants You

This morning around 6:30am, I relieved Daysha from having spent the night at the clinic.  I stayed until 11:00am and of course in the morning, right when I was about to take Tony for a walk (the one with the stitches on his ear – but not sick), another child came in that claimed he was sick with stomach problems and vomiting.  So that “killed” the walk idea.  I was happy to hear that the boy went back to his house after lunch and that Tony got to go on a walk with Kari in the afternoon.

When Kari relieved me at 11, I went back to the volunteer house just to put my stuff away, and on the way I saw another dead tarantula on the path – although this one was not as much as in tact as the one I saw a couple of days back.  It looked like it had been driven over the night before (and, of course, a few pieces had been carried off by other bugs/insects/predators).

I had a quick little snack and then headed to the girls’ dining hall to help serve lunch.  When the girls began eating, Esperanza came over to me to ask if I could help her with her “homework”.  It was a couple’s bible study that all couples at Emmanuel were asked to do.  There were some questions she had to answer and then a survey she had to take which assessed her love languages (???).  I helped her translate the sentences into Spanish (which were written out in English) and helped her with a few ideas, but really didn’t feel at all qualified to help her with a marriage counseling bible study. 

Here’s the reality: Although some people may think that I have it all together in my marriage and in raising my children (I’ve been asked a few times to lead bible studies in these areas)…I don’t feel that I do.  I’m being completely open here, and I’m guessing that if you’re reading this – you may be shocked but perhaps you’re also thinking that you don’t have it all together either…does anyone?  I think even when things are going good, we ALL tend to look at other couples/families and think that they are doing things SO MUCH BETTER.  I do that too.  Okay, so that’s my philosophical stuff for you to think about in this blog.  Now back to what’s been going on today.

 

As I was washing dishes after lunch, Lourdes (Doris’ sister) asked me if I had a Facebook and when she found out I did, she wanted to know if she could “friend me”.  We took care of that and she quickly looked at a bunch of pictures of my family.  She thought the picture of Peanut standing next to Sara holding her hand in Sara’s wedding photo (in the pre-wedding pic of Sara and her bridesmaids and flower girl) was the most precious thing!!! 

 

About 3pm, Kari came by the volunteer house to tell me that one of the ladies from the team that came was going to help out in the clinic because Katja wanted Kari to go full-time to the toddler house.  I know Kari’s heart is more towards being at the clinic, and she mentioned she’s been praying about this new assignment.  I told her that God has been faithfully giving me just what I’ve needed since I’ve been here, and perhaps there’s a reason why she is to go over there and spend her days there.  I am going to pray that she has strength to handle so many toddlers (it’s definitely NOT my area of expertise), and that she receives much guidance from Jenny who currently is in charge of them – as
Jenny is pregnant and due in the upcoming months.

 

I wasn’t due back at the clinic until about 3:30pm because I thought there would be ensenanza, but there wasn’t.  But I walked with Kari as she was going back to her apartment and I headed to the clinic to introduce myself to the team member who was going to help me out with a few hours while I had to sneak away to help the little girls each day.  We agreed that she would stay until I was done bathing the little girls (between 5:00 & 6pm), but Daysha asked if I’d like her to take 6-8pm so I could have a “breather”. 

I really do like Daysha! 

Now I’m typing this up at the clinic before I have to give Tony his 8:30pm dose of Ibuprofen (for the pain)…and it’s about 4 minutes to 8:30, so I’m going to go for the evening. Have a great night everyone!  May God bless you.