So at the clinic, I stayed awake reading until 4am and then laid down on the top bunk where I normally sleep, but since I was so worried about the girl, I just watched her for 2 hours. I had been praying all night that she wouldn’t seize while I was there and God answered my prayers. Brandy
walked in at just after 6am to bring me a coffee, and the instant she walked in the door, little Sindi had a seizure.
Brandy has been working with the babies at the toddler house, so having been exposed to these seizures before; she handled the situation much better than I ever would have. I have said many thanks to God for all the graces He provided me through the night. Karelia soon came to the clinic and along with Brandy, they took little Sindi to town to see the doctor. I learned later that she
would have to spend a few days there.
I headed up to the little girls’ dining hall to confirm with Mariela that I still wanted to take Doris to
town this morning. I had made Doris a promise to take her out…just me & her, and with having not gotten much sleep – I still felt the gentle nudging to follow through on this promise. I then back to
the volunteer house to shower and get dressed for the day, and went to get Doris afterward.
Generally when I’m down here in Honduras, I like to get a shirt/blouse or two for myself. Something I can wear to work that’s just a slightly different style than what I can buy in the United States. I asked Doris to help me go “shopping”, because in reality, I don’t like to go shopping for myself. I found out later that she doesn’t like to shop for herself either. We had a great time…she suggested a few shirts and I tried them on. Although I bought 3 shirts, it was really the first one that I bought…the one that she had picked out completely on her own while I was trying on another that is my favorite.
After that, we headed to the ice cream shop to get a double scoop cone. I asked her if she wanted to
sit down and eat in the ice cream shop, but she said she’d rather walk and chat and eat. As we were walking around the square some little children came up to us and quietly said something to Doris. She gave them her cone, which had barely been touched and they ran off. She said that they were hungry and were asking her for her cone. I was so touched by her willingness to “just give”. If I would’ve known what was going on, I would have given them my cone as well.
We stopped in one store and Doris was looking at a guy’s shirt. She said she had a friend at Emmanuel who recently arrived and didn’t have a sponsor yet. She’d like to buy him a shirt rather than get something for herself. How could I say “no” her kindness? This is something I’m seeing in lots of the children here. Even Tony (the boy in the clinic) who has received a bunch of gifts from the lady from the volunteer team this week that has been helping me out at the clinic (since Kari’s been pulled away)…gave more than ½ of what he received to his brothers when he saw them today for
lunch. God’s love is definitely here at Emmanuel – all around!
On the way back to the orphanage, Doris and I stopped at Glenda’s one last time so that I could buy her some fruit (which I’m sure she shared as well). Glenda took a few pictures of us and they turned out really nice. I can’t wait to share them with everyone back home. I walked Doris straight to the luncheon that was provided by the volunteer team – hot dogs and a mixture of black beans and ground beef. I chatted with the small girls until they had gotten their food. Blanca clung to me the entire time and when I asked if anything was wrong, she remained silent. I realized that I’d be leaving soon and felt she was thinking about it too, and it made me sad. Some of her friends tried to cheer her up by talking to her and when one friend asked how many children I had, she immediately (without hesitation) said SIX…4 in the states and 2 here at Emmanuel. My heart broke a little bit because of how special she & Doris are to me. When the girls were settled down with their plates of food, my need for sleep from lacking it the night before struck. I headed back to the volunteer house and set
my alarm to give me 3 hours of sleep before supper, because I had no clue what tonight at the clinic would entail.
Supper and bath time went as they normally did. Girls running every which way in the house, whereas to a stranger it would seem like mass chaos – but over time, one comes to see that they have a “system”. They go to the bathroom first, then brush their teeth, then come into the shower to get their hair wet, get shampoo scrubbed well into their hair – by me & Angelica, and then get scrubbed down with soap by some older girls before heading to Elvia who rinses them clean. After the shower, they head down the hall to Doris who dries them off and gets them some clean clothing to sleep in, then they head to their living room area to get their hair brushed by 2 other older girls and then to sit in
rows waiting for all to finish this process. I’ve loved the chats that I have with Angelica and Elvia as we are washing the girls, they are my nightly blessings from God and we have conversations that really touch my heart. Elvia is SO good for those girls, and I’ve mentioned that to her on more than one occasion.
After I finished my responsibilities, I knew I was needed back at the clinic, so said my quick good-nights and headed to the volunteer houses to prepare what I needed to stay overnight. When I got to the clinic, I found that I would just be staying with Tony – which was a relief to me in knowing that I would most likely get a better night’s sleep this evening. I finished up the book that Daysha had lent me and up until my trip down here, had never really thought that Christian fiction books (ASIDE from The Shack) would really interest me. I was wrong, and can’t wait to dive into a new series that I started down here. The last thing I’m doing for this evening is finishing typing up this blog. With
that, I’ll head to bed and am looking forward to a wonderful time of worship in church tomorrow and a relaxing time to spend with Daysha, Kari (and her husband), Daniel and Brandy – the other volunteers – for lunch!