This Morning's Devotional

I stayed home from Church this morning because we have two sick little ones. As I was finally sitting down for breakfast it was almost 9 a.m. Everyone else had eaten except for me :-) That is okay though because at least now I can eat my breakfast in peace without having to feed anyone else. And this is because I have such a wonderful husband who fed everyone while I cleaned up our sweet little Nathanael (and his bed) after having some tummy issues from teething (we think).

I decided that as I eat I would try to read my devotional and Bible. I opened my devotional,Voices of the Faithful - Inspiring Stories of Courage from Christians Serving Around the World, and started reading. Thanks Julie :-) for my early b-day gift! This book is full of one page devotionals written by missionaries from all over the world. I can often relate to the devotionals in this book, but today I can relate especially! Even down to the prayer at the end. Wow!

May 23

A ministry of interruptions

"Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men" Colossians 3:23

Brother! The electricity was off again. "Don't open the fridge, kids!" The washing machine was full of clothes after buckets of water had been brought by a man on a bicycle. I couldn't finish the load.

At least we could do homeschool lessons without electricity. "Everybody ready?" I asked. Knock, Knock. Going to see who was at the door, I saw that it had started to rain. "Kids, run to the clothesline and take the laundry down fast! Grab the buckets to catch the rainwater from the gutters!" On days like these, even the first item on my to-do list is not checked off.

Scenarios like this happen frequently. Between the inconveniences of living in an African village, the need of family, and the constant knocking at the door by villagers, sometimes I wonder when "ministry" will ever happen.

Yet what am I here for? My idea of ministry may not match God's definition. His goal for me is to bring HIm glory in the little things and not just in the big things. Being reminded of this goal has changed my outlook on the interruptions of each day. Each interruption is an opportunity to serve the Lord by loving the people God brings my way.

- Cara, Sub-Saharan African Peoples

My Rock and Salvation, it is refreshing to know that others face the same kind of crazy days that I face! Please help me conform my attitude toward interruptions with Your will. Help missionaries serve enthusiastically, always bringing You glory. Amen

Oh how I can relate to Cara! And I am sure she has it harder than I do in a lot of ways! At least I don't have to fill my washer up with buckets of water or catch rain water from the gutters :-) I really felt the Lord speaking to me through Cara's words this morning because I didn't feel so enthusiastic yesterday when it was Saturday and I had tons of laundry, a stinky bathroom that needed to be cleaned, a sink full of dishes and no running water. Not to mention it was so hot and I was tired of sweating and look at those fans, they are so dirty. I need to clean those too! On top of that, lunch was getting close and I didn't even feel like handling that right then. Did I mention that our internet connection was being stubborn as well??? Arrrghhh!!! "Lord, help me today please!"

Oh yes, today's devotional was for me! It might have even been for you too! It is so comforting to know that we are not alone in our daily struggles. It is even more comforting to know that I have help from the Lord no matter what my struggles are! Thanks to the Lord, I am doing much better today :-) I hope you are too!

Jungle Chiggers

Long story . . . Sunday we were invited over to some friends' house
for lunch. We had a great time getting to know them better and our
kiddos got to play with their kiddos. And, the food was great!
Pumpkin pie or blackberry pie, or both??? Everything was delicious!
After lunch, us ladies were in the kitchen cleaning up and talking
about this and that. One of the things that came up was chiggers or
red bugs. I was told that our kiddos could go home with a few of
those. Chiggers are something that they have dealt with quite a bit
because they live out in the village and have some chickens around.
We have had some chigger bites before and don't like them, but what
can you do? I just smiled and thought to myself, "Well we have had
chigger bites int he past. It can't be too bad. We will live through
it."

Bath time came on Sunday evening and we could tell that the chiggers
found our children. But, we had no idea just how bad it was until
Monday morning. Samuel, Iva and Levi all had bites. Even Nathanael
had some sort of bite on his foot that was looking angry. Samuel was
itchy, but not terrible, Iva was pretty uncomfortable, but poor Levi
couldn't even walk without squirming around. You see, these little
critters didn't attack their ankles, they attacked their personal
areas. Throughout the day on Monday, Levi got worse and worse. He
was red and swollen and nothing was making it better. As you can
imagine he was pretty uncomfortable. Even through it all he was still
happy. We had pretty much confirmed that he must be allergic to
chiggers. Monday night he was swollen so bad that we knew we had to
do something. I took him to the local hospital clinic as soon as I
could this (Tuesday) morning.

Levi was such a good little 3 year old boy. We had to wait an hour
just to see a nurse who weighed him, took his pulse, asked what was
wrong and entered it all into her computer. Then we went to another
waiting room where we waited for probably another 45 min. or so. Levi
was so good during this time. I could have really had a tough time
this morning if he felt like being a typical 3 yr. old. So thankful
we had his blankie, "mink mink", with us :-).

The Dr. called us in and got some more info from us and then she took
a look at Levi. As soon as she saw him I could tell she was
concerned. The poor little guy was probably swollen about 3 times
what he should have been. She said she wanted him to have a Cortisone
injection and then wanted to see him again 30 minutes later to make
sure the swelling was going down. We then headed back to the first
nurse's station and she took us to an air conditioned room :-) down
the hall. Another nurse gave him a shot in his little behind, he
cried a bit, and then it was over and he was happy.

We spent our 30 minutes playing outside on some benches where he was
acting like Spider Man and then Iron Man. He was having so much fun
and I was thankful for something for him to do to pass the time.
Finally our 30 minutes were up and we went back in to see the Dr.
Unfortunately, nothing had changed. The Cortisone didn't seem to do
anything for the swelling. So, now what? Well, she prescribed him
some Benadryl and Prednisone and said that she wanted to see him again
tomorrow (Wednesday). I thanked her for all of her help and so did
Levi :-) And, we headed down the hall to the pharmacy.

Here we had another wait and Levi was full of energy. Thankfully most
of the people were gone already, so it wasn't so crowded. He was all
over the place :-) At least he saved it for the end of our visit.
Finally we got our prescription and all we had to pay was a shilling
(25 cents Belize) for a medicine bottle since I didn't bring my own.

As we headed back home I stopped and bought Levi some yogurt. We got
home and he ate almost the whole thing! I gave him his meds and he
laid down for a nap. Wow, what a morning! We left the house this
morning at 9 a.m. and 3 1/2 hours later we left the clinic.

As I write this tonight, I am happy to report to you that Levi's
swelling has started to go down. Thank the Lord! He still has a long
way to go before he is 100%, but this is great news considering just
how swollen he was.

I thought mosquitos were my most disliked insect, but now I am
starting to reconsider . . .

Levi and Nathanael's Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Levi and Nathanael!

No, they aren't twins :-) But, they do share the same birthday, May 7th, just two years apart. Happy Birthday, Levi, you big 3 year old! And, Happy 1st Birthday Nathanael!! We love you both so very much and are so thankful to the Lord for you!!

Big Day Coming!

In just four days, on Friday, May 7th we will be celebrating two
birthdays. Levi will be turning 3 and Nathanael will be 1! I am
getting excited about it can you tell :-) Here are some recent
pictures of our youngest (but quickly growing) cuties.