Week 1

Saturday, May 10, 2014

 

One week here – it’s going well.  Here is a brief recap of how we are spending our days…

 

Joel has been busy at the hospital – learning a lot of ortho (with Dr. Albertson – Joel is thankful to be working with a trained orthopedist!!), reading a lot before cases and seeing many, many patients.  He leaves the house about 7am each morning & usually returns sometime around 1 for a quick lunch, then back to the hospital until 6 or 7 or 8 or 9pm…  just depends on the speed of turnover in the operating room as well as the difficulty of the cases.  Some of his cases (nearly 30 of them) this week include:  hernias, hip prosthesis, laparotomies (opening belly), hysterectomy, and he placed a nail in a femoral fracture.

 

After breakfast the kids have about ½ hour of playtime outside while I clean up & prepare for the day.  Then we have “school” from 8:30 – 10ish.  (Bible story, verse, handwriting, math, spelling, reading, journal writing…)  Our friend, Brandon, joins us during school.  He is also finishing up 2^nd grade.  (though he is pretty much finished with school for the year, so he spends a lot of the time annoying Levi & trying to coax him to finish early) J

After school, we take hard boiled eggs & cheese to 3 patients in the ICU who are very poor & in desperate need of protein in order to heal.  The sun is hot, hot by then and the kids play until lunch.

We eat lunch, take a rest time for an hour (Lauren falls asleep & Anna & Levi read during this time…. Who am I kidding?  I usually fall asleep with Lauren for a quick nap!)  We go to the pediatric ward for a couple hours each afternoon.  It’s a time to join the kids playing or crafting or just sitting & being.  Brandon has come with us to peds this week.  He has quickly become part of our family!  The kids have a great time together, they also fight like siblings & the boys tease Anna and make Lauren cry…. It’s good to know things remain normal :) 

We wait until 6 to eat dinner & sometimes Joel is home, and sometimes not.  Brandon is with us for dinner often – and sometimes Levi goes to his house for dinner.  It’s pitch dark shortly after 6, so the kids have been enjoying flashlight games outside after dinner and coming home filthy dirty.  Baths are needed every night – except when the water pressure isn’t working… then dirty feet go into bed!  We all keep a flashlight close in the evenings as the power has been going out frequently.

 

Yesterday we added some new pets to our chameleon collection.  (the mission no longer has chickens & bunnies as they were too expensive & not producing the meat & eggs hoped for).  One of the other mission moms (Linda), found out that there were some kittens nearby.  So the mission now is home to 4 baby kittens.  Linda even “rented” the mother cat for a month so the babies could continue to nurse!  Those kittens have been LOVED by all the kids here (3 teens and 4 kids).  Just pray Lauren doesn’t accidentally kill one of them as she refuses to put it down once she is holding it – and she screams & screams & is brokenhearted every time we put the kittens back in the box with their mother for a break. 

 

We miss our friends & family.  We think of you all the time.  Anna is always asking what her class is doing back home – usually they are sleeping because it’s still the middle of the night when she’s doing school here.  We are also enjoying our friends here – God has been faithful in answering our specific prayers for friends for each of us.  Julie & I have good talks & she lets my girls paint her fingernails!  Linda, Anne, Stephanie & Francie give me perspective & encouragement with the kids – Josiane is my sweet friend.  Levi has Brandon as a constant playmate.  Anna has Maci, Brandon’s older sister (she’s 15 and Anna thinks she’s Cinderella).  Lauren has friends everywhere she goes.  And Joel has Dr. Carl, Dr. Tim & Reagan… and many co-workers, as friends. 

 

Love to you all!