Please Pray

 

 It was another long day for Esperanza with several doctor visits. Can I just list off all the problems she's got? Aside from the whole in her heart and her cleft lip and pallate (these things we're trying to get surgery for), she currently has bronchitis which we're afraid may turn in to pnuemonia if not given attention (she's trying to cough up the flem but it just won't come out), she's been having seizures with another attack today before going into the doctor- we've had a brain scan done and nothing shows up, she is also having urinary/kidney problems, and for that she's staying in the hospital for 24 hours to have a catheter put in so that they can run some more tests. There are just so many things wrong with this poor child! We've been doing the best we can these last two months to give her the attention she needs- love from us, and medical attention as well, but it seems like everytime we've almost got things figured out, and that we can finally schedule her heart surgery, something else comes up. Before she went into the doctor this evening we sat down as a team and just spent a little time in prayer, and we've come to realize this is all there really is left to do. I don't want to say I think she's going to die, because she's been putting up a good fight for so long, and I know that God can heal her, but for the first time tonight I think it hit me just how grave of a situation we're in. If things aren't handled carefully, she could die. All these things happening to a little baby girl that weighs less than nine pounds, even though she's over a year old. It's just heartbreaking.
  So, would you pray with me? Pray for little Esperanza, that God would heal her? "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6. This is a verse I've kept close at hand lately. I'm so thankful for a God who hears our requests! Thanks so much!

These Last Few Weeks

  A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to go on a bit of a tour about the country. It was so much fun!! Up until this point I had never been outside of Santa Cruz, so it was very exciting for me to get to see some different places and cultures that the country has. The main cities we visited were Sucre, Potosi, La Paz, and Cochabamba, along with a few small towns along the way. Our travels were mainly on a windy road that took us through the hills of the Andes and on the altiplano, or high plains. So many views literally took my breath away! God is a very artistic Creator! I don't think I've ever seen anything so beautiful. It was interesting to see how people lived in these places as well. There were many little pueblos scattered along the road, but sometimes there would just be a small group of houses built at the foot of a mountain, or just single houses built at random on the hillside. Some were big enough to sleep in and no larger! There were terraces built in to the mountain side as well, and there were cattle and donkeys and llamas all over the place. I had to wonder how they kept track of their animals out there- some people had pens, but with so many scattered along the road I had to wonder if sometimes your animals just left and you never saw them again!  Then, in comparison, not long after this I was in La Paz, which very much reminded me of the States. I felt very out of place, though I'm not sure why. We stayed in the wealthier part of town, and I got a little tour from a girl that goes to the vineyard church there, and I just couldn't help but wonder at the difference of lifestyle between this place and the people living on the altiplano. I tried to imagine for a moment what it must be like to live like they do, but it's simply unfathomable to me.
Anyways, overall I had a lot of fun but was glad to be back home. We were gone for 9 days and drove about 1500 miles at an average speed of probably 30 miles an hour. It was beautiful, but after 10 hours in a car it doesn't really matter whether the scenery is pretty or not, you just want out! And while I loved seeing the different cities, they all seemed to be very touristy, and Santa Cruz simply feels more like home. Not sure why, but it just does. And it was good to see my kids again. I missed them! They seemed a little mad at me and were kind of "stand-off-ish" for a while, but after a full day back things were normal again, and I was thankful for it.
A little update on Esperanza- she's still hanging in there, but still hasn't had her surgery.  I was thinking through in my head what all she's got wrong with her (some of these are new, some not)- she's got a whole in her heart, she has cleft lip and pallate, she's having seizures, she may or may not have a urinary infection, she now appears to have a kidney stone, and she as of recent has bronchitis, probably from the boys who both have it as well. Holy smokes! Poor girl! But despite all the bad she seems to be gaining weight, which is a blessing from God, and she's looking pretty great (as in not skinny and sickly, but she is a little cutie in general :)  So, no surgery scheduled, but hopefully it will be soon (yes, I think that's the same as it's been for the last month or longer, but we're getting closer!!).
Hmmm, yep, I think that pretty much sums up these last few weeks...

Sidewalk Chalk

So we decided to get out the chalk and so some coloring today (though this wasn't the first time).

I drew a really nice picture here...

...but someone decided to smear it off with there feet.

Lucas loves the chalk.

But why color the floor when we can color ourselves...

...or other people...

...and their clothes?

Better yet, let's wear the chalk as a hat!!

Diego was more interested in sitting in my lap waving at the camera. Check out that runny nose! (Don't worry, it was wiped off a minute later! Poor kid...)

Thank you Heather Mickelson for the chalk!!

Two Wonderful Days

   I would just like to tell you about my last two days so you can get a glimpse of what I do. This isn't a recipe for everyday, but bits and pieces of what's come to make up my life down here.
   Yesterday morning started out with a devo which I led (in Spanish) about worry. We've been praying for our little girl Esperanza about getting her surgery and were told once more that it would have to be postponed. The verses I chose to talk about were Matthew 6:25-27, with an emphasis on the fact that by worrying we can't add a single hour to our life, much less to hers. I also mentioned Philippians 4:4&6, about how we should be joyful and not anxious but offer our requests to God. After our devo time we piled six adults and six children into the Hoffman's seven passenger vehicle to be dropped off at a few different locations.  Gabby and I took the two boys to La Sagrada Familia, a clinic here, to get the boys free milk. The doctor wasn't there, however, that handles these things, so we're pretty sure we were actually just lied to about the free milk thing. Kind of dissapointing, but not hugely surprising.  So we got a taxi and headed back home. We spent a little time playing and then had lunch and put the boys down for a nap. While they were asleep I got to make monkey bread for afternoon snack- as Thursday is our "special" day, where we get to switch up the more healthy menu and do something a little more fun (and by fun I mean sweet!). Once I was finished putting that together I worked on the laundry- 33 diapers! for three children. Plus there normal clothes- it was a lot. I woke the boys up a little later and we spent the afternoon playing around the yard on the swings and slide. After snack I decided to take the boys to the park. I piled them both into this bus of a stroller and we headed off, with Ella, the Hoffman's six year old daughter, and Natanael, Gabby's eleven year old son, as my two helpers. We had a great time! I climbed up the giant slide a few times with the boys and we played on the teeter-totter a bit and then just walked/ran around the park with the boys in the ginormous stroller. They loved it, and I enjoyed it too. After we got back we had supper and got the kids in bed. I got to get Esperanza ready by giving her a massage and bath, and while I was running the water I got to see her almost roll over!! I was amazed and so encouraged to see that. She's improved so much since arriving! She had a rough time getting to sleep, so I was a human swing for her trying to get her to rest, and after a long while she finally was out. I stayed the night at the home and woke up just a few times, but overall it was quite peaceful.
    This morning I woke up and got the kids ready and we had breakfast and did devos again, this time with Evelin leading, sharing how it is God who gives us the dreams we have and He is the one who will finish the work He began in us. It’s always great to remember what we’re doing is His work and not our own! Afterwards I went upstairs and rested for a while before heading to the grocery store. The micro (bus) drivers have been on strike for over a week now, so I was very excited that they were finally back driving today!!  I went to the store and wandered around for a bit and was overjoyed to see sugar on the shelves!! There has been a shortage here for a few months now I guess so it’s exciting to see that there finally is more (as I love to bake but feel guilty using the sugar)! I came home and put my stuff away just to head out again to meet my dear friend Kayleen Mickelson for lunch at her school (she’s a teacher). I spent the afternoon helping her do random things around the classroom and then spent the evening with her as well just being chill. What an encouraging time! Also, while I was helping her grade papers after school, I got to spend a little time watching Fox News, which was incredibly exciting for me! I forget how much I am in a “bubble” down here, so it was exciting in a way to see what’s going on in the world, although much of the news (as usual) was not very good. And I was in air conditioning, a rare treat! God is so good to me, for all these things and so many more.
   Again, these aren’t necessarily things I do every day, but they give you a little more picture of what I do here, and they were exciting days so I wanted to share them with you.  Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support. May God bless you richly as you have been a blessing to me!

PS- Feel free to comment or email me questions! I’d love to hear if there’s anything more specific that you’d like to know about what’s going on down here!

A Plate of Spaghetti

  I've been told that a man's mind is like compartments; one category of thoughts at a time. A woman's mind, however, is like a plate of spaghetti, where everything is kind of mixed together- this post will probably be evidence in support of this idea. It's been a long day with a little of this and a little of that going on, so this should be a fun little update :)
  This morning started out with a visit to the heart surgeon for Esperanza. She's had two more episodes in the last week where she's quit breathing, so we've been praying tons that she would finally be able to have this surgery (it was postponed due to a urinary infection) and we found out today that it will be post poned again. We thought that these breathing issues were due to her heart but the heart doctor says that it's not, but in fact it's probably siezures or an arithmea, or a combination of the two. So, we've got a heart monitor on her now to keep an eye on things for 24 hours and then soon we'll be hoping to get her into another doctor to figure out why she's having these episodes where she just quits breathing, because it would be dangerous to have the surgery and then have that happen in the middle of it. So, we're now hoping/praying we'll be able to get this figured out and then have her on meds and better so she could be ready for surgery in early April when a team is coming down from the states that could perform it for free. So, this was fairly upsetting as we were hoping she could have the procedure Monday, but at least we're on a path towards getting her better.
  After Paul came back from taking the baby to her appointment we went to Interpol, which is a place that makes sure I'm not a terrorist, to recoger (it's sad when the word comes to you in Spanish but not English...) I mean pick up my papers that were supposed to be done last Friday. We got there at about 11:45 only to find that they close at 11:30, but the guard let us through and the police lady behind the desk (women who are police officers here are kind of scary! or intimidating, at least) said they wouldn't do it. But after explaining the situation and that all we wanted to do was pick up our paper, she got it for us. Praise the Lord!! We called over to the immigration office to see if they were still open but they were closed till 2:30. Let me explain- in the States people go on lunch breaks while other people cover for them... here they just close the place down for a few hours... kind of strange, but hey. Anyway, we showed up there at 2:40-ish and stood in line for 15-20 minutes just to be told that we didn't have all the paperwork, even though the man we talked to before told us we had everything except the paper from interpol. Well, needless to say I was fairly ticked. We drove home and got some of the papers we needed and then went and got a letter typed up by a lawyer which was a declaration by myself basically saying that I wasn't gonna become dependent on the Bolivian government. Sixty bs and a half hour later we were on our way back to immigration offices. Stood in line for a while, stood in a different line for a while, got a stamp (yes!), stood in another line and paid a fee plus a late fee (didn't know interpol was going to take 20 stinkin days, which actually meant 25, and business days, mind you), stood in yet another line, and then finally turned in my things and got a slip saying I paid and could pick up my stuff in three weeks. Hallelujah! I've been working on this since I've got here and finally have this phase finished. Thank you Jesus.
  So by this time it's about 7, and we had a few other errands to run before heading home (all this time it was Paul and I with their two younger boys, Willy, age four, and Manny, age two, who definitely made things more interesting). So yeah, I was/am tired, but I was glad we were able to get everything done today. Twenty bs isn't a big fine, about three dollars a day, but that can add up pretty quick! So, I'm glad I have 3 weeks before I gotta start the next phase (getting a bolivian i.d. card...).
  During all this, I spent a lot of time pondering what I want to do with my life. I've got some time to think about it (since I'm here till december), and I've been enjoying living for today each day very much, but at the same time it's always on the back of my mind what I might do next.  I just finished reading "Wild at Heart", which is a book with the goal of helping men find their heart (I read it at the suggestion of my brother and a few friends, since hope to marry a man someday...), and I feel like I've gotten a different perspective on guys a little bit from it, but I also read this quote that got me thinking:
    "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." So, not only does this book have me thinking about men and how I want to get married, it's also got me pondering hmmmm, what "makes me come alive". Once I go home will I want to come back here? Should I go back to school first? Do I want to go home and stay home and go get a degree? Do I want to go home and work? Do I want to go home and save up a little money and then go on an adventure? Just go somewhere- see some new places, spend some time with God? Can I go back and get married?  hahaha, just a "few" questions I've had running through my brain.
    On another note (does this seem like a plate of spaghetti yet?), I was able to make an appointment to get my echocardiogram for next tuesday. But another place says they'll do it cheaper so we'll probably call them tomorrow to set up an appointment.
  Other random things you should know (should know? more like don't care to know, but I'm gonna share with you): I had scrambled eggs for supper, and they were delicious. Also, it's about 85 here and I'm sweating to death! Not sure I'm gonna sleep well tonight, but we'll see. I may wind up on the tile flooring where it's a little cooler. Overall I'd sum up today/these last few days by saying that the Lord has blessed me immensely and I am so thankful to be a part of what He is doing in Bolivia. I get frustrated at times, but it's also encouraging to me to know that there's a force out there that is trying to discourage me, if that makes sense. Few things bring me more joy than having "my boys" both just sitting in my lap (although they don't really like to share, but that makes me smile as well), and how can I not be content when I know that God is in control? Well, you can't complain that I didn't warn you this would be a bit of a strange update. And now I'm craving pasta... shoot...