Letter to the President (informal)

Dearest President (of my fan club) Karen,

I apologize for not keeping up with the online journal as I should. Let me explain. Im going to hit you with this big 'excuse'.

Death in the family. A death in my family in San Diego hindered me from writing about life in podunk. My uncle passed away. His daughter who lives in IOWA needed someone to keep her 3 children. My mother and I made an emergency trip to IOWA to get the children while their parents were away with the funeral proceedings. I don't know what is worse: Death in the family or 8 hours in the car with my mother. just kidding--sort of.


After a week of fun motherhood, Im back in podunk. Even better, Crystal is now home!! We are having some redneck adventures. I will post these ASAP. Tomorrow, I will be in a meeting at the nursing school all day. (boring.) Life is just staying busy. Everyone is greatly missed.

Lots of Love Sent With This Message!

String Bikini's and Raunchy Music = Early Morning Fury.

This morning I was at a major retailer looking for an greatly-clearanced emergency bathing suit. Not that big of a deal, right?


Wrong. Dead wrong. This is the only type of swimsuit the major retailer had... A string bikini. So...I skip over to the nice associate expecting she would direct me to something more than beautifully colored dental floss.

Me: Miss, can you tell me where the bathing suits are?
Her: (with a southern draaaawww) Well, these two racks here is all we have.
Me: Really. Hmm. Okay.
(In my mind: ONLY A STRING BIKINI?? You've got to be kidding me?!?)

I had my hand on the hanger with the colored stringy mess called a bathing suit. I so desperately debated grabbing the stringy mess, marching my happy rump into the dressing room and coming out of there just shaking what my momma gave me. I wanted to do this so the sales associate could see CLEARY someone needed to do their job right and order something with a little more string...or maybe even material. What an idea!?! Material.

But instead, I decided to save everyone from cardiac arrest and just leave the store kindly.

Then, I get into my car. Im scrolling through the radio stations... and hear "I kissed a girl and I liked it.." sang by a girl. SANG BY A GIRL. Errr!!! I slammed off my radio. I am disgusted fully at this world, outraged, and ready to take my Bible and start running around beating people upside the back of their heads--because that's the Christian thing to do, you know??

secret dwelling place...found.

The morning hike was glorious. My soul experienced much relaxation as I hiked to my very own secret dwelling place and read.

Warmth from the sun embraced my skin. Wind blew the leaves to create the most beautiful scene. Rippling water flowed freely and constant. Blue bodied dragonflies with black silk wings chased one another across the rocks and the green bushes. The dragonflies were captivating. They slowly chased one another in and out of the rock coves. After a few minutes, each dragonfly landed on a separate leaf while the water rushed in the distance between and below them. Watching the dragonflies was like watching little children play. Fast chasing, then a sudden halt for rest...and then suddenly jump back up again for another round. The little creatures flew wildly into a little cove created by large moss covered rocks which embodied two beautiful white mushrooms. (Click on these pictures to see the detail!)

God maintains all of this. He orchastrates every movement, even down to the movements in the cells of such life. His ways I cannot even pretend to really understand! I just sat on a high rock under a shade tree and thought 'Lord, you gave color, breathe and endurance to these little dragonflies. And I childishly love them. You gave force to the water. You sustain even the fungi growing under the rock. Everything is yours.' I climbed around the dwelling place of much life sustained by the same creator God who I know as Lord.

"Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountins were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." Psalms 90:1-2

Phew.

Life has been a wild fun rollercoaster ride zipping all over the place.....Then, eeeeerrrrrrrr....the brakes slam...and Im alone for the week in bean-farm Arkansas at the casa de la po-dunk. The only noise I hear is the clicking of the antique clock and the sound of my typing this note to you.
At the house, I flutter around like a modern lyrical dancer...On crack. Cook veggies. Exercise. You know...the fun stuff.

I thought I was going to be scared here alone. Nope. Ive got my trusty friend who sleeps under my pillow.

My mom and I were talking and randomly giggling about the thought of someone coming in here at night. They would be so sorry they did. Im usually beaming with kindness...but not in the middle of the night if a stranger wanted to bust up in here. The only visitors I should have are a fox or a bear, really.

Here's what Ive been doing....Brace yourself. Its exciting.

endless unpacking random Asian fun

reading a book called God's Smuggler 5k here I come!
Yes, Im going to run my first 5k in October in Little Rock. Trying to get fit. Im about to head out to the mountain to hike around this morning and do some jogging and worship God. I'll take pictures of the beauty!

Haiti

For the last 10 days, Ive been in Haiti doing medical work in the mountains. Last year, the trip was extremely difficult physically, spiritually and emotionally. Haiti has extreme conditions of ultimate heat and humidity, hills with a mathmatical slope which would almost be considered close to "undefined", and the worst medical cases I have seen in my entire life. Last year our medical team saw about 5 or 6 children we had to send home to die because they were septic or too far gone medicine couldn't help the neurological and physiological damage. These things really can burden your soul, especially if you are a compassionate freak like me!!! I often said I never really wanted to go back to this country.. But, when God calls...I must go. And what blessings I would have missed out on if I had not gone to Haiti this year.

Here are some highlights of God's work:
We set up a medical clinic and evangelism team. The patients would wait early in the morning at the clinic for us to get there and give them care. After they saw the doctor, the Haitians would come to the evangelism team. There we would talk to them about Jesus...and who He is in their life. We prayed over their health and ANY requests they had. One elderly woman came around the back of the clinic and said to our evangelism staff, "I don't need to see the doctor today, I need Jesus!!" So, right there under the breezy palm trees--she accepted the God who sent His son to die for her. She left with the greatest joy and it showed in her step! And we all know angels were rejoicing over a Haitian woman in Christ. I pray she reaches her whole family!!

The first day held a lot for us at clinic. My job was to go out into the crowds and evaluate the greatest health needs. I found a baby who looked extremely juandice. She was the first patient registered. The baby was 8 days old. It didn't take us long to realize, this child was septic which means a bacterial infection had entered the blood...It also meant a 50-50 chance of survival. We called a truck to take the mother and the infant to the nearest hospital to set up I.V.s to pump the baby with fluids. Monday night we got word the baby was stable. Tuesday morning, about 4 am, we got word the baby didn't make it. I was still in bed when I got the word, and I just covered my head with my sheet and closed my eyes. I was angry. I was angry because it hurt to see this tragedy AGAIN. How many times have I been before the Lord saying please please please spare these children and spare me from the empathatic grief I have for these mothers and families and children who are in pain. Another death. It must be understood that God's brought me all over the world to the most remote places and NEVER have I seen such a wave of infant deaths. This was my second time to Haiti in my whole life and now the count of infant deaths were 6 or 7. I have only been in Haiti for 20 days of my entire life, and have seen 6 or 7 infant deaths---this means many more are dying all the time!

The next day, I got to hold a child...a sweet little boy about 8 months old. I couldn't get him to laugh or smile at all the first day. Then, any time I was near him he reached for me which I absolutely adored more than anything else! I played with him, I held him up in the air, I cuddled him, I danced with him, I carried him around, I got to feed him a bottle, I burped him, we laughed and laughed at each other. My soul cannot express this joy of holding and enjoying this Haitian child.

It was then, I realized how God had allowed me to experience a characteristic of His very own image....I then understood a small portion of just how much God loved to hold the Haitian children in His arms too...and how He is holding many Haitian children in Heaven with Him now. The thought of my beautiful Saviour holding these children was breathtaking, literally. He was holding my heart, too. What comfort and resolve in my previous disappointments and anger. And what a mighty, loving, compassionate Saviour we serve. In either death or life, He is there.

There is much more to share...
God's grace and comfort made this trip one of the best of my life. And I look forward to sharing more stories soon! Thank you for your prayers.

Oh Happy Day!

Thank you for all the prayers! Im feeling much better than I did the last two weeks. I feel recovered and ready to go. Taking it easy in Haiti will be my goal!

Today is going to be a WONDERFUL day. Im going to see my pals at the bank. Can't wait...You may be reading this now and wondering where the heck I am...Im about to leave the house now! See you!!

Sick

Ive been really sick with some kind of amoeba. Today is the beginning of a let up and a ray of sunshine for me. The doctor said only bread and applesauce for me...So, Im following orders closely.

My flesh honestly does NOT want to board a plane to Haiti on Friday. The heat is seeming unbearable. Please pray for me in this matter. God has provided the funds and I know I am to go to Haiti early Friday morning.

Please pray for my body to withhold the stress of travel and heat in Haiti.