Well guys, I’m down to my last 2 weeks here. Yelsi had a
legit sob session while I was washing dishes the other night. She cried:
AHHHHHHH!!!! I’m going to miss you! AHHHHHH! I’m going to miss you with all my
heart….and all my guts!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!! I’m going to be a HOT MESS!!!!
AHHHHHH!!!!!
Yeah, the feeling is mutual (and I’m proud to hear her say
“hot mess.” Ha. That was my influence). This experience has been nothing but
amazing. I have healed so much and I just want to thank everyone again who
helped to push me to actually do this 3 month leave. I needed it more than I
even realized. You all know me: the stubborn one who just keeps saying I’m fine
and has a tendency to shove my own emotions aside to keep helping others and to
ignore the fact that I’m not fine. And a huge thank you to my friends down here
in Guatemala who helped me heal and have put up with me this long in this trip.
You guys are awesome! You listened when I needed to vent or talk out my train
wreck of emotions and told me exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you doesn’t
seem like enough.
This past week has been crazy busy like all the others and
just when I think it hasn’t been that long since the last post, it’s about a
week…or two. So here we go. Last Monday, my first grandson and I went to clinic.
It was the usual: lots of kids with fever, cough, and diarrhea. We had one kid
who had a sore throat, fever, and said he had trouble swallowing. Well, his
tonsils were nearly touching each other. Slight problem. Later on in the
afternoon, my first grandson started taking tests for school.
On Tuesday morning, I worked on making whoopie pies while my
first grandson was taking tests. I made 46 regular whoopie pies and 20 gluten
free ones. That night, Kayla, Conner, Peter, Yelsi, and I went to Antigua for
dinner and to walk around town. We went up to the cross on the hill overlooking
Antigua. Absolutely beautiful view. We were quite the group trying to get a
selfie up there. All night consisted of a lot of laughing, eating, and a great
time hanging out. Conner likes to say, “Oh my wooooooooord,” and “I’m so
oooooollllllld.” Both of which we all have started saying. He’s 15…seriously. Yeah,
he’s ancient. We laughed so much while at the restaurant. They were probably
half annoyed with us. We walked around town and saw a lot of the buildings lit
up for the night, which has its own beauty to it. At one point, we joked that
Peter was our tour guide. Kayla even got some footage of it, until I tripped
and we all started laughing.
On Wednesday at clinic, we had a mother come in with her 2
kids and she insisted that she was going to see me and not the doctor. She just
kept saying that she wanted an exam. Usually that means they want a preg test.
So my first grandson and I pulled her into our room and when we started talking
to her, we found out it was a bit more involved than that. She was 5 months
pregnant, went to the doctor in a local town after having vaginal bleeding, and
was told that her baby was too small and she should have an abortion. She
refused, told them that every child that she has had is a blessing from God,
and she was not going to abort her baby. She was upset since her husband didn’t
care if she got an abortion and she said that most women made fun of her in the
village. I asked what they did at the appointment to be able to tell that the
baby was small. She said nothing. She said they just “rubbed her belly” and didn’t
even listen for a heartbeat. She was concerned that the baby had died since she
hadn’t felt the baby move in a while and just wanted to know if the baby was
alive or not to determine if she needed further medical treatment. I explained
to her that I would use the Doppler to try to find the heartbeat, but don’t be
alarmed if I don’t find it right away. Well, thankfully, I put the Doppler on
and found it right away. Strong and regular at 146. Relief spread across her
face when I explained that that was the baby’s heartbeat. That afternoon, my
grandson took his math test, which I had seriously had him prep hardcore for.
When I went to grade it, the answer key was completely different than the test.
So I had to read Spanish and do all the math by hand to figure out the answers,
and go figure majority of the test was word problems: aka my least favorite and
even better: it was in Spanish. That was a fun time.
That night, we played soccer on the roof while Conner made
this amazing chicken on the grill…on the roof…on the ground…near where we were
playing soccer. The ball came flying, hit the grill, and flames burst up at
Conner’s face. Praise God he was leaned back and not directly over the grill or
else he would have had some serious burns to his face! Oh my wooooooord! The
chicken was absolutely amazing and the potatoes Kayla made were great! It was
their last night here and none of us were ready for them to leave. We all
laughed the whole time they were here. We had worship night as a family on the
roof. I sent audio of us singing during worship and then of some of us being
ridiculously goofy at times later that night to a friend who had a crappy day.
Conner was trying to figure out fundraising options and websites for everyone,
while falling asleep on the roof and Yelsi and I kept telling him to just go to
bed. He insisted that he was still really awake. As I was getting ready for
bed, he was sending messages to Peter that didn’t make sense at all. It was a
bit rough for a while until I made him get to bed. That was after he stood at
the door of the bathroom and said he was super dizzy but needed a shower. I said
I would not pick his naked butt up off that floor, so don’t you dare fall.
The following morning, we said goodbye to Kayla and Conner.
Those punks had to go back to PA. But not before Conner had 11 whoopie pies in
little less than 48 hours. My first grandson continued to take tests, while the
rest of us cleaned the entire house. On Friday, I went to the dump for clinic.
With the help of my translator, I saw 42 patients in a little less than 4 hours
for the medical clinic. We rocked it! We saw a lot of kids with cough, fever,
diarrhea, whole families who needed to be dewormed, and adults with diarrhea
and rash. We cleaned out their med supply. I was able to scrounge together
enough to get through that day. That was all God. That evening as I was driving
home, the sky was just amazing. Skies like that always remind me of Jo. I had
been thinking about her a lot that day to begin with. I get into the house that
afternoon and songs were playing on the radio that made me think of her and I had
listened to a lot over the last year. Same thing happened on Sunday as I was
thinking of her, the song that came on the radio was the one that was playing
every time I would get in my car and either be thinking and praying about her
and her family, or was playing every time I left their house during the last
few months of her life.
On Saturday, Peter came over to help make a sawhorse for the
saddle from the scrap wood that we have at the house and to work with the horse.
It took us an insane amount of time to make the sawhorse. But considering we
were cutting the wood by hand, apparently using some ridiculously strong wood
(I bent thick nails and broke screws), and we were totally making it up as to how
to make it (haven’t made one in…years. I’m so ooooolllllldddd!), it turned out
really well. We went out to ride the horse later that afternoon. As Peter was
tightening the saddle, I was holding her at her head. I’m used to cows…not
horses. So she flipped her head up and as I got out of the way of her head
since I’m used to cows just swatting at you with their heads, she decided to
bite. Not something I’m used to with cows. They’ll head butt you, not bite.
Well, she didn’t break skin. Just left a nice red mark that is now bruised.
After that fun, we took turns riding her. Like Kayla had said before, she is a
lazy horse. We had to keep getting her to walk. She would do a lap and then
stop as if to say, “Ok. I’m done. Now get off.” I rode her while going down the
road a bit and she did not want to go down the hill. But when we turned around,
she had no problems keeping it moving. Totally reminded me of when we would
lead our 4-H heifers out the lane and we had to drag them out the lane. But as
soon as you turned around, they were booking it back to the barn or to the yard
to eat grass.
After church on Sunday, Peter came over to help wash the
horse since we ran out of sunlight the previous day to do it. Thankfully, she
didn’t try to bite me this time. Guess we didn’t officially tick her off this
time around. Peter was a huge help that afternoon to make 73 whoopie pies to
load everyone up before I leave. It goes so much faster with 2 people going at
it! (And I didn’t break the oven! Yay!) That weekend, Drew, Cindy, the boys,
Yelsi, and my first grandson went to the children’s home by the lake. My
grandson is now staying in a boys’ transition home out there. Yelsi was a beast
and helped organize the one house. They all had a great time of worship and
games with the kids.
On Monday, I went to the dump for the last time on this
trip. Thankfully, we had gotten some more meds since I had cleaned them out
last time I worked with them. We were able to take down vitamins to hand out to
the families there. The morning didn’t start out as planned. We were to leave
Antigua around 8:15. At 10:45, we piled in the van to head down. Part of our
group just hung out on the sidewalk by the water jugs and talked about life and
future plans. So even though it didn’t go as planned, everything worked out. The
soup that they were going to make was chicken, cilantro, and rice: aka fast and
easy to make. Once we got there, we set up quickly and started cutting up the
food. The kids helped to make the food and we got them coloring supplies while
we waited. There was a mother’s day program going on, so not many people were
around in the morning. Some of the people there realized that we had the
medical part set up and started coming slowly. Around lunch time, a bunch of
people came. So even though we started late and slow, it picked up and we saw
about 25 people and even more than that received vitamins. It was an extra hot
and humid day with sweat just running off of you. I fell in love with all the
kids there. Even when it’s crazy hot and they just are completely covered in
dirt and who knows what else, you just let them sit on your lap, give you hugs,
basically hang all over you.
The next day…was a day of birth at our house. We went from 3
dogs…to 10 and one of the butterflies from Moses and Isaiah’s homeschool group…hatched?
I don’t know what you would call that. The last puppy was really gasping and
thought breathing was optional for a while and Cheerio, the mom, was licking
other puppies, rather than stimulating this one. So I moved it to her nose so
she would start to stimulate the puppy. She started licking it and the puppy is
doing great now. We went back inside the house and saw that the cocoon for one
of the butterflies all of a sudden was empty and a butterfly was there. So
Cindy put it outside for its wings to dry and then fly away. That afternoon and
evening, Yelsi and I went to Peter’s house to use his unlimited internet to
Skype some peeps (There you go, guys. I worked it in there) and I typed up my
100 charts (not even exaggerating) from my 3 weeks of working at the dump and
emailed them to the coordinator. That night, Yelsi had introduced me to the
song “In the eye of the storm.” She said when she heard that song, she thought
of me and everything I had been through this past year. It is a great song to
sum up my past year. Lately, we have been talking about how we don’t know how
some people get through life without God. He honestly is the only thing that
can pull us through all this crap. And He’s used so many friends and family to get
me through everything, that’s for sure.
On Wednesday, I went to clinic and was able to take supplies
that we had shipped down before I left. (Thanks for the connections, Tracy!) It
was pregnancy day at the clinic, which we do once a month. But people were
bringing their kids in to be seen too. So we went through the line and took the
kids that legit needed to be seen and the doctor saw the pregnant women for prenatal
checkups. The first kid that we saw was a 1 year old who had pneumonia and a
fever. He had a ton of retractions and just looked like crap. So after getting
him some neb treatments, Tylenol, and antibiotics, he should be getting better.
Another kid puked all over the floor while I was writing down what meds I was
prescribing for his brother. There was a group from the States visiting as well
and 2 of the nurses in the group went with us to do some home visits. We visited
the 2 people that we’ve been seeing frequently and also another woman who is 42
years old and just had a stillborn baby with apparently no complications during
the pregnancy. That woman was obviously upset that she lost her baby and just
doesn’t understand why. No one explained why it happened. All she knows is that
her baby had oxygen on after she was born and that was it. We provided water
for the one woman we visited and told her that we’d come back on Wednesday to
change her bedsheets and take her laundry to wash them. The other man we
visited is the one who had a brain tumor removed and is now blind. He continues
to struggle with depression and finding purpose while living in the village. We
prayed with him and he said he hadn’t been out of bed for over 15 days because
of right sided weakness that has started recently. He’s already had 2 surgeries
to remove the brain tumor. That night, we had worship night at the house and
had a great time as usual. I had a pretty emotional past few days to begin with
just with memories, reminders, and anniversaries. We sang the hymn “It is Well”
and I shared about how after we got back from Belize, I had that song in my
head and it was the first time I truly felt some peace after everything that
had happened. Later on, someone had shared about needing to stand up for those
who can’t and how we can do that in love, but standing firm in what we believe
in. That reminded me of the baby about a month ago who was dying, legit about
to code in my arms, and I pushed for the neb treatment to at least get him
something since no oxygen was available. He is now doing great. At the end of
worship night, of course we had to have some whoopie pies and chocolate cake
with peanut butter icing. Yelsi and I ended up staying up til 1am working on
updates (I’m considered her secretary since I type her updates) and having a
heart to heart. I told her that God used her and a lot of friends to seriously
save my butt and helped to get me where I am today. Obviously there are still
some bad days, but I know that I can go, talk and cry it out with them, and
that they will have my back and help pull me through.
And that brings me to today. Isaiah and Moses had their
homeschool group closing program. Everyone did great sharing the work they did
throughout the year. That afternoon, we all were taking naps. I woke up and
wondered what time it was since all of a sudden it was dark. Then it started: torrential
downpour. Cindy and I went running out and down the hill to get the horse and
put her in the stable. We were soaked the second we stepped outside. And then it
started hailing. We got the horse in the stable and ran to the house,
completely drenched. I was literally ringing out my clothes and making a legit
puddle. Totally reminded me of when we used to run out to get the 4-H heifers
into the barn when there was a thunderstorm in the middle of the night.
Straight up downpours while dodging lightning bolts. This afternoon we didn’t
have power for a while. So Yelsi and I went on a walk and as we were trying to
figure out what and how to make dinner, thankfully, the power came back on. We
made a fire on the roof, roasted hot dogs, corn on the cob, and marshmallows.
There has been a lot of talk about bringing down medical
teams and how to help out more and what ministries to be a part of. So everyone,
get your vacation days saved up for these trips! And even if you can’t come on
one of these trips, any way that you wish to support is greatly appreciated!
There will be a need for a great amount of support in the future! If you wish
to support any of these ministries that I have been working with, let me know.
And I can assure you that the money will go straight towards the ministry to
help others and won’t be wasted in any way. Thank you so much for the support,
love, and prayers! Here are some more random pictures from the past week-ish: new puppies, photos from the dump, and the last 2 are from our night out in Antigua.
Last Friday at clinic, Peter and I saw a bunch of kids with
fever, diarrhea, cough, and sore throats. There was a doctor visiting from
Canada who is thinking of moving to Guatemala and we put him to work. Clinic
was busy that day with 47 patients. Afterwards, we went on a house visit to one
of the elderly women in the village. When we got there, she had crawled out
into the sun. That was the first time I had seen her outside on her own. But
because of some grief she gets from others, she doesn’t like to use her walker,
wheelchair, or bedside commode. We changed her bedsheets, swept out her house,
and plugged some holes on the roof. I went outside and knelt on the ground to put
cream on her arms and feet for her arthritis and then we helped her walk back
inside, rather than making her crawl on the hard dirt ground. In the afternoon,
Yelsi, Peter, and I walked around town, got some gifts for people in the
States, and hung out at a coffee shop until we had church that night. That
coffee shop had some pretty good hot chocolate. 
Monday was my last day at clinic. Feels so weird to not be
going back for a while. We had a bunch of kids with the same symptoms: fever,
cough, and diarrhea. Afterwards, we went to the same woman’s house that we went
to on Friday, along with some people who were on a mission trip with the
feeding center that was down the road. We prayed with her, put on lidocaine
patches for her pain, and brought more Tylenol for her. She is such a sweet
woman, even despite some crap that she gets from people around her since it’s
not socially “normal” to use a walker, wheelchair, or bedside commode. I have
really enjoyed helping to care for her over the past few months. That
afternoon, Yelsi, Peter, and I went down to his hometown to try to get some
things set up for a team that is coming from the States in a few weeks and to
make sure that the one kid who had his appendix removed was going back to
school, despite the doctors saying he shouldn’t go until 2 months post op. And
of course, his mom is amazing and fed us mangos. Winner in my book. On the way
home, we went to Antigua for some amazing food. First, we stopped at one
restaurant, started talking about another one, and since we didn’t want to be
completely rude, we ordered some hot chocolate. And Yelsi and I were apparently
tired since we couldn’t stop laughing. We thought for sure we’d get kicked out
for being too loud. After we chugged our drinks, we went to the other restaurant
that had amazing crepes. I keep talking about Tomcat Café and Yelsi has been
there and keeps agreeing that everyone needs to go. I pulled up the menu and
convinced Peter that he really needs to get his butt up to PA to eat at Tomcat.
Tuesday morning, we went to Antigua to pick up some things
to prepare for our trip to Honduras. This shop we stopped at had some sweet
chocolate combinations. Cindy said they’re amazing. So I accidentally bought
quite a few to bring home with me. That afternoon, Cindy, Jenny, and I went to
a building where a guy gets shipments of Sunday school material and Bibles once
or twice a year. They had skids full to the ceiling with so much stuff! It was
insane. We got some stuff for Peter’s family ministry and Jenny went nuts with
what all she got! The Jeep was jammed packed with boxes of Bible tracts, books
for kids and youth, Kids Action Bibles, Sunday school materials, and I don’t
know what all we loaded into the Jeep. Just when we thought we were done loading
up, she would find something else to take with us. It was amazing and this
ministry that this guy is doing is incredible! I thought we were going to be
paying for this stuff. But when we went to leave, I said, “Oh. It’s free?”
Cindy said, “Yup. That’s his ministry.” What an amazing blessing and gift for
these people! Isaiah and I also worked on a fort out of tree branches and pine.
In Honduras, we were pleasantly surprised that we were
higher in the mountains. So it’s much cooler and not nearly as humid as we were
expecting. The hotel is beautiful. There is a conference being held at this
hotel for other people working with children who are “in the system” of foster
care, orphanages, children’s home, etc who have been traumatized or abused. I have
been helping to watch the kids during the conference on Friday and Saturday. We
played a bunch of games, including soccer and apples to apples…which Moses
kicked my butt. Like I said before, don’t underestimate a 4 year old who can’t
read much yet. Playing soccer in a skirt on Saturday was quite the
entertainment. I may end up with a bruised shin from kicking at the same time
another kid did. Let’s just say we’re both competitive. While we were playing
phase 10 on Friday, Moses came in and vomited all over the floor…and then the
bathroom. I was barefoot and walked right through it to get him out of it and
to the bathroom. Meanwhile, while I was helping Moses in the bathroom, I heard
Yelsi walk into the room. She had stopped right in the middle of the vomit and
didn’t even notice. I peeked my head out of the bathroom and told her she didn’t
want to stand there. As she was half spinning in it, she asked why. I told her and
she proceeded to dry heave. I cleaned Moses up, the floor, and the bathroom,
and got him settled in bed. That afternoon, I went to a session about
traumatized children. So much great information that makes a lot a sense about
a lot of the children that we come into contact with. It explains a lot as to
why just asking them to put their shoes away, may lead to them having a
complete meltdown for hours. The speaker also explained why a lot of these kids
come to us and they may be 12 years old, but behave on a 3 year old level. They
had CT scans of the difference between a normal brain and one of a neglected 3
year old. That night, we went out to eat at this local place that had picnic
tables set up in the back. Such amazing plantain chips, salad, and meat. Yelsi
and I sat at the kids table, played blink, and laughed over not much of
anything. At one point, the one boy was explaining that I was a lot like his
grandmother and his brother said, “She’s not like our grandma! She doesn’t have
metal knees!” Mo has since started with some nasty diarrhea and is now on
antibiotics for that and we’ve just been having a relaxing Saturday, watching
soccer, played some soccer, phase 10, and dutch blitz. And I now have a great-great grandson. Yelsi has adopted Noah as her child. So the family tree keeps on growing! This is what happens when I am in charge of kids...the family tree expands.
