Confessions and Such

I had planned to wait until tonight to post, but since our internet connection has been down since Monday, I should probably do it now.

It may have come through in part of my post Sunday, but I'll confess I struggled over the weekend with the thought that most of my time here may be spent doing housework. I knew those tasks consume much time  and we had sent word that we would like to hire someone to help so the kids and I would have opportunities to get out and serve (BTW, the cost to hire a house worker is less than a dollar an hour and is considered very good pay).

Megan delivered our requests a few weeks ago, but as with many things here, response time is slow. I confessed my "issues" to the Lord and asked Him to provide opportunities; I also prayed that I would be content with whatever He chose for me to do in Kijabe. Afterall, it is important for David to be taken care of so that he is able to study, prepare, and be available to be at the hospital when needed. Everyone at the hospital has been so grateful to have a pediatrician visit and his occupation is the reason for our placement at Kijabe Hospital.

God was gracious and Monday morning, one of the other wives called to check in on us. Carolyn and her husband Paul had hosted us for dinner last Wednesday. Carolyn specifically asked if the kids and I were finding things to occupy ourselves. I told her we had enjoyed the playground several times, but would like to do something to serve. She offered to walk us over to the hospitals that afternoon to see if there was something we could do.

We went first to Kijabe. She gave us a brief tour then introduced us to Mercy, a hospital chaplain. Mercy talked and prayed with us and took us to 2 pediatric rooms. Between the 2 rooms, there were 6 children and 5 moms. Madeline made balloon animals while Abby and John passed out silly bands. Mercy introduced us (in Swahili?), prayed over the families and led them in a song to thank us for coming. Though it was just a brief visit, we enjoyed getting to interact with those precious families.
We also made an introductory visit to AIC CURE (which is the pediatric surgery hospital right next door to Kijabe Hospital). We will return this morning to join a group time from 11-12.

Moday afternoon Helen, the houseworker and assistant house manager for the sitaplex, asked if we could use some more help. She knew someone in her family who needed work. Unfortunately they did not show up yesterday as scheduled so we will see if we receive more help. If not, we will certainly be fine. I did have the opportunity to attend a Women's Bible Study. It was nice to meet some of the missionary wives here.

Continue to pray for David. He is primarily going to be working with the Nursery and intensive care babies while providing back-up for the resident running the peds unit. In the 1st 2 days of this week, they had to intubate 2 babies. David intubated the 4 1/2 pound baby yesterday and has begun the ventilator management. Paul, the family practice doc (who has been here several years and has run things in the nursery and on peds for the past few months) will leave tomorrow for a trip to the states. He is receiving a humanitaritan award from the American Acadmemy of FP. Paul will be missed, but thankfully, doc Steve Letchford (who David says is an incredible MD) will still be here and available to back-up David as needed.

The kids are continuing to enjoy their time. Of course, they miss family and friends back home, but love many of the new experiences. They are very proud to be walking every where. There were some complaints about this the 1st few days in Kijabe - I know I don't have to name names ;) Of course, David and I were easily winded as well (we'll blame the altitude - 7500 ft). In Nairobi, Abby and John were disillusioned by 2 different drivers in 2 days, "Wow! We're going to have a different driver every day?" Now they realize car rides will be rare, but they've decided we should switch to walking everywhere once we get back home. John and Abby are determined to catch some lizards, but so far the lizards have been too quick.

I'm not sure if I will be able to post again before this weekend so I'll share that we are excited about the chance to go on a safari to the Masai Mara. We'll leave Friday (I think it's about a 4-5 hour drive each way) and come back Sunday. We look forward to seeing Africa's big game animals.
We can't wait to share the pictures!
Pray for safe travels and R&R for David especially as he has been pretty tired and still trying to recover from the sinus crud that hit before we left home.

Well, I better run get us ready for the visit to CURE.

Thanks for tolerating these long posts, but I know they are especially important to our parents/grandparents. As always, thank you for your prayers. I especially love hearing about the children who are praying. It always touches me to hear our children pray.
Love y'all.