So far, not much to report. I've had lots of different tests, including a sonogram and an endoscopy last week, and a colonoscopy this week. Anyone who has had a colonoscopy before knows that the prep is the absolute worse thing ever. No eating, then you have to drink this stuff that is completely awful. Overall, it's been a rough 24 hours.
I don't know if it's a good or bad thing- but the doctors and tests so far have not found anything to blame for my sickness. Still some results to come, so maybe there is still something lurking about waiting to be discovered.
Keep praying, would you?
November 23, 2010
November 16, 2010
The Good News...
I am excited to get to see my family and close friends. Somehow, I lucked out and will get to see ALL of my immediate family, all in one place, at one time! My dad and stepmom will be visiting the US (they currently live in Spain) the same time I will be there. I haven’t gotten to spend very much time with them since last Christmas, so I am thrilled at an unexpected week or so together. My mom was also able to take some time off work so that she could be there to help, for doctor’s appointments, for procedures. She is always so good to have around when you’re sick, so I am glad that she will be there with me. My sister will be on break from school, so I will get to spend Thanksgiving with her as well. I haven’t ever spent a holiday with royalty, so I am very excited to do so this year with her.
I will also get to spend time with beloved aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends. I will be so glad to get to have conversations with them over a meal at the kitchen table instead of through a computer- what a treat!
So like I said, this trip won’t be all bad- in fact I guess it could be a nice recharge. Would you pray that it indeed restores energy so that I may return to Zambia ready and eager to get back to work!
I will also get to spend time with beloved aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends. I will be so glad to get to have conversations with them over a meal at the kitchen table instead of through a computer- what a treat!
So like I said, this trip won’t be all bad- in fact I guess it could be a nice recharge. Would you pray that it indeed restores energy so that I may return to Zambia ready and eager to get back to work!
The Bad News...
I have had to leave Zambia. Believe me, this trip was not a part of my plan, nor were the digestive problems causing the trip in the first place. And yet, here I am- sitting in what feels like an entirely different world, the Johannesburg airport. When I got off the plane from Lusaka, I stepped into what I believe was the most high-tech bathroom I have ever seen. I went to wash my hands at what looked like a slightly downward-sloping granite countertop, where the water gently cascaded onto the flat surface before being guided into a crevice leading to the drain. Very fancy.
Then, to dry my hands, they had one of those NASA-style blowers; the ones where your skin goes all funny and you find yourself completely dry within 0.3 seconds. I’m pretty sure the electricity needed to power one of those things is the same amount used on a given evening by a small neighborhood in Lusaka. Again, very fancy.
And so, I am already missing dear Zambia. I know it won’t be long before I am back, and that I really need to figure out what is going on inside my paining stomach and cramping intestines. Doesn’t change the fact that I’ll miss it every minute I’m not there.
Will you pray for the doctors to have wisdom in administering tests? Would you pray that some sort of result is found, and perhaps even a way to treat the cause? Will you also pray for my heart as it longs to be content with God’s plan even and especially when it does not match my own?
Then again, with every announcement of bad news, there usually follows some good news too…
Then, to dry my hands, they had one of those NASA-style blowers; the ones where your skin goes all funny and you find yourself completely dry within 0.3 seconds. I’m pretty sure the electricity needed to power one of those things is the same amount used on a given evening by a small neighborhood in Lusaka. Again, very fancy.
And so, I am already missing dear Zambia. I know it won’t be long before I am back, and that I really need to figure out what is going on inside my paining stomach and cramping intestines. Doesn’t change the fact that I’ll miss it every minute I’m not there.
Will you pray for the doctors to have wisdom in administering tests? Would you pray that some sort of result is found, and perhaps even a way to treat the cause? Will you also pray for my heart as it longs to be content with God’s plan even and especially when it does not match my own?
Then again, with every announcement of bad news, there usually follows some good news too…
November 2, 2010
Believing His Promise, Standing in the River
"I think that in guidance God deals with us as He dealt with the Israelites. The first crossing of the sea was made very easy, the guidance could not have been simpler. The strong east wind blew and divided the sea before the people had to cross; not a foot was wet, except perhaps by the driving spray.
But how different it was on the second occasion, when God taught them to obey without, as it were, making it first of all impossible to disobey. The priests has to stand still in the water of the river. What a sight for men to scoff at, that standing still in the water! But it was not till they obeyed- and, without a particle of visible proof that they were doing right, went on to carry the ark right into the river- that the water rolled back before them.
So, it seems to me, we may as we go on with God be called again and again to go right into our rivers, to wet our feet in them. We may be called to do what nobody understands but those to whom the word has come and the promise. But the word must come first and the promise too. We must be sure, with an inward conviction that absolutely nothing can shake."
-Taken from Amy Carmichael's writing compiled in Candles in the Dark.
But how different it was on the second occasion, when God taught them to obey without, as it were, making it first of all impossible to disobey. The priests has to stand still in the water of the river. What a sight for men to scoff at, that standing still in the water! But it was not till they obeyed- and, without a particle of visible proof that they were doing right, went on to carry the ark right into the river- that the water rolled back before them.
So, it seems to me, we may as we go on with God be called again and again to go right into our rivers, to wet our feet in them. We may be called to do what nobody understands but those to whom the word has come and the promise. But the word must come first and the promise too. We must be sure, with an inward conviction that absolutely nothing can shake."
-Taken from Amy Carmichael's writing compiled in Candles in the Dark.
November 1, 2010
Rain Again
As I write, it is thunderstorming away. I sat for a bit, enjoying the breeze coming in through the open windows and the lightning flashes peeking in through the curtains. And then I remembered an article I read while waiting in a doctor's office the other day. Rainy season, while bringing delight to me and growth to the many fruit and veggie plants in our yard, brings with it what I can only imagine is fear and discouragement for many. Especially those who live in John Laing compound- one of the poorest in the city; one that does not have any sort of functioning drainage system. A storm like tonight, for so many, only means the beginning of a season of sickness and death; all beginning as the water stagnates, the refuse overflows, and the germs infect.
UNICEF reports that over 5000 children die there every year from diarrhea. Cholera abounds. Malaria proliferates. Can you imagine what it must feel like to be a mother living with her children in John Laing? Attempting to keep some semblance of normalcy even though you practically need a small boat to get to the market everyday? Trying to protect your children from whatever lives in the 1.5 meter deep pool of water that has now overflown your house? Watching your child waste away into nothing but a memory? I really can't imagine.
Next time it rains, won't you pray with me for them? Lord, give those mothers peace tonight. Protect their little ones. Comfort the ones who are already sick. Be near to the ones who are left to mourn. In all of it- may you receive all the glory, O Father.
UNICEF reports that over 5000 children die there every year from diarrhea. Cholera abounds. Malaria proliferates. Can you imagine what it must feel like to be a mother living with her children in John Laing? Attempting to keep some semblance of normalcy even though you practically need a small boat to get to the market everyday? Trying to protect your children from whatever lives in the 1.5 meter deep pool of water that has now overflown your house? Watching your child waste away into nothing but a memory? I really can't imagine.
Next time it rains, won't you pray with me for them? Lord, give those mothers peace tonight. Protect their little ones. Comfort the ones who are already sick. Be near to the ones who are left to mourn. In all of it- may you receive all the glory, O Father.
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