Kids say the FUNNIEST things!

My mother writes about my niece & nephew (Noah is 8)...

They are studying the presidents, and we talked about them when Noah and Katy were here last night. Noah is impressed with little quotes and sayings, and he told me that Kennedy said,

"Ask not what your country can do for you!  Ask if you can do one for your country!"

I asked them which president left the White House in disgrace, and they didn't know, so I told them it was Nixon, and then they asked me what he did (to bring disgrace on himself)  and I told them that Nixon was involved with a bad thing that folks call "Watergate".

Noah said: "Oh!.......I thought he was involved with POLITICS!"

The Proof is in the Picture...

Thirst

I have been working in the Recovery Room for the past 3 weeks and I really love it. Although, I must admit I do miss the relationships that I have with the patients in the ward. I truly believe I have the best of both worlds by switching back and forth from the recovery room to the ward.

I am really happy, well actually I think I can accurately use the word joyful to describe where I am at right now. I think the reason why I finally have this joy and the undertones of being miserable are gone, is because of the time I have been spending reading the Bible. I have known forever that reading God's word is important but I did not know that it would quench my thirst. I did not know that it would allow me to rest easy, as the Liberians say.

When a patient wakes up from surgery the first thing they say is "I want drink". See, they have not been allowed to drink anything since midnight the night before and by the time they waited most of the day to go to the OR and then they finally woke up after their surgery they are truly parched. This is a huge picture of my life right now. I have been parched, but no more I know the keeper of the well, and I will thirst no more.

Frozen Moldy Tortillas

The following pictures are of the Corn Tortillas that were sent on the frozen container - I just recently started using them.  After having them pulled from the freezer and defrosted for half a day I discovered that even though they were frozen there were ADVANCED cases of MOLD on them and I threw at least half of the case away in the trash/rubbish.  I have not looked at the other cases yet but we bought both corn and flour.

Yes, it's a little scary to know the mold was advancing on the tortillas sometime before they arrived for us...especially since that doesn't happen unless they have been thawed out and froze again.

If you try to fry these corn tortillas they will probably kill the mold culture and be safe to eat, BUT the mold still makes dark spots on the chips when frying them.

Another good way to tell mold if you can't see it well is by smelling the product.  Mold smells, and it smells like no corn tortilla you ever sniffed or any other food for that matter.

It's really going to be a shame if the rest are that way...another unplanned trip to the 'deep freeze' tomorrow.  Oh, what Joy!

So....

First of all, let me just say Tyrone got his first pedicure and he loved it.... enough said.

I feel like a lot is going through my head right now but I don't have any actual stories per se. This past weekend has been a ships 4 day holiday and has been such a time of relaxation and fun.

On Friday I went out to the orphanage for a sleepover but it turned into a layover due to the nonexistent sleep. Sleeping in a small room with no fan with 11 people and 1 small window that is covered by fabric. It was incredibly hot and at one point I felt something creepy, crawly on my face. We made dinner, sang songs, and just hung out. I love those girls. They are so fun and now I feel like we are getting to know their deeper side or sillier side depending on how you look at it.

Today I went down to the ward to see little Yeme and she was so sad. It just breaks my heart to see the normally smiley girl be so sad. I think she is sad because she misses her family and she said her tummy is upset. But I think maybe it was the age-old "my tummy hurts" but actually there is something else going on. Her friends in the next 2 beds were moved over to A ward and I think the ache of missing her family has kicked in. We were asking her a little more about how she got here and she said that her mother sent her with her older sister to the border and she got separated from her sister but she met up with John (a guy who works in Guinea and helps patients get to the ship) who brought her to the ship. She said she was so scared because she did not know John and he was speaking French to her but she does not know French well and she said she didn't even really know where she was going, her mom just told her to go and some Dr. would help her. I patted her head and stroked her arm and she laid there with tears streaming down her face.

As I sat at Yeme's bed I could not help but sob for this little one. There is nothing I can do for her. I can't take away her fear, loneliness, or pain. All I can do is just pray that the Lord does.