Morning and Evening

Hands

It is such a privilege. Being here. Working alongside such incredible people. Seeing the things I see. And holding these babies. This week was so blessed. We are continuing to do orientation classes and the rest of the time I am helping out on the unit. My hands got to hold a lot of special babies this week. They helped out in the NICU and lifted babies to be weighed on the gram scale (one was only 960 grams/2lbs). My hands fed teensie babies from bottles almost as big as they are.

My hands hugged on a two year old with hydrocephalus who was left by her overwhelmed mother and waits to be placed in an orphanage. She is non-verbal, can’t sit or walk, and has to be carefully fed so she won’t choke or aspirate. Caring for her would be a huge task for someone with resources and time and support, things her mother undoubtedly didn’t have.

 My hands stroked the head of my little friend- the boy I cared for several weeks ago with the seizures, brain lesion, intubation stuff. He and his mom went home this week. They need a lot of prayer. He has major irreversible brain damage and will require total care for the rest of his life, as well as many more months of an intimidating TB medication regimen.

My hands carried a malnourished, HIV positive little wisp of a one-year-old to the X-ray machine and back.

My hands measured vital signs, changed diapers, carried medications, lab samples, prescriptions, papers, equipment, mixed bottles of formula, smeared hand sanitizer and hand sanitizer and hand sanitizer, and wiped sweat from the forehead of the blessed and busy person they belong to. One night I stayed at the hospital and my hands got to hold an ice-cold coke at the UN while I ate and swapped stories with an awesome group of volunteers from all over the country- about people dying and living, about gunshot wounds and massive tumors and bizarre maladies and all the crazy stuff we won’t see anywhere else.

These busy hands are so blessed. So are the eyes that get to see such beauty and hardship, evidence of the power of the human spirit and the unfailing goodness of God. So is the heart that is touched by each of these beautiful souls and overflowing with the love of the Father. So is the mind that is challenged and grown each day and filled with memories to cherish. This girl is blessed. So very blessed.

Morning and Evening

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your lovingkindness in the morning, and your faithfulness every night.” Psalm 92:1-2

Wednesday morning I stepped onto the unit and was met with the somber tone that accompanies a loss; a beautiful motionless child, tears shed, broken parents. It’s tempting to let it cast gloom over the day, but there are still a dozen beds with kids fighting for life that need all of you. Each morning there is a time of prayer and singing over by the outpatient clinic and I always enjoy listening, but it seemed especially sweet that morning. I recognized the tune of “In the Sweet By and By” as it was sung in Kreyol.

There’s a land that is fairer than day,

And by faith we can see it afar;

For the Father waits over the way

To prepare us a dwelling place there.

In the sweet by and by,

We shall meet on that beautiful shore;

In the sweet by and by,

We shall meet on that beautiful shore.

We shall sing on that beautiful shore

The melodious songs of the blessed;

And our spirits shall sorrow no more,

Not a sigh for the blessing of rest.

To our bountiful Father above,

We will offer our tribute of praise

For the glorious gift of His love

And the blessings that hallow our days.

(Bennet, 1868)

After a long day of class, sorting through boxes in the warehouse, and helping admit a new patient on the unit I enjoyed relaxing with the other volunteers at the restaurant on the UN base. When we got back to the hospital around 10, I decided to poke around and see what was going on instead of heading straight to bed. That decision led to the sacrifice of all but three hours of my sleep that night, but it was totally worth it. A mom had come into the ER in active labor, which meant that we were having a baby despite not being a maternity hospital. I spent the next few hours in a tiny back room that is smaller than many people’s closets, holding mama’s hand, rubbing her back, talking with the other nurse, doctor, and EMT, listening to hip hop and R&B playing from an iphone, and waiting waiting waiting for the baby. Our little party of night owls was rewarded by getting to welcome a strong, healthy, beautiful baby girl into the world around 2:00 am. Even having helped with births before, it was beautiful and exciting and miraculous. And even more so in this place where it ends in tragedy instead of celebration far too often.

Praise be to our great God- in the morning, in the evening, in grief or gladness. He is the author of life and it is beautiful. How glorious that this life is but the introduction and title page of our true lives. The joy of a baby’s birth is only a glimpse of the joy that will be ours when we come into His eternal kingdom. The pain of loss is but temporary. He is the King of it all. Glory be to God!


Pray- I am heading back to the states on November 12. I don’t know what comes next, whether a job there or coming back here. I LOVE Haiti. I have awesome people here. I have awesome people there. There are sick people everywhere. More than anything I want God’s will for my life. He is the author of my story. Please pray that I would take each step as it unfolds before me, that I would follow where He leads with a willing heart. He has been faithful since before time began.