un-expected surgeries, peanut butter needs & raspberry, diet coke blessings

God is good all the time & all the time God is good...in no particular order of importance...check out what God has been up to lately in my life...

I visited the Mercy Ships’ operating room a few weeks back & I am not talking about the standard visits I make there daily to converse with the surgeons about potential patients. This time I was the patient.  I can better empathize with hernia patients than I ever desired to! How the heck I got an umbilical hernia is unknown- maybe picking up & loving on too many kids- but more likely my abdominal wall was weakened already from the scar from my appendectomy (appendix removal in 2005) & my stomach muscles said- enough of that- lets jump out!  Don’t feel bad for me that I couldn’t be home with my family during the stressful process of being away from the USA during a health challenge. Although- it would have been splendid to have some hugs from many of you during this time- I am so thankful I was in Africa for this operation. I am thankful my ailment arose when it did- should I have had this pain when I was home visiting that would have spoiled my vacation and given me some extreme financial challenges to say the least! I am thankful that my ailment arose when it did because had it occurred one week later- we wouldn’t have had a general surgeon aboard! God is good & I have experienced the hope & healing of our ship firsthand & God bless Doctor Larry Barr!   

I participated in an aqua-gym class conducted in French and Spanish- with the Spanish Ambassador’s wife in her pool that has a lovely ocean view! The randomness of my life brings me pure excitement!

The ship snack-bar ran out of diet coke-this was very tragic for many of us! Yes- we are spoiled on the Mercy Ship- we have a snack-bar with special treats from home. The containers that travel to us on ships across the ocean delivering medical supplies for our hospital also deliver special treats that we can buy aboard if we have extra money. But, the containers delivering the diet coke were delayed! Although many cannot believe it- I have never had a cup of coffee in my life- so the Starbuck’s we have aboard the ship does nothing for me- but I do love a cold diet coke over ice every now and then! Some comforts from home- I really do like- I am human- lest you were going to put me in another category…Well- God smiled on me when I stumbled across a little store constructed with of sheets of metal nailed together inside a shipping container.  Inside this humble store- diet coke is sold! I managed to buy some with my improving French language skills and obtained a marriage proposal from the store owner at the same time. I politely declined the offer- but if I run out of spending money I may have to take the man up on the offer to keep me supplied with diet coke!  Thanks God for your sense of humor & blessings! 

My good friend and fellow nurse- passed a foot long worm- she dug it out of the toilet- placed it inside two plastic bags & delivered it to me in the hallway. I preceded to magnet the little- not so- little dead worm in its bag to my wall until I had time to examine the sucker under a microscope in the lab.  My diploma in tropical nursing comes in handy! I love using the knowledge God has given me!  

We got frozen raspberries & blueberries in the ship-shop! They were sold out within minutes of being placed in the freezer. After making my purchase from the ship-shop- I took my treasure to my room...On the way back to my room- I passed someone in the hall-way and they asked how I was…I responded with pure excitement- “There are raspberries & blueberries in the ship shop!!!” With no excitement, whatsoever, they said- “oh.” This person obviously hasn’t been on the ship long enough- or they would have appreciated my excitement & danced wildly with me as a few of my other long-term friends and I did…all in honor of the raspberries! The small things in life!

I got one of the best packages of my life- on the ship’s container last week! The package was mailed from the USA December 31^st – it travelled to Texas- was loaded into a shipping container that made its way across the ocean to me & arrived April 5^th! The package contained a “birthday in a box” & was complete with a birthday banner- cake mix, frosting, little wrapped gifts…and  oh- bless peanut butter m&m’s, Cabot Cheddar Cheese flavoring for popcorn, real crumbled bacon bites, gummy bears, you name it! Awesome! The package arrived just in time- not for my birthday- that was March 12^th- but just in time nonetheless. I really needed some cheer & love from home on the exact day the package arrived! God is good! I pray my 31^st year is better than all my previous years- I pray God teaches me much & allows me to bless many!  

As a part of my nursing work here- I wrote the following email a few weeks ago- can’t say I ever wrote an email like that during one of my nursing shifts at home! Never a dull moment here… “Hello! I have another very random question for you. Do you or anyone at the US Embassy have any extra smooth peanut butter that you would be willing to donate to Mercy Ships or let us buy from you? Or do you know of local supermarkets that sell it? Our containers have been delayed that bring our pediasure & ensure for NG feeds. We have run out before- we are used to making due- & in that case we have our own recipe for NG feeds with smooth peanut butter & other nutrients- so our patients get the calories then need, but because of the delay of our containers- we are out of smooth peanut butter too! AHAHAh! We cannot use the crunchy peanut butter in NG feeds- because it could clog the tubes. So- if you know of any available peanut butter. Mercy Ships would love to know about it! Thanks.”
 

From un-expected surgeries to peanut butter needs- God is good- he's got adventures for us each and every single day- trust him in the adventure- he won't let you down... He doesn't disappoint- in fact he loves to give blessings- you just may have never known they can come in the form of raspberries & diet coke!