Let's be honest....

So I knew when I signed up to work with Mercy Ships for three months that I was also signing up for what I am going through now....transition! Ah, everyone's favorite thing. And for those friends and family that have had to bear with me these last few days, I say thank you and I also say I'm sorry! :) Well, you all know I am crazy anyway. But I thank you for your great patience and your prayers. They are being answered, as at least a bit of perspective has re-entered the world of my mind and I am more at peace than I was a couple of days ago. The phrase "waves of transition" has appeared in more than one of my emails home to you, and it seems to be the most appropriate, as there have indeed been ups, and there have indeed been downs. As many of you have reminded me, this is probably quite"normal", but in the words of my Uncle Tom "what's normal??" Great question!
Three months is short, but it was also long enough to experience a part of my heart's desire being fulfilled, and also long enough to increase my hunger for more. I laugh, thinking of the "step of faith" it seemed to take to get here, and now it is seeming to require a "step of faith" to return home. In some ways returning home feels like I am leaving a piece of my heart behind, while at the same time returning home reconnects me with my precious and treasured family and friends in Seattle. Really I am not in a place to be distressed! :) But tell my heart that!
I hesitate to put this on my blog, probably mostly because it is a little raw and really undefined and probably not the most well-articulated thoughts on the planet. But I guess I write it to ask that you would pray for me. Nothing huge or crazy but simply that I would REST in the Lord, that I would know that my treasure is really in Him, and He happens to be be everywhere:), and that I would, once again, remember that HE is God, and that nothing is too big....or too small for Him.
Tomorrow we will arrive at the Canary Islands, and Monday I fly out! I will be with my sister's family in South Korea for 2 weeks over Christmas, and mom and dad will be there too!!!!!!!! I can hardly wait! All that to say, there are still some more pictures I would like to try to get on the blog in these next few days, so we will see! The sail has been GORGEOUS and only a little bit nauseating at times:)...I am afraid any pictures I have won't do this justice.
I am eagerly anticipating reconnecting with you, my dear friends in the next few weeks. Thank you for your prayers, your emails, your notes, your faithful blog-reading! How did I get so blessed to have you all in my life?! God bless you today....and stay tuned:):)

Ward nurses hit the town!

The Friday after the ward closed down, the remaining nurses on board went out for a celebration dinner. Some friends pictured above: Melanie, Meg, Me, Vera, Elaine. :)

Goodbyes and Goodbye Parties!!

We all got decked out in our African Finest (or for some of us...the only 'African' clothes we have...) to celebrate and say farewell to our translators the week before we left. Here are a couple of ladies that I had especially enjoyed working with...Musu (blue) and Esther (white).

Marthlyn

Before her surgery...

And three surgeries later...

Before and After...A Couple of Special Patients

CYRUS~ Before his surgery... healing...and after....

Bon Voyage!!

WE LEFT LIBERIA TODAY!!! wow!! it is hard to believe. I was sitting about to post a blog this morning at about 11:45...our estimated departure time was noon...and admittedly I did not anticipate that we would be on time :) hee hee..but we were!! so now this is the post-departure blog.
These past couple of weeks have been full of good-bye's, good-bye parties, the ward clearing out, patients going home, packing, cleaning, securing, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Yep. Lot's o cleaning. And in the midst of it all, was a scary few days where a good friend of mine became ill with malaria. I mass emailed many of you, but am sure that it was not all-inclusive, as I was in quite a rush. But I again thank you for the many prayers on behalf of my friend, and she is now safely in Germany being cared for there, and all reports sound as though she is making improvements. Praise God for that!
So, we are SAILING!! or rather rocking....rocking rocking rocking. If I thought this ship rocked while we were in port...well, I had another thing coming. We all look like a bunch of drunken sailors walking around here as the ship maintains its constant back and forth motion!! Pray we don't all get sea sick!
IF I am spared from too much motion sickness, I really do hope to catch up a bit on some blogging, and post some pictures from the last couple of weeks. I am sad I have not had more time to keep up with it all, and I hope I can make up for it a bit in the next few days!!
I hope you are all well, and I am so excited to reconnect with many of you in this next month!! God bless and keep you all!

THE DRESS...

So, really I had this dress made the first month I was here (don't be deceived by the recent blog regarding the trip to the tailor...that trip was quite awhile ago...it has just taken me this long to become good at getting pics on the blog) But last Sunday was truly the first time I wore the dress in public. Try not to laugh at the WHITE woman in the Liberian church. Nope, no blending in here...even with the African dress. These are my friends, Nadine (green) and Mary Lou (white)...and they are wonderful. The picture is from the church Mary Lou attends regularly, and I have been there twice during my time here. It is called Bethel Sanctuary of Praise.

Sometimes by Steps

Sometimes the night was beautiful
Sometimes the sky was so far away
Sometimes it seemed to stoop so close

You could touch it but your heart would break

Sometimes the morning came too soon

Sometimes the day could be so hot

There was so much work left to do

But so much You'd already done

Oh God, You are my God

And I will ever praise You

Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You

I will seek You in the morning

And I will learn to walk in Your ways

And step by step You'll lead me

And I will follow You all of my days

Sometimes I think of Abraham

How one star he saw had been lit for me

He was a stranger in this land
And I am that, no less than he

And on this road to righteousness

Sometimes the climb can be so steep

I may falter in my steps

But never beyond Your reach

Oh God, You are my God

And I will ever praise You

Oh God, You are my God

And I will ever praise You

I will seek You in the morning

And I will learn to walk in Your ways

And step by step You'll lead me

And I will follow You all of my days

--Rich Mullins

I love this face!!!

You can't help but have favorites sometimes. Here's one of mine. Do you blame me? This is Mohammed. Arguably one of the cutest two year olds on the planet.

True Colors

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is Light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1John1:5-7

"So why did you become a nurse?" my friend asked me the other day over a cup of coffee. And by the tone in her voice as she asked, I knew I had once again revealed my kaleidoscope of feelings regarding nursing. Kaleidoscope. Yes...you know the thing you look through and you have to point it towards the light to see that there is a beautiful picture inside. An ever-changing picture, but colorful and beautiful when pointed in the right direction. Without light, however, there is no point to a kaleidoscope.

Grumbling in response to her question, I put my hands up and said I didn't know. Which was of course a lie. So I quickly caught myself, and gave her a real answer. An answer I don't normally give, but a true answer nonetheless. When I was in high school I remember reading about Jesus' life, and considered what it would mean to live a life like He did. Three things stood out to me from what I read: that in Jesus' life on earth, He taught, He preached, and He healed. So in the logic of my teenage mind, I figured we should aim to do the same. And a seed of interest was planted in my heart to someday be involved in medical missions.

The road to becoming a nurse was anything but smooth, and a couple of times I seriously wondered what I was doing, and how God was trying to direct me. I don't believe I received a "call" from the Lord to become a nurse. But while in nursing school, I did receive a promise that has proved to be true: that nursing would expand my heart, break my pride, and allow for more of God in my life. And His challenge to me at that time: to not choose darkness, but to keep my face to the Light.

I don't think we can always comprehend things the Lord speaks to us at the time He speaks them. The promises have proven true, as I have been stretched, humbled, and seen God in ways I never would have expected. In my experiences as a nurse, I have had the chance to see all the colors of life and death, of joy and fear, of pain and healing, of hope and of loss, of plenty and of need, of suffering and of relief. In retrospect, I can see that from the beginning, this path was never truly about being a nurse. It was about following a Person. And the challenge remains the same: to not focus on the darkness, but to lift it all up to be viewed in the Light of Christ. Sometimes I fail and only see the darkness. But by His grace, and without fail, each time I lift my face up and view things against the backdrop of His brightness, I hold in my hand a kaleidoscope through which I can see beauty that can only be seen because of His light. As our time in Liberia draws near, I can't help but wonder what will come next for me. This has been such a big step that God has finally allowed me to take, and I can't think that it is the last. Please pray that as He continues to guide, that I would follow with all my heart, in His steps, and not my own. Thank you for your faithful prayers, and for the Light of the Lord that you have helped to shine into my life through your friendship and support.

Tamba

A face this adorable should be seen by LOTS of people:). This is Tamba, and he was one of our much loved patients here last month. Tamba's family is from Sierra Leone, and after Tamba was born with a growth about the size of a large fist protruding from his face, they spent the next three months searching for help for him in their country to no avail. As it turns out, God had greater plans than just the healing of their son.

Tamba's parents ended up being connected with a land-based Mercy Ships ministry in Sierra Leone...from there, the arrangements were made for the family to come to the ship to be assessed for surgery. Tamba was approved, and underwent the eight-plus hour operation, and came through with flying colors.

As I came to see the family off before they were discharged from the hospital, I had the opportunity to meet the local pastor who had hosted this precious family while they were in Monrovia awaiting Tamba's surgery. As I spoke with him, he shared that before coming here to Liberia, Tamba's family had been Muslim. While staying with the pastor, they had the opportunity to hear about Jesus, and Tamba's father had accepted Christ as his Savior!


Please pray for this precious family as they are now back home in Sierra Leone. Pray that the seeds of faith planted would grow to be strong in their lives, and that the testimony of the healing of this little one would bear witness to God's exceeding goodness in their lives.

Tensions

bullet holes and churches ~ rich and poor ~ broken cars and beat up roads ~ youth and labor ~ relief and enablement ~ hot (Africa) and cold (Mercy Ship's air conditioning) ~ gentle waves and powerful tides ~ short term service and long term commitment ~ hard work and laziness ~ passion and apathy ~ surface thoughts and deep desires ~ my way of serving and His way of providing ~ solitude and fellowship ~ mercy and integrity ~ generousity and empowering ~ fear and courage ~ shouting and singing ~ anxious thoughts and prayers that avail ~ tear-streaked cheeks and wide white smiles ~ human effort and Almighty power ~

In my opinion, whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us. The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own. The world of creation cannot as yet see reality, not because it chooses to be blind, but because in God's purpose it has been so limited--yet it has been given hope. And the hope is that in the end the whole of created life will be rescued from the tyrrany of change and decay and have its share in that magnificent liberty which can only belong to the children of God!

It is plain to anyone with eyes to see that at t he present time all created life groans in a sort of universal travail. And it is plain, too, that we who have a foretaste of the Spirit are in a state of painful tension, while we wait for that redemption of our bodies which will mean that at last we have realized our full sonship in him.

Romans 8:18-23

Three weeks and counting...

Is time going by as fast for all of you as it is for me:)? It is so hard to believe that it is November already! Time here has gone by so quickly, and now as we near the end of the outreach in Liberia, it only seems to be going faster. We are entering our last week of surgery this week and after that we will just be caring for the remaining patients onboard and preparing the ship for the upcoming sail.
The work here has continued to be for the most part a joy. When you are any place for any amount of time, you have your good days and your bad days. And yes, I will admit it, your boring days. So I have had all of the above. But I have loved this opportunity to be a part of this ministry for the past three months. One of my favorite parts of the day is when day shift is ending and evening shift comes on, we take the patients up to deck 7 on the ship so they can get some fresh air. I will try to get some of these pictures on here so you can have a glimpse of our beautiful patients....( and a glimpse of the FUN that happens on deck 7:))!
Please pray for us as we finish up in these next few weeks..that we would finish well, that the remaining surgeries would be blessed, and that God would be glorified in the work that is done in this place. THANK YOU dear friends....

The Market and a Trip to the Tailor