MERRY CHRISTMAS !
I hope you are all having an amazing, restful, exciting, and blessing-filled Christmas break, as I am. I also hope the wonder of Christmas overwhelms you as you feel the warmth of God’s love and remember the miracle birth of our Messiah.
I often say that I don’t choose what I read in my devotions, that God does. A prime example of this truth is held in 2 Samuel 7, which I came across a few days ago. I’ve been reading from the Old Testament for awhile now, just books here and there. To be honest, I didn’t really remember what was written in 2 Samuel. Anyways, in chapter 7, God reveals to a prophet how He will bless David and his ancestors forever.
“The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son…Your house and you kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.”
What a perfect passage to read during Christmas! “I will be his father, and he will be my son…” It just astounds me that God chose to reveal to a prophet hundreds of years before Christ that he would have a son, from the line of David, who would establish his kingdom forever. That is Jesus! HE will reign forever! The text that follows is just as powerful to me. It is David’s response:
“O Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with your blessing, the house of your servant will be blessed forever”
It is true. His words are trustworthy. He has promised His servants—those who love Him—all these good things. And you know what? He is MORE than pleased to bless us.
This really impacted me today. In all truthfulness and sincerity, what my heart has been feeling lately is loneliness. I am surrounded by many, many wonderful people (like you!) who love me very much, and I in return—I know. But for various reasons, not entirely understood by myself, I have just felt lonely from time to time. Ladies, it is times like these where the voice and power of God is so clear and real to me, I just have to share it! I decided to take a break from family-time today and dwell in the Word. It was in re-reading this passage I found the other day that my spirit was renewed. Our Father’s words are trustworthy to us. And He is has promised us an eternity of blessings. Those blessings are fulfilled by the incarnation of Jesus Christ who was born on this day, who lived and walked among us, who died for our sins, and who will reign FORVER. And He does all this willingly because He loves us, and it pleases Him to bless us! He loves us. He loves ME! In the recognition of all this I felt in a very real way God’s love and comfort. And while I know that I will need to continue to work through these feelings of loneliness, I also know that I have the love of my father in heaven that is matchless and endless. He is my comfort and joy. And His son died for me so that I could enjoy His eternal blessings in which He pleased to give me.
Wherever you are and whatever your heart is feeling, I pray you all take time to seek and experience the love our Father. Merry Christmas!
Linds
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Thursday, May 8, 2008
This is it.
This is it.
The next time you will talk to me I will be in the country of my citizenship.
Jungle was awesome...but I have to have SOMETHING to tell you about later...
Last night we had our final farewell-banquette with all the families, teachers, church staff, etc. It was a blast, but I also got a bit teary-eyed (there are some WONDERFUL people here!).
WE have one more physiology class to attend, a little more shopping to do, time to spend with our families and then we'll be heading out of Cuenca on Sunday. Our flight leaves Quayaquil at around midnight Monday morning, and we'll arrive in Indy probably like noon or so. Then I'll be headin' up to Taylor for a few days!!!!!!!!!
FYI as well, I'm planning on coming home (to MN) next Friday...Soooo, I will just see you all soon!
Much love,
Lindsay
The next time you will talk to me I will be in the country of my citizenship.
Jungle was awesome...but I have to have SOMETHING to tell you about later...
Last night we had our final farewell-banquette with all the families, teachers, church staff, etc. It was a blast, but I also got a bit teary-eyed (there are some WONDERFUL people here!).
WE have one more physiology class to attend, a little more shopping to do, time to spend with our families and then we'll be heading out of Cuenca on Sunday. Our flight leaves Quayaquil at around midnight Monday morning, and we'll arrive in Indy probably like noon or so. Then I'll be headin' up to Taylor for a few days!!!!!!!!!
FYI as well, I'm planning on coming home (to MN) next Friday...Soooo, I will just see you all soon!
Much love,
Lindsay
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
I didn't want to write a lot...
I really don't want to write a lot, because I am leaving for the jungle in 2.5 hours! (and I want to get some sleep)
So, these last few weeks have been really busy. Two week-long medical brigades, 3 papers in spanish, 2 final exams (Spanish and culture), and 1 giant fruit salad later, I'm about ready for a little vacation! Haha, I really am extremely excited about going to the jungle, and it came at the perfect time. I think we're all getting a little bit (or a lot bit) anxious to come home, and it's been a challenge to keep our minds and hearts here for even the small amount of time we have left.
So anyway, I have a special thing to share with all of you. God obviously has a few more things he wants to teach me before I leave, so I better not be checking out quite yet. Ok, so...last week, I went to home-church bible study with my host brother Sebas. I frankly don't remember what the topic was that night, but that wasn't how God chose to speak to me. After the devotion, the bible-study leader said that he was going to lead us in prayer, and that he felt like God had some things to show us. So after his prayer he was going to wait, and we were supposed to let him know if any of us felt like God sent us a word or a vision or something...Now, honestly, I've struggled with the concepts of prophecy and such. Not that I don't believe God is capable of giving messages to people, but I'm just always weary of other people’s sincerity. In fact, there was a group from CA down here a few weeks ago on a mission’s trip doing “healing” ministries, which really stirred a lot in my brain about the Spirit of God and the power we draw from Him. Anyway, you can ask me about that later…So, we prayed as a group, and then sat in silence for no longer than a minute or so. During that time, I actually prayed for sincerity from the other people, and just gave God thanks for the evening. When we lifted our heads at least 3 people had something (a vision) they thought they received from God. All that was shared had a direct message to someone else present that night about something personal in their lives. And to my surprise and comfort, they were all very genuine. Genuinely spoken, and received by those whom they were about. The leader asked us to bow our heads again and ask for anything else that needed to be shared. This time, I asked God to give those in the room visions that he wanted to share, but again, that they would be genuine and sincere. Again, numerous people had something to share. And a third time, we prayed in silence. But this time, when I closed my eyes…I saw something.
It was a brilliant, vivid picture of a girl, a girl who attends that bible study, but with whom I have no relation. I don’t even know her name. I saw her face, vividly, staring at a cross that was illuminated with a radiant light.
--I know this sounds cheesy. But it’s the truth.
So with seeing this picture, clear as day, with my eyes closed, I told God. God, I do not want to misrepresent you in any way, shape, or form. If this is not of you, take it AWAY.
And it stayed. The same picture, or vision if you will, remained there. I don’t know where else to say that is way, except that it was “there.” It was in front of me, and I could see it and nothing else. We opened our eyes, and I asked God again, to let me know if he really wanted me to share this thing. And I kid you NOT, the moment that prayer escaped from me, God ANSWERED that question. My temperature instantly shot up, and I began to sweat like I had just finished a 4K race. My heart was pounding so hard and loud, I was afraid the neighbors would hear. And mostly obviously, I had a feeling, deep in my stomach that I had to do something (I was pretty sure I knew what it was…).
So, I waited.
There were actually, a few others who had something more to share. I wish I could explain it better without writing a novel, but everything that people saw had a specific message to someone else present that night. And even if the person who saw the vision didn’t know what it meant, either the person it was for or someone else felt like they knew. So, after they had all shared, and I was still sitting there, sweating and probably as red as a grape tomato, I decided to speak. I explained what I saw to the girl whose face it was, and someone felt like it meant she needed to keep looking toward Christ in every aspect of her life. And take it as God’s work or not, but the EXACT moment I was done sharing, my bodily functions returned to normal. I was no longer uncomfortable, my pulse was not racing, and I didn’t feel warm, let alone hot.
I don’t fully understand all the pieces of what happened that night, but I am sure of this:
What I saw was genuine.
I was supposed to share it with that girl.
And, it was of God.
As it did for me, I hope that in sharing this with you all, it sparks a curiosity within you, which draws you to seek and better understand the character of the Creator and Savior of the world. (Please don’t be shy about asking me questions about this. I know it can be hard to understand, and I don’t claim to know it all, but it is meant to give glory to God, and that’s what I want to do.)
I hope you all have a great weekend!
12 more days until I’m back in the States!
Ciao ciao,
Lindsay
Monday, April 21, 2008
Nunca en mi Vida!
Nunca en mi Vida!
Nunca en mi vida (never in my life)…
There are many many things that I have NEVER done, seen, or experienced in my life. But this past week I definitely made a dent in that list.
Nunca en mi vida had I participated in a medical missions brigade, but last week I did! The Fundacion Hogar del Ecaudor (the medical foundation run by the church here in Cuenca) hosts medical missions teams from the states several times a year. Most of the teams are made up of a number of doctors, nurses, and logistics personnel, and sometimes there is certain specialty represented. The team that was here last week was made up of about 4 ob/gyn docs, 2 family physicians, 4 nurses, 5 logistics workers, and one very lucky high school student who was chosen by his school to come along to observe the doctors. So everyday last week (except Wednesday because we had culture class) we went to the Foundation right after physiology class and hung around there until we had to go the Spanish class in the afternoon. I did different things every day, which was nice to switch it up. One day I spent with one of the ob/gyn’s in an examination room seeing patients. I didn’t see anything too stirring, if you will, mostly complaints of aches and pains and irregular menstrual cycles. One thing I appreciated was that, because it is a Christian institution, we were able to pray with every patient that came in. Actually, the way these medical brigades are set up are very “whole-person” focused. When patients come and check-in (they do not need prior appointments), they are taken to a waiting area where there is a pastor who offers prayer, worship music, and short devotionals. As earlier patients move through the triage area, more are brought up to see the nurses, get vitals taken, and explain their reasons for coming. During last week’s brigade, the team brought a ton of bead bracelets to give to every patient seen, prayer was offered, and (usually through interpreters) they let every patient know that we’re there to serve them. Those patients were then taken to see the doctors where, if needed, a diagnosis and the occasional prescription were given. To every patient, a complimentary supply of vitamins and calcium were given, and the other prescriptions were offered at an extremely affordable rate. And like I said, prayer was also always offered by the doctor.
Never in my life, did I really appreciate having even a general knowledge of medicine and such, but after a week of seeing so many Ecuadorian patients, native and not, who had such limited understanding of basic physiological functioning of their own bodies, I give thanks for what I know. I saw multiple middle aged women who complained of ordinary menopausal symptoms not knowing if there was something seriously wrong with them. I saw the grave seriousness taken with every instruction accompanying the small package of multivitamins given to each patient. I also saw eyes light up when the doctor prescribed medications such as Ibuprofen, as if they had been given a magical answer to all their life’s problems. How wonderful to provide for these people, even in the slightest of ways, but it saddens me to see them so earnestly seeking something bigger in such a small place.
I have had an affinity towards medicine way before I even understood what it entailed. Many of my motives behind that fascination have been reshaped and altered as I have grown, but one thing remains. I want to help people. Now, at 20 years old, in the middle of my college career, I know that I do want to help people and provide for their physical needs (whether in medicine as doctor, or a nurse, or not), but I also know that that desire comes from One much bigger than myself. In whatever manner I end up “helping people” it will not be the magical answer to anything, it will simply be an expression of the love I have built up inside of me for the people I’m serving from the Lord my God, who is LOVE in and of Himself. I don’t know how exactly to communicate that, but I don’t know that it is my responsibility either. God is the one who works through our actions, and we are but jars of clay that He uses for His purposes. One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” I know that whatever service I will be able to provide after I’m through with my education, I will not be offering anything of significance unless I make clear the “treasure” that I have, which comes from a God of “all-surpassing power.” And honestly, that is not the challenge since I am but a “jar of clay,” nothing spectacular in appearance, nothing especially proficient, full of cracks and faults, but still useful to the skilled Creator and Lover of all of our hearts.
Medicine is not the answer to life’s problems. The vitamins can only do so much, and the pain killers will soon run out. The hormone replacement medications won’t solve every symptom, and surgeries can present more complications than bargained for. These are only manners of offering assistance towards something better. The answer is neither held by doctors, nurses, translators, pastors, or teachers. Whatever service had been offered to the people I saw this week, I hope that they see past the surface of what they received. With pills in hand, or despite the relief of any symptoms, it is my prayer that they take away something much bigger. LOVE.
I take back what I said earlier, about being sad that I saw people seeking answers in small places, such as a bottle of medication or a certain operation. Seeking is all they need to do, and God will meet them. I know for certain there were patients welcomed to the kingdom of God for the first time last week, and it came from them searching in places ever-so-small. The world of medicine has such big opportunities to share the love of Christ with people, and it is because medicine is not the answer. When we let God work through our services to people, he opens doors to THE answer (which is Himself) even when they do not realize it.
Never in my life could I have put those ideas to words before now…
Nunca en mi vida, had I seen a hysterectomy. Again, I won’t go into details, but it was pretty darn cool.
Nunca en mi vida, had I touched a human uterus. Maybe I’m biased, being female and all, but the uterus is quite an awesome organ. It’s too bad though that some get such giant tumors inside them…I touched that tooJ.
Nunca en mi vida had I seen a sling put under a bladder to prevent loss of urinary control. You’d be surprised how fast of a procedure that is. You’d also be surprised to see the kind of tools involved…think captain hook with a twist…
Nunca en mi vida, had I been so blatantly jealous of a 17 year old boy…That high schooler that got to come be part of the team, actually got to SCRUB IN TO ALL THE SURGERIES. Not only that, but he got to hold some tools and stick his hand in the incisions! And if that weren’t enough, on the last day, the one doctor let him SUTURE a real live person after a real live abdominal hysterectomy!!! Yeah, we were just the Taylor students…who wanted to watch…from the back of the O.R…. I still can’t believe it…
Nunca en mi vida had I been given the job of translator. I don’t want to build up my Spanish skills to something they’re not, because there were plenty of times I had to seek out fluent Spanish/English speakers for help. Nevertheless, I did spend a day in triage translating for a nurse, taking down main complaints of patients and such. Much of this was made easier with hand motions, and the fact that the most common complaint was pain in general areas which is like the one “medical term” I know.
Nunca en mi vida, had I heard such awful Spanish accents. Maybe that’s a little harsh, because I know they were trying. But a lot of the people on the medical team were from Oklahoma, and with their southern accents they just butcher the Spanish language. Speaking Spanish with a southern accent is now my new favorite hobby. Anyways, they were a great group of people, and it was quite fun to spend the week with them. I’m looking forward to this week, to do it again. A new team arrived Sunday, so we will be spending our days at the foundation again!
Nunca en mi vida had I been so uncomfortably cold and wet as I was this Saturday. Why you may ask? Well, we wanted to have a REAL adventure hiking in the Cajas Mountains, and when a couple of the host dads (including Morris) offered to take us we jumped for the opportunity. So, Saturday morning we saddled up with some sack lunches, sweatshirts, and minds set on having an adventure. Now, plenty of jokes were made (some half serious) about not getting lost and such, and I’m happy to say that we all made it back quite safely. However, we had an experience of a different kind…From the moment we stepped off the bus there was a nip in the air and rain pouring from the sky. There’s nothing unexpected about rain in Ecuador, because it’s unusual to go a day without it, but it IS uncommon to have it rain ALL DAY LONG. We hiked along for about an hour or so and stopped at a lagoon to fish, explore, and enjoy the scenery. After that stop, we hiked for another good chunk of time to a different lagoon. By they we had all developed our own “baditudes” about being out there shivering, freezing, and wet. I will be the first to admit, I was not happy about being there. After a while, one of the dads set up a little 1 person tent, and told us we should stay here for lunch.
Nunca en mi vida had I eaten lunch in a 1 person tent with 6 other people!! You may question our abilities to scrunch up and cuddle with each other, but man we are a tight-knit group of kids. So happily, we enjoyed our lunch still wet, but semi-warm, accompanied by many laughs. We also savored the last box of Girl Scout cookies brought to me my dearest mommy, which I had been saving for a special occasion such as that. After lunch, we all decided we just wanted to get to the end of the trail as soon as we could. Once we got moving again, I grew a little less uncomfortable, and sort of forgot how I could acutally feel my hands or feet. By then, I had also stopped paying attention to how muddy I was getting and blazed right through the trails no matter how deep in muck I was.
Nunca en mi vida had I slid so many times (on accident) through mud! The one dad with us told me I was the Mother of falling; I’ll just take that as a compliament...The last couple of hours (we hiked a pretty good amount after lunch to get to the end of the trail) were actually really fun. The rain died down a bit, and we forgot how cold we were. Even so, it was so wonderful to see the road below us getting closer and closer. At the very end of the trail there was a small river that we crossed, I actually waded through it to try and get some of the mud off, but it really didn’t matter. I was DIRTY to say the least.
There was also a restaurant at the end of the trail they we decided to go in to warm up and have something to eat.
Nunca en mi vida had I been told liquor helps one to warm up. Anyhow, the dads ordered this sugary shot drink and told us it was great for warming your body…So, we all passed around these hot little shots of liquor, sugar, and cinnamon. I don’t particularly enjoy the taste of alcohol, but I didn’t care because it was something warm.
As I continued to warm up, the fact that I really couldn’t move or feel my hands was becoming more and more obvious. The culmination of this was when I tried to use the restroom. It wasn’t an emergency or anything, but I really just wanted to pull my jean up a bit because they had been falling down inch by inch with all the weight of water and mud on them. Anyways, I closed the door, undid my belt (with a little difficulty), and proceeded to undo the button to my jeans. Nunca en mi vida, had I not been able to go to the bathroom because my hands were too cold! I tried and tried, winced and forced my fingers to grasp the fabric around my button, but I just could not find the strength to get it undone!
Upon arriving home, I was EXTREMLY (as you could imagine) EXTREMLY excited to get into a hot shower asap. Seeing that Maria’s car was gone, I got out my keys to the gate so we could get in. Once in the driveway, we realized that the door that I have keys to was locked from the inside and therefore, we could not get in. After trying BOTH of Maria’s cell phones, and getting no answer, we went for the extreme. Sebas ended up climbing up onto the roof, and opened Maria and Morris' bedroom window. So, eventually, we did get in, and eventually I did get a hot shower. But man, what an adventure.
That's all for now, I hope y'all have great week!
In Christ,
Lindsay
Nunca en mi vida (never in my life)…
There are many many things that I have NEVER done, seen, or experienced in my life. But this past week I definitely made a dent in that list.
Nunca en mi vida had I participated in a medical missions brigade, but last week I did! The Fundacion Hogar del Ecaudor (the medical foundation run by the church here in Cuenca) hosts medical missions teams from the states several times a year. Most of the teams are made up of a number of doctors, nurses, and logistics personnel, and sometimes there is certain specialty represented. The team that was here last week was made up of about 4 ob/gyn docs, 2 family physicians, 4 nurses, 5 logistics workers, and one very lucky high school student who was chosen by his school to come along to observe the doctors. So everyday last week (except Wednesday because we had culture class) we went to the Foundation right after physiology class and hung around there until we had to go the Spanish class in the afternoon. I did different things every day, which was nice to switch it up. One day I spent with one of the ob/gyn’s in an examination room seeing patients. I didn’t see anything too stirring, if you will, mostly complaints of aches and pains and irregular menstrual cycles. One thing I appreciated was that, because it is a Christian institution, we were able to pray with every patient that came in. Actually, the way these medical brigades are set up are very “whole-person” focused. When patients come and check-in (they do not need prior appointments), they are taken to a waiting area where there is a pastor who offers prayer, worship music, and short devotionals. As earlier patients move through the triage area, more are brought up to see the nurses, get vitals taken, and explain their reasons for coming. During last week’s brigade, the team brought a ton of bead bracelets to give to every patient seen, prayer was offered, and (usually through interpreters) they let every patient know that we’re there to serve them. Those patients were then taken to see the doctors where, if needed, a diagnosis and the occasional prescription were given. To every patient, a complimentary supply of vitamins and calcium were given, and the other prescriptions were offered at an extremely affordable rate. And like I said, prayer was also always offered by the doctor.
Never in my life, did I really appreciate having even a general knowledge of medicine and such, but after a week of seeing so many Ecuadorian patients, native and not, who had such limited understanding of basic physiological functioning of their own bodies, I give thanks for what I know. I saw multiple middle aged women who complained of ordinary menopausal symptoms not knowing if there was something seriously wrong with them. I saw the grave seriousness taken with every instruction accompanying the small package of multivitamins given to each patient. I also saw eyes light up when the doctor prescribed medications such as Ibuprofen, as if they had been given a magical answer to all their life’s problems. How wonderful to provide for these people, even in the slightest of ways, but it saddens me to see them so earnestly seeking something bigger in such a small place.
I have had an affinity towards medicine way before I even understood what it entailed. Many of my motives behind that fascination have been reshaped and altered as I have grown, but one thing remains. I want to help people. Now, at 20 years old, in the middle of my college career, I know that I do want to help people and provide for their physical needs (whether in medicine as doctor, or a nurse, or not), but I also know that that desire comes from One much bigger than myself. In whatever manner I end up “helping people” it will not be the magical answer to anything, it will simply be an expression of the love I have built up inside of me for the people I’m serving from the Lord my God, who is LOVE in and of Himself. I don’t know how exactly to communicate that, but I don’t know that it is my responsibility either. God is the one who works through our actions, and we are but jars of clay that He uses for His purposes. One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” I know that whatever service I will be able to provide after I’m through with my education, I will not be offering anything of significance unless I make clear the “treasure” that I have, which comes from a God of “all-surpassing power.” And honestly, that is not the challenge since I am but a “jar of clay,” nothing spectacular in appearance, nothing especially proficient, full of cracks and faults, but still useful to the skilled Creator and Lover of all of our hearts.
Medicine is not the answer to life’s problems. The vitamins can only do so much, and the pain killers will soon run out. The hormone replacement medications won’t solve every symptom, and surgeries can present more complications than bargained for. These are only manners of offering assistance towards something better. The answer is neither held by doctors, nurses, translators, pastors, or teachers. Whatever service had been offered to the people I saw this week, I hope that they see past the surface of what they received. With pills in hand, or despite the relief of any symptoms, it is my prayer that they take away something much bigger. LOVE.
I take back what I said earlier, about being sad that I saw people seeking answers in small places, such as a bottle of medication or a certain operation. Seeking is all they need to do, and God will meet them. I know for certain there were patients welcomed to the kingdom of God for the first time last week, and it came from them searching in places ever-so-small. The world of medicine has such big opportunities to share the love of Christ with people, and it is because medicine is not the answer. When we let God work through our services to people, he opens doors to THE answer (which is Himself) even when they do not realize it.
Never in my life could I have put those ideas to words before now…
Nunca en mi vida, had I seen a hysterectomy. Again, I won’t go into details, but it was pretty darn cool.
Nunca en mi vida, had I touched a human uterus. Maybe I’m biased, being female and all, but the uterus is quite an awesome organ. It’s too bad though that some get such giant tumors inside them…I touched that tooJ.
Nunca en mi vida had I seen a sling put under a bladder to prevent loss of urinary control. You’d be surprised how fast of a procedure that is. You’d also be surprised to see the kind of tools involved…think captain hook with a twist…
Nunca en mi vida, had I been so blatantly jealous of a 17 year old boy…That high schooler that got to come be part of the team, actually got to SCRUB IN TO ALL THE SURGERIES. Not only that, but he got to hold some tools and stick his hand in the incisions! And if that weren’t enough, on the last day, the one doctor let him SUTURE a real live person after a real live abdominal hysterectomy!!! Yeah, we were just the Taylor students…who wanted to watch…from the back of the O.R…. I still can’t believe it…
Nunca en mi vida had I been given the job of translator. I don’t want to build up my Spanish skills to something they’re not, because there were plenty of times I had to seek out fluent Spanish/English speakers for help. Nevertheless, I did spend a day in triage translating for a nurse, taking down main complaints of patients and such. Much of this was made easier with hand motions, and the fact that the most common complaint was pain in general areas which is like the one “medical term” I know.
Nunca en mi vida, had I heard such awful Spanish accents. Maybe that’s a little harsh, because I know they were trying. But a lot of the people on the medical team were from Oklahoma, and with their southern accents they just butcher the Spanish language. Speaking Spanish with a southern accent is now my new favorite hobby. Anyways, they were a great group of people, and it was quite fun to spend the week with them. I’m looking forward to this week, to do it again. A new team arrived Sunday, so we will be spending our days at the foundation again!
Nunca en mi vida had I been so uncomfortably cold and wet as I was this Saturday. Why you may ask? Well, we wanted to have a REAL adventure hiking in the Cajas Mountains, and when a couple of the host dads (including Morris) offered to take us we jumped for the opportunity. So, Saturday morning we saddled up with some sack lunches, sweatshirts, and minds set on having an adventure. Now, plenty of jokes were made (some half serious) about not getting lost and such, and I’m happy to say that we all made it back quite safely. However, we had an experience of a different kind…From the moment we stepped off the bus there was a nip in the air and rain pouring from the sky. There’s nothing unexpected about rain in Ecuador, because it’s unusual to go a day without it, but it IS uncommon to have it rain ALL DAY LONG. We hiked along for about an hour or so and stopped at a lagoon to fish, explore, and enjoy the scenery. After that stop, we hiked for another good chunk of time to a different lagoon. By they we had all developed our own “baditudes” about being out there shivering, freezing, and wet. I will be the first to admit, I was not happy about being there. After a while, one of the dads set up a little 1 person tent, and told us we should stay here for lunch.
Nunca en mi vida had I eaten lunch in a 1 person tent with 6 other people!! You may question our abilities to scrunch up and cuddle with each other, but man we are a tight-knit group of kids. So happily, we enjoyed our lunch still wet, but semi-warm, accompanied by many laughs. We also savored the last box of Girl Scout cookies brought to me my dearest mommy, which I had been saving for a special occasion such as that. After lunch, we all decided we just wanted to get to the end of the trail as soon as we could. Once we got moving again, I grew a little less uncomfortable, and sort of forgot how I could acutally feel my hands or feet. By then, I had also stopped paying attention to how muddy I was getting and blazed right through the trails no matter how deep in muck I was.
Nunca en mi vida had I slid so many times (on accident) through mud! The one dad with us told me I was the Mother of falling; I’ll just take that as a compliament...The last couple of hours (we hiked a pretty good amount after lunch to get to the end of the trail) were actually really fun. The rain died down a bit, and we forgot how cold we were. Even so, it was so wonderful to see the road below us getting closer and closer. At the very end of the trail there was a small river that we crossed, I actually waded through it to try and get some of the mud off, but it really didn’t matter. I was DIRTY to say the least.
There was also a restaurant at the end of the trail they we decided to go in to warm up and have something to eat.
Nunca en mi vida had I been told liquor helps one to warm up. Anyhow, the dads ordered this sugary shot drink and told us it was great for warming your body…So, we all passed around these hot little shots of liquor, sugar, and cinnamon. I don’t particularly enjoy the taste of alcohol, but I didn’t care because it was something warm.
As I continued to warm up, the fact that I really couldn’t move or feel my hands was becoming more and more obvious. The culmination of this was when I tried to use the restroom. It wasn’t an emergency or anything, but I really just wanted to pull my jean up a bit because they had been falling down inch by inch with all the weight of water and mud on them. Anyways, I closed the door, undid my belt (with a little difficulty), and proceeded to undo the button to my jeans. Nunca en mi vida, had I not been able to go to the bathroom because my hands were too cold! I tried and tried, winced and forced my fingers to grasp the fabric around my button, but I just could not find the strength to get it undone!
Upon arriving home, I was EXTREMLY (as you could imagine) EXTREMLY excited to get into a hot shower asap. Seeing that Maria’s car was gone, I got out my keys to the gate so we could get in. Once in the driveway, we realized that the door that I have keys to was locked from the inside and therefore, we could not get in. After trying BOTH of Maria’s cell phones, and getting no answer, we went for the extreme. Sebas ended up climbing up onto the roof, and opened Maria and Morris' bedroom window. So, eventually, we did get in, and eventually I did get a hot shower. But man, what an adventure.
That's all for now, I hope y'all have great week!
In Christ,
Lindsay
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Quick Update
Just a quick update on life:
1) Last week I wrote my first substantial report, IN SPANISH. I don't know how well I did, my Maria and Morris told me it was good. Definitely a confidence booster. :)
2) Last weekend, I was with my family at our extended family's house. We were just sitting around the dinner table talking after we ate, and mid conversation I said (how terrible) "Que terrible!" But apparently I said with a "Cuencan" accent, because the entire table exploded into a roar of laughter! They then proceeded to grill me with questions trying to get me to say other things in that accent...It was pretty entertaining, but I will confess, I have picked up their pronounciation of the double "r." RRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
3) Last weekend Skip Trudeu and Chris Bennett (super important administration guys from Taylor) came down for a visit. We didn't see them much, but they did take us out to eat (guinea pig!). I like when people from Taylor come, they always buy us food and make us talk about how much fun were having!
4) This weekend I also worked hard core on my project for physiology. We all made big presentations on separte subjects (in English...). My topic was high altitude physiology. Pretty interesting...espeically since we're pretty high up here...
5) I'm pretty much done with all bid assignments for physiology!
6) I continue to have such wonderfully deep and uplifting conversations with my fellow students and host mom! I'm so thankful for these people...
7) The church's foundation is having a brigade this week with a medical team of people from all over the states. We've spent the mornings and afternoons before in between classes there helping translate and observing the doctors. Highlight so far: I saw a GIANT uterus in a bucket (after a hysterectomy was done)...it was pretty cool.
8) Ummm if there's more, I'll think of it later, but I'm getting really excited to see everyone and to come home for the summerrr!
9) I love you.
1) Last week I wrote my first substantial report, IN SPANISH. I don't know how well I did, my Maria and Morris told me it was good. Definitely a confidence booster. :)
2) Last weekend, I was with my family at our extended family's house. We were just sitting around the dinner table talking after we ate, and mid conversation I said (how terrible) "Que terrible!" But apparently I said with a "Cuencan" accent, because the entire table exploded into a roar of laughter! They then proceeded to grill me with questions trying to get me to say other things in that accent...It was pretty entertaining, but I will confess, I have picked up their pronounciation of the double "r." RRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
3) Last weekend Skip Trudeu and Chris Bennett (super important administration guys from Taylor) came down for a visit. We didn't see them much, but they did take us out to eat (guinea pig!). I like when people from Taylor come, they always buy us food and make us talk about how much fun were having!
4) This weekend I also worked hard core on my project for physiology. We all made big presentations on separte subjects (in English...). My topic was high altitude physiology. Pretty interesting...espeically since we're pretty high up here...
5) I'm pretty much done with all bid assignments for physiology!
6) I continue to have such wonderfully deep and uplifting conversations with my fellow students and host mom! I'm so thankful for these people...
7) The church's foundation is having a brigade this week with a medical team of people from all over the states. We've spent the mornings and afternoons before in between classes there helping translate and observing the doctors. Highlight so far: I saw a GIANT uterus in a bucket (after a hysterectomy was done)...it was pretty cool.
8) Ummm if there's more, I'll think of it later, but I'm getting really excited to see everyone and to come home for the summerrr!
9) I love you.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
If you read any of this thing, READ the last paragraph.
Hey again…
Alright, I think this is going to be my last “catching up” blog. I’ve written enough to fill a few novels and I don’t even like writing that much.
So, we got back from the Galapagos. And I would just like to vent a little bit, because as much as I was so very glad to see my family again, having them tell me repeatedly that I SURELY forgot ALL my Spanish during the 6 whole days I was gone is not a very welcoming experience. There are primarily 3 reasons why this bothers me so much:
A) I spoke and listened to plenty of Spanish during that time. (I only speak Spanish with Maria, and most of our tour guides spoke Spanish.)
2) It’s no fun being told you’re not doing well at something, especially when you’re trying hard.
And D) I was dead tired after that quite adventureful week, and just because I said “what” one time after being thrown a boat load of questions doesn’t mean I forgot the language I have been studying day in and day out for the past 9 weeks.
Sigh…
I don’t think they meant to get me down…but I let it frustrate me for quite sometime. But that’s just plain silly.
So approximately 12 hours after we returned to Cuenca, my MOMMY arrived! Both of my host parents and I went to the airport to pick her up which was so exciting! Sometimes I forget how much we gringos really do just stand out here, but man I spotted my mom right away. (She being the only person over 5’3” and blond) I couldn’t believe she was actually here! Morris then drove us to her hotel and said we could have the morning to ourselves and then we could come home for lunch with the fam. It was so wonderful just to walk around the city and really talk with her! When lunch time came around, we jumped in a taxi and made our way to my Ecuadorian house. I love Ecuadorian food. It’s not that it’s all that different from food that we eat, but I think a lot of it is just fresher. I think my mom really enjoyed it too. We spent the rest of that day with my family, just visiting and such.
The whole week that my mom was here, I stayed in her hotel room with her. It was totally worth all the confusion it caused, including getting to school on Monday morning…I love my mom! Anyway, on Saturday morning, the other parents and the Moore’s arrived in Cuenca and shortly thereafter, we all took a trip up to a nearby city called Chordeleg. We stopped and had lunch and such, shopped, and mostly enjoyed eachother’s company.
I already wrote about Easter Sunday and the following day, so I’ll skip to the next part of her visit where we did more fun stuff. Tuesday, after physiology class in the morning we went to pick up the parents at the hotel, and then to meet with the Moore’s at the church. Dr. Moore wanted to take us downtown, and OF COURSE, treat us to ice cream at our favorite, Tutti Freddo. There was a new gringo hanging out at the church offices that morning also. His name is Jonathan. Apparently he’s a med-school student from New York, who came down to help out in the foundation for a few weeks. We invited him to come along on our ice cream trip as well. After that, Luke and his parents, and my mom and I hung out down town and had lunch together. The restaurant we chose was definitely the right choice. The food was just mouth-watering delicious, and the waiter made it all the better. He was hilarious! Among my favorite quotes of his are: “You like-a the shrimps? Well I have just-a the thing…”
“This is a steak for all of de times. I don’t-a know how to say in English but…es para la boda, su cumpleanos, el divorcio, cuando tiene una nota mala en la clase de ciencias…”
“May I suggest, you could share it with some nice potatos.”
Ok, so thennnn I had class and such. That night we went out to dinner again with everyone and then I just hung out with my mom. Wednesday, after physiology, we had our fist culture class! It was pretty fun because our teacher, Alba, catered it for our parents to come as well. We went to a giant fruit market, small museum and a restaurant to eat typical Ecuadorian food. Later, after Spanish class, EVERYONE went to the Palacios’ house (the family Luke is staying with) to have dinner (pizza, home-made by our very own, Dr. Moore). It was great fun to have a final get-together with everyone, since the Moore’s and other parents left that next day. Thursday, after class and everything, my mom and I just spent time together wandering around downtown, then we went home and hung out with my family. Friday, alas, we brought her to the airport…I stuck around and made sure she got checked in alright, and then I headed home for some much needed sleep….What a blessing though to share, ever-so brief as it was, just part of my Cuencan experience with my mom!
Another blessing I would like to mention is how awesome it was to get to know the other parents who came to visit as well. I know that my mom was so very thankful for them as well. I also know that the experience of waiting and praying for Luke while he was lost in Cajas was used, most visibly to me, by God to bring the group of visiting parents together. It was such a blessing to see how coming together before our Father in prayer so evidently built up their relationships despite knowing each other for merely a couple of days.
Oh my goodness! A big part that I skipped in that quick blurb of my week was our first practicum experience! Our practicum’s are going to be happening once every Friday, and some other sporadic times when we can go to the church’s foundation clinic. The six of us randomly spilt off into three groups of two. My practicum partner is Luke. That first Friday, we went to the hospital where Luke’s host dad, Marlo Palacios, works. Dr. Palacios took us around with him to see a few patients at first, nothing too intense. But then he brought us to the O.R. to see if anyone would mind if we watched a surgery. Lucky for us there was one about ready to start! We changed into our scrubs, and strolled into the O.R. like it was no big deal. The doctor introduced himself and explained what they would be doing that day. Well, it turned out that we were actually in the presence of a plastic surgeon who was about to be performing a breast reduction that morning. Luke and I glanced at each other, cracked a few smirks underneath our masks, and proceeded to watch the doctors preparing the equipment.
WARNING: I will try to censor my following experiences, leaving out as much blood and guts as possible. But know that I am a pre-med student and what may be “censored” to me, could be too much for some readers.
After a few minutes, they brought in the patient. She seemed calm. They asked her how she was doing and such, and if this was her first surgery. Nope. It was actually her 4th…no problem! The anesthesiologist did his thing, she was out, and they brought out the tools! After the patient was asleep, another doctor, the one who actually did most of the cutting, came in. This was a decently big guy, looked pretty tough. He was wearing scrubs, but instead of surgeons cap, he had on a Harley Davidson do-rag looking thing. He also had a Sony Boom Box under one arm and a big black case in the other, which we later realized was completely filled with music CD’s. During the procedure, he would frequently ask one of the nurses to change the music. He listened to a pretty wide variety of music, but let me just say, that at one point we were listening to the GREASE soundtrack. HAHAHa. Ok. After the assistants had sufficiently sterilized her, the surgeon started sculpting, if you will. There were purple marker lines drawn where the proper cuts should be made, and he used a special tool, resembling an everyday cookie cutter, to make precise cuts around the nipple. He also had a crazy tool that looked like the thing you use to play the game operation, but it made an even more awful sound. I was intrigued by the process, but will admit I did get a little warm and light-headed at times. During the procedure, Luke and I actually made a pact that 1) We would never be plastic surgeons, and 2) that we would never have plastic surgery done for cosmetic reasons. It’s an ugly process, but one that I actually think should be viewed if considering such an operation. One of the worst parts was watching them perform liposuction around the breasts and neck. It is such an incredibly harsh procedure; I don’t think I could ever purposely do something that abusive to someone’s body. I would much rather tell them to eat less and exercise. Anyway, the worst and actually funniest part of the whole thing was when the doctors began to stitch her up. They stitched up the bottom part of the breast, where they had cut the most tissue from, and then moved upwards. I actually like watching the stitching. It reminds me of my roommate-the sewer, and because of all my practice with her, I think I could do a good job. The bad part though, was when they took the remaining skin of the central parts of each breast and stitched OVER HER NIPPLES! The nipples weren’t included in the stitches, but they were definitely INSIDE her body. Luke leaned over to me at that point and said in a very stern and concerned tone of voice, “That’s not right.” I agreed, but couldn’t help but laugh a bit. He continued, “I’m sorry, but she should get to keep her nipples. Does she know they’re doing that!?” We stood in silence for awhile just watching the doctors stitch away. When I finally got up the courage, I stepped forward, not knowing the word for nipple in Spanish, pointed at the center of one of the woman’s now nipple-less breast, and asked, “Why did you put those things inside?” A small roar of laughter erupted from the surgeons standing around the operating table, but they then assured us that they would be taking them out soon. Sure enough, after determining the best new placement for the nipples, they made marks with the nipple-cookie-cutter-thing, sliced around the marks, and simply pulled the nipples out from under the skin and stitched them up. Good as new!
Not really. It was definitely a long (3 hours!) and gruesome ordeal, but I’m glad I saw it. What an awesome opportunity we have for our practicums. I can’t wait to see what else we learn!
Moving right along… (I’m switching to list form of interesting events, to conserve your time and mine.)
1) I tried CUY! For those of you who don’t habla espanol, cuy, is Spanish for, GUINEA PIG! Yes, guinea pig is a local delicacy. Quite good, most say, if you don’t see the head. I thought it was tasty myself, pretty salty though.
2) I also tried Helado de Paila. (Ice cream of the bowl). It’s actually not really ice cream. It’s made with fresh fruit, lots of sugar (and maybe some milk, but I don’t remember). DELICIOUS!
3) Since I didn’t have physiology last week, I made myself run because, well I haven’t been able to very much. It’s crazy how hard it is to run at this altitude. It’s also hard, because every direction from my house requires going up a substantial hill one way or the other. One day my host asked me to run with him, which was pretty fun, but it really made me miss running with other people…
4) My second practicum experience! I will spare details, but I watched a real live brain surgery! The process definitely interests me; it looks like so much fun. But, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the options that exist in the medical field. Every time I set foot in a hospital, I can’t help but envy a bit the work of the nurses who really get to tend to and care for the patients. Only God knows at this point, what He has in store for my future. I’m looking forward though, to learning more about all the options and more about myself, so that I am better able to follow the direction of God’s plan for my life.
5) Ok, 1 more thing, but it requires its own paragraph:
Well, this story starts a few weeks back, with a random conversation that I had with a few other of the Taylor students about the beliefs of Jehova’s Witnesses. I don’t remember exactly how it came up, but we just talked about all the differences between their beliefs and ours as Christians. Jumping forward…Last Tuesday night, I went to house church bible study with my host parents. That night, they had a question/answer type of session and someone asked about the beliefs of Mormons… Because of both of these encounters, I had very fresh in my brain, some key scriptures that make our 2 religions very different, and learned some other key differences that I hadn’t known about before. Then, 2 days later (Thursday), I was going to get up early and go to the church office with my host mom that morning. However, she came to my room as I was waking up to tell me that she had to go earlier than I thought, so I told her I would just take the bus. As I threw some of my things into a bag that morning, I made sure to bring my Bible, because the Taylor kids and I were planning on having our weekly Bible study that day, and I didn’t want to forget it. Sooo, I left the house that morning at approximately 9 AM, strolling along on my way to the bus stop, humming to myself the tune of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (One of my favorites…) when two women approached me…
In Spanish, “Excuse me ma’am, do you speak Spanish.” (yes) “Would you mind talking with us a bit this morning?” Without a thought, I replied that didn’t mind at all and began conversing with these two women. It was obvious to me that they’re goal was evangelizing, so I politely replied to their questions that I was a Christian. One of the women named Norma (the other, Rosita, was very old and didn’t say much at all), proceeded to ask me who I believed God was. I responded as best I could, by explaining that God was the Creator of all things, Lover of His Creation, and JESUS, WHO WALKS WITH US EVERYDAY. With my response, I then realized this woman didn’t agree with what I had told her. She was in fact, a Jehova’s Witness. All the preceding events that led to this instance culminated in my mind, and my heart was overwhelmed with the feeling of PURPOSE in being there at that moment. We continued to converse about our beliefs, for about the next hour or so. Because I so thankfully had my Bible with me that day, I was able to show her (by roughly translating my English Bible into Spanish) the differences between our scriptures. We spoke about the infamous passage, John 1:1, which has been changed in the Mormon Bible to say “In the beginning, the Word was with God. And the Word was A GOD…” Instead of, “The Word WAS God.” This ever so minor difference, gives rise to their belief that Jesus is NOT God. To them, he was a great man and prophet, but not God. At one point, Norma told me, “I believe Jesus is my Savior, but he is NOT God.” I then asked Norma, if she believed Jesus was her savior, then why was it that she believed she had to work for her salvation. It was interesting, but so difficult, because her justifications used most of the same scripture that I would use to defend my beliefs. She then brought me to John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.” She tried to tell me that the verse meant we had to believe and then ACT on our beliefs to be worthy of heaven. While I do believe having true faith in God and in what Jesus has done for us, SHOULD change us in such a way that we will THEN WANT to act on our faith and serve the Lord, but I also believe in GRACE. Grace is what saves us, and GRACE alone. It is by the grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ who took the punishment of death for all of our sins that we are allowed into His kingdom. And for that I want to serve Him for the rest of my life and eternity. But NEVER, never will I consider that my good actions towards Him are redeemable for my place in heaven. (I’m just plain, not that awesome.)
Not in so many words of course, but I tried as best I could to explain this to Norma. Towards the end of our conversation, I asked if it would be okay if I prayed with her. She politely denied my offer and we eventually parted ways. There was no marked fruit of my encounter with Norma (and Rosita, the silent elder woman), but the peace of fulfilling the will of God that day remains in me. It was so clear to me how each piece was so premeditated by God, and how intentional it was that I was there. Although God’s use of that experience is still not obvious to me, I have confidence that its purpose is that of something much bigger than me. I realized again, in a very real way that day, how GREAT our God is. We sang the song “How Great is our God,” at church the other week. It was so powerful to me in Spanish, because it carries the same truths, but in an entirely different language sung by such a vast and different part of God’s family.
Cuan grande es El.
I’m reading a book right now called The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God, by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge. (Care of John Whittney’s parents, who sent him a box full of treats and great books the other week. Thanks!) There is a part where the authors describe the exactly this, the GREATNESS of God. And I quote, “My sense of security grew from an awareness that all this had been going on before me, that though I was part of it, I wasn’t responsible for it…It’s the assurance that there is something grand and good resting on your shoulders, something that doesn’t even culminate in you, but rather invites you up into it.”
I also read, in the last week, a devotional from a favorite of mine, My Utmost for His Highest, written by Oswald Chambers that discussed this as well. Chambers says, “[Salvation] means that the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true person of God Himself. And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself.”
I am thrilled. I’m thrilled to be here in Cuenca, to be attending Taylor University, to be studying…something, to be a child of God, to be part of the kingdom of heaven, but more than ALL of that, I am THRILLED to worship a God INFINITLY GREATER than myself or anything he uses me for. Cuan grande es el. How great is our God.
Grace be with all of you,
Lindsay
Alright, I think this is going to be my last “catching up” blog. I’ve written enough to fill a few novels and I don’t even like writing that much.
So, we got back from the Galapagos. And I would just like to vent a little bit, because as much as I was so very glad to see my family again, having them tell me repeatedly that I SURELY forgot ALL my Spanish during the 6 whole days I was gone is not a very welcoming experience. There are primarily 3 reasons why this bothers me so much:
A) I spoke and listened to plenty of Spanish during that time. (I only speak Spanish with Maria, and most of our tour guides spoke Spanish.)
2) It’s no fun being told you’re not doing well at something, especially when you’re trying hard.
And D) I was dead tired after that quite adventureful week, and just because I said “what” one time after being thrown a boat load of questions doesn’t mean I forgot the language I have been studying day in and day out for the past 9 weeks.
Sigh…
I don’t think they meant to get me down…but I let it frustrate me for quite sometime. But that’s just plain silly.
So approximately 12 hours after we returned to Cuenca, my MOMMY arrived! Both of my host parents and I went to the airport to pick her up which was so exciting! Sometimes I forget how much we gringos really do just stand out here, but man I spotted my mom right away. (She being the only person over 5’3” and blond) I couldn’t believe she was actually here! Morris then drove us to her hotel and said we could have the morning to ourselves and then we could come home for lunch with the fam. It was so wonderful just to walk around the city and really talk with her! When lunch time came around, we jumped in a taxi and made our way to my Ecuadorian house. I love Ecuadorian food. It’s not that it’s all that different from food that we eat, but I think a lot of it is just fresher. I think my mom really enjoyed it too. We spent the rest of that day with my family, just visiting and such.
The whole week that my mom was here, I stayed in her hotel room with her. It was totally worth all the confusion it caused, including getting to school on Monday morning…I love my mom! Anyway, on Saturday morning, the other parents and the Moore’s arrived in Cuenca and shortly thereafter, we all took a trip up to a nearby city called Chordeleg. We stopped and had lunch and such, shopped, and mostly enjoyed eachother’s company.
I already wrote about Easter Sunday and the following day, so I’ll skip to the next part of her visit where we did more fun stuff. Tuesday, after physiology class in the morning we went to pick up the parents at the hotel, and then to meet with the Moore’s at the church. Dr. Moore wanted to take us downtown, and OF COURSE, treat us to ice cream at our favorite, Tutti Freddo. There was a new gringo hanging out at the church offices that morning also. His name is Jonathan. Apparently he’s a med-school student from New York, who came down to help out in the foundation for a few weeks. We invited him to come along on our ice cream trip as well. After that, Luke and his parents, and my mom and I hung out down town and had lunch together. The restaurant we chose was definitely the right choice. The food was just mouth-watering delicious, and the waiter made it all the better. He was hilarious! Among my favorite quotes of his are: “You like-a the shrimps? Well I have just-a the thing…”
“This is a steak for all of de times. I don’t-a know how to say in English but…es para la boda, su cumpleanos, el divorcio, cuando tiene una nota mala en la clase de ciencias…”
“May I suggest, you could share it with some nice potatos.”
Ok, so thennnn I had class and such. That night we went out to dinner again with everyone and then I just hung out with my mom. Wednesday, after physiology, we had our fist culture class! It was pretty fun because our teacher, Alba, catered it for our parents to come as well. We went to a giant fruit market, small museum and a restaurant to eat typical Ecuadorian food. Later, after Spanish class, EVERYONE went to the Palacios’ house (the family Luke is staying with) to have dinner (pizza, home-made by our very own, Dr. Moore). It was great fun to have a final get-together with everyone, since the Moore’s and other parents left that next day. Thursday, after class and everything, my mom and I just spent time together wandering around downtown, then we went home and hung out with my family. Friday, alas, we brought her to the airport…I stuck around and made sure she got checked in alright, and then I headed home for some much needed sleep….What a blessing though to share, ever-so brief as it was, just part of my Cuencan experience with my mom!
Another blessing I would like to mention is how awesome it was to get to know the other parents who came to visit as well. I know that my mom was so very thankful for them as well. I also know that the experience of waiting and praying for Luke while he was lost in Cajas was used, most visibly to me, by God to bring the group of visiting parents together. It was such a blessing to see how coming together before our Father in prayer so evidently built up their relationships despite knowing each other for merely a couple of days.
Oh my goodness! A big part that I skipped in that quick blurb of my week was our first practicum experience! Our practicum’s are going to be happening once every Friday, and some other sporadic times when we can go to the church’s foundation clinic. The six of us randomly spilt off into three groups of two. My practicum partner is Luke. That first Friday, we went to the hospital where Luke’s host dad, Marlo Palacios, works. Dr. Palacios took us around with him to see a few patients at first, nothing too intense. But then he brought us to the O.R. to see if anyone would mind if we watched a surgery. Lucky for us there was one about ready to start! We changed into our scrubs, and strolled into the O.R. like it was no big deal. The doctor introduced himself and explained what they would be doing that day. Well, it turned out that we were actually in the presence of a plastic surgeon who was about to be performing a breast reduction that morning. Luke and I glanced at each other, cracked a few smirks underneath our masks, and proceeded to watch the doctors preparing the equipment.
WARNING: I will try to censor my following experiences, leaving out as much blood and guts as possible. But know that I am a pre-med student and what may be “censored” to me, could be too much for some readers.
After a few minutes, they brought in the patient. She seemed calm. They asked her how she was doing and such, and if this was her first surgery. Nope. It was actually her 4th…no problem! The anesthesiologist did his thing, she was out, and they brought out the tools! After the patient was asleep, another doctor, the one who actually did most of the cutting, came in. This was a decently big guy, looked pretty tough. He was wearing scrubs, but instead of surgeons cap, he had on a Harley Davidson do-rag looking thing. He also had a Sony Boom Box under one arm and a big black case in the other, which we later realized was completely filled with music CD’s. During the procedure, he would frequently ask one of the nurses to change the music. He listened to a pretty wide variety of music, but let me just say, that at one point we were listening to the GREASE soundtrack. HAHAHa. Ok. After the assistants had sufficiently sterilized her, the surgeon started sculpting, if you will. There were purple marker lines drawn where the proper cuts should be made, and he used a special tool, resembling an everyday cookie cutter, to make precise cuts around the nipple. He also had a crazy tool that looked like the thing you use to play the game operation, but it made an even more awful sound. I was intrigued by the process, but will admit I did get a little warm and light-headed at times. During the procedure, Luke and I actually made a pact that 1) We would never be plastic surgeons, and 2) that we would never have plastic surgery done for cosmetic reasons. It’s an ugly process, but one that I actually think should be viewed if considering such an operation. One of the worst parts was watching them perform liposuction around the breasts and neck. It is such an incredibly harsh procedure; I don’t think I could ever purposely do something that abusive to someone’s body. I would much rather tell them to eat less and exercise. Anyway, the worst and actually funniest part of the whole thing was when the doctors began to stitch her up. They stitched up the bottom part of the breast, where they had cut the most tissue from, and then moved upwards. I actually like watching the stitching. It reminds me of my roommate-the sewer, and because of all my practice with her, I think I could do a good job. The bad part though, was when they took the remaining skin of the central parts of each breast and stitched OVER HER NIPPLES! The nipples weren’t included in the stitches, but they were definitely INSIDE her body. Luke leaned over to me at that point and said in a very stern and concerned tone of voice, “That’s not right.” I agreed, but couldn’t help but laugh a bit. He continued, “I’m sorry, but she should get to keep her nipples. Does she know they’re doing that!?” We stood in silence for awhile just watching the doctors stitch away. When I finally got up the courage, I stepped forward, not knowing the word for nipple in Spanish, pointed at the center of one of the woman’s now nipple-less breast, and asked, “Why did you put those things inside?” A small roar of laughter erupted from the surgeons standing around the operating table, but they then assured us that they would be taking them out soon. Sure enough, after determining the best new placement for the nipples, they made marks with the nipple-cookie-cutter-thing, sliced around the marks, and simply pulled the nipples out from under the skin and stitched them up. Good as new!
Not really. It was definitely a long (3 hours!) and gruesome ordeal, but I’m glad I saw it. What an awesome opportunity we have for our practicums. I can’t wait to see what else we learn!
Moving right along… (I’m switching to list form of interesting events, to conserve your time and mine.)
1) I tried CUY! For those of you who don’t habla espanol, cuy, is Spanish for, GUINEA PIG! Yes, guinea pig is a local delicacy. Quite good, most say, if you don’t see the head. I thought it was tasty myself, pretty salty though.
2) I also tried Helado de Paila. (Ice cream of the bowl). It’s actually not really ice cream. It’s made with fresh fruit, lots of sugar (and maybe some milk, but I don’t remember). DELICIOUS!
3) Since I didn’t have physiology last week, I made myself run because, well I haven’t been able to very much. It’s crazy how hard it is to run at this altitude. It’s also hard, because every direction from my house requires going up a substantial hill one way or the other. One day my host asked me to run with him, which was pretty fun, but it really made me miss running with other people…
4) My second practicum experience! I will spare details, but I watched a real live brain surgery! The process definitely interests me; it looks like so much fun. But, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the options that exist in the medical field. Every time I set foot in a hospital, I can’t help but envy a bit the work of the nurses who really get to tend to and care for the patients. Only God knows at this point, what He has in store for my future. I’m looking forward though, to learning more about all the options and more about myself, so that I am better able to follow the direction of God’s plan for my life.
5) Ok, 1 more thing, but it requires its own paragraph:
Well, this story starts a few weeks back, with a random conversation that I had with a few other of the Taylor students about the beliefs of Jehova’s Witnesses. I don’t remember exactly how it came up, but we just talked about all the differences between their beliefs and ours as Christians. Jumping forward…Last Tuesday night, I went to house church bible study with my host parents. That night, they had a question/answer type of session and someone asked about the beliefs of Mormons… Because of both of these encounters, I had very fresh in my brain, some key scriptures that make our 2 religions very different, and learned some other key differences that I hadn’t known about before. Then, 2 days later (Thursday), I was going to get up early and go to the church office with my host mom that morning. However, she came to my room as I was waking up to tell me that she had to go earlier than I thought, so I told her I would just take the bus. As I threw some of my things into a bag that morning, I made sure to bring my Bible, because the Taylor kids and I were planning on having our weekly Bible study that day, and I didn’t want to forget it. Sooo, I left the house that morning at approximately 9 AM, strolling along on my way to the bus stop, humming to myself the tune of “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (One of my favorites…) when two women approached me…
In Spanish, “Excuse me ma’am, do you speak Spanish.” (yes) “Would you mind talking with us a bit this morning?” Without a thought, I replied that didn’t mind at all and began conversing with these two women. It was obvious to me that they’re goal was evangelizing, so I politely replied to their questions that I was a Christian. One of the women named Norma (the other, Rosita, was very old and didn’t say much at all), proceeded to ask me who I believed God was. I responded as best I could, by explaining that God was the Creator of all things, Lover of His Creation, and JESUS, WHO WALKS WITH US EVERYDAY. With my response, I then realized this woman didn’t agree with what I had told her. She was in fact, a Jehova’s Witness. All the preceding events that led to this instance culminated in my mind, and my heart was overwhelmed with the feeling of PURPOSE in being there at that moment. We continued to converse about our beliefs, for about the next hour or so. Because I so thankfully had my Bible with me that day, I was able to show her (by roughly translating my English Bible into Spanish) the differences between our scriptures. We spoke about the infamous passage, John 1:1, which has been changed in the Mormon Bible to say “In the beginning, the Word was with God. And the Word was A GOD…” Instead of, “The Word WAS God.” This ever so minor difference, gives rise to their belief that Jesus is NOT God. To them, he was a great man and prophet, but not God. At one point, Norma told me, “I believe Jesus is my Savior, but he is NOT God.” I then asked Norma, if she believed Jesus was her savior, then why was it that she believed she had to work for her salvation. It was interesting, but so difficult, because her justifications used most of the same scripture that I would use to defend my beliefs. She then brought me to John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.” She tried to tell me that the verse meant we had to believe and then ACT on our beliefs to be worthy of heaven. While I do believe having true faith in God and in what Jesus has done for us, SHOULD change us in such a way that we will THEN WANT to act on our faith and serve the Lord, but I also believe in GRACE. Grace is what saves us, and GRACE alone. It is by the grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ who took the punishment of death for all of our sins that we are allowed into His kingdom. And for that I want to serve Him for the rest of my life and eternity. But NEVER, never will I consider that my good actions towards Him are redeemable for my place in heaven. (I’m just plain, not that awesome.)
Not in so many words of course, but I tried as best I could to explain this to Norma. Towards the end of our conversation, I asked if it would be okay if I prayed with her. She politely denied my offer and we eventually parted ways. There was no marked fruit of my encounter with Norma (and Rosita, the silent elder woman), but the peace of fulfilling the will of God that day remains in me. It was so clear to me how each piece was so premeditated by God, and how intentional it was that I was there. Although God’s use of that experience is still not obvious to me, I have confidence that its purpose is that of something much bigger than me. I realized again, in a very real way that day, how GREAT our God is. We sang the song “How Great is our God,” at church the other week. It was so powerful to me in Spanish, because it carries the same truths, but in an entirely different language sung by such a vast and different part of God’s family.
Cuan grande es El.
I’m reading a book right now called The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God, by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge. (Care of John Whittney’s parents, who sent him a box full of treats and great books the other week. Thanks!) There is a part where the authors describe the exactly this, the GREATNESS of God. And I quote, “My sense of security grew from an awareness that all this had been going on before me, that though I was part of it, I wasn’t responsible for it…It’s the assurance that there is something grand and good resting on your shoulders, something that doesn’t even culminate in you, but rather invites you up into it.”
I also read, in the last week, a devotional from a favorite of mine, My Utmost for His Highest, written by Oswald Chambers that discussed this as well. Chambers says, “[Salvation] means that the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true person of God Himself. And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself.”
I am thrilled. I’m thrilled to be here in Cuenca, to be attending Taylor University, to be studying…something, to be a child of God, to be part of the kingdom of heaven, but more than ALL of that, I am THRILLED to worship a God INFINITLY GREATER than myself or anything he uses me for. Cuan grande es el. How great is our God.
Grace be with all of you,
Lindsay
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Magical Adventures, Part II
Hola hola Coca-cola,
(That’s part of a rhyme I learned in my high school Spanish class—thanks Senor Giorgis! It goes:
*Hola hola coca-cola. (Hi coca-cola)
-Que pasa calabasa? (What’s up pumpkin?)
*Nada nada limonada. (Nothing nothing lemonade)
I taught it to my brother here, and he thought it was the funniest thing. Now we always say it to each other. J)
Ok, so where did I leave off? Oh right. The end of our first day in the Galapagos. Alright, so our second day was even better!! We got up semi-early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and then headed, in a little bus, back across the
After dinner, we “chicos” stopped by a convenience store to buy some cookies for dessert.
Moving right along…the first day in Galapagos, pretty fun. The second day, better. The third day, EVEN BETTER! That day, after breakfast, we met with the passionate tour guide from the first day, who took us on a hike to
Needless to say we much enjoyed our time in
We returned for lunch and rest before our next adventure which included another boat tour! Our tour guide for that trip was a card! He was only 14 (and looked about 10!) and really only wanted to make us laugh and to show off. We had fun with him. We snorkeled a bit, where—I must add, I SAW A SHARK! IT WAS HUGE! PROBABLY A GREAT WHITE OR SOMETHING. WHILE I WAS SWIMMING TO GET A CLOSER LOOK, I CUT MY LEG ON SOME CORAL AND THE SHARK CAME RUSHING TOWARD THE SMELL OF MY BLOOD. I BARELY ESCAPED, BUT MADE IT OUT ALIVE THANKS TO MY FIN-LIKE FEET AND INCREDIBLE SWIMMING CABABILITIES.
Ok, just kidding about that last part. Well, most of it actually. But I really did see a live shark, just hangin’ out with the rest of the fish. It was probably about 6 feet long, and it WAS white…It was funny because we continued to joke about our “adventures” and facing all this wild danger while we were there, so when we found out we’d be snorkeling, we asked the guide, “Is it dangerous!?!” “Ohhhh, noooo, its not dangerous don’t worry about it…” “Oh…I guess we don’t want to go anymore…” Hahaha… So yeah, I saw a shark. Umm, then we hiked around a couple of different islands and ended up at this magical lagoon where we hung out for a while and went swimming. Magical you may ask? Yes, it was absolutely gorgeous, more jello water. It was actually a mix of salt and fresh water, which made it even clearer. It was surrounded by tall rocks on either side, some of which we climbed and jumped from. Can the Galapagos get much more fun than this?!?
THE ANSWER IS YES. Our last day, was by FAR the coolest. We arose quite early and were picked up promptly at 4:45 AM! Yes, 4:45 AM, and it was worth every minute of sleep we lacked. We again traveled across
When we arrived at our destination, we all jumped out of the boat to do more snorkeling! At first, I didn’t think the area looked like there would be much of a reef, and that there wasn’t going to be much to see that I hadn’t already seen before. I mean, I’d snorkeled in
Afterwards, we were taken around the island we had just snorkeled near, to hike up and enjoy the view. My words are growing few, but trust me, it was breathtaking. I will also note again that these islands were all created by volcanoes and so the terrain was remarkably fascinating and unlike anything I had ever seen before. Please enjoy the pictures of this trip on facebook, but know that as awesome of a camera as I have, it could not capture ALL the beauty experienced there in real life.
That about sums up our Magical adventures to the Galapagos, as we made our way back to
Con amor, y hasta luego!
Lindsay
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