The Bible... according to a 10 yr old..

Our oldest son was instructing his siblings on what he's been reading lately in the Bible... The conversation took place something like this... (Joziah) "Did you know that the Bible says that it's better to not marry?"... "Yeah... it says that unless you really love each other you shouldn't get married"... That one was just cute... but then he said... "And in 1 Chronicles it talks about sectual.. um sexsal... whatever that word is (sexual) sins... and under it is listed... marriage!"... I was a bit confused that marriage would be listed as a sexual sin... but he was insistent and had to show me... Sure enough.... one 'title' was sexual sins... another 'title' (several verses later) was listed marriage... then something about food offered to idols, etc... but it was just funny the way he said marriage was listed under sexual sin!... I guess it's all in how you interpret!

Lovely rain

The joy of living in the tropics is that you never quite know when a rain storm is coming.... This morning was bright and beautiful.... but by the time I left work it was POURING rain... not the sissy rain we get in Alaska... the torrential, fill the gutters in 5 minutes type of rain! Unfortunately Joe was already on his was to pick me up from work and take me to the Peace Builders training... he quickly swapped the motorcycle for the jeep... but that too proved disasterous when the jeep stalled from all the water on the road and refused to start. I finally sent Joe back to the training via taxi and said I would try to get it started and then take it home (we were only a mile from home). An hour later I finally gave up and braved the rain to head home... I'm currently trying to dry out! There is no doubt in either of our minds that a 4X4 rig with a snorkel is needed when we move... this is just city driving rain... wait till the real fun begins with muddy roads and swollen rivers! yeehaw...

Chitter Chatter

I'm pretty sure they were chatting about how bad it all was... Either that or he was checkin her out and she wasn't liking it! LOL... Born an hour or so earlier and already the midwives are trying to hook them up... heehee...
The one I'm holding (on the left) is my continuity's baby... She had text me the other night telling me she wanted to come and get checked... her ctx were still spaced, but she was having her 5th baby, so who am I to argue!? It was incredibly busy in the clinic when we arrived with not a bed to be had... So we waited and I observed... after an hour we finally got a bed and she was 1 cm... so off to the home front she went... (me too!)
On tuesday morning I woke to a phone call on my cell... apparently I hadn't been responding to her texts... whoops! I had put my phone on silent the day before so as not to disturb Manny (our Stats teacher) while I was texting during class (naughty I know!)... So anyway... she had text me EVERY contraction she was having... when they started... when they ended... I figured I was safe as they were just 8 minutes apart... Was going to jump in the shower but Heidi had got their first (it was just 5:30am)... so I got on my computer for a minute to check email... then got another text telling me she had water coming out... well... so much for the shower... "head to Mercy" I told her... and I woke Joe to take me... He took his time looking for his phone, etc... I was like... "Hurry honey!"... As we rounded the corner to the street Mercy is on my phone started ringing again... this time it was Heather (the supervisor on duty)... I figured my gal had arrived and was super active... I ran out of the jeep before it even stopped completely... ran through the door of the clinic throwing my bag to the side and flipping my flip flops off while donning gloves that happened to be in my pocket from the other night... I ran into the cubicle and my little gal smiled and said... "You made it"... then she asked to push and the head came down and was out in the same contraction... her beautiful girl followed with no complications at all... minimal blood loss... no tear... sweet birth! Nothing like arriving at just the last second! Did I mention I love my job!?

Scrambling...

One week till we have like 3 assignments due at once... Microbiology, Laws and Protocols, and counseling.... in between we have twice a week assignments for Statistics... Oh, and i think we just got another email saying we were going to be getting a new assignment tomorrow?? But maybe I'm wrong? I'm having difficulty keeping it all straight in my very tired brain....
I had finished (or at least thought I finished) my personal protocols... but nope.. apparently they are supposed to be more than 10 pages long... more like 80! Ugh!!! So back to work I went... eventually after a couple hours of trying to make it all work I just deleted the entire document (by this time it was 30 pages or so) and started again... admittedly... I cried... My formatting just wouldn't cooperate! Grrr... So back to the beginning I went... and now it's complete... keeping my fingers crossed that when I print the stupid thing it doesn't do anything funky or I might throw my computer out the window! (Ok... maybe not that drastic... but there would certainly be moaning and yelling involved!)
Our counseling assignment is supposed to only be about 10 pages... but I am currently stumped as to how to expand my 1 page outline into 10 pages of readable material... blah...
Microbiology is fun, but I did it weeks ago, so now I'm not sure I'll be able to remember anything of importance when the test comes around!
Such is the life of a student/mom/wife/midwife and whatever else I happen to be!

Dear God

I have seen and tasted your beauty... I have seen the majesty and glory you display in your creation... But I also see the result of man's choice to sin... the evil, the heartache, the utter despair, the lives wrecked... What Lord can I do? What Lord? I am but one... The need is overwhelming... I fear being swallowed up by the darkness present on all sides. Caring for young girls of 14 becoming moms far before there time... but what option do they have? And what can I offer them Lord... I long to change their circumstances... that they wouldn't feel the need to sell their bodies to put food in their belly's or to have a place to rest their heads at night. I long to change the fact they had no parental guidance in their lives, no mothers wisdom or fathers strong embrace... but I can't... simply put... I can do nothing but offer them a caring hand and patient guidance on their journey into motherhood... and pray that in doing so, I've offered a bit of you... and maybe someday... it will make a difference.

Busybusybusy...

The last 3 days... started on Thursday w/ me being text at 7am from a continuity asking if because she had dugo and a gamay sakit in her tiyan if that meant labor was starting... I told her most likely and to keep me updated. I headed to work for prenatal clinic at 7:45am... we were done a bit early and I headed home around 11:20 to eat lunch w/ my kiddos... I had barely arrived when my cont text again and said she'd like to come get checked out, so I ate a quick lunch and headed back to the clinic at noon... She came, in very early labor... sent home w/ instructions on when to come back. I was already scheduled for night shift so was hoping she would go at night. Anyway... I stayed at the clinic because we had Stats class until 5pm, then I headed home. Tried to take a nap, not very successfully... Hung out w/ Joe for a bit, then headed off to work a little before 10pm. My cont showed up around 11:50 and seemed a bit more active... I was praying for a smooth, quick labor. (Side note: I've had horrible headaches for the past 3plus weeks... so even on ibprofen it wasn't really helping...It's a long story) Anyway... at 2 she wanted to push (I had delayed the IE to see how she was doing on her own)... anyway, nothing happened w/ pushing so we checked her... 4 cm... looking for a long night ahead!!! I got out the tennis ball to rub her low back with and it really helped... it helped so much that I couldn't stop or she would yell... push Jenn... w/ the ball... harder! My arm is still sore! I finally told her I would teach her bana to do the ball and headed off to find him... she wasn't near as polite with him when he pushed in the wrong spot or not hard enough... heehee... But even after teaching him, she really didn't want me to leave her side... so by it I stayed all night... and through endorsements in the morning... Finally at 7:26 she gave birth to a nice sized little baby boy... but she tore, which meant I had to repair (I'm incredibly slow...) Finally before noon I was finished up and ready to head home... she asked me to stay till her Mother in law came with some fruit for me... an hour later I left w/out her MIL ever coming... Crashed into bed (kids were gone to a girl tea party and a guys day out.... perfect!) At 4 I woke up to my cell phone ringing.. she was calling because her MIL had finally arrived w/ the fruit and could I come get it? Nope.. not a chance... sleeping... I didn't make her too happy I guess cause then she had the supervisor on duty text me to tell me the fruit was there... I sent Joe later to get it... but I couldn't go back to sleep! Ugh! So I got up and hung out with Levi n Meggie while the older kids were at their Martial Arts class they have on Fridays. We ate dinner, then while the kids watched their friday night movie I briefed w/ Joe and fell asleep shortly thereafter.... didn't wake till the next day...
The kids headed off after breakfast for their second Martial Arts class and I bunkered down to do some homework... but got a text from the clinic that my cont was there for a baby check... so I headed over there... all good... Joe text that a gal i had met at the Martial Arts classes had made me muffins... aaahh.. so I headed over to where the kids class was (homework time was shot anyway)... Finally we came home and ate lunch and rested for a bit. Joziah needed some burger for his dinner he was making that night so Joe and I headed to the store for some... got text from one of the moms helping with the kids choir at church asking if our kids were coming today? Oh yeah... woops... so we hurried home and Joe took them to Kids choir while I stayed home with the young ones again... we watched Andy Griffith... very exciting... :) Kids got home, Joziah n Brian made dinner (w/ Levi helping stir) and ate a yummy dinner... Got kids in bed, and the rest is history... :) Good thing Joe and I had celebrated our Valentines by a night out earlier in the week... he knows being married to a midwife means babies come on holidays and birthdays... always!
So... our lives arent' usually that many directions at once... but our weekends seem to be lately between Martial Arts and kids choir for the kids.... Adding any 'other' stuff on them makes them slightly insane... Looking forward to that village living more and more! ;)
Well... time for breakfast and off to church...

Culture+shopping

Sometimes no matter where you go in life.. how much you integrate into a culture... your 'home' culture will still shine through... Today's shopping was one of those times. We were walking through the mens department at the local department store... We always have to laugh at some of the clothes here for men... lets just say they are somewhat feminine in our mind... pink polo shirts are a norm.... It's unfortunate that our cultural background still makes us pause about those things... (it did in Africa too...so apparently men wearing pink is only an American cultural no no...) Anyway... the pink shirts w/ poof sleeves we got over... but when looking for mens briefs... no way... PINK undies... now that was just too much for even us! So between the pink undies and the department store worker dancing with the manequin and having him (the manequin) hug and hold her... we left the department store trying to contain our laughter. The day that these types of things don't make me laugh... I've either completely lost my sense of humor... or completely integrated... one or the other!
On a seperate funny note... Some remember from our old blog when I wrote about Meggie and I's conversations when I shower her... This time the conversations went like this... (me) So... what do you want to do/be when you get big?... (Meg)... I want to be a mommy... (me) Oh yeah... why? (Meg)... because I want to have long clean nails! (me) Ok... any other reason?... (Meg) Yeah... and I want to be a mommy so I can cook...
I have to laugh because I don't have long nails (although they are clean... long nails just aren't an option when you're a midwife). And honestly... I rarely have cooked since living her in the Phils... so anyway... I have no idea where this girl comes up with this stuff... but it keeps life entertaining!

Celebrations and Silliness

It's hard to believe sometimes that our helpers are so young... The one has been living as a helper in others homes for about 3 years... she just turned 18... They are amazingly hard working and do well with the kiddos. We couldn't be happier to have such wonderful blessings in our family.


If you're gonna be a dog in our family... ya gotta just roll with whatever! Here is Rosy... our lovable boxer who doesn't seem too impressed with the 'loving' she just got from Meggie.

And laugh some more...

I think God knows that I need to laugh more these days... life is just way to serious. So... thank you to my anonymous friend who doesn't want to be named (or blamed) for sending this joke our way...
Disclaimer: If you are easily offended... don't read this blog post!

The pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express praise for
answered prayers. A lady stood and walked to the podium. She said, "I have a

Praise. Two months ago, my husband, Tom, had a terrible bicycle wreck and his
scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was excruciating and the doctors didn't
know if they could help him." You could hear a muffled gasp from the men in the

congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Tom must have experienced. "Tom
was unable to hold me or the children," she went on, "and every move caused him
terrible pain. We prayed as the doctors performed a delicate operation, and it

turned out they were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Tom's
scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it in place."

Again, the men in the congregation were unnerved and squirmed uncomfortably as

they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Tom. "Now," she announced in a
quavering voice, "thank the Lord, Tom is out of the hospital and the doctors say
that with time, his scrotum should recover completely."

All the men sighed with relief. The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone
else had something to say. A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium. He
said, "I'm Tom." The entire congregation held its breath. "I just want to tell

my wife that the word is sternum."

Something to make you laugh...

On a fellow bloggers site she linked this website... despair.com... If you ever just need a laugh... it's great! Course you have to love sarcasm... :) No problem for me! Here's a few I found that made me laugh.... enjoy...

"Dare to Love Completely"

haha.. So... I told Tim tonight that my next blog would be about this little quote on my DOVE candy... He said that it made him 'uncomfortable'... Heehee...
But, in all seriousness, when we really really think about it.... doesn't it make us all uncomfortable to think of loving completely? When we love completely... we risk hurt... deep hurts... So what do we do? We hide behind our defenses trying to avoid being hurt, but in the meantime we miss what God truly created us for! We've been discussing this in a sense in church lately... this whole concept of all the CRAP (hmm.. can I say that?...well since it's my blog I guess so)... anyway... all that junk that we get added to us along the way of life without even realizing it. We need to maintain 'proper' boundaries... we need to make sure we wear 'proper' clothes... And I'm not saying there is anything wrong with boundaries or sensible clothes... but... are we saying to a person... I'll love you after you change these things... or do we just love them... without abandon... not trying to 'fix' anything about them... but wholly loving the person that God made them!
There is so so so much more to this... but for now all I can say is I am so glad God is helping me to get rid of a lot of the 'religious' junk and baggage I've picked up along the way and in return I have a renewed passion for MY Lord... My Love... My Saviour! Isn't God Amazing!! So.. Do you Dare to Love Completely? ;)
There Tim... just for you... a whole blog post just on that Dove candy wrapper... ;) What r friends for? :P