Ramblings of the Germain Gang

Such a girl!

2011-07-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

Adara cutie

2011-07-02T18:37:00.000-07:00

Count your blessings...

2011-06-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

Nothing makes you stop and realize how good you have it more than when someone dies. When it's a little innocent baby, it's that much more of a realization that we need to hold our loved ones close and let go of all the pettiness in life that gets in the way of our relationships. It's so easy to get caught up with all the daily problems and concerns and forget those are all just distractions on what God has put us here for. So take time today to love your babies (even when they are fussy or naughty), let your kids climb in your lap and hug and love on you... cause one day they will think they are 'too big' to sit in your lap.
So take a moment and realize... life's too short... don't miss your opportunities...

Pondering

2011-03-13T19:22:00.000-07:00

Usually as I sit to write a blog, I have something in particular to share... but this time I'm just inspired to write due to a couple of my friends who have blogs and so honestly share what God is doing in there lives... even when it reveals their 'humanness'...
I've said it before that this year was by far the hardest year of our lives... so much tearing out the old, healing, restoring, etc... We have seemingly had to go down to the very foundation of our lives, our marriage, our parenting and try to figure out what solid ground we really had to stand on. We are so humbled when we take a look and realize that we have nothing... N-O-T-H-I-N-G good in us... we are selfish, we are egotistical, we are truly full of yuck! We might fool ourselves into believing we have good intentions, but to be truly selfless means we don't have ulterior motives, we do it not because it feels good in any way, shape or form... but because we are letting God work in and through us... but for that to work... we gotta get rid of a lot of that garbage in us first. This involves work!!! Seriously, there are days when it feels like we would like to just crawl in bed with the covers over us! However, it's like Paul says... 'we keep pressing on towards the prize'... you see... it IS going to be worth it! We ARE being refined! We are being purified like gold. (Course that means we have to go through the fire first!) SO I guess the question is... do we WANT to get to the other side? Do we want to be a better person? Or would we rather just stay in our lives, just the way things are... (like that's working out so great!) So... we continue to make the choice, moment by moment, day by day... to keep on walking, knowing God is stregnthening us enough for this moment, then the next... until eventually we are the beautiful workmanship He has created!
I know in my heart that all we have/are going through is for the good... I KNOW that... but does it feel 'good'... heck no!! But I also don't want to stop mid refining and think that I'm done, I'm
good enough'... no... GOd doesn't call us to be good enough, He calls us to be GREAT!
So... we keep on plugging along, trusting in the ONE who is the Healer and Restorer of our souls!

But I don't WANT to (dang it!)

2011-02-25T17:23:00.000-08:00

Imagine if you will... saying that and stomping your foot for emphasis. I recently attended a delivery that when push came to shove (literally), she just took this stance and eventually, we went to the hospital and she ended in a c-section. It was definitely one of those days where I leave wondering why I am a midwife! However... I always ask God to reveal to me what I can learn from my laboring mamas. Nothing came to mind too quick on this one... however by the next morning I found myself at a point of frustration between Joe and I that seems to come up over and over again in our marriage... and I so felt inwardly like stomping my foot and just telling God I just didn't WANT to deal anymore! lol... hmmm... instantly that little conviction light went off! Just like my laboring mom, I could choose to not push through the pain and get my reward, or... I could cop out and miss out on the amazing growth that can take place (if I'm willing!) Anyway, maybe it only makes sense to those who have experienced that moment in birth where it's a choice to push through the pain. (Or maybe you've experienced it in LIFE!)
Anyway.... I like birth, God teaches me many things through it! :) And even after all of this... I still love my job!

Of course....

2011-02-03T17:25:00.000-08:00

Joe and I recently agreed to co lead a small core group at our church. The subject... the book of James. In my mind this week was persevering through trials so that we can mature... Hmmm, are little warning bells going off in your head yet? YEah..... so it really just came down to what would be our trial.... we just didn't expect to be hit on so many fronts at once!! Kid issues... attitude problems, laziness, negativity... then came the hit on the financial front... our bus repair cost... $3100.... then w/ in half hour of leaving the shop, it completely dies!!! Argh! The part that most likely needs replaced grand total is like $850... Then my cars radio freaked out... new one $250... sigh. It's been a crazy bad month at work.... lots of transports and not so many births..... I think I forgot what it looks like when a baby comes out naturally!! On another front we've been attacked by the nasty winter yuck bug!!!
However... as I was leaving work... I was singing that song... "Count your blessings, name them one by one" And I was reminded that even though it feels horrible and no one wants to be squeezed or stretched... I really do have hundreds, even thousands of blessings to count. And so I did just that... started naming them out loud... one by one! I could totally see my dad singing that song as he used to when I was growing up...
So, even if you're discouraged today... your kids being a total rebellious brat, your boss is ticked at you, your husband forgot your birthday... whatever... just remember, it's all about what we focus on.
So... I'm off to focus on my childrens homework... love love LOVE IT!!! ;)

Our crazy n strange bunch!

2011-02-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

Since I've lacked in the picture department... here you go... all taken since this last summer.

Need I say anything about this picture?

Samking in his eating contest... believe it or not, he didn't win!

Joziah is loving his scouts! Not so much into the winter camping, but looking forward to this summer when they are supposed to go to Hawaii (if he can raise the money that is!)

Sadly... the beautiful school room Joe built doesn't get used much since we put most of the kids in public school... but it still looks cool!

The kids harvested potatoes this last fall. They had a super fun time! (What kid wouldn't when an adult tells you that you can dig in the mud?)

Yeah...not so much a morning person!

Adara... growing up already!

Tonia... growing up waaaay to fast!

My cutie, drooling girl!

Levi holding his guinea pig

So... there you go... a little insight into our world! Every time that I want to whine and complain... I remember the verse to count my blessings... so I name them... Tonia, Joziah, Sam, Brian, Tyler, Meghan, Levi and Adara. And even when I don't feel like it's such a blessing being a mom (and believe me... there are definitely MOMENTS!)... I just try to remember to be thankful for their health and the vibrance they bring to my life! And to just be happy that there is never a dull moment in this life!

Blessings!!

2011-01-24T10:56:00.001-08:00

I keep meaning to update this thing... but I guess good intentions just don't get it done! I seem to always be on the wrong computer (the ones w/o the downloaded pictures on them)... but anyway...
We are all alive and well. I continue to work. November and December were crazy busy with most of the time having one of the three midwives gone for this or that... leaving two of us to man the birth center. At one point we had 11 babies in 14 days! Such crazy fun!
January has been MUCH slower, so much so that I actually have had some free time! (I'm not sure what to do with myself when I have free time!) By March it will pick back up to craziness again... we have like 6 women due on the same day the first week of March!
God has been doing so much I wish I had the words to describe... but amazing healing has been taking place and we feel like we are finally to the 'other side' of our grief. It's nice when you can get to the point where you can see God's hand at work, even through all the tough times. Sometimes you can even catch a glimpse as to the why's of it all (though just a glimpse!) We are excited to be it His will... wherever that may lead us.
On the home front... the kids started public school back in early November... it was just too much to try to homeschool all of them and work full time. They have for the most part enjoyed it, though we are hoping to transfer to a charter school next year as I firmly believe that boys need more time to MOVE during the day... one 30 min recess just doesn't cut it for my boys!
Joe continues to work his own business... he stays pretty busy and it's certainly nice to have the flexibility of staying home w/ the baby while I do births (she's getting too big and busy to bring to births!)
Adara seems bound and determined to grow up waaay to fast! I can't complain about the sleeping a 6-8 hr stretch at night, but she seems to think she would like to be mobile already! Thankfully she's not quite yet! She's in this taste everything stage... anything that comes w/in grasp of her little fists goes straight to the mouth!
Well, sorry for the no picture thing... eventually I'll get on the right computer and post pictures!

The first family photo!

2010-11-15T15:01:00.001-08:00

Welcome Germain #10!

2010-10-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

Adara Josephine arrived on September 29th! All children are completely in love with their new sister... in fact it's a good thing she needs me for her nutritional needs or I might not get to hold her! She's a super easy going baby thus far, even handling her first cold without too much fussiness! She comes to work with me and even has her own bed in the midwives office. All the staff thinks she sleeps too much cause they never get to hold her! I haven't yet gone to a birth since she arrived, but Tonia is anxious for me to... cause she gets to come and babysit. :) Anyway, all is well here... we are recovering from colds and some sort of flu bug, but hopefully it's passed completely now...

And for my midwife friends... here's the quickie version of the birth story.

I started contractions that were more serious around 3 am on the 29th... I hadn't slept pretty much at all that night, so I wasn't really 'in the mood' to be laboring! lol... By 5am I was tired and I sat on the toilet and told God I was just too tired to deal with being in labor and could I please sleep! Amazingly contractions stopped and I was able to get about an hour and a half of sleep before I needed to get up for work. I headed to work with contractions coming intermittently throughout the morning. By lunch my boss insisted on a prenatal that day (and when she insists...) I was 4 centimeters at that point. By 5pm I was definitely tensing up to try to hold the contractions at bay... thus making my back feel horrible. I headed home to try to nap before things kicked into high gear. But having a houseful of kiddos and all the hubbub around dinner and getting them ready for bed wasn't quite condusive to sleeping! By then the contractions were coming every 3-4 minutes, but not really that painful. My boss (and my midwife) had decided that the baby was going to make her appearance that night and so she didn't head home, instead she went grocery shopping for us and supplied us with a bunch of dinner stuff for after the baby was born.

We finally headed into the clinic around 9ish... I got into the tub, but my contractions pretty much stopped, so I got into the rocking chair for awhile. Around 9:40 I was laying down and things finally started to hurt a lot more so I got in the tub again. My back was hurting a lot, but there wasn't that cervical pressure (meaning the baby was still high). I figured by this point I was at least 6cm and we could do AROM (break my water) to speed things along. However when I was checked at 10pm... I was still only 4 cm... (I pretty sure I thought not nice words at this point, but just said 'lovely' and turned my back to everyone)... My midwife suggested I get in the shower and hold my belly up as I had a contractions... that along with some lunges immediately brought her down... and I had the "I need to poop" feeling! I sat on the toilet and told Joe to go away cause I couldn't 'go' with him in the room... With one push I realized something was coming out... I reached down and felt the bag of waters coming out... Joe quickly went and got my boss and the apprentice. I remember her saying "oh.... so we're going to do a toilet birth are we"... and I knew she really didn't want to (cause no midwife really likes the bathroom births... messy!) When on the next push the water didn't break she asked if I would like to move to the bed... (heck NO!)... but I moved... On the next contraction the apprentice did AROM and I really really wanted off my back, but I couldn't get two sentences together so I figured the only way to end the back pain was to get the baby out! By two more pushes out came the head... I waited for the body... but nothing! Seriously, I haven't pushed any of my baby's body's out... they always just slid out! So I pushed again and out she came! (Joe caught her)..They held her up for me to see the sex, but I couldn't see! All I heard was my boss say... "guess I was wrong"... and I knew she was a girl! (She was positive we were having a boy). We had decided beforehand to use 'active management' w/ a shot of pitocin since I had had a couple hemorrhages in the past. I will just mention that pit shots suck, but they work... out popped the placenta on the next contraction and very minimal bleeding... no tear and we were settled in for the night within a couple hours. So... from when I was checked at 10pm till baby out... 48 minutes! They told me the next morning I was actually only 7 when the apprentice did AROM... 81/2 w/ the next push and then baby out with the next... my boss said it's a good thing that my body cooperates since I'm not patient! hmmm... (I could argue that she never TOLD me I wasn't complete, but... whatever!)

So... anyway... our biggest baby yet arrived safe and sound! The kiddos came the next morning and met her before we headed home as a family.

So that's it!

ok... OK!

2010-09-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

When God spoke the word to Joe and I at the start of 2010 that this would be a year of new beginnings... we had NO idea how right that was going to be!!
Some have asked why I stopped blogging... life was just too confusing, too much depth to the emotions and changes that we ourselves are just finally feeling like we're getting back on 'top' of it all...
I have to say that when we came back there were some tough questions in our minds... sometimes even feeling like God had abandoned us, feeling as though missions in general was a big crock, etc... yep, pretty strong emotions and not ones we wanted to work through on a public forum! We still struggle with our adjustment to this 'new' life we have... but God has been ever faithful to put people and situations in our lives to give enough encouragement just when we needed it. Living in Wasilla has been a change for us 'small town' folks, so figuring out connecting w/ others when we already feel like we have barely enough energy to make it through the day... well, it's been a bit tough! But we are encouraged by our churchs' Fresh Start program and are slowly getting to know a few people here and there. The kids thankfully have made friends here and there through their various activities. I had to laugh today to have Tyler (who is 7) get his friends number after gym class. Then later he took the initiative and called and chatted w/ him for a good 15 minutes!
In other news I finally got my Alaska midwifery license! (Just in time to take maternity leave!) lol... jk. I am still working and plan to right up until I deliver.... though my boss at this point only calls me to the 'easy' births...
Speaking of births... we have just entered the 'I'm so ready to be done w/ this' stage... though technically I could still go another couple weeks (God forbid!). Joe says he thinks the baby will come on Friday.... if he's wrong... hmmmm...
Our homeschooling is in full swing, though I have yet to add our science curriculum... guess I better hurry since the first unit is on leaves and stuff outside... and pretty soon the snow will fly to cover those leaves! We are already down to freezing at night and not even reaching 60 in the day... .brrrr!
We know the inevitable is coming... winter... but I am just NOT ready for the blowing cold winds... good thing I'll have a snuggly little excuse to stay inside! :) Too bad kids will still need run to their various activities! And then there is those middle of the night calls for births... I told Joe what I really wanted for Christmas was remote start on my car!!! That way my car can be warming up while I get in my scrubs!
Well, it's that dinner hour... and though I'm not cooking, I do need to go taste test!!!
Jenn
p.s. For those who have asked me for preggo pics... sorry, I HATE my pic taken when I'm like this... so... there is only one... and it's located at www.matsumidwifery.com Enjoy! lol

Update

2010-06-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been awhile! (Again!) Alaskan summer is upon us (course its currently raining... hmmm), but we are in full swing of activities! Joziah is currently off at an 8 day boy scout camp... his first time really away from home! Yikes! Tonia is enjoying her new horse (I can't remember if I mentioned we got an amazing deal on a horse for her)... Joe has been busy clearing the back property in order to fence in for the horse (it is currently boarded too far of a drive away!)... I am working up a storm, or so it seems. We have been slightly short staffed at work and so we pretty much alternate every other birth going to... sadly we have had a more than usual transport rate lately... :( Our stats last year were only 12 transports in 187 births! Not so for this month!
Anyway, besides that depressing part, I love my job...the ladies I work with are amazing and the care given to women during their pregnancies is something I love!
It's definitely been an adjustment for the kiddos with both mom and dad working... sometimes we alternate, but sometimes both of us are gone... this is a new thing for them and some struggle more than others. We have been blessed that Joe's sister has come to live with us before she heads off to college, so it's been a big help to just have someone help keep the system rolling. She found out I love mexican food so she makes that once a week which is yummy!!! (and a great blessing to find dinner prepared when I come home from work!)
The littlest Germain is still growing steady... after having some low platelet issues in early pregnancy, my boss kicked my butt into eating healthier and taking supplements... so now my platelets are well within normal range! (this significantly decreases my risk of bleeding at the birth)... so... 3 more months! I'm sure it's going to fly by!
I know there is lots more to tell, but that's it for now... and I can't seem to get pictures to go from my camera to my blog, only facebook... so, until I get my camera back, you'll have to deal with no pictures (or find them on my fb)!
:) Jenn

Hey! What happened to MAY?

2010-05-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

Wow... life in America is SO fast paced! May has flown by and I'm not sure what happened, but I know June is fast approaching! Since May sped by... I will just speed through some highlights of the month.
-Joe worked down in S. Anchorage for a week... it was a good job, but nice to have him home!
-His business seems to be taking off pretty well... busy is good, right?
-I got a job at a local birth center and have begun my training there. We're doing a trial run for the summer and then if it's a good fit then I'll join the staff full time.
-I have been continuing to LOooonG paper trail to get my AK midwifery license.... blah is how I feel about it at this moment... seems just when I think I'm close....
-Kids 'summer' activities are in full swing. Tonia continues w/ her horse riding lessons (meaning mom runs her to and from the barn frequently)... Joziah is loving boy scouts and I am sure when I pick him up from his first camp out today he will have many adventures to tell me. This campout was just an overnight, but he is scheduled for an 8 day outing this summer... it'll be his first time camping w/o family/friends!
-We took a week break this past week from school, and I'm sure it will take me this week to switch over into our new curriculum, but hoping to start back to school in a week or two... (I'm sure the kids are thrilled... lol)
-Joe left today for another week... this one isn't paid though (DARN)... but his little sis is graduating from high school and he is bringing her back w/ him to live w/ us for awhile. It'll be a HUGE help to have a live in sitter! Relieves a bit of pressure from Joe and I to be sure!
-The baby continues to grow... though I get told I am tiny for my gestational age... (bless those people!)... but working around midwives constantly... they don't cut me any slack w/ eating/drinking healthy!! I've had to resort to sneaking my peanut m&m's at night! :)

Well that's the update for now... I actually have a camera on my phone... I just have to figure out how to load them to here!

Ah the joys of being pregnant!

2010-05-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

I was having one of those moments tonight where I was reflecting on how good God is... and how he meets each NEED we have just at the right moment... and I felt happy... happy enough that I almost cried! lol... I used to say that God planned so many children for me because the only time I cried was when I was pregnant! lol... maybe so...
Updates on our ever chaotic life...
Joe is getting his business off the ground... making 'just' enough to pay the necessary bills at the moment... but at least our needs are being met!
I made some really good contacts for midwifery... so hopefully will get back in that scene sometime soon...
I am waiting ONE document to be able to finish up my midwifery licensure for Texas... praying it comes before my CPR expires and I have to take another class!!!
Kids are loving all their extra curricular activites... I'm realizing why American moms are so exhausted!!!... (running children to their various activities!)
On a random side note... my 5 yr old just made our 14 wk old (and 50+ lb) Mastiff puppy lay down on command! lol...
And then our 7 yr old teased her w/ his stuffed bear... yeah... that'll be toast by tomorrow! (I TOLD them NOT to tease the dog w/ their stuffed animals! ;P)
I am listening to my children ready themselves for bed at the moment... and I love how each child knows what the OTHER child is supposed to be doing, yet amazingly forgets what THEIR task is! hmmm... guess I should go dictate!

How great is our God?

2010-05-02T15:54:00.000-07:00

We have been doing a study at church on being fearless..... of course we all have fears we know about... but really this is about all the fears that lie in the undercurrent, the ones that maybe we don't really acknowledge, never the less they control many aspects of our lives.
Most people who know Joe and I would describe us as pretty fearless... bugs, snakes, living in the jungle... that's all good with us. However... fear has gained control in many areas of my life over the past several years, and it's been an interesting process of revelation and healing.
Awhile back, right after adopting our two kids... slowly a fear crept into my life without me even realizing it... it was a fear of what others think of me. Of course we all have a little bit of that fear in our lives, but this one started becoming bigger and bigger, even being a driving force in my life.... like a tapeworm it was sucking all the nutrition from me (ok, you get the picture)... While this fear grew bigger, so did other fears... (ever notice how that happens?) Once while in counseling in High School, my counselor pointed out to me that I had a perfectionist mentality... I of course had to disagree as I am one of the most disorganized people I know! But it wasn't in the normal way...it was more that I expected absolute perfection of myself in relationships, in meeting other peoples expectations. Of course we can't always meet others expectations, because people are people... and they WILL fail us. However knowing this mentally doesn't always solve the inward driving force inside.
So needless to say, between caring way to much what other people think and striving to meet other peoples expectation... Stress began taking over.... Then to not be able to meet leaders expectations, relationships seeming to fail and being flat out told you are a failure... it kinda shook my world. I came back feeling confused, abandoned, rejected, etc... Where was God in all this mess anyway?! Shame became a seemingly constant companion... shame when I used my food stamps card, shame to ask my sister for help to pay the bills until we got on our feet, even shame that I drive a piece of junk car instead of the nice ones we used to). I was even angry at God... angry that we had given up everything to serve Him, and feeling that we got gyped in return...
Then several weeks ago at church the speaker was admitting his own struggles in the past w/ dibilitating fears... and as each week has gone on and we have delved deeper and deeper into overcoming our fears, I have realized these fears that had taken over my life. And with the realization of the fears, has also come the realization of all the far reaching effects of these fears. I no longer am as open and trusting with new people, I no longer think of the good in people first, I tend to be more stern with my kids and less likely to just have fun... most of all the joy that I've always tended to have for life (my passion and zeal) seemed to have just been sucked right out of me.
Lately I've been thinking and studying... just how great is God anyway? And realizing that He is only limited in my own mind of putting him in a 'box'... of thinking that I have to somehow 'perform' to get his blessings... when in reality, I am only 'performing' for man, which of course brings no satisfaction, only more guilt and shame when we cannot meet everyones expectations all the time. Wouldn't it be awesome to just be free of worrying about man's expectations , to get rid of that as the motivating factor in our lives and only be driven by our love and passion for Christ and EVERYTHING that HE is!?
Phew! It's a lot to think about... peoples lives could be radically changed by this revelation... don't you think? I know mine is....
Sorry if this has confused you, sometimes I still feel confused... but I still stand on the faith that God WILL be faithful and we will see the otherside!
Be Blessed!

PHEW!

2010-04-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

As I write this my daughter has just informed me that the third of our little baby bunnies has made it's way out of the nest at night and froze to death.... this tops the wonderful week we've had of kids w/ the flu/diarrhea bug. Our downstairs renters have 7 children and last week they all had this flu/diarrhea bug (which in turn means a LOT of extra laundry...as we share a washer/dryer). We were hoping we would avoid it, but the other day the youngest woke up throwing up, then the next night two more children were puking and pooping... then last night another was added along w/ daddy (who still had to go to work)... currently we have just 3 functionalble help (me, Tonia, and Sam)... and Meggie isn't sick, but is liking to pretend she is sick! So we are entertaining ourselves w/ old home videos of Grandma and Grandpa that are up in heaven w/ Jesus as well as home videos of kiddos when they were little (a great hit!)

On other news... life has been busy w/ getting the paperwork trails started both for me to be licensed in midwifery in the state of Alaska (a very looongg story) and for Joe to start his own business. We realized that if I was going to be able to practice midwifery at all, Joe definitely couldn't be in the cop/security business.... so he started his own handyman business and it seems to be taking off already. We've got rabbits going, both meat and the kids business of small rabbits to sell.... it's a learning experience to deal with cold weather instead of hot weather!

Tonia has been keeping busy w/ her horse riding lessons.... she came to me a few weeks before her birthday and informed me that she wanted a horse, saddle, riding blanket, etc... for her birthday (I informed her to keep dreaming!) She is like most girls her age and obsessed w/ everything horses (dogs come in a close second).

Joziah has joined boy scouts.... and is loving all the fun projects and cool things he learns there. This week (as long as he is feeling better), the troop will be heading to help out at the Air Force base and be victims for the paramedic training. He's hoping they get to have fake blood and everything!

Bri has informed me that he really really wants to be a soldier when he grows up! Somehow we mentioned jr ROTC programs and CAP... he insisted that we look it up and find out how old he has to be... we of course have pointed out that he needs to study hard if he would like to be in those programs (gotta get our digs in when we can!)

Well this seems like a long enough update for now! Please continue to pray for us as we are still adjusting to life back in America!

Just can't stay away!

2010-04-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

LOL.... how could I ever think of giving up blogging? Who would I vent to then?!
Yesterday was one of 'THOSE' days... the kind where you wake up wondering if the day is really going to go as bad as you feel... and you go to bed realizing that it went way worse! Seriously I was ready to give up on being a wife, parent, human being... I woke w/ a pounding headache, decided to push through and help get breakfast on for our large crew of hungry kiddos (we were staying at friends house in Homer who have 6 kids, along w/ our 7 that makes 13 kiddos to feed each meal... amazingly it goes well)... Anyway, before breakfast was served I headed about 20 min away to what I thought was a meeting w/ my kids school advisor. Apparently there had been a misunderstanding and she thought I was just dropping reimbursement receipts... so an hour wasted, I headed home. I would have to say at this point my mood was that I wished I could just take that little car and drive, drive, drive.... as if somehow the freedom of the road would make my mind less confused. But of course I love my family and decided they would probably NOT appreciate mommy having some sanity time, so I went back to face the packing and loading ordeal... A couple hours later everyone had pottied, all random stray items had (hopefully) been thrown in the bus and we were off for the drive back to Wasilla. I went to put a movie in the tv/vcr only to discover that it was no longer functioning (Joe thought maybe it was just cold... I have no idea if a cold tv would randomly make it eat video tapes, but whatever)... so of course trying to explain to the younger kids why the tv wouldn't work went over super well... After a stop for lunch in Soldotna and a potty stop in Girdwood... we made it to the other side of Anchorage and were in the final stretch for home.... when my phone rings... It was our downstairs renters, who had been watching our 2 mastiff puppies for us... she hated to tell us, but they had put the dogs upstairs and they had somehow gotten out while she was gone... awaiting us at home was not a pretty site!
2-30 pound puppies loose in a house for hours... one had diarrhea BAD... they have big paws... we have light tan colored couches and carpet everywhere in our house.... The only up side of the story was the kids' bedroom doors were shut! So we went right to work... first picking up the big pieces of chewed this and that... the larger piles of poo, soaking up pee spots... then we brought out or handy dandy carpet steam cleaner.... the hand tool being the only part that was working, but at least we got the major spots cleaned up... Then Joe tore apart the main part and got it working... only to have it break, then fixed, then break... you get the idea... We did manage to get it ALL clean and smelling MUCH better.
We fed kids spaghetti (thank God for quick meals)... put them in bed and after a bit more cleaning sat down to catch our breath. Our two 'innocent' pups were cuddled up w/ me on the couch when suddenly the one who had had the diarrhea stood up and puked... A LOT... all over the top of her sister and the couch.... NICE!! More clean up followed... it continued till late when finally the immodium started to take effect and poor puppy was able to sleep... (meaning mommy n daddy can hopefully sleep!)
This morning I think our kids were realizing what little tirdlets they had been yesterday (we gave them a big lecture on demanding this and that instead of helping out)... Bri woke up and immediately starting putting away dishes (without being asked!)... Sam started washing down counters.... WOW! I had to laugh when their older brother came in and told them "HEY! That's not YOUR chore!"... they told him they were just helping out... he said... "Oh... well it's still not YOUR chore!"... haha... firstborns!
So there we go... today is going much better... the outlook for today is that we WILL survive...

To blog or not to blog...

2010-04-08T16:55:00.000-07:00

I've seriously been considering giving up my blogging days... not that I didn't thouroughly enjoy it, in fact I've loved it! I've been reading over the past year or so and just in awe of all God has brought us through. However now we live back in North America... what is there to blog about? I mean life is the normal 'American' life! We live in a big house, we drive a big car (ok a shuttle bus to be exact), we have our 2 dogs (who happen to be Mastiff's), we have our 7.3 children (ok, so maybe that's more normal for Alaskan and not American)... anyway... on the outside we look like it's all nice and pretty... and on the inside a jumble of mixed up emotions that volley from extreme anger to sadness and happiness multiple times a day... see... the normal 'American'!
And I have to say, since blogger doesn't actually tell me if people visit my blog, I have to assume they don't anymore since there are no comments anymore.
So, we'll see... it may be just a random extreme emotion to want to stop blogging, amplified by the ever increasing pregnancy hormones... lol.. who knows.
Well, seems I must cut this blog short, I have a 4 yr old who also is having random angry thoughts brought on by the fact that his mommy won't let him eat a yummy snack when he didn't eat his lunch... sigh... the terrible life of a 4 yr old.

2010-03-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that we've been home so many weeks already... and yet it feels like we're just settling right back into life in Alaska... we have been blessed to find an amazing home church... the kids LOVE going and just can't wait to go back each week! They are making some great friends and enjoying some of the many activities Alaska has to offer.
Tonia has started horseback riding lessons in preparation to join up with a 4H group here. Her first week the poor teacher was mortified when her horses freaked out when something hit the barn and spooked them into a canter across the indoor arena... Tonia managed to keep her seat until the horse stopped, then she went down... but it didn't phase her a bit. The teacher says she has a natural grace about her which will serve her well... :) (K... done bragging now).
Joziah is joining boy scouts, which he is super excited about... the other boys are still deciding on their activities... I think Brian is gonna do some sort of shooting club, but we'll see.
I would post pictures of our latest adventures, but sadly we left our camera sitting on a shelf in Manila... thankfully the person whose house we left it at will be coming to the US this summer, so can bring it then... but until then... :( No pictures!
Job hunting has begun in earnest this week... so pray that the right job comes along... :) Thanks and God bless!

ALASKA

2010-03-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

We arrived safe and sound in Alaska! We were greeted by sub zero temps and then within a couple days... SNOW! BRRR!!! Thankfully we were met at the airport w/ winter jackets and warmed up vehicles!
We have 'recooped' a bit as far as jet lag, though we got the winter 'colds' to go with our arrival... blah... but we are loving the big house to run and play in, the kids are loving playing outside in the snow (mom skips out on that part)... our tummies took a bit to adjust to the American diet, but we are slowly adjusting... tonights dinner... salmon, potatoes and corn!! YUM!! Our friends were so kind to stock our freezer, fridge and pantry before we came home. We have enough meat to last a month or more!! Ah... PROTEIN!
We have been busy setting up all the necessary accounts, and getting all the fun 'paperwork' and business stuff done that we've been putting off for waaay too long!
Joe interviewed for a job the day after arriving home, we are praying that he gets it as the schedule would be sweet for everyone... but like all security/cop jobs... the hiring process takes a looonngg time since they have to make sure you're as clean as a whistle...
Anyway... I met w/ a midwife here in our city and was able to listen to the little peanut growing and bouncing around inside... I hadn't been able to hear the heartbeat on my doppler cause it went caput... Anyway, it's always nice to hear the little gallop of the heartbeat of the miracle taking place inside of you..... I forgot to how much I MISSED American midwifery... I LOVE the personal time/care midwives give you...
There of course is always much, much more... and I wanted to finally post pictures, but unfortunately we seemed to have left our camera at our friends in Manila! Grrr... There have been many emotional ups and downs to moving back to the US, lots of soul searching and all that fun stuff... but lots of just being blessed by those around us... the kids came out of sunday school on Sunday SO EXCITED about their lessons, about the activities, etc... they couldn't stop talking about it and begged us to go back to that church so they could go again. It may seem trivial... but when you've been attending home church, or village church for so long... it was so refreshing.
Well, time to see what Joe is whipping up in the kitchen (he's an amazing cook!) :P
Thank you again for all your prayers and support.

Phew

2010-02-26T04:02:00.001-08:00

We made it to Davao in one piece (though I'm not sure I can say our emotions were in one piece!) We literally hit here and all the exhaustion and emotional turmoil of the past month just bowled us over! I was SO sick... getting up at night to throw up even! So my lovely Nurse Practioner friend told me to just bite the bullet and go for some anti nausea meds (ok, she said it much nice than that!) So she found me some and I took it... dang! Good stuff... and I was knocked out for a day and a half! Seriously I barely woke to eat, pee and then crawl back in bed and sleep some more!
After some needed sleep, we got to work on our last bit of boxes... sorting out shipping and what was actually flying on the plane with us. We contacted the shipping company, they came, they measured, they were getting us a quote.... we waited... not too worried since our friends had just shipped with them so we figured it would be similarly priced... Finally we hear from them yesterday... um... sir... we don't actually have a port to ship to in Alaska... Wow.... maybe they could have told us this a week ago! Sigh... so we are now on Friday evening and not too much closer to finding ourselves a shipping company that can send our stuff... oh... and we leave Tuesday morning! Yikes! (Prayers are appreciated on this subject!)
On a better note, we've had such a blessed time here... being encouraged, uplifted and refreshed by our fellow missionaries. We are staying w/ some awesome people who have really shown us what support and building up of those around you can do for a mission organization! Kudos to Global Impact!! (This is the missions group of our friends Glen n Sarah Biggs who visited several times in Kihan).
We've also had the chance to just catch up with some friends, say more and more goodbyes... (so so hard!) And try to prepare ourselves for the changes taking place in just a few short days... not just the weather, but the emotional and spiritual challenges awaiting us in Alaska. Please do continue to pray for us all as we make this transition w/ our crew.
Thank you all for your love and support....
Blessings...
Jenn

Serenaded!

2010-02-14T15:36:00.000-08:00

Well who says that serenading is just for guys expressing their love to their girls? This morning at 4:45 we woke to the sound of voices... at first I thought our neighbor had just stuck the radio on... but soon I realized I recognized a couple of the voices.... they were singing how they love us and will miss us... aaahhh... we came downstairs in our jammies (they were also in their jammies, so no worries!)... they prayed, served mountain coffee and sticky rice... spoke blessings over us, then prayed and sang some more... we woke the kids around 5:30 and they came down (Tyler had 3 cups of coffee before we realized it... YIKES!)
We were informed that the usual tradition is to serenade someone at 3 am... but they thought maybe we would like more sleep! Thanks! :) It truly was a sweet gesture and we will miss everyone tremendously...
Today is the last of the pack up and tomorrow we load the truck and go.... hard to believe...

goodbyes stink!

2010-02-14T03:27:00.000-08:00

Tonight we had an improptu 'party'.... we had planned on a birthday celebration dinner for our friend/helper Jobert (a local village boy)... but then neighbors showed up w/ special rice n Adobo... then all the health care workers showed up to chat and say there goodbyes (and get in one more plea for us to stay)... through tears and prayers later, they left and we were left with that empty feeling one gets right before you leave your home and life you know.... sometimes I wish God would make us the type of people to settle in one place and stay there 20 years! And maybe someday that day will come.... but I know that each place He's brought us on our journey... He's had an amazing purpose and plan through it all.... I will never doubt God's plan of bringing us here to Kihan... I will never doubt His plan continues on even now... I am thankful to be in a place in my relationship with Him that I KNOW that I know that His will is PERFECT in EVERY way! .... "even when I cannot see... I still believe!"

Even when life is crazy and full of all this... craziness... just wanted to tell my friends out there who are taking the NARM... thinking and PRAYING like crazy for you girls! You rock... you'll do awesome!

One more step completed

2010-02-12T22:10:00.000-08:00

This morning was our big 'garage' sale... more like a porch sale... We had people all week long trying to be the ones who got the preview of the sale... (whcih of course we let our helpers dig through first)... but the others we made wait until today.... so there were people lining our gates quite early in the morning... but first things first... we ate breakfast and gathered a few more of this n that... (and heard pleas from a few kids on please please please don't sell this or that)... Selling things is definitely hardest on kids! The older kids were each in charge of their bikes to sell (they were basicaly doing a silent bid system)... we had had probably 30 people want the 8 bikes we had... so it was madness! Joe finally had to help them out about half way into the morning... people were shoving money in the poor kids' faces trying to convince them to sell it to THEM! lol... Tonia, Levi n I manned the money box while my helpers n Earl helped answer pricing questions from the throngs of people! All in all in went well... though exhausting of course! But my house is emptier than it was... which gives me more room to pack! I'm still not sure how it's all going to get done... but at least whatever I'm not sure about I can just throw in a box and take to Davao..... then sort when I'm there!

As the reality of the transition is upon us... I find myself having random moments of... panic maybe? Realizing that some of my younger children can't even remember much of anything about American life... this morning was a funny little example... as I'm sorting through Meggie's clothes for the garage sale and she doesn't want a certain pink shirt... Tyler pipes in that he could have it (or even Levi)... now here one would think nothing of a boy wearing a bright pink shirt... some of my kids long pj pants we've sold in past garage sales end up on adults as capris! Clothes are just not paid attention to... the kids can wear stained, holy, too small or too big and nobody even notices! If memory serves me well... this isn't quite so in America!
Some things though I am looking forward to... all this packing has brought out cockroaches in the hundreds (or so it seems!).... Every morning there are at least 4 or so in my bathroom.... I'm looking forward to the day when my multiple trips to the bathroom at night doesn't involve being on the look out for cockroaches, huge spiders and even bats in my toilet! It's not so easy to go back to sleep after a cockroach races over your foot! (or worse is when a nasty bug flies in your ear and wakes you from a dead sleep!)... I'll be glad when I don't automatically think that a black belt or piece of tape on the floor is a snake... or my hair falling down on my arm is ants crawling on me! Sigh... but even with all those things 'better'... I will miss our little village here in the Philippines... miss what we are doing and the ability to help people in this way. Such are the conflicts in our hearts.

death to supermom

2010-02-07T23:18:00.000-08:00

All of us women know that try as we might... we just can't be supermom... there are times we might even feel like we are getting there... but then life throws us 'something' to realize that we are completely human and in need of God's grace every moment of every day. It's been that kind of month! We have just over a week until we move to Davao, then another couple before we head stateside. In that amount of time we need to finish sorting what things we're keeping and what we're selling, along with what we're taking to Davao to get rid of and taking to Davao to ship back (mostly school stuff). Of course there is the normal challenges of moving with children (WHAT?... Why do we have to sell THAT!) Then we are continuing to homeschool whilst we pack the house around the kids (distracting...) Then to top it all off I am in full swing of morning sickness/1st trimester exhaustion! This is the 8th time I have experienced the full first trimester of pregnancy... and in each one I have had varying degrees of morning sickness... ranging from non stop vomiting that required injections to stop it... or only a mild form of constant nausea... Sadly this pregnancy seems to be following extreme nausea and vomiting side... every day it gets worse and I feel more and more exhausted... As much as I 'want' to do everything and 'be' everything to everybody... it's just not gonna happen...
To top it off.. I have this normal... 'faith' in the goodness of people... especially those that are our Christian brothers and sisters... but man... lately that faith is definitely being tried... and I know that cyncicism could easily creep in...
So it's times like this that I like to think of just hiding ourselves in Christ... letting him do battle because we are too weak to battle for ourselves...
Thank you for those who are praying... we treasure it!
Blessings

Catch up

2010-02-06T18:15:00.000-08:00

Just because we stopped blogging for the decision making time... doesn't mean that life stopped here in Kihan... We had more 'firsts' this month...
We had a young boy brought to the clinic who was kicked by a horse.. in his head. It looked like it wasn't too huge of a cut, until we started cleaning it out! An hour and a half later we finally got the thing clean (and were able to easily visualize the skull!) Apparently horses hooves are quite dirty! When he kicked the boy on the forehead it pulled the skin away from the skull and then deposited a LOT of dirty nastiness under the skin. We got him sutured up and on antibiotics, watched him overnight and then he was fine and dandy (well, besides his eyes being swollen up almost shut).
We had another patient stay almost a week... an 80 plus yr old who had fallen down a hill more than 2 weeks before and had been unable to move around or deficate since! On day 4 we finally got our reward (I won't elaborate)...
Then this week was the local barangay fiesta... sounds fun right?.... nope... basically a ginormous drinking and partying festival... and the 10 speakers on the basketball court blared straight into our house... disco music lasted till 2am the first night, then 5 am... then on the last night it just didn't stop till after 8am!!! It vibrated the entire house.... I wish I had taken the family on vacation, but we thought we might end up with patients. We did have lots of patients... one girl had run into barbed wire that a local lady who was ticked off had strung across the road... this poor girl split her lip completely in half and then it tore down the edge of it towards the corner. The suturing job looked awesome at the end and I think it will heal with only the smallest of a scar.
Through all this... the morning sickness and extreme tiredness had taken over my body... I feel as though I can barely function! Somehow in the past 5 years its been since i had my last... I've forgotten!!! Or maybe I had it in my mind that somehow since I was a midwife now I would have all the answers and not suffer as much.... yeah... not so... :( Praying this is just a first trimester issue and not a whole 9 months thing. Praying I also get some major energy boost in the next week and a half since I need to sort and pack all our stuff before then! Thankfully all our furniture sold, so I don't have to haul that back to Davao! PTL!
I'm sure there is lots more, but pregnancy fog brain has also taken over...

update

2010-02-01T23:47:00.000-08:00

I have opened my blogger many times in an effort to write this blog, but have been unable to find the words, so I have always closed it for another day. But not one to shy away from the truth, here it is...
We made probably the hardest decision of our marriage over the last several weeks. Due to some 'extenuating' circumstances, we are moving our family back to Alaska. We leave the Philippines for the final time on March 3rd and arrive in AK the same day... We would covet your prayers as we transition back to another culture (one several of our kids have barely lived in)... as we continue to seek God's guidance for our lives and our family.
Even though the reason for parting wasn't one I would wish to repeat, we are looking forward to a time of rest and renewal. God so mercifully didn't allow our house to sell, and we still have our shuttle bus there, so at least we aren't starting completely over! Some very nice ladies from a couple churches have gathered household items we can use to start off with as well!
God is STILL in control, that much we know. And one thing we've learned through the years is that even when things don't seem to make any sense or have any reasoning... God WILL bring us through to the other side and he does cause ALL things to work together for good...
Thank you to all who were there by our side, supporting us as we prayed, cried and worked through this decision making process... we love each and every one of you!

2010-01-12T19:53:00.001-08:00

~“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out” ~ Vaclav Havel
This quote hit me hard today.... I just thought I would share. (Thanks to Vicki who posted it on FB)...
Life at this moment for us is a huge tangled web... we are pausing to listen to Christs voice in the midst of all of it and hear what He is saying to us... please join us in prayer as we walk this journey... thank you to all of you who have loved on us and supported us during this time...
Jenn n Joe

Davao!

2010-01-04T22:10:00.000-08:00

Well we made a succesful trip to Malita to visit our helpers family... and while there the suggestion was made that we just continue our trip and head to Davao to fix the jeep... this seemed like a wise idea since we had just that morning had to weld the engine in a couple places and drop the 4 wheel drive shafty thingy (don't ask for technical stuff!) But it was in serious need of our mechanic... and since we were only 70 kilometers from Davao... we headed this direction with just our one change of clothes. (we had only planned on being gone one day)... so here we are... waiting for the jeep to get done... chillin at our friends house and loving the visiting with old friends!
We laughed as we came into the city and were feeling refreshed... where as before we LEFT the city to feel refreshed! Funny what you miss! When you're in the city you want some peace and quiet! When you're in the bukid... you want some company!
Anyway... we are enjoying our time here and I may even pick up a shift tomorrow... I miss catching babies! :P

New Year.. New Babies

2010-01-01T05:38:00.000-08:00

Well it's looking like 2010 will be a year of fruitfullness! Jan 1, 2010 and so far we've already had chicks hatch, guinea pig give birth and the hamster have her babies (5!)... We're believing in faith that our rabbits will soon start to produce like... rabbits... :P It was a great New Year as we celebrated with our friends who came from Davao (the same ones who brought the work team of guys the last time)... and though 3 of the 4 adults decided sleep was more impressive than ringing in the New Year... we still had a grand time... and there was no sleeping through a Filipino celebration of the New Year... fireworks (which only go bang.. no visual display), horns, pots/pans, and a new one for us... a chainsaw! I woke at 11:59 and tried for the next hour to drown out the noise (which isn't possible at all!)
The friends have had a blast playing with their friends and generally being hyped up constantly on chocolate and sugar! We figure it's gonna be us or the ants that eat it... so why not us!!
Tomorrow we are going to squish all up in the jeep and head to our helpers family's house for a celebration there and hopefully a day on the beach... we're praying the car repairs don't take super long (Joe estimates 15 minutes... I planned for an hour!)... But whatever comes our way... we're ready for the adventure! (those may be famous last words....) Be blessed and have and AMAZING new year living God's adventure!

2009-12-29T00:10:00.000-08:00

I have no idea why I'm writing a boring blog about food... but since so many lately have asked what foods or what things we miss... I'll write a blog for the world to know! lol... At lunch we asked each of the kids to think of the 3 foods that they would eat again and again... At the top of several lists was Lasagna... sadly a very expensive and non practical meal here (cheese and meat topping the reasons why it's not practical!)... Spaghetti and pizza were also on a couple lists... Tonia of course had groundnut stew on her list (a Sierra Leone food that we all love to eat)... Oddly enough pancakes came up a few times as well (they don't miss pancakes... we eat them a few times a week). Joe was pretty sure some moose sausage and steak would be on his list... So... these are the food items that 'we' miss.... I think I just miss variety! But in reality... it is so much easier to not have to think much about what you are eating... the choices are just a topping for rice... sardines, flavored tuna, beans, kamote tops, etc... so not so difficult to think about every meal!
Well... I've been informed my 'free time' is over... time to see a patient!

Sick of being sick!

2009-12-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

My good friend who is Nurse Practitioner told me that the first year of practice you get every bug that walks through your door... multiply that times 9 and it feels as if someone is always sick! It's usually mild and only passes through a couple of us... but seems like there is always one child sniffling, coughing, puking, fever, etc... So my New Years resolution... no more sickness!!! Lately we've had a round of the flu bug passing through the clinic and I sure DON'T want that one! We've seen a lot of intestinal bugs as well... though I believe that has to do with the water source being so low... we still bring our drinking water in from Alabel as there has only been water for an hour or two every day. But it FINALLY rained last night and we have water today!! So loads of laundry are being sent through the washer as I type... and if it stays strong... maybe we'll get in a 'real' shower!! It's the simple things in life that give us pleasure! :P
Christmas was interesting to say the least... we woke up and got to skype video chat with my sister while the kids opened their stockings... then they took a break to do chores and eat before we connected again and opened presents from Aunt Christine while she watched. What a blessing the internet was this year! Joe had strep on Christmas morning... but there was a plug needed for the kids to be able to play the new Wii Aunt Christine got them... so we drugged him up and sent him to GenSan on the motorcycle while I took the kids to the Thanksgiving celebration at church... (can you say H-O-T!!!)... but it was all good and the kids got to enjoy their new game that evening.
Presents and such are a weird thing for me... I look around at our surroundings and the lack of just basic needs... and feel strange for receiving presents when we already have so much... yet I know that God takes pleasure in giving good gifts to his children... Anyways... it's a weird struggle... one not easily solved.

For REAL!

2009-12-21T21:06:00.000-08:00

So I haven't been blogging lately.. not that lots hasn't been going on.. but mostly because I'm afraid I would be a little too 'real' with people... I have started many a blog to try to express some of these 'real' issues here... but then I am always afraid it will come across the wrong way and I end up resorting to just deleting the post and keeping inside for yet another day. So.... sorry for the absence of 'fun' blogging... it's been difficult to have the 'Christmas' spirit here... so far away from people who share the same love of Christ, the same language, family, etc... some days if it were up to me I would just hide under my blanket until this season has passed... but of course having children forces one to not do that, (and the fact that's it's 100 degrees out!)... so we plod on through... learning how to celebrate with no close friends of family close by, with just the ants as our constant companions... :) We are thankful that we have each other (and there's a LOT of us!)
We are finally on 'break' from the kid's school... so now it's just the 'normal' duties of animals, garden and of course patients... We see anywhere from 10-25 patients in a day... ranging in problems from halfway cutting their wrist off... to infected wounds, to trying to figure out some medical dilemna that's plagued someone for years... (those are the hardest!)
We are trying to at least get some holiday baking in... but it means that we splurge for 'nice' flour (that you can only buy in the city)... the 3rd class flour just doesn't cut it for delicate baking items! It's difficult to find baking products and goodies... But we managed to find marshmallows in the city last time we were in... and a box of rice crispies... The box sizes here makes it perfect for rice crispy treats... one box per 1 bag of marshmallows! I think we might even have some food coloring that we could add in to make them look 'Christmasy'!
Currently we are in the middle of re arranging and organizing the house... BLAH... but oh well, it must be done.. and I'll feel great when it's finished!

bugs!

2009-12-18T05:12:00.000-08:00

It's amazing what one can get used to when you have to... Joe and I both grew up in COLD climate... aka.. Alaska! No ants invading your coffee 30 seconds after putting it down, no strange and weird bugs falling on you at night, no crawly guys in the bathroom, and NO snakes eating your chickens (although we did once have wild dogs eat our chickens...) Anyway... you either get used to it... or learn to deal with it! Just this week we decided that the bugs falling on us in the middle of the night was robbing us of precious sleep and needed to be solved... so up went the mosquito net.... now of course all the kids want one! lol... ants really do love anything and everything... I was at the desk earlier typing and kept feeling something crawling on me... sure enough... ants had invaded where the water/ rubbing alcohol mix bottle had just been sitting... who knew ants liked alcohol!? But for the most part we are 'used' to our little house critters... generally they are harmless... although the big ol wolf spiders don't appear so and when I see them I don't mind letting 1/4 of the can of bug killer out on them (even though it doesn't kill them!) Joe mostly just enjoys getting pictures of bugs... and trust me... there are LOTS of interesting new bugs here!

Enjoy a few of his shots!

Gardening!

2009-12-16T03:07:00.000-08:00

Well.. it's official... we are full fledged into gardening! We FINALLY had a nice rain and were able to transplant our lettuce today... thankfully they had JUST finished plowing the rest of the garden this morning! Sweet timing!

So anyone who knows me... knows I certainly DO NOT have a green thumb! So far I had only been able to grow a few bean plants and squash... lots and LOTS of squash plants! I'm not THAT fond of squash to be honest... I've even considered giving one squash to each household here in the village and organizing a squash bake off! Anyway... all my starter plants weren't doing so well... but finally I was able to get a few cucumber and tomato plants in the ground... the tomato plants ended up being transplanted a second time as where we originally put them happened to be a wee bit too close to where our patients SPIT! lol...

Anyway... I've been doing a ton of reading on gardening... trying to figure out what grows well where... and finally was able to get some lettuce started and some more bean plants. And the funny thing was... when I dumped our old 'starter' to mix in with the dirt I was putting around our bean plants... the tomatoes that hadn't grown... grew! So... I currently have 19 tomato plants all shooting up! I guess I better be looking up some good jarring recipes! :) Good thing we like spaghetti sauce!

Some of the kids really enjoy gardening... others just enjoy the 'clearing' (the burn pile to be exact).... but we've been busy, busy clearing and planting! We've so far gotten squash, beans, papaya trees, tomatoes, cucumber, and lettuce planted! Phew!

I actually have really enjoyed gardening (shocker I know!)... I admit to being slightly impatient and wanting it to all grow faster... but I'm sure that a few months will pass before we know it!

Internet Part 2

2009-12-15T00:38:00.000-08:00

Miracle of ALL miracles... we have internet once again!!! And SUPER fast at that!!! We are so excited to be able to use our internet phone to be able to connect with family and call out in emergencies! Yeah!
On a funny side note... the company's satellite is based in Korea... so all my little side bars, etc... are all in KOREAN... hmm... maybe I should start studying so I can understand... either that or figure out how to change my settings to ENGLISH! lol... :)
It's been pretty busy at the clinic... seeing about 10-20 patients a day... as our current REACH nurse stated today... you sure do get a LOT of strange cases! Trust me... strange is putting it lightly! I would expand... but I understand that some of you readers don't care for the medical side of things... so let's just say... we get some WEIRD cases! :P
Glad to be up and running again... and feel free to call us (that would be if you have my number... which you would have to email me to get!) God bless!

Internet

2009-12-10T21:02:00.000-08:00

Well.. we are temporarily w/o internet... it's a very long, frustrating story... but we were unhappy with the provider we had... so since we were still w/in our time frame to cancel... we did... of course getting a refund out of a company is like pulling the teeth of a horse! But... we are fairly confident the new company will allow us to actually use our internet phone and video call... and not blank out whenever there is rain! So... we are hoping to set that all up here within the next week or so... pray it happens fast... would love to be able to talk to my family on Christmas!!!

Life flow..

2009-12-08T03:38:00.000-08:00

Life flows on... yesterday morning I know God was watching my back... I set the alarm and got up early so that I could breed a couple rabbits... so I was able to get chores done early. God knew they would need to be done since we had our first patient there around 6:30am... she had severe pain in her R side... we decided she really needed to be seen at the hospital in GenSan. Thankfully we had already planned a trip in for that day! So we put the plans on fast track and away we went (we saw another two patients in the meantime!)... I had a horrible pinched nerve in my back... but it was nothing compared to this poor lady's pain... every bump on the road was pure agony (all 2 hours of it!)

We came home to a brownout... a nice fire had been built under a power line down by the river... very smart! So... we unloaded the boxes from my sister and friend in the dark... along with our family Christmas gift. Phew! Right before bedtime the power came back on; just in time for our patient who arrived in a LOT of pain... apparently while plowing the field his Carabow decided he'd had enough and took off at a dead run... dragging the poor guy behind. A piece of wood had narrowly missed gouging out this guys eye... and he had a nice cut on his nose... upon further investigation it was found that he not only had a gash on his nose... he had a stick UP his nose! It wasn't a little stick either... Ouch!!! We were afraid it had gone through to his palate or a sinus cavity... but apparently he missed both (a miracle). It was quite a good lesson for our kiddos on "Don't drink and plow... or better yet... don't drink at all!" (he'd had a couple shots before heading out to plow)...

Today was another busy day, seeing over 20 patients and trying to get all our normal chores done with such a little amount of water (it hasn't rained enough!) Then tonight just before starting this blog... we had a nice sized earthquake! Oi! Life in the bukid! I'll be happy when we eventually get the earthquake straps to attach the top floor of our house (the part we live in) to the downstairs clinic! Until then... these big earthquakes make my belly a little jelly! ;P

What do you smell?

2009-12-04T18:42:00.000-08:00

I currently smell the remnents of horse on my shirt, sweat from the sun, the neighbors trash burning (with a nice bit of mountain fresh air mixed in), a bit of goat/horse/chicken/rabbit poo drifting up, and I swear that I can still smell a bit of the two dressing changes I did today... you know.. that rotting flesh smell.... yum!

Consequently I am also laughing at hearing Christmas music while sweating in this 100 plus heat!

Gotta love village life! ;)

It's a love/hate thing

2009-12-02T04:47:00.000-08:00

You know how the things that you love about someone are the same things you hate?... Take for example your spouse... you love how giving and caring he is... only it's also because he's so giving and caring that he's helping with everyone else's projects... thus your own at home are left undone... (I'm not saying that's my spouse... just giving an example!)... Well our life here in Kihan is like that... it's a love/hate thing with life in general. See some days I'm overwhelmed at the enormity of the 'job' at hand... yet it's that enormity that makes me want to be here (are you still following or am I confusing you?) Take today for example...
Joe got up at 5 am to take the motorcycle across the river to meet up with a couple of REACH team members to get back the BP cuff's they accidentally packed when they left the other day... while he was gone I was summoned by our neighbor who has one of the guys who had the testes surgery staying with them... Apparently while out back at the loo yesterday... he fell down the hill! This is no small hill... it's quite steep... thus injuring his barely healing 'ahem' and breaking apart ALL the stitches leaving a gap about 2 in wide and 7 inches long! NICE... oh.. and it's swollen to the size of a pomello (cantelope for those in the US)... By then Joe was back, kids were being fed and animal chores almost completed... Joe and I headed off on a hike to try to get cell service to call Dr Sam who was in a neighboring area (about an hour and a half away)... we weren't able to get cell on the mountain beside our house, so we took off in the motor and headed across the river and up the mountain... About 45 min later we finally reached cell service and tried texting. Sadly by then we weren't able to get ahold of him, but was able to reach my friend who is a NP in the states. We got some advice and headed back in... only to arrive home to patients galore! Seriously... we spent the next 4 hours seeing patients, finally returning to our injured man next door and then eating lunch around 2... We saw more patients later on in the evening and again went to give more pain meds and change the dressing on the guy next door.
So.. the love/hate thing is... It's CRAZY!... I seriously had no idea what to do for this guy... I would love to have handed him off to some 'higher' doctor... but that just wasn't an option... so we tend to him the best way we can... So I hate feeling/being inadequate... but... I love the fact that because I am so inadequate in every way, every day... it keeps me on my knees... seeking guidance from the ultimate physician. I could tell story after story of times when I've just been stumped by a patients symptoms and then I've just listened to that still small voice telling me to 'ask this'... and sure enough... it will often reveal the cause/problem....
The love/hate thing is true for our health here... it's hard not to fall into worry about things that I just wouldn't worry about in the states. (ok, so these problems generally wouldn't happen there)... anyway... Meggie for example... she started getting little sores... then she had this huge knot develop under her chin (like the size of a walnut)... final diagnosis... empitigo... with her body just reacting strongly to it (knot is a hugely swollen lymph node)... so antibiotics for her. I hate worry, especially when it comes to our health... but I love that it makes me trust in my heavenly Father for peace.
I love being able to pass out knowledge to patients about their bodies and their health... but I hate what the lack of knowledge does to people's health...
Anyway... you get the picture right?
Right now you're probably loving that you can read about our daily adventures... but hating that it's such a long post! lol...

A 'fun' fact...

2009-12-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

K... those who know me know that I won't tell anyone where or how to give birth... but I did run across this statistic and thought I'd share... :)
"Compared to home-born babies, hospital-born babies are six times more likely to suffer distress during labor, eight times more likely to need resuscitation, four times more likely to become infected, 30 times more likely to suffer permanent injury, and their mothers are three times more likely to hemorrhage. The hig...h risk is in the hospital." - Balizet (thanks Christy Fiscer Midwife)

2009-12-01T01:57:00.001-08:00

This little cutie pie has Kwashiorkor... it's a form of malnutrition... and... unless some serious diet changes take place, she will die from it. Hard to believe when you see those puffy cheeks right? But this form of malnutrition (sometimes called wet malnutrition) is from lack of protein. Basically her body has so little protein intake that eventually her kidneys are compromised... she leaks fluid into her tissues and eventually will go into a coma and die.
When her swelling started her parents took her to the area health center and they gave them a weeks supply of vitamins and dewormed her... um, yeah... so that didn't help! (ok.. the deworming was good). There was no instructions given to the parents on diet changes or even what the problem was... until today, the parents had no idea that all their daughters problems (tiredness, hair falling out, swelling, etc) was all related... and that yes... she will die unless they do something!
So we went over some SERIOUS diet changes for this little girl (who only eats rice and sometimes kamote tops)... we gave some of our supply of peanut butter and mongo beans to get them started... she will return weekly for progress reports until she is hopefully a healthy happy 2 year old that she should be! I don't care if I have to use up all my supply of peanut butter (which is a pain to find down here)... but this little girl WILL live (if I have ANYTHING to say about it)! I think God was just reminding us why he had us here...
The last picture is of her bloated belly... the muscles eventually become lax and the belly will basically 'fall out'... or look very bloated like... not shown is her super skinny back and shoulders (where she isn't swollen).
Please do pray for her and the others like her around here... it's such a preventable disease, but education is a key in bringing about change. Thank you for those that support what we do... as you can see... it does make a difference!

2009-11-28T18:00:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I think God's sense of humor is a little skewered... All you have to do is look at certain animals in creation to realize that... but I'm talking about in our own personal lives... for example, Joe and I... I think it's interesting that we went from being a seriously independent American family... then on this crazy journey with another family to get our children out of Africa (which resulted in living together for almost 2 years... 13 kids, 4 adults)... then to going to a school on the other side of the world with a bunch of single girls just entering 'life' (they were great by the way... it was just different!).... then to moving to a village out in the mountains of the Philippines with no other Americans within normal reachable limits.... seriously... weird sense of humor!
I have to say that at times I really miss that deep connection... that relating to someone who is going through something similar, the same interests, etc... When we lived with the other family in Alaska we had both just brought older adopted children into our home, we were living together, etc... so there was usually someone who could 'relate' to what you might be feeling... but here, every day it's a struggle to just have basic conversation with your neighbor....
But today I was blessed as the neighborhood got together to play games for Tylers birthday... we had 3 legged races, leap frog, wheelbarrow races and a water balloon toss! I think the adults had as much fun watching as the kids did playing. And I realized that once again... God has met me where I am, in this place... to help ease the lonliness that comes upon us once in awhile. We have a great and amazing God don't ya think!?

2009-11-26T03:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Joe was sick with a nasty bug and so I had his chores on top of my own... plus Dr Sam and a couple team members were headed back to Davao so we needed to get them across the river... so I drove... and since I was driving that far we figured I may as well get a few supplies up in Alabel. The river 'road' had a brand new route and it wasn't packed down yet... and it was difficult to follow... but we made it across... Then came the mountain road... I was unable to get the jeep out of 4 low, so it was slow going... but I made it... I got the things I needed at the market, refilled the 4 water jugs and headed back in. This time I was able to get the jeep into 4 high at least which made it go a bit faster... About 3/4 the way over the mountain in a village where we sometimes have done outreaches and often get patients from... I was flagged down by a woman I had seen the day before at the clinic while her husband had surgery on his testes... She explained that he wasn't able to sleep because he was in so much pain. I went and checked on him and he was definitely in some major pain. I told them I could give them different pain relievers at the clinic, but they would have to pick someone to ride along and then they could borrow our horse to return home in. (It's about a 4 hour hike, but an hour or so on horse... oh yeah, and the rain was starting). A couple boys were picked and they excitedly took their places in the back of the jeep. It was definitely God's providence for them to be there... since I was alone I wouldn't have been able to keep my water bottles upright on the way through the rivers... but they made sure they kept them all standing for me! They quickly got the meds and then we got the horse ready and out they went.... and we haven't seen the horse since! lol. I'm not worried though... I know that returning borrowed items isn't a super high priority here... if they don't come back by tomorrow we'll probably drive up that way and bring it home. Today was my turn to be sicker than a dog... Tonia and I both had some sort of flu bug, just manifesting in different ways... I couldn't sit up or stand without walking like a drunk person from the spinning world... thus causing the stomach to revolt! Tonia had a huge headache and felt sick as well... thankfully it seems to be a 24 hr thing and we are both feeling better this evening. Again it was God's hand at work that there was no horse chores last night or all of today! Such a huge blessing on a tired, sick, family! I love it when God works these things out!

2009-11-23T05:08:00.000-08:00

You know what 'got' me today? I tended to a little boy who was not quite 2; who had the cutest little 'please don't hurt me' smile... I used ointment on his many infected bites all along his feet and legs... then I turned to cleaning up his multiple boils on his head... Now anyone who has had a boil knows they hurt like the dickens... but this little guy was so patient... and so undisturbed by the whole process... what made me so sad was that he was just used to being in pain.... His mom said he'd had those infected legs/feet and head for more than 9 months... basically half his life... he didn't really even know what it felt like to NOT live in pain. This just stinks... and I was happy to give her medicine and instructions that hopefully he will start enjoying pain free days.
Another patient is a mom who has brought her little girl to us maybe 4 or 5 times...I wrote about her before... The little girl is 7 (although she looks about 4) and has a very high possibility of having TB of the skin. If you look back to how long ago we started working on getting this little girl her test... you can see how long and frustrating it is to get things done here! We were able to find out that to read the test would be between about $5 to about $11 US,it seems like nothing to us right? But the mom is struggling hard core to come up with that money in just a couple days... we told her that we would front the payment on what she couldnt' and then she could just keep a balance.. she was so thankful that hopefully soon she will have answers for her daughter. So if you think of her.. the little girl is call Pamela... and tomorrow we will scrape her owies and insert a needle into her back... no fun for any kiddo! Pray for wisdom and pray for answers soon!
And now... after seeing my 19 patients before lunch time (to only see 2 after the doctor actually arrived)... I am heading to BED!

Randomness

2009-11-22T04:09:00.000-08:00

This is what happens to those who wish to NOT get wet after the water babtism... sorry folks... if some of us have to get wet... we ALL get wet (well except us mom's who were holding the cameras!)... :)

Tyler and his new found buddy

THe guys worshiping and jamming... it was a blast!

TWINS!

2009-11-20T06:07:00.000-08:00

First off... I should put in this disclaimer that no... I am NOT pregnant with twins... didn't just give birth to twins and didn't even deliver twins! That being said... it was still an exciting day!
Since we bought our goat a month ago... people have been telling us.. "hapitna manganak"... meaning it's just about time for her to give birth... so we've been waiting.... then they started telling us it was probably twins... and the wait continued... Then today... my neighbor tells me that the goat won't give birth that day since her 'ahem' wasn't swollen up yet... okay... and another friend in the village says "maybe in December"... so I take the goat for a little walk to eat the weeds in the garden... we will be working out there so I can watch her.
While in the garden... covered in mud and dirt (me from weeding and Joe from hauling fence posts)... we hear the cry of a child... Brian is holding his leg where blood is oozing from between his fingers... a quick looksy and we haul him up and head for home... Since our hands were so muddy we applied pressure above the wound to get it to stop bleeding while we trekked through the mud towards home. Of course by the time we got home we had a following of 20 or more kids and even a curious adult or 5... plus patients waiting at the clinic... While Joe washed up the wound I washed my hands and tried to get the ants out of my shirt... then held pressure while Joe did the same... (I should just mention that ant bites are VERY distracting... even when suturing your own child). We set up and injected the anesthesia... which feels about like 50 red ants biting you... once applied though... Brian's response was "wish I could see better"...
After suturing and seeing the rest of the patients Joe headed down to get the horse from where she was tied out (and the other goat) while Tonia headed to get the goat from the garden... She comes running back saying "It's TWINS"... and we all ran to go see.... sure enough she had JUST given birth and we carried the wet little guys back home (again with a following).... we had lots of advice from... "don't let the kids touch the goats tail or the mom won't nurse it"... to "put oil on their butts to make the poo come out easier"... It's hard here to decipher what is 'old wives tales' and what's good advice... but it made the neighbor feel better to do the oil thing... and as with any young... best to keep kids away for awhile.
So... that was just a couple hours of another day in the life of our family here in Kihan... at the end of every day I ask myself... "was that really just ONE day!"... seriously.. I do! lol...
We are blessed!

2009-11-19T02:10:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day... we are recovering from nasty head colds... our good friend from Davao was here visiting and brought CHOCOLATE (ssshh)... I was able to walk down this morning to assist the municipality midwife with her prenatals. The midwives hired by the government are basically like traveling nurses... they come, they see, they immunize... they leave. This gal is here for only 2 days a month.... and boy is she kept busy with all the TB meds to hand out and all the areas immunizations, plus prenatal appointments... plus a malnourished kids program. No wonder she can hardly spend more than 2-4 minutes per patient. So we agreed that starting next month I would basically take over the prenatals while she did the immunizations... Sweet! She is a big advocate for the women delivering at the clinic and tells each one to make sure she comes to the clinic... everyone is scared... this is their first time exposed to white people... besides modern meds... but 2 lovely ladies are brave enough to start coming to the clinic for prenatal check ups and have now seen the birth room... so they were telling all how nice it was... "even an electric fan!"... :) Also since the death of the lady giving birth to her first just a couple weeks ago... I think the women are more apt to start paying attention more and maybe one will eventually "break in" the clinic. Most likely I figure I'll get called out on some emergency first... but we'll see....
Anyway.. like I said... a good day... Joe took our friend and the Reach nurse up to Buena Vista (the next 'village' over) to take out the last of the 'itlog' guy's stitches... all 3 guys are doing well and now we have a better idea of the recovery time for these guys.... good to know since there are 3 more guys we know of with the same problem.
We've had lots of rain... which means lots of mud... and clothes not drying... but we did get the sun peaking through long enough today to dry a bit of clothes... enough to get us through. We got a horse bit and bridle made for our new horse... weirdest thing... the bit is made of rope! But hey... it's better than the bent piece of rebar that it had previously... Now to make a saddle... this includes stuffing a rice sack full of palm leaves... sewing lines down it... and nailing some wood together... seriously! (I'll take a picture of the finished product!) Besides an unexpected quick trip to the city (the rain was coming down to hard to send the visitors home on motorcycles)... and Levi n Tyler being mischevious and purposefully 'losing' the hamster... and our goat having a couple 'fainting' spells... it was just another ordinary day in the Germain household! Come visit! :P

Ponder with me if you will...

2009-11-14T00:33:00.000-08:00

-Being 19 yrs old... and NEVER having celebrated your birthday... not in any way, shape or form...
-Bringing a baby into your home whose mother (your relative) died of childbirth... no father of baby known... Baby full of all sorts of sores...
-Beginning a walk at 7 am in hopes of getting medical help for your baby who is struggling to breathe (and has been struggling all night)... and 5 hours later finally reaching medical help...

These are made up stories... this is real life here. The 19 yr old is one of the boys from the guys home that our friends run and just came to help us build and do other chores around here... One of the health care workers here really did just bring in a baby into her home whose mother died in childbirth within an hour after giving birth... And a mom/dad and grandma all showed up around noon at the clinic after walking with their baby who breathed like it was drowning (pulling himself up to suck air)... after a neb treatment, antibiotics and instructions on feeding the baby breast milk only (NO Coffee Mate!!)... they began their 5 hour journey home...
I live here and there are many days I can't comprehend it... Simple things we take for granted each day... medical help, available meds... and just simple LOVE... who of us can even fathom the emotion felt when you get your first birthday cake at 19 and a whole party of people singing Happy Birthday to you!!! (Thank you to our friends who sent the 'instant' birthday cakes and icing from the US!)
This morning we topped off the visit from our friends from Davao with an awesome baptism of one of the guys and then a full round of everyone (except for us moms who were holding cameras) being ran down and thrown in the river!
God is SO good... with a refreshing visit JUST when we needed it! :) Thank you for all who pray for us... knowing others are lifting us up before the throne is a huge encouragement! And thanks to all who support us financially... Without you... this would not be possible!!
God bless

Just one of those days... or ?

2009-11-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

I can't decide if my impatience today is because it's just Monday... or if I'm just too demanding... The morning started normal enough... we were thankful the power came back on so we didn't have to start up the generator... Then it was almost time for breakfast and I saw the kids sitting playing with toys/reading books... I asked them if their morning chores were done (the ones supposed to be completed BEFORE breakfast)... oh... um... we forgot (AGAIN)... It's not like this is anything new... they've had these chores for months now. Sigh... then our helper (who is the wife of the man who donated the land for the clinic).. didn't show up AGAIN for work... again she didn't inform us that she wasn't coming today... this after we just had a chat with her two weeks ago that if it happened again she wouldn't be working for us anymore! GRRR... Then came time to start school and my little student decided that he was going to throw a tantrum about school today... off to his room... then another child (Joe's student)... decided that it wasn't fair that he was ALWAYS the last one done... never mind the fact that he dilly dally's around and finds every excuse in the book NOT to work on his schoolwork... it's just NOT FAIR (according to him).... then I sat down to get a couple records offline and it takes more than 5 minutes to load any page that has content on it... and I'm irritated all over again at our promise of FAST, RELIABLE internet! Sigh... I think I need a time out in my room for an attitude adjustment... if only I had a room! (our bed is in the living room)... but things will hopefully be improving as we are headed to town for the first time in a couple weeks to get groceries and pick up the next REACH nurse assigned for this week... oh yeah... and he's bringing us a box from the US!! YEAH!!
Sometimes I love being a mother of many... but other days... I'm thinking that Bermuda sounds like a nice place to run away to!
Forgive my venting.... but those that are moms will understand these days! Guess I better go... Meggie just informed me that Levi spit in her face! OI!!!

Life in this crazy household

2009-11-04T22:27:00.001-08:00

I'll try to update... but kids are now bugging me to have their internet time! Yeesh.. when did they get so big!? Course it doesn't help that currently our internet is slower than dial up! Joe has been testing it... wow... slow as in!! But... we are thankful for the connection at least... and are working with the company to resolve the issue of slow speeds (as it is advertised as HIGH speed internet!) *Joe tested it several times throughout the day... currently we are getting 15.9 KB/second download and 2 KB/sec upload.... hmmm...
Anyway...
Here are a few pictures to share with you of the past little while...
Watch out for our masked man Zorro! (The kids love the 50's hit of Zorro and always love to dress up... Meggie calls herself 'The Senorita'... OI!!!)

YEAH!!!

2009-11-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

Guess who has internet!!! Guess we won't be 'real' missionaries anymore... considering we have water at least 50% of the time... electricitity 80% and now internet! Oh well, when I took my bucket shower in the pitch black last night I felt like a 'real' missionary! :) Glad to be back online!!!

PHEW!

2009-10-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

I will try to quickly update as we've been away from blogging for two weeks now... This past week the REACH team was in Kihan and then we did another outreach across the river a bit... We saw over 200 patients and did maybe 20 or more surgeries... We did 3 major surgeries on guys that had lived with enlarged testes for over 5 years (the longest one having had the problem for 9 years!) One 'itlog' was over 5 kilos of fluid... it was over the size of a soccer ball! We actually have several more like surgeries scheduled for November... I'm pretty sure all the guys on the team were having nihtmares after those surgeries.... but the guys were so relieved and one guy kept remarking that his wife was going to be SO excited! lol...
Anyway... it's never dull around our house... we've had little children with Hepatitis... older men with chicken pox... lots of TB cases... babies with severe pnemonia... It's all catching up to me and I am wiped... all this and we're constantly in a race with the river on whether we'll make it in/out before it rises from storms moving in/out.
Anyway... we are alive and well... and we're supposed to get internet within the next couple weeks! Supposed to....
Please excuse the lack of blogging.... just can't blog when we don't have internet!
Kids are doing good... Brian loves watching surgeries and was so bummed he wasn't allowed in on the 3 major surgeries... maybe next time... :)

Note of the day

2009-10-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

This is a very very important thing to remember.... ALWAYS shake out your towel/bag/box BEFORE reaching your hand into it or wrapping it around your body! Ewww... cockroaches!! blah!

Yikes

2009-10-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

2 weeks is just way to long without internet! How can i update 2 weeks worth of life! We've had some crazy strong winds as of late... courtesy of all those lovely hurricanes up north... or whatever they call those crazy weather systems... anyway... rain is actually welcome to the farmers, the wind they could do without. We have been busy patching up people, getting the clinic up and running while patching up ourselves in the process... Both Brian and I took tumbles down the concrete stairs... ow is all I can say... I still am walking with a limp, although feeling tons better than a few days ago!
We have also been working on getting a garden plot ready, have planted a few starter thingies... as you can tell... gardening is NOT our specialty... but we're trying to make do... the chicken house is finally finished and our chickens and turkeys are finally contained to do what they do best... but like projects go... you finish one and another takes it's place... just as the chicken house was finished, the strong winds took down the rabbit cage roof... so that's the next 'project' on the list...
As you can imagine... life is never dull... we've had several cases of the mumps, severe scabies infestation, lice, impaled objects in feet (that the guy left there for a week before coming to us), huge blood blisters that need drained, and a baby with severe pnemonia that I'm sure wouldn't have lived another couple days if left untreated. God has been so good in providing the knowledge and the help when needed... Dr Sam's nurses are now rotating a stint out in Kihan... so they come in on Mondays and leave on Thursdays... :) Works out nicely!
Well I had over 200 emails to catch up on so I better get back to it... Thanks so much for the inquiries as to our well being..... doing pretty good... some days the schooling and list of projects seems overwhelming... but we are trying to take it one moment at a time. Keep praying for us... :)

Picture update...

2009-09-30T21:41:00.001-07:00

Frustrations...

2009-09-30T21:34:00.001-07:00

Today we are back in GenSan... looking for someone who can help us figure out what to do for a patient... we suspect this little girl has skin TB... she is only 7 and her mom is pregnant with number 6... In this country where TB is so prevelant... one would think it isn't that hard... but TB of the skin takes a different test... a biopsy to be exact. After half a dozen stops at different places, we finally found a place that said they could do it... for 2500 pesos... over $50 US! That is a stinkin expensive test. Probably about a months wage for her family. We are working on an alternative. It's just hard here because you have to visit the places in person.. no just looking in a phone book and calling places... Anyway... it's been tough having patients that you can't help for one reason or another. I had another little guy with scabies so bad that he was covered from head to toe... and no meds yet for that. He's been scratching so much that he's got secondary infections that we are working on... but oi...
The patients have been increasing as the word is spreading that we speak a bit of Visaya and we have others who can help interpret... so we will have to set a schedule soon as most patients seem to show up right as we are sitting down to meals... or I guess we could adjust our meal times! ;)

The tropics!

2009-09-30T21:27:00.001-07:00

It’s definitely true that everything seems to grow faster in a tropical climate… infections being at the top of the list. This past week we had a boy who had gotten a cut in his foot and it had sealed back up, but the infection couldn’t escape…. Dr Sam reopened the wound and drained it, and the boy was supposed to get antibiotics… somehow though he managed to get out the door without his instructions on when to come back, signs of danger and most importantly his meds…. He came back to the clinic after the team was gone and his foot was now hot and tender up to his ankle… We recleaned his wound and started him on antibiotics… with strict instructions on coming back if it got worse. His companions brought him by the next day and his infection was now up to his knee! We discussed going to the hospital but decided to try a stronger med first and since Dr Sam was returning the next day for a few hours we could reevaluate then…. Dr Sam came by… but no sign of the boy. We decided to go find him and if he wasn’t improving then we would take him to the hospital… in the meantime we fixed up a guy who had been chopping a tree when the tree fell on his shin… ow… then the boy with the foot hobbled up all out of breath (someone had sent for him)… His infection was definitely improving so we gave him the rest of the meds and told him to REST (not an easy task here).
That afternoon I noticed that I had the beginning symptoms of a UTI… so I started chugging water and garlic… but like I said, things grow super fast here! By that evening I was doubled over unable to hardly move from the pain… I seriously wanted to just rip my insides out… Joe got up and found me meds and some pain reliever… he set me up with old TV series (Hogan’s Heroes) to distract me from the pain. Finally I was able to return to bed around 5 am. It’s the next day and although there is still pain, it’s improving… but yikes… I have never had a UTI come on so fast and strong. Makes me wonder what the heck people do w/o medical care… and a great reminder of why we are here!
This morning when I finished fixing up a boy who had cut his leg with his machete, his mother complimented me on my Visaya and repeated what many have started to tell me… That once people know they can communicate with us, they will come… but I’m glad for the few patients we see a day currently as it gives us a chance to work into our roles more slowly.
P.S. For those wondering how we are faring with the recent typhoon weather... although the typhoons are north of us... we have definitely seen the effects of it all down here! Last night our roof of our outside kitchen just up and ripped right off and blew over to the neighbors!

Life...

2009-09-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

Life continues on and on here in Kihan… School is in full swing, the clinic has a steady trickle of patients and we are adjusting to the brownouts and water outages. Actually there is nothing quite like having a brown out or water outage to make you appreciate both power and water! (Especially when you get both together!)

The REACH team was here on Wednesday through Friday of last week, seeing many patients with a range of problems… I got to assist at several surgeries, including suturing up a neck and a toe… The neck was a closure after Dr Sam removed a golfball size growth the guy had had for several years… the toe was a guy who was riding along on the motorcycle and a piece of wood sliced his little toe pretty much in half under the toenail… OW!

When we went out on Friday to take the team back to their vehicle… we also had a meeting with the mayor and governor… both of whom are very supportive of what we do here in Kihan. Kihan is the poorest barangay on this side of the bay in Sarangani Province. The mayor agreed to propose a government funded permanent midwife position to assist here at Grace Clinic… the governor even agreed to pay her out of his salary until the new year budget could be approved! We left the meeting feeling blessed that we have such a good governor/mayor in place here in our area…

On Sunday we ventured down to the other citio to a church where several health workers that Dr Sam trained go… we were told the news that the mayor had just died that morning.... she was relatively young… only in her upper 40’s maybe…. We were saddened and are praying that the vice mayor will continue to serve the people here with the same integrity that she did.

We are working on the contact situation… mainly internet… like anything… it’s a slow process… but we are hoping within a month to have internet up and running… It was decided this just wasn’t something that was optional as we needed to be able to have contact with Dr Sam and REACH for questions and updates of what’s going on out here! Plus we figure it will save on gas not having to go to Alabel for our email checking!

We are busy busy getting not only the house more comfortable, but also getting the clinic up and running for its ‘official’ opening in Januaryish… I already have a couple pregnant ladies coming for prenatals… one is due here this month, so no chance the birth room will be done in time for her, but she knows if she needs assistance I’ll come to her… Thanks to a few birth clinics in Florida I am stocked with some meds that I need and a few birth basics. Hopefully we’ll get more things as we get up and running.

Well that’s all for now… I’ll post pictures when I get a chance…

Date night catastrophies

2009-09-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

On Sunday it was Joe n I's 12 year anniversary! :) We tried to get a date in... but by the time we got out the door, dropped by to do an errand... then got to the mall... it was already time to get the pizza's for the kids. So we ordered the pizza's, grabbed coffee to go and then brought the food back for the hungry hippos... By this time it was already 7 and jet lag was catching up with me, so we took the sitters home and put the kiddos to bed. We already knew we were heading out the next night for a double date with our friends we were staying with.
On Monday Joe n I ran around trying to get all the information gathered for a meeting we had with Sam n Sherri later that afternoon... lots of info to try to get through before we head back to no contact... the meeting lasted till about 5:30... then we ran to pick up Tonia from her friends, then grab quick showers before heading out the door.... As I was just finishing up and Joe had just got in the shower we heard a crash/bang, then a hurt cry... then pounding at the door.... apparently Levi had been running and slipped on the tile and skidded into the corner wall, successfully splitting open his head... It was determined he needed stitches... so back to Dr Sam's we went... bringing along Bri who had an earache... Finally around 7:45 we took the kids back home and headed out for our date! lol... we dropped the bowling off the list and just headed to dinner... lots of laughter in that dinner... (I think you had to be there)... as we laughed off the stress of the day... When we got home one of the gals from church had come... I had forgot she was due to come over to plan the mission trip out to Kihan... so finally just before midnight I climbed my tired tush into bed and didn't wake till morning!

The injury... not the greatest shot... but you get the idea

The super brave boy...

5 Stitches later

The finished product...
He was a super brave boy!

made it!!

2009-09-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ways to know you've arrived in the Philippines...
95% humidity - check
smiles and lifting of eyebrows for 'yes' - check
security guards with machine guns in front of every store/bank - check
sweating by 8 am - check
sun rises at 6 and sets at 6... year round - check
crazy fun driving - check
honks to tell other drivers/people you are there - check
showers twice a day from the sweat - check
rice, rice and more rice - check!!!
:) Love it! - check!

The kids were of course super excited to see mom and Joziah/Tonia again... and of course Joe was pretty thrilled too! We left San Francisco in the coldest weather we'd experienced yet... and came home to nice sunny and hot weather! No more need for those sweaters and coats... but we were sure thankful for them on the freezing cold airplanes!
Jet lag has hit... big time... blah...
Tomorrow we have meetings all day... then on Sunday it's Joe n I's 12th anniversary... crazy! I think we'll have to shoot for an early dinner out.. cause I'm wiped around 7pm... although it's 9pm and I'm still awake... barely... course maybe none of this post is making any sense and I should go to bed! lol....
Thanks to everyone who made our trip home special!

horse crazy

2009-09-10T15:54:00.000-07:00

Like many 12 yr olds... Tonia is in love with horses... her one desire here on our trip was to ride... unfortunately we didn't get the chance... but... we did call a horse center near my sisters and she got to assist with a therapy session today for a couple hours. She was just as excited to brush and walk along with the horse as she would be if she'd ridden.
Yesterday we headed out early and went to the Science museum... it was featuring space and the kids had a blast in the mercury module ride and all the cool space gear to check out... whoever thought up the idea of a science museum gets 2 thumbs up! The kids came home with so much information! Gotta love those sponge brains!
Sadly today was our last day with Christine (my sister), as we head to Texas tomorrow to be with my friend from days gone by... :) Then on Monday we make our way to Dallas to be near the airport for our early morning flight out on Tuesday... We don't actually leave the US until Wednesday because of all the layovers... but we'll be on our way! Hard to believe 5 weeks will have gone by by the time we return home!
I feel much more 'ready' to return... plus Joe said he installed the shower heater... so praise God for a HOT shower!!!! He also has been busy building shutters so that when it's rainy and stormy... we don't get all wet! Phew! Now closing in the bathroom to help decrease the critter visitors at night... and then maybe walls for a temp bedroom for us!
Thank you so much for all who prayed for us during this crazy transition... we love you!

LaVerne

2009-09-09T05:19:00.000-07:00

When we first arrived here at my sisters house in Oklahoma, her husband took Joziah to a Model T group get together (Joziah just LOveS old things)... anyway, when Hap (my brother in law) introduced Joziah to the group he intro'd him as LaVerne... the name has stuck and now spread... Joziah even introduced himself as LaVerne to some people... he's decided to change his name to LaVerne Cave...lol... Today we are headed to the science museum with a gal from the model T group... when I called her to set the time I introduced myself, then said I was Joziah's mom... neither of which struck a remembrance... then I said... "LaVerne's mom"... OH!! She got it then! Ah yes.. my children are goofy!

a few shots from Joe

2009-09-07T06:30:00.001-07:00

The three amigas...

Well I finally got to talk to Joe again... just barely caught him online last night... was SO nice to get to IM w/ him, even if it was just for 10 minutes or so. He had to come all the way to GenSan for molasses... (we use it to feed the bunnies)... lame! (that's almost a 2 hr drive)... anyway.. I''m sure he got other supplies too while we was there. He took these pictures during the barangay celebration last week...

just not missionary material

2009-09-07T06:09:00.000-07:00

I have made the comment many times that our family just doesn't fit the mold for 'typical' missionary family... while that may be true (cause we're far from normal!)... but I have realized that there are more and more people that are coming to the mission field not out of sense of duty to convert as many people as they can... but they are coming out of an overwhelming desire to show people all over the world of Jesus LOVE for us... HE doesn't desire religious acts... HE desires a RELATIONSHIP... We don't do things for him out of trying to work desperately to be redeemed... that's already been taken care of! We live the life we live because we were once in that place of confusion, of chaos inside... and now we have PEACE... and the difference is enough that we are willing to give up the comforts of our life, of our physical needs... to let others know that that peace is free... a gift... no strings attached... you don't have to make sure you go to church 3 times a weeks to please this God.. no need for prayer memorization or any other religious act... he simply wants you... just where you are... to give you a freedom from the voices inside of you... the war, the struggle, the emptiness... and he simply asks for a relationship with Him in return.
So I apologize to the many missionaries out there that are giving of their lives to show the love of our Father to people all around the world... they/we are making a 'new mold', a better one! These 'missionaries' are all over... on the home front and abroad... they make up all colors, nations, tongues and tribes... and soon... the world will see... that the creator of the universe... the Alpha/Omega... LOveS them!!
SWEET!!!

Oh... and one more 'little' thing...

2009-09-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

I pASseD!!! YEAH!!! Got my letter yesterday... officially a CPM!... :)
I can go home now!!!

FINALLY!

2009-09-02T07:13:00.000-07:00

After more than a week with no word from Joe... he finally 'emerged' from the village to check email and get supplies from the city. I happen to be up late that night and so I got to chat with him for awhile on IM... what a nice treat!
He caught me up on the happenings of the village... mostly it was good to hear about how even those that are non Christians have been saying how it's nothing short of a gift from God that we are there... They just can't comprehend how we would give up our comfortable lives to live there... for them... It's so neat the way that God uses the fact that missionaries often do give up there comfort for the sake of others as a representation of how He gave his only son... to leave the awesomeness and comfort of heaven to come down here to this evil and yucky world... just so that we might have a restored relationship with Him!!!
After talking with Joe I am more than ready to go back... sigh... but I still have a couple weeks here in the states and know that I need to get a few more things in order before I leave... our house in Wasilla has kept us on our knees trying to hear what God wants for us in that regard... to sell, not to sell... all I can say is we are praying for His way to be known!
Also if anyone is interested in donating used baby clothes for me to take back... please let me know asap and I will get you the address of where to send them... Even if they don't come before I go I will be having a box shipped after I leave I think...
Well here is a few drawings that Joe sent and a picture of Tyler dancing in the Barangay festival... Meghan apparently chickened out! lol...

Good reminder...

2009-08-31T07:12:00.000-07:00

(As a disclaimer I should say I stole this from Joey's FB page... ) :)

*There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.*

*The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next** **
**few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.*

*He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.*

*The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.*

*The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, 'You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. But It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound will still be there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.*

2009-08-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

I used to wonder if people who are on their furlough or breaks don't blog because they are too tired from running around, or just too many people to see and no time to blog... or maybe it's because it's hard to put into words all the feelings that go through your head in regards to reverse culture shock. I think maybe it's all the above.... although I would be lying to say that I am too tired from running around... but more likely that I am tired from just trying to figure out all the fun 'reality' stuff that people who live outside of the US must deal with when in the US (taxes, house issues, etc)... People ask me if I have been suffering from culture shock... and I'm not sure how to respond. It's a confusing mess to be sure! And I have no idea how to express it to people w/o sounding judgemental (which I'm NOT!) So I mostly just say that yes... it's been strange to be in a place with hot running water on demand, lights that turn on/off at the touch of a button or switch, aircon daily and 5 stores w/in 5 miles of the house. There are not 50 village kids hanging on the fence in the morning pushing each other around to see who will be brave enough to say good morning... no corn drying on the central basketball court and no women washing their clothes beside their house... I can't look out my back door and see the neighbor's little girl pop a squat in front of the door to relieve herself in the morning (I really don't understand this practice... but oh well) How do you not sound judgemental when you observe that pets here in the states live a far more comfortable life than people on the other side of the world? It's not a judgement.. it's just a fact (and heck my pets over there live a pretty darn good life, or so I'm told!) I think there just is no ability to make sense of life... the have's the have nots... I will just keep my eyes on the Father to continue to guide my steps... one day (or continenet) at a time!
So you see... this is why I don't blog... the thoughts running around are complex and difficult to express! :)

Neglectful...

2009-08-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been neglecting the blog... We made it to Portland and then headed to my Grandma's (who doesn't have Internet)... I studied.. .visited, and then headed to my test on Wednesday. It was super fun to see a few of the girls that I went to school with and even catch up with and old friend I didn't expect to be there! I arrived way to early for the test... which suited me just fine, gives me time to get thoroughly nervous beforehand... just kidding!
The test went.... well, it went! There is just n way of telling how one of those tests goes... I think I did ok one minute and then I think back to questions I had about certain things, and think there is no way I passed it!... It's a slightly ludicrous test and I'm afraid that they have failed to actually test if someone is a good midwife, only to see if someone can figure out their strange questions and even stranger options for answers!
Anyway... that being done was a big relief and now we are on to Oklahoma to see my sister... we had really bad news regarding the sale of our house in Wasilla and it doesn't look like it will go through... we are praying for the right answers to land in our lap, because we are slightly tired of trying to figure it all out!
There is much more, as always, but that should update for now for us...
Joe said that they finally have power! The kids started school... Tyler and Meggie were super excited for their first day of school... and Levi decided he wanted to go to (technically he is old enough)... he lasted till they came home for snack time and decided he liked homeschooling better! So now he stays home with Daddy and 'homeschools'... Sam apparently thinks they don't have enough school work since they only school for a couple hours and the other kids in the village are at school all daylong... I'm pretty sure Brian doesn't concur!
Besides a few chickens and a rabbit dying due to the terrible typhoon type whether immediately followed by the high temps... all else is pretty good out there.
Till next time...
Jenn

And away we go...

2009-08-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

Well the time has come... we've got our documents in order (knock on wood) and we head to the airport in just a couple hours to fly away... wow... it's hard to believe that it's come to this already! I don't know if I'm ready for the test... but I guess there's only one true test of readiness!!!
To add to all of this... it's that time of year again... the kids will start school on monday! Joziah and Tonia will be doing it in the states with me while Sam and Brian have dad as their teacher... Tyler and Meghan will be doing double duty..... going to both the local school (for a couple hours in the morning) and doing their US homeschool lessons! They will get lots of language integration to be sure... our helper Heide will attend with them at the beginning to ensure it all runs smooth...
Thanks for praying for us and please continue as we travel, I take my exam and mostly for Joe... who is stuck there in Kihan still adjusting to life out in the village where now he has no one else to speak english with.... it gets a wee bit lonely at times!!! (and drop him and email if you can!)

The bizarre quads...

2009-08-12T18:11:00.000-07:00

So yes... there is a rumor about me delivering quadruplets... to clarify... I only delivered the last one... the mom did the first 3.
I came out in the morning with the news that there were 3 babies... I went to check and sure enough... mom was tired, but doing well with her 3 little ones.... her tummy still looked a little big, but to be expected I guessed... the day was busy and I didn't have a chance to check on the momma again until the next day... when I found out she had been pushing all night long.... something else was inside! poor little gal was tired as I'll get out! I checked and sure enough there was still something inside... but it was high up, not coming out... wasn't sure if her uterus had twisted or what the problem was. On/off all day we worked to get that little one out, but to no avail... I used rehydration techniques to rejuvinate the mama (including a molasses enema!)... she would rest for hours and then push again for hours... it wasn't until late afternoon that we finally were able to figure out that the baby (long since dead) was sideways... we tried turning, but no luck...
By the next day the mom arrived at my doorstep with a bit of the baby visible... we literally pulled the little guy out (which smelled horrible from having been dead for a couple days) and was dissenigrating in my fingers... YUCK!!!
The head came last and the poor mama screamed... but finally it was out.... she just collapsed... I gave her a drop of rescue remedy... then shepherds purse to stop the bleeding... finally she perked up a little... we started her on antibiotics and gave her drops of honey/water to help hydrate her.... Finally when she got off the porch and went to lick herself clean, we knew she'd be fine.... (did I mention 'she' is a cat?).... unfortunately the 3 little kitties suffered from their lack of a mother for the first couple days... and all died on day 4... :( But at least mom is doing well.... and will live to deliver again! LOL... and besides... I got lots of midwifery practice in! ;)

2009-08-12T06:08:00.001-07:00

Just to say that I did make it out of Kihan this morning.... we've had a very FULL day.... but I'm not sure I know what a non full day is like... tomorrow should be our first in a long time.... I will write more then... I would have been long asleep hours ago if it hadn't been for the very nice lady person from immigration fixing a mistake of releasing our i cards to the Davao broker... who kindly delivered them to my guest house door at 9pm tonight! (For those that don't understand immigration here... I needed our icards to leave the country!).... I take back the bad things I've said about immigration.... lol... ;P
For those that heard little rumors flying around about a quadruplet delivery... I will write the story when I'm not so very exhausted.... :)

Last minute this and that

2009-08-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

You know how before you leave for a trip there is so much of this and that to finish up and prepare.... well... we're at that stage... it's just slightly more complicated due to the fact that we just moved out to the village..... for example last night I realized that I hadn't yet seen my purse that carries my credit cards unpacked..... so this morning the search began through boxes to find it... (found it!)... unfortunately my US license wasn't inside.... but I can get by with my Philippines one I believe....
We also realized that since I am traveling alone with two of the kids...the US might like to see that I am not kidnapping my own children... so we are looking for a notary to get pages stating I can travel with them done....
We still haven't found an ATM here in Alabel.... so we have to drive an hour and a half to get money out.... kind of inconvenient.... still workin on that issue...
When we returned to the village after our vacation... there was no water again... so I washed our nasty beach clothes in left over rain water.... and we've been stingy with the toilet flushing.... which makes for a stinky bathroom! Today we had water for about 10 minutes... Tonia and I managed a bucket bath... we'll hike down and get water from the pump later today...
Brian got in a little tussle with a caribow.... he lost.... the caribow tossed him over his head and onto his face..... thankfully no broken bones... and not even a broken nose! Although he punctured a few spots on his lips and gums.... but he will heal! I would post pictures, but I'm on Joe's computer and can't load them on here! Another time!!
So... I've been studying pretty much non stop... ignoring the rest of the world.... it's going ok.... hard to study for this test when it's apparently a set up for failure.... it has a 50% failure rate.... and the 'new, improved' test apparently doesn't even have right answers.... however that works!!! You would think they would want to see if we are competent midwives... not if we can figure out if they are tricking us! .... I'm a wee bit nervous.... :( It would be kind of embarrassing to fail when I was the second top test taker in my class!!! So.... pray!!!

The adventure... continued

2009-08-04T07:05:00.000-07:00

This is the river before....
And the result of a day and a half of rain....

Like I said... it had already been quite the couple days of adventure... inlcuding finding a scorpion on the back of my toilet (killed by the guys thankfully) and then having a millipede decide my foot was a great place to cross while I was cooking dinner... ew! Anyway... the rain continued...

The next day it FINALLY stopped and the river started going down... after a few hours of contemplating and waiting... seeing more storm clouds rolling in... we decided to chance it. But first we would send the guys and the luggage w/ only a couple kids over... (it's easier to rescue 2 children than 10 if the need should so arise!) So it took them awhile... but they finally made it over (unbenownst to us since there is no contact).... Amy and I with the rest of the kiddos waited... saw the boy w/ the foot problem, waited again, made a make shift lunch w/ the 4 boiled eggs we had (split 9 ways).... then finally we hear boys yelling to us... they said we'd have to walk cause the jeep had gotten stuck.... lovely... we had no idea if we would be crossing the river by ourselves or what... (we had 18mo old up to 12 yrs old)... 8 kids....2 moms and 1 Ate.... But we started walking.... it was a muddy, lovely, affair..... the kids of course had a blast... We met up with Roni (who had gone w/ Joe on the first trip)... he had a couple horses and put a few of the smallest kids on them to take them over... Amy's husband also joined us and filled us in... apparently the jeep made it across all the crossings the first time... but when Joe went to go back he was just a few feet different in his crossing and there was a larger dip and more soft sand in that spot.... and he got sunk in... it took a big dozer to get him out (who wasn't very happy about having to do it either)...

We all walked and they had 2 of their kids and crossed the wide stretch of the river... I had Joziah, Tonia and Tyler w/ me.... Joziah was getting pulled behind Tonia from the current... and the native boys who kept insisting I just let them carry Tyler (these kids looked like 7yrs old)... were holding Tyler's hand (who was still attached to me) and walking fast... so it was quite the gong show... and very scary.... Eventually when we were just past the roughest part when all I could do was hang on to the kids... one of the boys just hoisted Tyler up and chugged the way through the rest of the river.... the kid was apparently 12 yrs old... and butt naked.... lol... gotta love the bukid!

Anyway... after that my pulse was about 150's.... but thankfully the horses showed up for the next few crossings... cause I couldn't have made them... too deep... too swift.... even Jeremy had trouble staying upright... and he's a man... and tall! (Course the little native kids make it look easy and Joziah wanted me to let him try on his own.... uh NO!)

By the time we reached the other side.... all the action was done.... or so we thought..... we spent the next 3 to 4 hours waiting and watching as the jeep got towed back and forth, back and forth in an effort to get it started.... there was water in the fuel, water in the transmission, etc, etc.... it was a mess... and of course it started raining again.... needless to say we had super muddy kids! But at least all the luggage was dry... and all the kids really did AMAZING!!! I was so proud... no complaining (until the next day)... lol

But... we finally made it to where we decided to stay for our little 'vacation'.... although poor Joe has had to spend much of his time 'fiddling' and fixing the jeep.... it's still running pretty rough and we're not sure it's ready for the return trip in tomorrow... praying that he'll be able to fix it in the morning before we head out....

So we have MUCH to be thankful for.... as you can see from the pictures....

More Adventure than one could ever hope for

2009-08-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

Our friends from Davao came in on Friday w/ their 3 kiddos.... we were hoping we made it back over the river no problem... we did. The plan was for them to spend a night and then head to our planned 3 days at the beach for some R&R.... that was the PLAN....
The rain started/stopped/over and over.... that evening we had our first 'patient'... a little boy who had stepped on a large piece of bamboo that impaled into his foot (OUCH!) It was a nasty piece that had gone straight up through to the soft part below the ankle bone on the inside of the foot. They had already pulled the piece of wood out.... so we cleaned it best we could with the supplies we had (my friend Amy who is here is a Nurse Practitioner)... gave the boy some of the antibiotics I have in my supplies (I don't have any yet at the clinic) and gave the parents instructions on danger signs.... we also made sure the boy was up to date on his tetanus injections (which he was thankfully!)
We went to bed with visions of the rain stopping.... but no such luck... it escelated into typhoon type weather (or at least the spin off of typhoon since we're too inland for typhoons)... anyway... in the middle of the night I woke to getting drenched.... our temporary shutters (shower curtains) had blown off and the rain was pouring in through our screened 'windows'.... Joe found a board and nailed it across the window.... the other two windows coverings (tarps) quickly followed suit... but we just had to move stuff out of reach of the rain (about 5 ft radius) and deal wiht the clean up in the morning.... and there was LOTS of clean up!
In the midst of cleaning up and watching how high the river was... we had our second patient.... a man with another puncture wound.... this one going straight through his hand.... the object.... a knife.... self defense wound... It was packed with a leaf that helps clot the blood... and was a muddy, dirty mess (it had happened the night before). So we cleaned it up, soaked it, irrigated it.... and dressed it.... he really was bummed we wouldn't stitch it... but since he waited so long that wasn't the best option.... anyway... it was pretty to be sure! lol...
All that day the rained poured on/off.... we ran out of gasul for our stove, so we went to cooking native... over the fire.... we were short of food supplies because we had planned on leaving that day and food left just gets ruined.... we had a native dinner of rice w/ sardines.... we went to bed praying the rain would stop so that the river would go down (it was WAY to high to cross).... the adventure of the next day will be on the next post... with pictures hopefully!!!

Pics

2009-07-30T21:23:00.000-07:00

Just a few images of the last week or so... amazingly the kids around the fence are less now... it used to be around 6 deep....

'Uncle' Mordegai and Carmen came for a visit... I have to say it was SO nice to speak English (even if it's not Mordegai's native tongue!)... I understand how much it means to people to hear things in their own language... makes me work harder to learn the language faster!

The kids thought the bug was great.... mom wasn't so sure!

A bit of the adventure of going to the office to get power....

This is life....

2009-07-28T21:13:00.001-07:00

The struggle for getting electricity in Kihan has gone on and on and on... for about 3 years!!! At one point they had power from neighbors, but the bill wasn't paid... so no more power (not us, them)! So the struggle to get our very own meter goes on and on...
Today was a CLASSIC example... get up early, head to the engineers office with the supposibly FINAL paper we will need in hand... get there... fill our more forms, take the paper to another person to 'help'... sent back to the power place (from the engineers office) to get another copy of our application, go back... only to be told the guy that we need to talk to isn't there today... try again Friday... oh... and by the way... we need another paper... I'm beginning to think they make this stuff up!!! (This is about the 15th trip being told we have everything in order... just come back 'tomorrow')... Living w/o power is sounding more and more appealing!!!
:(

One step at a time...

2009-07-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that at one point in my life I thought all those songs they sing in Sunday School were kinda dumb… but this week the lyrics of “One step at a time… only one step at a time… that is the way the Lord will lead you… one step at a time” kept going over and over in my head. There is so much to learn… simple things like… can I burn my trash at any point during the day or are there rules about such things… it’s not like you can just ask the neighbor… the language barrier is frustrating.
This week we’ve accomplished quite a bit, yet seem so far from the goal of just getting things running smoothly! There is still the issue of electricity… which seems we keep taking one step forward and another step backwards… going round and round to this person, that person, getting this document (which were told is the LAST one we need), only to have to go back and get a different document, which we’re told we can’t obtain because we aren’t residents…etc…. all of this of course involves waiting…and a LOT of it… So we are currently just learning how to live w/o electricity… which is fine most of the time… and we have the generator for when we really need a bit of power (course I think Joe spends more time FIXING the generator than we do running it… ) The jeep takes constant maintenance from the thrashing it gets going up/down the mountain and across the river. Water is a new thing… the village has water to it again… but it’s hit/miss… we’ve learned if there is an empty bucket and the water is currently on… THEN FILL IT! No waiting thinking you’ll fill it later cause it might not be on in another 2 seconds!
We’ve had a couple pretty good earthquakes to shake things up a bit… pretty severely damaged the new water tower… right after it was fixed… so another ‘project’. We’ve also had some holy smokes, crazy big storms that blow in super fast and then blow right through! It’s easy to see how big storms can do so much damage in such a small amount of time here! We have no way to close our windows… it’s just screen nailed to a frame… so shutters have been bumped up on the ‘honey do’ list quite quickly.
I could go on and on about the list of projects to do, but you get the picture… every day here is a struggle to survive for the basic necessities… food, lodging, water… no wonder it’s so hard to think about the future!
On the personal level we are doing ok… I think the kids are doing the best out of all of us… for them it’s not too difficult to make friends… course they (and we) are trying to figure out how to deal with it when kids do things we would consider unheard of (both Meghan and Tonia have been peed on by a local little 5 yr old boy)…. Not quite sure how to even approach that one (my advice was to kick him away!.... heck I wouldn’t let someone pee on me!) Other things are more up front and obvious here…. It’s no big deal for a 12 yr old boy to smoke… so Brian asked me about it the other day since his ‘friend’ smokes…. I’m thankful they are still at the age to ask me about it!
Anytime you move to a new area it’s hard… the process of making friends and getting to know people is always hard…. Here it feels like that times 100! We are still in the process of being gawked at and most people are afraid to even try to communicate, even when I speak my best Visaya at them…. I know it will pass… they will get to know us, and us them… but it takes time… There is no internet, no cell service, etc… the only other adult who I can speak free English with is Joe…. Although I am fast becoming close friends with our helper Heide who came with us and speaks a fair amount of English… and she teaches us each day more and more Visaya. We actually found a company here in the Philippines that does satellite internet… apparently it’s pretty decent (as long as you have a constant power supply, which eventually we will have…)… but… it’s also pretty stinkin expensive! It’s about $850 for start up and $120/ month after that…. It’s a tough decision because the access to the internet equals the ability to get assistance/help/etc with patients, questions, emergencies… but the flip side of course is the cost! We’ll see what can be worked out… it’s not high on the ‘priority’ list currently…
Well… it’s getting close to dinner time here and since we have no ability to store meat… we’ve become QUITE imaginative in our meals…. This morning it was left over fettucine sauce mixed with a canned unidentifiable meat, add a bit of spice, make biscuits and viola!!... biscuits and gravy! I’m so thankful for kids who don’t complain (too much) about the new or creative food choices!
Enjoy that steak on the grill… or the hamburger…. I’m planning to enjoy them a LOT when I go to the states in August! Poor Joe… I’ll have to splurge and get him a nice steak for his birthday when I get back! We should have power to run our fridge by then… (knock on wood)! Lol…

Kihan... at last

2009-07-23T22:52:00.000-07:00

After all the delays, issues, tired nights, eating here and there, sleeping here and there... we are all living in ONE place! Praise the LORD!!! I made it out to Kihan w/o any problems besides a slight wrong turn for only 5 kilometers or so... Joe and the kids were super excited to see me and I was happy to be there! I managed to not dump the bike over, even on the muddy spots in the mountain! When I got to the river I considered trying to drive in... but considering I would never be able to push the bike through if it stalled... I waited... After a snack and drink I decided to walk in... by myself... with my heavy backpack (containing my laptop) and my suitcase. I had just finished unstrapping both from the motorcycle when a motor guy showed up who was willing to take me into Kihan... yeah!
It's so nice to be there... but also a TON of work... I'm pretty sure I am asleep before my head hits the pillow at night... unfortunately i don't stay that way as both nights thus far I have woken to the feeling of little creatures on me or flying above.... ugh... twice they've gone in my ear! Ewww... so... the screen on the window next to my bed is the next thing on the list to fix!!
The cooler nights are such a relief after sweating for the past two years... I even have a real quilt on my bed! imagine that!
The kids are adjusting well thus far... Joziah has decided that since kids follow him everywhere he'll start a 'club'... he even has a meeting place and everything. He tells me not to worry... he'll be a good leader (think all those lectures are paying off?)!
I've got a goal to learn 3 womens names each day....
The locals think the rabbits are great... although they were a little surprised we were going to eat them!
Of our 9 puppies... only 1 is still surviving... they just couldn't handle it all I guess... :*( Sayong! (meaning what a waste)...
Speaking of waste... we had to throw a ton of our fridge stuff since we were sure by now we would have power out there... but sadly no... it's a veerrry loongg story... that is like the energizer bunny and just keeps on going....
I have many many things to blog... but can't think of them currently! lol! Maybe it's the pressure of only having 'so much time' at the internet cafe... who knows...
Keep praying for us... pray for our safety our adjustment and that we could find our place with the people here in Kihan...
Blessings,
Jenn

Saying goodbye

2009-07-21T05:44:00.001-07:00

Well.. this is it... I sit here in Mercy at my last shift... strangely enough until these past few moments my mind has stayed too busy to focus on the fact that this is it... it's ending... a new season is beginning... but how can one start a new season without giving credit and saying goodbye to the old? I have learned and grown so much in the past two years... I have caught 90 babies... I have assisted at countless others... wow... wow!!! I have had AMAZING supervisors who have generously poured into my life whom I will miss greatly! I will miss the women we serve and there sweet little babies... I will miss bumbling bana's who just want to help.... The sweet cry of a newborn baby... I just realized the other day that I won't be catching babies for awhile... no palpating big swollen bellies... no helping women as they journey through labor and find themselves strong enough to push through to the other side... Even the times when other circumstances factor in and they can't complete the journey here.... I'm honored to have been a part of their journey.... to offer some bit of support and mercy...
So yes... I will miss these women and I treasure the things I have learned.... but I am also ready to step into the next phase... where hopefully there will be more women w/ preggo bellies! This morning during worship at prenatals I was inspired out of the blue with how to set up the prenatals for the village women... I am super excited to have another piece in place (well at least in my mind its in place).
After a long day yesterday, Joe and the kids made it safe to Kihan (confirmed via text with the truck driver who drove the moving truck)....my last shift was supposed to be friday, but another midwife offered to take it so that I could surprise Joe early... so tomorrow morning bright and early I will take off on the motorcycle and drive, drive, drive... praying for clear skies and safe travels!!!
So I will sign off now... till someday again we have internet access!

Barely hangin on

2009-07-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

You know those moments when your sanity is tested... that you stand at the edge of crazyville and have to conciously make the choice to NOT go nutso... yeah... that's pretty much been our life this past... oh month or so... Every time I think I can sit down and write about this or that... another thing tops it... and usually I am too exhausted by the end of the day to even think of getting on my computer.

Just to update of this past weekend...

We were supposed to leave on Friday... so on Thursday the truck was being loaded... but our jeep was having issues and had to go to the shop, I had to work, then we had an immigration appt at 3... We finally made it to our immigration appt while guys loaded the truck and women furiousiuosly packed those 'last few boxes'... that usually end up like the last 20 boxes!! Anyway... we waited... and waited... and finally at 4:30 they said... sorry.. come back tomorrow... We had to have these last things signed off so that when I leave the country in a few weeks we are able to leave.... and return... so... we made a quick phone call and the guys started unloading the truck... by the time we arrived home all the neighborhood kids had pitched in to help unload (they were hoping we had changed our mind and were staying). So the truck wasn't available again until monday... we had literally nothing in the house... no food, no utensils... toothbrushes and one spare outfit... So... we've pretty much survived on eating out twice a day... we were blessed to eat dinner one night with the dorm girls and another at friends of ours... other than that... fast food all the way (fast food is a totally different experience in this country... food is to go in plastic bags and it's usually chicken and rice). Anyway.. we've survived that... and then we've had a disaster of a house because our landlord decided that RIGHT before we moved out would be a great time to treat tear the walls apart and treat for termites... except her termite guys stole from us (kinda hard to blame others when you're the ONLY one in the house)... anyway... so they left a mess... then our landlord keeps wanting to walk contractors through the house while commenting the whole time what a mess the house is... (can you tell my patience is wearing very very thin...) Anyway... yesterday I noticed that the puppies were getting ringworm from the mama dog... so I decided to treat the mom with oral meds and hope that the meds that went through to the pups would help them (the vet and I had discussed it and we decided to just monitor the pups and at the first sign of weakness or not tolerating it well... we would stop)... well... I woke to 2 dead pups and before breakfast was over there was another one... at this point we expect the rest to die... slightly pessimistic... but hey... we're really, really tired of dealing with animals dying... In Alaska NOTHING grows... cause it's so stinking COLD... fleas are even a rarity.... but here... fleas are the least of your concerns... every fungus, infection, etc... grows like wildfire overnight... blah....

So... there is more... so so much more... but I will stop there before it becomes a whine fest... because in honesty... this morning when I got up God showed me clearly that today would be a challenge and the choice to have a good attitude or not would lie with me.... and trust me... today it feels like a HUGE choice... I can't say that I've managed it every second of the day... (I have to say that my hungry belly was NOT happy that most restraunts, even ones that serve breakfast, don't open till 10!)... anyway... but we are surviving.. and knowing that patience builds character... right?...

2009-07-10T00:58:00.000-07:00

Joe n the kids made it home on Wed our time... Levi had a high fever, Joziah had stomach pains... after dinner and bedding down... Joziah started the throwing up... Levi's fever climbed... welcome back to motherhood.... poor Joe had been dealing with it out in Kihan all week... said that at one point Tyler's fever climbed so high it almost felt like it burned his arm to put it up against him. Tonia and Sam didn't get the illness... apparently growing up for the first few years of your life in Africa gives you a strong immune system as they never seem to get sick! The original plan was for Joe and the kids to return to Kihan on Saturday... but understandably... Joe is wiped... in between sick kids they had to haul water from about a mile away (think of all those puked towels and no water...) He also had to shop for the daily provisions while trying to figure out what boxes held what (our helpers idea of 'labeling' boxes was to write... "kitchen" or "CR"... not really what's IN the box)... oh well. Anyway... so Joe n the fam are staying for the week so we can get all are t's crossed and such... have our last stuff to do at immigration... etc...etc... the list never seems to end. Such is life right?
Needless to say we go to bed each night exhausted and wake up wishing it wasn't quite so early... I would like my son Tyler's energy... he's up every morning by 6:30... rarin to annoy... ahem.. I mean go... :P
Thanks so much for your prayers and encouraging words... God bless!

Quick update

2009-07-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

Well I could ramble on and on about this and that since I love to talk and this whole living by myself thing is somewhat of torture... me... keep my thoughts to myself!! Yikes! But I figured maybe God is teaching me something through this whole thing (no internet, no availability to talk to Joe, no one home)... and so I will not ramble (well anymore than I already am)... and just say that after 4 days of not having contact I was able to chat with Joe and let him know that he needed to gather the kiddos and return to Davao so we can get our last paperwork finished at immigration.... I'm pretty sure this whole no cell service out there is gonna be pretty hard to swallow... not so much when we're all out there together, but especially when I'm in the states and he's here... :( Praying for a solution...

Along those lines...

2009-07-05T00:33:00.000-07:00

This quote I stole from a fellow missionary in Haiti's blog... (just so I give proper source credit!)

I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.
~Quaker saying

Doing better

2009-07-05T00:12:00.000-07:00

Amazing what a bit of sleep and some food will do for your outlook on life! I'm feeling much better... not quite to my normal bubbly personality (snort)... but getting there! haha...
Currently there is no internet at my house... no real food to speak of (unless you count the rabbits and chickens as potential food)... so I grab bites to eat at the market or McD (very healthy)... or the girls are always good to feed me when I'm on shift (bless them)! But... I really don't think of myself as having it hard at all... the area we are moving to has been w/o water for a week now... they have to go down and haul their water up to their area of the village... food gathering is a daily task... no fridge to dig through for leftovers... and certainly no McD's to run to in an emergency.... just food for thought... what do we think of as necessities (toilet, water, food, Walmart... ;) Some days when I want to just go home and live in a nice neighborhood with a white picket fence (ok... so those who know me know I would never want to do that... but you know... )... anyway... I think to myself... if just a tiny bit our presence will help these people... then its worth it. Whether it be through the clinic or the fish ponds or the rabbits... just bringing a few 'necessities' to this area will change their outlook... I can barely survive a week on very little sleep, very little food and manual labor.... I can't think about anything but my immediate needs... well imagine that is your life... daily... there is never any hope for change.... I can't imagine that I would be so inclined to try to plan a better future or have much hope....
People wonder how come in poor areas of the world people have a 'hand/mouth' mentaility... they can't see the benifit of making a garden, of weeding it, of taking care of it... so that in 6 months it will produce food for them.... they need food now... not in 6 months...
AnYwAys..... heavy thinking... that's what happens when I'm by myself!!!! Nothing to do but think, pray and sleep! hahaa... or something like that!
Keep your prayers coming... Joe just text that he and a couple of the younger kids have a bad flu bug... no fun!!!

Fear stinks...0

2009-07-03T02:17:00.000-07:00

I contemplating not writing on this blog even though I was somewhere with internet availability... but then I thought... why not? People should know what its like... the feelings we deal with are the same things others deal with.... right? I did at least temper my title... it was gonna use a much stronger word... lol...
So... why wouldn't I write? I'm pretty emotional at the moment... in fact, enough so that I finally hit my personal wall today....
I've been thinking a lot about fears lately... how everyone has them and it's just what we do with them (either participate in the fear or leave it in God's hands)... but of course understanding this and practicing this is always two seperate things right? Especially because fear likes to sneak in when we are down and tired... just plain exhausted.... I've actually been struggling with little fears here and there, but have always been able to give them to God... but then with the move, the sale of our house, packing, figuring out vehicles, figuring out back and forths, etc... it just got worse. We transferred our stuff out to Kihan this week... I won't go into it, just to say it was QUITE the ordeal getting it all over the river (which is currently running high)... I almost didn't end up going since I have a continuity that had been having preruns at labor... but finally headed out (the decision that I was going wasn't made till 5:40 am...we left at 7)...
There is currently no water on in the area of the village we are living in due to a broken pipe from the resevoir... which meant for a LOT of water hauling, the guys worked till late trying to get the sink put together, a bug flew in my ear and woke me up (it was freaky), couldn't sleep after that, chickens crowed all night, Brian woke up throwing up, Joziah at one point the next day was so constipated he couldnt' stand up straight, figuring out w/ village kids what the rules will be with the kids bikes (imagine 200plus kids wanting to ride 6 bikes)!.... Went shopping at the market in the nearest city, got food for the gang, washed clothes by hand, set up furniture, said goodbyes and headed back to the city.... I arrived in Davao a little after 10pm... got keys to my house, headed inside, checked on things, sat down to check email... got a text from my continuity saying she was headed to Mercy in labor... tried to get the motorcycle over the narrow board over the sewer... almost dropped the bike in the sewer, pulled a muscle in my leg pulling with all my might so it wouldn't fall in (I'm not sure if I would have gone fishing)... Decided to walk to work (it's late...) Arrive after my gal and check her in... 3 cm... but high BP... we worked on that and she finally went home a bit before 1am... I decided to sleep at the dorm since it was closer... listened to the hustle and bustle of the clinic all night (you can hear EVERYTHING).... got a text at 5am from my cont coming back... Checked her in... 5-6cm... but very high BP now... IV inserted, changed positions, finally BP came down... Lots more intesting issues I won't go into about the labor... finally transported at 4pm.... she still 6cm... can barely walk from my leg hurting (both from the strained muscle and the nice blood clot from the traveling)... trying to work on paperwork for the sale of our house... watching my dog who is starting to look like maybe HER labor is beginning! Still need to feed animals and SLEEP!

Really... I was at a point today of letting fear overwhelm me... fear for the safety of my kids (like somehow me being there would protect them), fears of not being enough, of not 'getting it right', of ..... etc....etc.... To top it off Joe also had a rough day taking the kids to town to run errands... I know in my head that it's all just temporary and new... but it still stinks...
But then I sat here and started just praying... praying that God would take my fears and turn them for his glory... that people could see HIM through our daily lives... Cause really... let's be honest... sometime LIFE SUCKS!.... but you know what? GOD is ALWAYS good.... ALL the time! And best of all... even when we feel down and depressed and like quitting... all we have to do is ask for that peace and then sit still and wait... it comes like a gentle breeze.... feel it??... I do!

T minus days...

2009-06-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

It feels surreal... in 2 days our life will have a major change... who knows what the future will hold? Maybe it feels surreal because I am currently in the reality of trying to figure out how to transport all our stuff from point A to point B... strange questions come up... like "should we wait to transport the fridge until we have power?" or maybe we should just ask the neighbor to plug our fridge into their power until we get ours? It's hard to know what to get rid of and what to keep.... who knows if we will need it later or not?
The other hard part is just the hard reality of how difficult the next few months will be... July will be me going back and forth to Davao for my shifts... gathering the last odds/ends from the house as I go... doing grocery runs, etc... while Joe sets up the house there... (with all the kids of course). Then in August Tonia, Joziah and I fly to Oregon for me to take the NARM (midwifery board exam), then to Oklahoma to visit my sister for a few weeks before hopefully heading back here in September.... then the clinic set up will begin in earnest!
Joe's only been gone 2 days on this trip and already I'm thinking this arrangement stinks! I know we've done it before (when we both took trips to Africa for extended times)... but I still think it stinks! Forgive the whining... I just wish that there was an 'easy' answer... but I know that good things in life certainly don't come easy! Your prayers are coveted as we head off on this unknown journey into whatever God has in store for our family.

Washing machine

2009-06-24T05:23:00.000-07:00

no... no trouble with our wash machine... I'm just pretty sure that my life is currently a wash machine... or maybe that's a dryer?... I'll go with washing machine since I'm currently soaked from being out in the torrential down pour...
Here's the deal... I am a driven, focused type of person... I love adventure, unexpected, etc, etc... but one can only take sooo much of being here, there, and everywhere ya know?! Currently my house is a maze of half packed boxes, lists are piling up of 'things to do', we are running around getting this and that for the clinic in Kihan, then for the jeep, then I go to work, still trying to figure out ways to entertain children (and keep them out of the boxes), figure out how to live half here and half in Kihan when we barely have enough clothes for here, figure out when to transfer all our stuff, when to transfer animals, work, work again, go to all these last minute 'get togethers' and goodbye things... Phew... All of these things are good, all are 'needed' and I'm pretty much wishing at the moment that someone would give me... I dunno.. what's a good medicine to prevent a panic attack... oh yeah... G-O-D... definitely need to get me more of that!! Prayer could help too... if you would be so inclined... Thanks!

Oh to be a pearl

2009-06-22T15:45:00.001-07:00

Pearls are big here... they sell them pretty much everywhere... but I was reading a thought or two the other night about pearls... They grow in slimy nasty oysters... the only reason they form and are so beautiful is the irritation of the sand inside the oyster.
Last night as we headed to bed completely, utterly exhausted for the umpteenth time this month... I woke up around midnight hot (we had forgotten to turn on the fan)... I was thinking about how irritated I've become... so tired of all the little 'frustrations' that stand between us and our 'goal'... how often do we miss that these little irritations in life are really God making us into pearls... so when we do reach the ultimate goal... we are refined and beautiful... Hmmm.. the trick is to learn how to embrace the irritations and not be ahem... irritated by them! Of course... easier said then done.... Yesterday leaving for church was a classic example... we were running late (no big deal... everything starts late in the Philippines!)... but then kids were supposed to wait by the gate so we could help them across the 'bridge' to the car... by the time we got together the water bottles (a must for the HOT church we go to)... and the snacks, etc.... we got out there to find a couple kids with no shoes on, a kid who had forgotten his stuff, another who had stepped in poo, another riding a bike around... etc...etc... it just goes on and on... the whole way to church I had to just pray to NOT be irritated!! It worked... because had we been focused on our 'goal' or getting to church, finishing, eating, etc... we would have missed God's word for us, his purpose for us that day... at church there were a couple kids who had boils on their faces... we were able to stay and chat with the moms/caregivers about what to do and how to care for them... one mom chose for us to lance the boil, drain it, and then apply a dressing... so off to the pharmacy with an extra 8 people in our rig (besides our own 9)... then to our house to clean her up a bit (one had burst at one point and the pus had caused her hair to stick mercilissly to her other two boils)... Joe gently cleansed her face (she was SO brave), then with him already in position, he lanced them and had the tough task of squeezing the nasty, green, thick pussy infection out... (this one didn't smell tooo bad)... we then applied a 'wet' dressing and gave them a pack of guaze and vaseline to continue to keep the wound open so it would drain. The caregiver for the girl was just crying with thankfullness as she had been trying her best to care for them but was just at a loss. Pray for her as she heals and that this will be it for the boils... they are sooo painful!
Anyway... today my goal is to embrace my 'irritations', whether it be kids, husband, myself, patients, supervisors, etc... and just let God use it to refine me into what he wants....
Now that I've said that... we're having oatmeal for breakfast... ugh... my faavvorritee... not... :P

Just to make things interesting...

2009-06-19T03:05:00.000-07:00

This is what lies just outside our front gate...

See the green gate on the right... that's ours... try moving your furniture over that! And this is the end result... they don't have to build you back a driveway... should make for an interesting time moving.. :( We're praying our landlord decides to build a new driveway and quick!

SO Stinking BLESSED!

2009-06-18T05:37:00.000-07:00

I am humbled... and almost at a loss for words... (which anybody who knows me knows that doesn't happen often)... Forgive me if I ramble... I am still overwhelmingly blessed! I am sitting here eating peanut m&m's and drinking mocha cafe international... but that's not why I'm blessed... I am sitting in front of a table chock FULL of fun little goodies from the states... but that isn't why I'm blessed...

In my childhood I can remember going with my mom to the church and putting together 'care packages' for college students/missionaries, etc... I never in a million years understood what that means to people away from 'home'...

Today we got a box... this box... from pretty much complete strangers... Many months ago we had the privelage of meeting a couple of people from Grace church that had basically built Grace medical Clinic (we even named the clinic after them!)... We accompanied Stan and Joan out to Kihan for an afternoon and just had a chance to visit... Joan was fun to chat with and learn a bit of history and this and that from (she is a teacher)... Anyway... when she got home her women's bible study group decided to bless us with a taste of home... a little of this... little of that... lots of random variety... It was like Christmas... but mostly we cried... see we've had a rough week... we're tired, we're doing this all on our own.... or at least at times it feels that way... of course there is God... but sometimes I whine and tell God that's all well and good... but could he possibly pack my house for me? (Just being honest here)... we all hit those times of just plain tired, frustrated and wanting to... something!... I asked God in my prayer time just a day or two ago if he could please show me that someone... anyone... still cared on the other side of the world... and boy did He ever!!! (maybe next time I really will ask him to pack my house... ) :)

Our God is amazing... and ladies in Glendora, CA... You ROCK! You have my prayers and my gratitude! Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts!

Jenn

"Catch up"

2009-06-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

Ok... I decided after looking through my pictures that it was time for an update!! So get yourself a cup of coffee and sit a spell... :)

First and most importantly... I graduated!!!

My amazing family who helped make it possible! (They even got awards and gift certificates for their sacrifice!)

And of course I couldn't have done it without this handsome baldy!!! Thanks love!!

Early in June we went to what was supposed to be 'culture night' at this outdoor place in Davao... unfortunately it wasn't culture night, but we enjoyed the band anyway... and of course we enjoyed the evening with friends from Peace Builders... It was Amy's birthday and so we celebrated with a very Filipino dinner and fun with other staff from peace builders...

Joe and Jeremy enjoying the 'groove' music... LOL

'Ames'... Nurse Practitioner and friend extrordinaire! LOL... (In case she's reading)... ;)

Ok... because I promised Joziah I would post a picture of his really cool rocket he built... he was pretty proud... so here it is... actually Joziah took the pics... he's become quite the photographer... but thank goodness for digital because he fills up my card!

Our street has been closed for the city to install new sewers (for which we are thankful the next people who rent will get to enjoy)... the neighborhood kids have all come knocking down our gate wanting to play... so all the kids have enjoyed riding bikes with no traffic! Looking forward to Kihan for the bike riding to be sure!!

This is Levi and his kitties... he LOVES his kitties... in fact he was just sitting here next to me trying to get the kitty to 'behave' and sit nice next to him... I don't understand WHY it runs away... :P

We have had several trips to Kihan lately... it's a looong day of driving in the hot sun... bumps of the road... big bumps of the river crossing... but we have enjoyed it and are building great friendhips in the process!

The older 4 took an extra trip to Kihan for their Bushudo Kai stuff... the instructor and a team from the US came and did a demo out there... they all had great fun and the kids enjoyed getting to perform their learned skills.

On another trip our friends Amber and Kevin w/ their 3 kids came out and we had a real 'American' camp out... even splurging for hot dogs and marshmallows.... unfortunately the chocoloate bars were completely melted... :( But... they still had fun!

The kids found these things on some plants and all the kids started 'decorating' themselves... even getting the adults involved... I shudder to think if all these peircings were real!

A couple midwives from Mercy came with us out there... it was a joy to have them come and I have so valued their input and advice in our move to Kihan! Thanks Els and Sus!

On our last trip school had actually started... 700 kids/ 12 teachers... a very small school! Actually we plan on enrolling Tyler and Meghan for the 2 hrs a day their age group goes... they will still do homeschool, but it will give them more cultural experience and they will pick up the language quick! We've already been asked to teach enlish at the school... since neither of us are teachers... we're not even sure where to begin!!

And FINALLY!!!... The saga of our JEEP! Here it is almost done...

Here it is... we had it extended about 14" and it was jacked up, new gears, etc... etc... Joe could tell you... all I know is... it's made to romp in the bukid!!!

We took it out to Kihan for the first trial run... knowing that the 4 wheel drive was a little messed up still... it made it great! It was a bit more of a bumpy ride then our jeepney on the highway (due to the big off road tires)... but handled amazing in the river...

Ahem... the problem came when we came OUT of Kihan... by the grace of God we happened to be in Alabel (the nearest city) when suddenly all our gears went out... we coasted into the gas station (amazingly)... Joe checked underneath and shudderred to think what could have happened... the axle was sliding out from the tire... we were sooo blessed we weren't out in the middle of nowhere... or driving fast down the highway!!! Also our friend Toto who owns a jeep lived just down the street from where we broke down... he got a mechanic there quick quick (who actually knew what he was doing) and they put a temp fix on it to get us to Davao... Toto fed us dinner and then we were off! We arrived just before midnight on the day of graduation! Talk about a very tired next day!!! But... we are so thankful for God's mercy and Grace!

On a final note... The day of our jeep incident... Dr Sam was in his own accident... with the motorcycle... he was clipped by a big 6 wheeler truck and went flipping several times (still attached to the motorcycle)... he has a HUGE hematoma on his upper leg/thigh/butt that has around 3 litres of blood in it... and he rebroke his collar bone from his accident 2months ago... so is awaiting being stable enough for surgery on that... please keep him in your prayers as his wife is in the states and they are in the middle of transferring houses currently! Honeslty...when he told what happened...he should be dead... but obviously God is not done yet! Keep on praying for our safety and protection! God bless!!! Jenn

Where's the relief?

2009-06-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

You know.. when you're done w/ school there is supposed to be a reprieve... I'm still waiting!!! Between the final, trips to Kihan, breaking down (that's another story), barely making it for graduation, and now Meghan's birthday... another trip planned this weekend... supposed to be studying.... I'm out of breath!!! The kids are dog tired, I'm beat, Joe's exhausted... But God gives us strength for the day... for that we are thankful!!!! Will post pics and stories soon!!!
Jenn

And it all comes down to this...

2009-06-03T02:30:00.000-07:00

So... after 2 years of studying... we're cramming our brains full for the past few days.... trying not to shake our heads for fear that all that 'info' might fall out! :) It has to stick till tomorrow at 1... when we start what we are told is a 4 hour test of our 'knowledge'.... phew... The 'normal' stuff is easy for us to remember... we do it daily... what's harder for us is the stuff that we don't deal with on a day to day basis... especially when certain tests are run during pregnancy (because we don't run them here)... thankfully I can usually remember test time frames since I've been through them a few times in my life! LOL! But there is lots... LOTS more... So... say a prayer for all of us girls taking our final tomorrow... and continue to keep us in your prayers for the NARM (the certification test we will take in August)!
We'll let you know how it goes!
Jenn

A very weird day indeed

2009-05-28T16:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I headed off to day shift, not sure what the day would entail... I was endorsed an immediate postpartum... A 19 yo had just given birth to a baby with a large cleft palate... It was a good time of showing the parents how great and amazing their baby was... the dad warmed up and held the baby for a long time... by the time the day was done they were definitely coping much better and on their way to be 100% in love w/ their baby. Another baby was delivered via using the vacuum extraction machine... a rarity at MMC... it went well and the baby is doing well... but it had some congenital anomalies and is also be referred to our back up pediatrician... Another baby was born at shift change... I was in position to 'catch' this one, but was happy when swing shift came and took over. Then two more labors were pushing... both of which I had done their last prenatals on... both of which had 38 fundal heights (a rarity to have such an 'american sized fh here in the Phils') Anyway... one transported because she just couldn't bring the baby down... the second (my patient) transported herself after I left because of frustration at the baby not coming fast enough... So... I went home a little late and slept in preperation for night shift... both JL and I had been on day and were scheduled for night. When we arrived for night shift there had been one more birth... a baby that had a club foot and some other little 'anomalies' that were found on the newborn exam... and... to top it off... .the bb that had been born an day/swing shift change had had a congenital hip dislocation issue! So... to sum it up... ALL 4 babies that were born yesterday had some strange things going on... hmmm... what was in the water 9 months ago!??
So... that ended my strange day... just after midnight we shut out the lights and thankfully no labors came all night and we got sweet sleep (interrupted by crying babies.. but sleep none the less!)
Today... time to buckle down and study for the final!

Memorial Day Camping

2009-05-27T03:01:00.000-07:00

Nope... actually there is no memorial day here... there is a day of the dead... but I think that's different and we generally don't think hanging out and partying at graveyards is much fun... So... anyway... over the weekend we headed to Kihan to test out Kevin's truck (a friend from Fire Team Intl) and to take some measurements for some cabinets and a sink for upstairs in the clinic... The truck did amazing! We were so happy because our rig is slightly bigger than theirs and we weren't sure if it was going to work... but now we know it will! So... a couple more weeks and our jeep will be ready! It couldn't be done sooner for us... the trips to Kihan are getting closer and closer together and the logistics of all that travel... well... it's a 5 hour trip... and it gets a bit tiring! Now we should be able to cut at least an hour off the trip having engine power and not having to stop at the river and change vehicles or what not!
I am continuing to work.. studying a bit for the final (which is in a couple weeks), working on the animals, writing lots of lists... pricing, etc.... Joe has been up to his neck in paperwork as well... the kids grades were due... which thankfully is somewhat easier with this new curriculum... then we are working on obtaining 3 year temporary residents visas... all before I head to the states... which means a miracle needs to take place... :) We totally believe it can and WILL! The 3 year visa will cost us a whopping $5K for our family!!! We're hoping the next country God calls us to is a little cheaper in the visa department! (Our friends in Cambodia pay a measly 50 bucks or some such rubbish!) Anyway.... once obtained we won't have to mess with them again!!! That will be a huge weight off our shoulders considering how far away we live from immigration!
So... if you think of it... say a prayer that it all goes off w/o a hitch!
Well... time for dinner! The kiddos are slightly wiped from our excursion this weekend! (Mom and Dad too!)
We did get a lot accomplished and realized how much more we have to do.... One step at a time....
Jenn

Hello form Joe!

2009-05-20T07:42:00.001-07:00

Hello! I figured it was about time I do my part and start sharing some of my ramblings with everyone out there. I had planned on doing so quite a while ago, but you know hoe it goes with us procrastinators. Why would I want to make my list of things that I would like to do or that need to be done any shorter by actually doing them. What point would there be in even having a list of things that need to be done if i actually did them in a timely manner. Who would still come to me asking if I could do this or that? What fun would that be? ... OK enough of that rabbit trail.
In all reality I have really wanted to post for a while but i have just been busy. With the kids new school program, my computer is tied up in the mornings with Tonia doing her school work. (we share a computer) Once school is finished with all the kiddos, I am usually off on some task or another until lunch. For the past few months the older four kids have been taking Karate classes which means we are at the gym for a couple of hours in the morning a few days a week and Saturdays. After lunch I go run any errands that need to be done, which unlike back home can be quite time consuming and even take several days to complete rather simple tasks. Once I have finished up and get back home it is usually time to start thinking about what I need to do for dinner and "daddy is home!" play time. After dinner is finished and cleaned up we have some good old American family pastime. TV! Well not really TV but some old TV shows that I download from the Internet. Nothing like those old TV shows like Andy Griffith, the original 1950 and 1960 Zorro and Hogans Heroes. OK so we don't watch it every night but the kids would sure like to. We have also been reading God's Smuggler (about Brother Andrew) with the kids which they have enjoyed greatly. Bible time is followed by pajamas and teeth and putting the gang in bed. After everyone is settled in for the night I get to spend time with my best friend who has been so very busy the last couple of years with her school. Finally around 9:30 or 10 I head off to the gym to have some alone dad and God time and to suffice my need for physical activity. Of course all of this schedule is subject to change at a moments notice. So needless to say i don't get on my computer for any length of time these days, other than when I am watching something. But all this is in the process of changing. With Jennifer finishing her school work, things have been different. Not bad, just different. Seems I have gotten used to doing things for the last couple of years and now that she is around and also doing things, well i just need to let her. I got upset at her for cooking dinner one night. I had been running late and came home to find everyone sitting and eating dinner. I was upset that she had to be bothered to have made dinner. How silly was that. Instead of being appreciative of her making dinner, I was upset that she had to do what I thought I should have done. Oh I felt like a jerk. Well now I am enjoying having her around so much more and find myself thinking "I remember this, having my friend around to share my days with". I am so proud of Jennifer for all that she has accomplished. I am looking forward to what God has in store for us as we begin our shift for our new role in Kihan. So many things to think of and do in the months to come, but I know that with God, my best friend, and a great bunch of kids by my side nothing is out of our reach. I want to say thank you so much for every ones support, prayers and encouragement over the last couple of years. I know this dad couldn't have fared as well as I have without it. Blessings to you today!
Joe and the Gang

Lesson for today:

2009-05-20T07:42:00.000-07:00

A Midwife should follow her instincts!!! Here's how I learned my lesson tonight...
It was a nice, quiet shift when I arrived... no labors, just postpartum gals... I restocked the birth room... caught a quick nap, tried to wake up... chatted w/ the girls... and after hearing a beeping far in the distance I got up and put gloves in my pocket 'just in case'... (even though the honking was long gone and it was nothing)...
5:56pm... I'm thinking I should get up and go pee and get a cup of coffee...
5:57pm... 'R' arrives in labor... she looks active.. I ask her (against my instict to rush her to the bed) if she can still pee and wash in the CR... she says yes... I ask if she needs to push... 'no'... she can pee she says... the last thing I say before shutting the door to the CR... "Ayow Utang sa CR".. meaning don't push in the CR... I walk outside the bathroom and take 2 steps...
5:57pm... I hear a yelp and she starts telling me the baby is coming!... I throw my gloves on and squat on the very wet, slippery floor and catch her babies head as it slides out... trying to keep my own balance while unwrapping the cord from around his neck and not drop him! My 'assistants' come in and help with blankets, cord cutting and a pad so we can move mom to the bed... phew!!
So... I love being a midwife.. ya just never know what the night will bring... but... continuing to learn to TRUST my instinct!!!
God bless...
:P

May update of photos...

2009-05-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

Kids Bushido Kai competition

Tyler n his 'new' outfit

Tonia n 'Latte'

Our friends rabbit breeding they showed us

Fish pond w/ garden above (just harvested so no veggies in it)

My first continuity ever! A year and a half later!

Levi n the man machine

Our 'jeep'

Joziah in his outing w/ Daddy down to Sarangani

Grace Medical Clinic