Life from an emails perspective

It always happens on the days that I most need it. And usually, I don't even know that I need it, until I receive it and am left with tears threatening to spill over my eyes from words of truth so precisely and perfectly timed.

Such was the case yesterday when I received an email from Bekah. Words of love and encouragement poured out over me. A deep pleading prayer to the Lord on my behalf. A dear friend lifting me high  which left me humbled so low for the Lord's provision over me and my heart.

Truly, He cares for us like no other. Truly, He uses others to minister to our hearts and speak His truth and promises to restore us for another day. I am so thankful for His body.

In the email last night, I wrote to Bekah about a specific area of life here that is hard and well, just different...in response to her prayer over me. I am sharing it here because it occurred to me last night that I often times find it easier to open up about the realities of daily life here when I am just conversing directly between friends, without the burden of having to write something coherent and smart on this blog.

So, here is a glimpse of life here, from an emails perspective.....

"I can't even tell you how much I needed these words. Especially for health, and "what ifs". It is so hard living in a country where the health concerns are so much different than the US. 

Living in a country where diseases that we don't even have to think about...are not eradicated here...like polio, and leprosy, and small pox. We don't have to worry about those in the States. 

NO BODY even thinks about them back home! 

And yet here....here.....they still very much afflict people!

Today at the orphanage I noticed that there was some kind of outbreak among the children. Many of the kids had developed large raised bumps on their skin. I thought maybe it might be chicken pox, but they weren't red (though that's kinda hard to tell on brown people) and not scabby. And then I came home and told Isaak and he told me not to go back tomorrow because there has been a recent outbreak of small pox in the city. When he was visiting a hospital this week he saw a pretty bad case of a man with small pox...and he wasn't hardly isolated. 

Not like you should be with a disease so contagious.

I have no clue if what the children had was small pox. One of the girls had a fever and was pretty sick and had the worst amount of bumps on her face and head. It could have been any number of things. 

It sucks not being a doctor and not knowing. :)

And seriously....to have to stand in the kitchen and pray and plead that the Lord would cover my ignorance and protect us from whatever was afflicting those children. That whatever we, because of course I was there with Marvelly, walked in on today would not manifest itself in our bodies. My gosh....to have to even pray that now. To have to even think, and wonder about the "maybes" because the "maybes" are so real here.

It's just, such a different life now. So different.

Thank you for the prayers. please tell your mom thank you for me. I think about the time in her home so much and all the words of truth and life she poured into us. I can not even believe that you are really trying to come out here. Leaves me speechless and humbled.

And that little girl so sick today....her name is Rosalee. That is the name we were going to name our other daughter if we ever had one. :)  Had to keep with the whole "lee" ending in the names. 

She has to be around 2 years old. Has to be. No way to really know for sure though. The girl is not even crawling. She was brought to the orphanage last month because her mother is mentally ill, quite severely, and did not have the ability to care for her. She was taken out of the home. Well, off the street. She just sits cross legged all the time. When she first arrived she was just skin on bones. Horribly malnourished. She cried whenever I got close to her. She wouldn't even reach for toys. She'd just sit there, and stare. As if she had no reason to live. Over the past month or so she's gotten a little bigger. But still doesn't make much of an effort to move. I look at her and think...that I would totally adopt her too. Not in a dreamy, "oh I'd adopt them all!" kind of way. But, really, I would take her in a heartbeat. I thought about that on the way to the orphanage today......"