So we do not lose heart

Today was a simply sweet day. This morning I spent some solid time with the Lord, hoping to better equip myself for the day. I ended up in 2 Corinthians, reading a passage I have highlighted over and over again, but this morning I read it with a whole new perspective.

"So we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction are preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look to the things not that are seen but are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4: 16-18

I read it once, and then again, and then again and I think 25 more times after that. I don't usually just sit and meditate on one short passage for so long, but this morning it was exactly where the Lord wanted me to be. To remember to not lose heart. To realize that this pain, these struggles, are light and momentary. The glory that is to come is not even comprehensible by our worldly minds. We aren't able to grasp the weight of eternity, but we trust what our God tells about it, because we have hope in Jesus.

Before I left for the hospital, I read a message from a girl who has been following my journey. I don't know her and she doesn't know me, but she has sat in the room I am in now. She has done the back and forth between baby cribs of two sick little ones. She's been here. She told me something this morning that was so refreshing to hear. Do small things with great love. Sometimes, most times, that's all the Lord asks of us. Its us that takes what God says and turns it into our own. Again, the Lord being so faithful in encouragement from community back home.

So I went to the hospital with a much better frame of mind than I went to bed with last night. I was prepared for no progress to be made today and for no questions to be answered. So I sat there and just held that baby boy all day long. Now that it's been three days, he knows when I am there that being held is an option. So if he gets put down or if I walk across the room to attend to the other baby- then he whimpers the most pathetic cry I have ever heard. The fact that he cries out for me honestly touches my heart more than anything. It's my prayer that one day when he is older when he understands what his childhood looked like, that he will not care what my name was or any other volunteer that comes before or after me, but that he will understand the love of his Savior through the arms that carried him through this season of life.

I think he was definitely feeling better today. I even got him to smile and laugh a bit! We cuddled lots. My most favorite thing is to put him on my chest. I can feel his little heart beating and him hearing the sound of mine calms him down. I praise the Lord for every beat that heart of his pumps.

Later in the afternoon, our CDA director came up to the hospital. She was able to track down the doctor so that I could talk to him. I was able to ask about a few things that would help us move along towards discharge. Another huge difference in healthcare here than home. At home, our patient's discharge planning begins the moment they are admitted. We are always looking to and planning for what things will look like at home. Culture is not like that here. You do not plan ahead. Not even really a few hours ahead, much less days. So anyways, I asked that he increase his formula amounts and that we switch from IV to PO antibiotics. The doctor agreed that would be fine and even nodded his head when I asked about likely discharge on Monday! Yay!!

I left the hospital a little early today and ended up having the most incredible and refreshing evening. Jennifer, one of her sons, and I went to the plaza in Cochabamba. They hold something there every Saturday called "kid-washing." The very poor villages in the mountains will come down with there small children to receive a bath because there is no running water where they live. This may be the one bath the kids get for the week or even month. When I got there I was greeted by tons of gringos (what we call white people). Missionaries, orphanage volunteers, hospital volunteers- pretty much every white believer in the city was right there on the plaza :) We had great conversation while we bathed little ones. I always love hearing how the Lord brings different people to different places. One of the girls there just graduated from A&M. Crazy!

From there we went to dinner with lots of friends. There is a family that lives here and currently serves as one of the homes for Casa De Amor. They have six children of their own ranging from 4-16 years old, and have 3 additional Casa babies living with them. So my dad, myself, Kayla, Cameron, Hannah & Lindsey plus two additional babies from the orphanage, our CDA director Jennifer, her husband Jake, and their 4 kids, all had dinner together! It was the most beautiful chaos. A room full of so many people in so many walks of life, with multiple different cultural backgrounds, all here for one purpose….to be the hands and feet of Christ. We spent the night telling great stories and talking a lot about the plans we had made that the Lord had completely changed- and here we all are in Bolivia! Community is not limited to where you are comfortably living. The Body of Christ is everywhere, and you appreciate it in a whole new way when you aren't in your comfortable atmosphere.

So today there were a lot less tears and a lot more smiles. Friends at home, your prayers are being felt- seriously. Please continue praying for the specifics I listed last night, but also that we would be able to get surgery rescheduled ASAP. If anything, that is our biggest concern right now. I am only here so long, and the surgeon comes and goes from Canada. Lots of logistics. But God, fortunately, doesn't need a perfect schedule. His ways are perfect with no schedule at all.