I am back at the hospital this week again, so I am able to update you all. I am hoping to post some pictures as well to share soon. You all need to see our beautiful new home!
Briefly since I wrote last:
When I returned back to my home in the community, I returned to:
-one of they boys sick with a sinus infection, myself fighting a bad cold, and Mariam came down with the same one. Deb had a cyst on the back of her neck I cleaned out daily for about a week, and she now has the same cold. Thankfully, we got the children on antibiotics in time to fight off the infection and they are all doing much better-indeed Glory to Him who protected us and is giving us speedy recovery in the midst of everything happening.
As a results of cold, rainy weather after a week of very warm days, we are still trying to get out of the cycle of illness and settle into a normal as things are almost finished at the house-it seems I say this every time I write, but I do believe the final carpentry work and painting will be finished in the next two weeks, and the electrician has finally finished.
-the children with disabilities came back for school the past two weeks, and thanks to Him working in the family's hearts to consent, I have started vitamins and further assessments on the children. Two of them need some strong vitamins and medication due to chronic problems, so pray for them and that their families might continue the vitamins and medication after I leave.
-Continue to ask Him go give me understanding and wisdom as I am the only nurse in the community and don't have the resources I am used to relying on. He has been more than faithful and I know will continue to give me and all of us just what we need. Pray as I plan and give education to staff and families that they will understand it, receive it and apply it-and of course that they would see Him in me and in all of us at the home.
-The children living in the home need more attention than they have been getting lately, and they need to be discipled. They are exposed to the Word daily and encouraged to act in a way that pleases Him, but we certainly need prayer for patience, understanding and power to keep encouraging them in Him and that He would change and mold their hearts. These kids come from different environments, some more tragic than others, and are difficult to assess; number one answer is that they need Him.
Thank you for the encouraging responses I have received from recent e-mails and for all your prayers. He has certainly been answering them and blessing me in tremendous ways. As much as I look forward to returning home to share in person with all of you, He is revealing so much of Himself to me here. If nothing else is gained through this experience, I can rejoice in the fact that He has and is drawing me to Himself daily, reminding me that He is the Bread of Life and that all my labors should be for Him and Him to be known in me. There is so much need here that I can only begin to see, and I pray believing He will continue to equip me and train me to do more in the future, should He bless me by bringing me back again. In the meantime, I am learning to focus on one day at a time the ways I can remain in Him and let Him reign in me in a way that encourages the believers and non-believers around me.
That is all for now, but I hope to post a few more details and updates throughout the week to fill you in. This week the hospital is very quiet here, and the ICU just emptied out completely. I have seen more IUDs-intra-uterine deaths and suicide attempts here than anything else; both of these are such sad things and so preventable! I hope some day I can be a part of planning prevention programs here. I think in some way, I already am.
Love you all and will post again soon!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
He's Making all things beautiful, in His Time
For those of you who follow my blog and don't read e-mails... (there are some added bonuses hidden here as well :-)
We are all safe and doing relatively well-at least were until I left the house for the week. Now that I am gone for the week, a few health concerns have come up; ask for His hand in the following things:
-Debbie has a large cyst on the back of her neck and has had a lot of pain from a couple falls.
-Anmol, the youngest boy-age 7, has come down with a cold and was recently exposed to mumps-so tomorrow they will be coming here to check things out just in case.
-Mariam gained the weight she lost back and seemed to be doing very well, but all week since the morning I left she has had bouts of reflux in the middle of the night. There are a couple of things that could be causing it and we just hope and pr it isn't anything serious! You can also pr that the medication I suggested to Debbie would help tonight.
On a more personal note...
Oh if only I had time to tell you all in detail about what I witnessed today!!! All I can say is that we all should be so thankful if we have not been sick here or had to deliver a baby here ( I know I am)! You also can ask Him that somehow my presence and way of interacting with people would in even some small way make a difference in the lives of the patients and the way the staff here veiw health care. As I was discussing with my roommate (she is from S India but has been here for several years, and oh how wonderfully thankful I am for her!), the nurse-pateint relationship here is so very different... her response was, "yeah, there is none!" It is so sad, but so true. I can't change it, but I do hope that the way I interact with patients and families, even though I speak and understand so little of their language, would somehow represent Him.
I have been so encouraged and blessed by the people He keeps bringing into my life here. Just when I am feeling alone with no one who understands what I am witnessing for the first time, He brings along someone who understands it exactly! Not only has He blessed me by the staff at the home in the past couple weeks, opening doors for friendships there, He has blessed me in huge ways in just a couple days here. My roommate here, for one, is just one of those people who is always brightening your day-and we relate on so many levels! We listen to music and sing every morning and night, and reason through our philosophical and psychological debates. On top of her presence and friendship, we met another girl who is a med-student here from Wisconsin. Meeting someone from home who is here on her own and come for a similar purpose is so refreshing! His timing could not have been better!!
Other than that, my request for you all is pr for my heart to be willing to apply myself and focus on what He wants me to do in the remaining time here, not being distracted with anticipation of returning home, but to focus and see His will accomplished in me for this time. Ask that I would open my mouth and let Him fill it and speak through me. I have been struggling a lot lately to understand His ways and have peace in what's next; to be honest every day is a battle to trust where He is taking me and what I am doing here, and yet every day He shows me clearly I am right where I belong!
I hope my updates reflect in some small way how much I am learning and being blessed here. I could probably write a novel every week, but then you would all be so tired of me. I know they are always filled with requests, but truly we are so thankful for His provision in every day, and I think in the midst of the daily battle, He has been drawing me into closer relationship with Him and teaching me so many things that will carry on far beyond this year-no matter where He leads!
I am so thankful for every one of you! I miss you all, but I know He wants me here and is giving me what I need for each day. Hope to update you before I am here again the end of February, but please do not be concerned if it is until then. April is just around the corner!
With love and gratitude, Nikki
P.S. Luke 9:23 is our verse of the week in our study, and boy is it hitting home! I was having a conversation with my roommate here at the hospital yesterday (Republic Day in India) about human rights and forgiveness. She is planning for a seminar where she has to address people who are trying to fight for their own rights, and she was trying to reason where one minoritiy here has to draw the line for another's rights; I can't quite recall where the two got started or connected, but it ended with me saying "that's why we are called to bear each other's burdens..." and she added, "and carry our crosses." Just some food for thought....
We are all safe and doing relatively well-at least were until I left the house for the week. Now that I am gone for the week, a few health concerns have come up; ask for His hand in the following things:
-Debbie has a large cyst on the back of her neck and has had a lot of pain from a couple falls.
-Anmol, the youngest boy-age 7, has come down with a cold and was recently exposed to mumps-so tomorrow they will be coming here to check things out just in case.
-Mariam gained the weight she lost back and seemed to be doing very well, but all week since the morning I left she has had bouts of reflux in the middle of the night. There are a couple of things that could be causing it and we just hope and pr it isn't anything serious! You can also pr that the medication I suggested to Debbie would help tonight.
On a more personal note...
Oh if only I had time to tell you all in detail about what I witnessed today!!! All I can say is that we all should be so thankful if we have not been sick here or had to deliver a baby here ( I know I am)! You also can ask Him that somehow my presence and way of interacting with people would in even some small way make a difference in the lives of the patients and the way the staff here veiw health care. As I was discussing with my roommate (she is from S India but has been here for several years, and oh how wonderfully thankful I am for her!), the nurse-pateint relationship here is so very different... her response was, "yeah, there is none!" It is so sad, but so true. I can't change it, but I do hope that the way I interact with patients and families, even though I speak and understand so little of their language, would somehow represent Him.
I have been so encouraged and blessed by the people He keeps bringing into my life here. Just when I am feeling alone with no one who understands what I am witnessing for the first time, He brings along someone who understands it exactly! Not only has He blessed me by the staff at the home in the past couple weeks, opening doors for friendships there, He has blessed me in huge ways in just a couple days here. My roommate here, for one, is just one of those people who is always brightening your day-and we relate on so many levels! We listen to music and sing every morning and night, and reason through our philosophical and psychological debates. On top of her presence and friendship, we met another girl who is a med-student here from Wisconsin. Meeting someone from home who is here on her own and come for a similar purpose is so refreshing! His timing could not have been better!!
Other than that, my request for you all is pr for my heart to be willing to apply myself and focus on what He wants me to do in the remaining time here, not being distracted with anticipation of returning home, but to focus and see His will accomplished in me for this time. Ask that I would open my mouth and let Him fill it and speak through me. I have been struggling a lot lately to understand His ways and have peace in what's next; to be honest every day is a battle to trust where He is taking me and what I am doing here, and yet every day He shows me clearly I am right where I belong!
I hope my updates reflect in some small way how much I am learning and being blessed here. I could probably write a novel every week, but then you would all be so tired of me. I know they are always filled with requests, but truly we are so thankful for His provision in every day, and I think in the midst of the daily battle, He has been drawing me into closer relationship with Him and teaching me so many things that will carry on far beyond this year-no matter where He leads!
I am so thankful for every one of you! I miss you all, but I know He wants me here and is giving me what I need for each day. Hope to update you before I am here again the end of February, but please do not be concerned if it is until then. April is just around the corner!
With love and gratitude, Nikki
P.S. Luke 9:23 is our verse of the week in our study, and boy is it hitting home! I was having a conversation with my roommate here at the hospital yesterday (Republic Day in India) about human rights and forgiveness. She is planning for a seminar where she has to address people who are trying to fight for their own rights, and she was trying to reason where one minoritiy here has to draw the line for another's rights; I can't quite recall where the two got started or connected, but it ended with me saying "that's why we are called to bear each other's burdens..." and she added, "and carry our crosses." Just some food for thought....
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