Reflections

This young bald eagle greeted us to the states from a large fir tree outside Kristina's parent's house.

Well, we're back in the US now, enjoying family and getting accustomed to the cold weather.  The fall leaves held on just a bit longer than usual this year in Ridgefield, which was a special gift for Kristina from God.  We had a safe, uneventful trip back to the US, and the kids were really well-behaved.  We've been blessed by family and friends here in Ridgefield, who have welcomed us with open arms.  We're especially thankful to Kristina's parents, who've opened up their home to live until we find a place of our own, and we'll be spending most of December enjoying the hospitality of my parents in Idaho.

Stopping outside Papa and Grandma's house to shoot a picture of the fall leaves.

 It will take us awhile to fully reflect on our time in Shell.  Please be praying for us as we adjust to life back in our home country and look for a place to live.  In many ways, it will be very challenging for us to be living in the US.  Of course we already miss all of our good friends in Shell.  It was a true blessing and honor to live and work with those missionaries for a couple of years.

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about Baby D, a precious little 1-month-old baby who had suffered bleeding in her brain.  I wanted to give an update about her status.  After spending about a week in intensive care in Quito, she made a full recovery.  She was seen by Dr. Tacheny in clinic last weekend and appeared to be completely normal!  We thank God for the miracle of this little baby's life.  This was an especially critical case, but in our prayer times as a family, we felt a peace, as though God was telling us that she was going to be alright.

We thank God for a great time in Shell, and we're looking forward to this next chapter in our lives.  It's scary but exciting, and we're content to be in His will.  Thanks go out to all of you who have been alongside us the whole way!

Dan didn't wait 24 hours to go out fishing on the Lewis River and brought home some wonderful chinook salmon for dinner.

Weekend Call and Packing Craziness

As I pack up the house for our move Dan is busy with his last weekend call that he'll have here.  So far it's given him a run for his money as he not only has had clinic on his own this morning but there was a bad car accident in which he's had to admit eight people, four of them going to the operating room for huge fractures.  Dan and I are training for a race on Thanksgiving day that will raise money to dig wells in developing countries and have talked about finishing with a kick; I guess that's what he's doing today....Dan just ran into the house to get our pliers.  He needs to pull a large fish hook out of a boy's hands and the hospital tools aren't quite cutting it.

I've joked with Dan that this house packing is going to be a lot like packing for a family trip; he gets his own clothes ready, and I pack our luggage for all the rest of us.  So far it's been true in that I've packed up almost the entire house without his help, as he's been busy at the hospital.  However, I see it as a praise to ways that God has grown us over the last two years.  I remember getting ready to move here and being quite stressed about last minute details and bag weights as I took care of Caleb and Jael, even with Dan's help.  Now, two years later and one more kid, God's given me lots of peace about enjoying each day as it comes and understanding he's blessed me with the ability to organize well.  Instead of being bitter about not having more help I can use my "talents" (or maybe it's my OCD personality :) to help my family get ready for the move, and I'm actually enjoying the process.  Now I'm praying that this same personality can be at peace as we "drift" for awhile in the states until finding a home of our own :)

Baby D

I really enjoyed this young couple during prenatal visits. The mother always had a sweet smile on her face, and the father was always a little nervous like most Dads-to-be. It would be their second baby. As we approached her due date, I examined her and found that her baby was in the transverse position. (It is impossible for a baby to be born in this position). We attempted to move the baby into the head-down position, but with only limited success, and she ended up with a c-section. The surgery went well, and Mother and Baby D both went home without any difficulties. I saw Baby D in follow-up a couple of times, and she was growing and developing perfectly.

Just a few days ago, the father came to me frantically and said that Baby D was in the public hospital and that she had almost died. He said that he would like to bring her to our hospital for us to evaluate. For about a day, she seemed okay. She apparently had had a fever, so we performed a couple of tests to try to rule out big infections. Nevertheless, she was eating like a champ and looked like a pretty normal one-month-old. Then I received a frantic call from the nurses. “Come in now, because the patient in room 10 is bad”. Without further questions, I raced in. Baby D did not look good today. Her tongue and her eyes were moving in a way that made me believe that she was seizing. She was no longer awake, no longer eating. A lumbar puncture showed blood in her spinal fluid—she appeared to be bleeding around her brain. We managed to send her out for a CT scan, and this diagnosis was confirmed. Three medicines were needed to stop her seizing, and by that time we were breathing for her with the mechanical ventilator. Mission Aviation Fellowship flew her to the main pediatric hospital in Quito, where a pediatric ICU and a neurosurgeon will be available.

We haven’t heard yet how Baby D is doing. I think we will know within the next couple of days. In the meantime, we all (including our kids at the supper table) have been praying hard for this little baby and her neat family. We don’t know why she was bleeding around her brain, and it’s likely that we never will. I feel helpless as the doctor in these cases, but I was honored to be able to provide the spiritual and emotional support that this family readily accepted. Though I tend to try to fix everything on my own, I am doing my best to live my life knowing that we have a good God who is in control of everything.

Washington, Here We Come

Dan and I have spent a lot of time praying about our future move and considering the many details that a move would bring for our family. Dan spent a lot of time traveling around the Northwest for his interviews in Washington and Idaho and although we talked almost everyday while he was gone, we had decided to wait until his return to really discuss our decision.  We felt that we would both have singleness of heart with the job and location that would be the best at this point of our lives.  There was one job in particular that I had been on my heart often during prayer, and upon his return he shared about each place he was considering.  There were many great options in Caldwell and in Washington.  When he felt his first choice was the one I'd considered for so long it really became a clear decision.  We're so thankful that something that could have been stressful wasn't at all, and we're confident that we're headed in the right direction.  All that to say, we will be flying back to that United States on November 14th where we will move to Washington so Dan can begin working at the family medicine residency program in Vancouver.  During the time in Ecuador, Dan has really enjoyed being a teacher.  He is excited to begin work in Vancouver where he'll be able to continue to teach and mentor resident doctors, to work with a great staff, to maintain his skills in obstetrics and hospital medicine, and to be able to serve many patients who come from difficult socioeconomic backgrounds.

We plan to settle down in Ridgefield where I grew up.  We're going to miss our family and friends in Idaho, but should have the opportunity to visit much more often.  We are still looking forward to doing foreign mission work in the future, but are excited to be back on the "home field" for awhile.

We'll continue to blog about our work in Ecuador as I know Dan has some new medical stories he'd like to share.  Our next big step will be looking for a place to live in Ridgefield; God keeps us depending on Him, no matter where we are.

Jael loves playing with Tori whose father is the ophthalmologist at the hospital.

Caleb celebrated his 5th birthday with some new legos.

Anna loves to help Mommy cook (and lick the spoon).

Holding Down the Fort

Dan headed to the states on Sunday to interview for possible job opportunities in Idaho and Washington.  He'll have a busy schedule as he flies between the two states and visits several different locations.  Please pray that he'll make the best choice as he considers many different aspects of each job as well as their different locations.  We're excited to see what the Lord has for us next and should know within the next four weeks where we'll be headed.

In the meantime, I'm holding down the fort here in Shell.  It was a little harder to say goodbye to him, knowing he'll be in another country and not just at the hospital, but already I've had lots of offers of help with the kids if I need it and invitations to hang out with others.  Hopefully this can be two weeks filled with lots of laughter and fun in the house and not frustrations.  Dan may get BBQ steaks and corn on the cob in the states but we get to dine on Mac N Cheese, which actually is a treat.  We thought about sneaking the kids on the plane with him but decided it wouldn't be too practical.

Anna would have been Dan's checked luggage and Caleb and Jael his carry-ons/

Beautiful Babies and Parasite Paradise

The last few weeks have been busy at the hospital, as more people have been trying to get in for their regular check-ups before school starts.  Many new babies have been brought into the world as well.  Dr. Egberth and I performed a c-section on a mom with double-breech twins.  Everyone did great, and it was really fun to be involved with this family's excitement (even if she did need her surgery emergently at 3 am).  We had another mom who came in with her baby in the transverse position.  Working together, we managed to help that baby do several summersaults before she finally settled into a head-down position.  At that point, we broke the mom's water and induced the labor, hoping to keep the baby aimed in the right direction.  Unfortunately, the rascal switched back to transverse, and we ended up performing a c-section after all.

10.5 pounds of joy

We at Hospital Vozandes aren't the only ones who have been busy lately.  Apparently the worms in the jungle are also prospering and expanding their horizons.  Last weekend I took care of three babies in room 8 of our hospital.  One of the babies had Rotavirus (a virus that makes the patient have bad diarrhea) that had caused dehydration.  Another had been sick with a fever for weeks.  We ruled out the most common infections (malaria, dengue fever, tuberculosis and leptospirosis) and settled on a diagnosis of "Jungle Fever."  Patients like him come to our hospital every now and then, and we usually give them a kaleidoscope of antibiotics to cover oddities like brucellosis and Q fever.  The third baby presented with extreme weakness and pallor.  His hemoglobin, which is a measure of red blood cells, had dropped to 2 (normal for his age would be about 10-13).  He was diagnosed with severe anemia, which had evidently developed over several weeks.  Dropping a person's hemoglobin down to 2 acutely would cause shock and death, but the body can often make compensations if it is a gradual process.

The anemic baby was found to have an infestation of hookworms.  This parasite can burr through the skin of the feet to enter the bloodstream.  It's next stop is the lungs.  From the lungs, it climbs up into the throat and jumps down into the esophagus, with the goal of setting up a new home in the duodenum of the small intestine.  There, it attaches to the wall and drinks blood to its heart's content.  Our anemic baby with the hookworm infection quickly got better with a blood transfusion and anti-parasite drugs.  The other babies were also getting better, but their moms were concerned that they had persistently-bloated bellies and poor appetites.  We also treated them for parasites, and many interesting things were found in their diapers over the next few days.  In the end, all of them got much better and were taken home by their happy mothers.

Looking better after getting rid of Rotavirus and other critters

Addition of blood and subtraction of hookworms equals a fat, happy baby

After successful treatment of "Jungle Fever"

 (All pictures taken and posted with permission of the patients and their families)

The Past Few Weeks

We’ve fallen a little behind on our blogs lately, but we’re alive and well here in Shell.

We attended another very special wedding this past month when one of the couples in our marriage class decided to get married in a civil ceremony. In Ecuador the civil ceremony is the official and legal ceremony, sometimes followed by a church ceremony if it’s affordable. Unfortunately we can’t share our pictures from the wedding since our camera, telephone, and electronic reader were stolen on the bus to Quito one afternoon, but we do have a shot of our latest class.

Celebrating our last marriage class

 We were blessed to have our good friends from residency training in Idaho come and visit us last week. Ryan and Alanna were great sports as we showed them around Shell, they played with our kids, and were even (un)fortunate enough to share the flu with the rest of our family one day. We took them for a hike on the military base here (which always feels a little intimidating to leave your passports at the gate as you drive past camouflaged young men with large guns). Currently there is a baby ocelot that was confiscated from a family trying to keep it as a pet and we had the chance to hold the little guy.

Ryan and Alanna in front of the "Shell" sign

Playing with the tiger baby.

One morning while Alanna and I were talking, Caleb calmly walked in and told me there was a snake on the back porch. The kids are always pretending so I told him I’d be out in a minute to “kill” it. When we finally made our way outside we discovered Caleb wasn’t pretending.  I put an end to him, though it took me a shovel and machete to do it. Another missionary later told me that it is some kind of blind, snake-like worm that wouldn’t hurt anything….oops. It’s difficult not to be too judgmental when there are slithery creatures near your house.

Our slithery visitor

Dan will soon get another medical blog posted.  He's on a seven-day, four-call workweek, but should get a chance soon.

Some First Goodbyes

Part of the life of a missionary is saying goodbye: goodbye to your homeland and family and friends in the states, but also to friends we get to know in out new "home".  Though we don't plan to leave Ecuador for over three more months, today we said our first "official" goodbyes to our good friends the Bartons who will be in the states for the next year.  Paul works as an anesthesiologist and Kim is a pediatrician.  Their four boys were good friends to our children, especially Josiah, who became Caleb's best buddy here.  They will be greatly missed by all of us in the missionary community.

The Barton Family

Caleb and Josaih fighting the "Evil Daddy Dragon" for chocolate eggs.

Jael playing with Isaac.  Jael is convinced she's marrying Josiah and told him they were going on a date the other day.

Wedding Weekend

This weekend we headed up to Quito to celebrate the wedding of our friends, Jen and Harrison, who we met while in language school at the Nazarene seminary. Jael and Caleb had the honor of being the Flower Girl and Bubble Blower (Jen wanted Caleb to be involved too :)

 

It's hard to believe it's been over nine years for us!

A family pic before the wedding

"No petals!  What do I do?"

Notice the concentration.

The kids did a great job, although Jael took quite awhile to proceed as she made sure to drop a petal on each stair she stepped down, and the entire congregation heard her exasperated cry of, “Mommy, I’m out of petals.” 

Celebrating after the ceremony

I thought I'd better add a new pic of Anna, too!

We’ve been blessed with many new American and Ecuadorian friends during our almost two years here. As we prepare to head back to the states in November we look forward to reuniting with old friends, but we will have to say goodbye to many amazing people here, too.  We're so thankful that God has provided us fellowship not only for us, but for our children as well while we've been here.

Buggin' Out

A few more bug stories from Ecuador to share with you. Lately we’ve had a large influx of shield bugs on a specific tree near our home. We’ll pass and see many congregated in piles on top of each other. (I think it’s mating season.) Yesterday I heard the kids laughing and yelling about the bugs outside. I went outside to see what Caleb and Jael were up to and was greeting by my children covered in bugs and an awful stench. They had decided it would be cool to see how many bugs they could get in Caleb’s bug box, but in the process were “sprayed” as they attempted to catch them. I stripped the kids clothes and washed them up but couldn’t totally get rid of the smell. A few minutes later we discovered that the spray also left a strange yellow coloring on the kids’ hands. We’ve washed them numerous times, but it seems as though the coloring is just getting darker with time instead of going away. Hopefully it isn’t toxic and the kids will remember to ask before going bug collecting next time.

Caleb with a few of the bugs on his elbow and shirt.

Their collection!

Caleb's hands a day (and many washes) later.

A few hours later the kids were playing outside when we noticed a loud drone and looked up to see a huge swarm of bees. We rushed the kids inside for awhile but didn’t hear anything so thought they had flown away. We looked around and discovered a huge “bee ball” in the tree outside our kitchen window. There was nothing in the middle of them except more bees and they didn’t make a sound as they sat there. Our neighbors had had the same thing occur last week, but their “ball” was larger, the size of a basketball. We found someone who had bug spray (and could run quickly) and got rid of our bee problem.

Our bee ball.

Little Carlos; Kristina's Run

Carlos is a little 9-month-old who presented to us a few days ago.  His mother gave me permission to publish his picture and story on our blog.  He had been having fevers, and, as you can see in the picture, a bad infection of some sort that seemed to be eating his nose.  Even more worrisome was his extreme malnutrition.  This little guy weighed in at about 9 pounds on his admission, which is about half of what he should have weighed.  It was difficult and sad to see his tiny little arms and legs, which consisted of nothing but bone covered with a bit of skin.

Carlos had already seen a couple of docs here in Ecuador, but had not gotten any better.  We were thinking that his nose problem was a result of a bacterial infection or a parasitic infection called Leishmaniasis.  We sent a tiny biopsy to look for the parasite, and in the meantime, his nose did seem to get a little better with antibiotics.  He also gained 2 pounds in his first week on a high calorie diet (the picture above is his "after" picture).

Carlos has a few tests pending to help us to know more about his condition.  He still has a long way to go before he's out of the woods.  In the meantime, he would appreciate your prayers as he tries to gain some weight and fight off this difficult infection.

You may or may not know that Kristina has developed into quite the runner.  I have to try to keep running some as well, primarily so that I'll be able to catch my wife.  While out on a 4-mile tempo run a couple of days ago, Kristina was met by an unexpected visitor who left a nice souvenir on her calf.  As you might have guessed by the picture below, the visitor was a pretty good-sized dog who was surprised at seeing such a fast runner going by.

We washed the fang marks out really well, and Kristina began antibiotics to prevent infection.  She's also had to get some shots to make sure that she's properly protected against rabies, though I've not heard of a case of rabies here outside of the deep jungle.  Kristina's had a great attitude about the whole thing, but she says that she'll make sure to run on the other side of the road when she passes that house the next time.

We're Still Here

In the midst of travels and company we’ve gotten quite behind on our blogs lately.

To be with family after my grandma passed away I attempted a trip to the states with the three kids while Dan stayed in Shell to continue working at the hospital.  At some points along the way I felt really confident, and then several minutes later I’d be humbled and realize I was out of my mind to attempt such a feat.  (Have you ever tried to go to the bathroom in a public place with three kids four and under?)  Truthfully, though, the kids did great and we made it safe and sound to Washington.

The kids had a great time on the swing Papa set up in the old barn.

We had lots of help on our return trip with my mom, Aunt Donna, cousin Kaylan, and friend Sam.  It is always such a blessing to have visitors and makes the reality of being far from family and living in a different culture easier.  A week after their visit Dan’s folks were here to love on us.

Dan and his dad exploring some caves not too far from Shell.

After much prayer and discernment we’ve made the decision to head back to the States after our contract ends in September.  We plan to be there sometime mid-November.  Thank you to all who prayed and offered words of wisdom as we made this decision.  We’ve been blessed during our time in Shell and are confident this is where we were to be for these 2+ years; we’re excited to see where the Lord leads next.  We’re still not sure where we’ll be, but we'd like to be close to family in the Northwest.  We’re also anxious to get involved in Hispanic ministries wherever we end up.

The kids are getting ever bigger, especially Anna, who has just started solid foods.  She’s our little laid back Ecuadorian child and is very content to just sit back and let her big brother and sister entertain her.  Caleb is our engineer.  He spends lots of his time drawing plans for and then setting up blanket forts and playing with  lego sets.  Jael is a little firecracker.  The other day we were sitting on the couch together as she quietly contemplated something.  When I asked her what she was thinking about, she replied, "Boys."  I think we're going to be in trouble :)

Caleb has been learning to ride his bike without training wheels and always needs a congratulatory headbutt from Daddy after a good ride.

Playing in the hammock with Grandpa and Grandma.

Anna is quite the "drooler"; she can soak a shirt in a few minutes flat.

Life-Giving Blood

It was Saturday around noon, and I was busy seeing patients in my AM clinic and juggling some issues from the ER. I received word from the family medicine resident that a patient had arrived who was suffering from an apparent intestinal bleed, with the source likely being in the stomach or the duodenum (the first part of the intestines after the stomach). We started him on some medicine in his IV for a suspected bleeding ulcer and admitted him to a hospital bed. The next step was to perform an upper endoscopy procedure to try to diagnose the cause and severity of the bleeding. However, before doing so, the patient would have to be hemodynamically stable. That’s a fancy way of saying that he would have to have a relatively normal blood pressure and pulse, and that he would appear to have a decent blood supply to all of his vital organs. Unfortunately our patient did not meet these criteria. His pulse was high, his blood pressure was low, and he appeared very sleepy (which was a result of not getting sufficient blood flow to his brain).

How do you “stabilize” a patient who has lost copious amounts of blood? By giving him loads of blood and IV fluid, of course! We began this process. After getting the equivalent of two 2-liter bottles of IV fluid pumped in, he had not stabilized. Simultaneously, he was receiving red blood cells as fast as we could give them (not fast—when they come from the lab they are packed into a very compressed state, and they run into the patient’s veins over a span of about 3 hours). After receiving the only three units of packed red cells that we had in our hospital, plus two units of fresh plasma, he STILL had not stabilized, and his symptoms told us that his intestines were still actively bleeding. There is a Red Cross in the next town over, but our lab informed me that there was no way to contact them during the night. Could we transfer the patient to another province? The patient elected to stay in our hospital, even though two important facts had become clear:
1) We had run out of blood
2) Our patient was bleeding to death.

Now it’s time to crunch the data a bit. These numbers are estimates, but they will give us some ideas of this patient’s condition. A human male about the size of my patient typically has approximately 5 liters of blood volume. We measure red blood cells, the part that carries the oxygen, by “the hemoglobin”.  A unit of whole blood contains about 450 milliliters of volume, and is expected to raise the hemoglobin by about 1.5 grams/deciliter. Our patient, before he started bleeding, probably had a hemoglobin value of around 14, which is normal. When he arrived at our hospital, his hemoglobin was 11. The next morning, after receiving the above-mentioned transfusions, his hemoglobin was 4. It was clear that our patient had essentially bled out his entire blood volume, and was now just hanging on for dear life with the little bit of blood that he had received from our lab upon his admission. At that point he looked worse than ever. He was as white as a ghost and barely responsive, and we still had no blood to offer him.

Now it was Sunday morning, and we began to ask everyone, “What can we do!!??” Our lab technician mentioned that if there were people present who wanted to give blood to our patient, the necessary tests could be performed to make that happen. Of course the donor would need to have blood type either O+ or O-, since our patient had O+ blood. The first person to step up and donate was one of our surgeons, Dr. Mattias Egberth. He was followed closely by one of our medical students, David Garcia. At about that time, approximately 20 of the patient’s relatives arrived to visit and to wish him well. They began to ask, “Can we donate as well?” Within just a few hours, we had rounded up SIX units of whole blood, which the patient gladly received. Now he was waking up, and for the first time since his admission, he was hemodynamically stable. We performed the endoscopy procedure and found a large ulcer in his duodenum. It was no longer bleeding! Thank you, God!

In all, we calculated that our patient had lost his entire blood supply and then some. By day number three, essentially none of his circulating blood was his own. He had received three units of packed red cells, six units of whole blood, and five units of fresh plasma, all because of donations by fourteen different people who were willing to give their own blood. The patient and his family were extremely grateful and humbled to know that he was alive through the sacrifice of fourteen other people, many of whom did not even know him.

Blood is an amazing creation of God, and it has long symbolized “sacrifice.” In Moses’ time, the blood of an animal was poured out on an altar in a petition for the forgiveness of sins. This was only a temporary, imperfect solution for man’s sin problem. But God made a perfect way, the only way, to salvation through the sacrificial blood of His perfect Son, Jesus Christ. “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.” (1 Peter 2:24, New Living Translation) We are alive today, and we can live in Heaven forever, because of the blood of Another, because of the blood of Jesus Christ.  And the power of Jesus’ blood does not stop when we pray to accept Him as our Rescuer. Instead, our sinful nature dies, and His perfect, righteous nature goes on living. In the same way that my patient received a completely new supply of circulating blood, we are continually filled with Christ’s perfection.

The patient gladly gave permission to share his picture and story on our blog.

Keep the Door Shut

Ever since we arrived home from our trip to the states we’ve had a little problem: jungle critters. I’ve always prided myself that our house was pretty cockroach free, but they’ve made a comeback. However, they are the least of our worries. Several nights ago Dan and I were sitting on the couch and in walks a tarantula, even with the screen door closed. He wasn’t too big but several nights later his larger cousin came to join him right in the middle of our marriage class.

An even bigger problem has been Mr. Rat. I’d never had an encounter with one until a few weeks ago. Dan was on call at the hospital and I kept hearing rustling in the laundry room. I called Dan to come home to find the culprit and after investigating he said he couldn’t find anything. As he was walking out of the laundry room he kicked the washer and out ran an enormous rat (well at least I thought it was enormous). I’m usually a pretty calm person when it comes to creepy-crawlies, but I went running for my life . Over the next week and a half the rat became Dan’s biggest nemesis as he tried multiple ways to get rid of it. The first night the rat ate all the poison we left out for him and we thought our troubles were over. However we knew he was back the next night when he go into some “sacred” cereal we’d bought in the states. Now we knew our rat had a strong stomach. Next Dan tried a homemade bucket trap in hopes of drowning the rat, but our visitor was pretty smart and only would eat the food at the front of the plank leading up to the water. After that Dan moved to a spring trap. Dan set it up several nights in a row so sensitive that it took him quite a while to get it to set without snapping back on Dan. Somehow our rat was able to get the food every time without setting it on himself. Now we knew our rat wasn’t just smart, but a genius. After several more days I was preparing lunch and looked over and there sat Mr. Rat in the laundry room right in the middle of the day. Now he’d gotten way too arrogant. I climbed on the counter and told Dan to get over there. Dan grabbed a broom and used his baseball skills to stun him. As Dan brushed him outside to finish him off he kept making these sad little squeaks and we almost felt sorry for him. Maybe he’d visited us so many nights we felt partial to our unwanted pest.
Last night was the scariest of all. As we were sitting in the living room I looked into the kitchen and there was a snake slithering around. His coloring was black, red, and yellow, and both Dan and I thought coral snake. He was a little guy, but our adrenaline was running as Dan brushed him out of the house and killed him with the broom handle. Thankfully we didn’t have Anna on her floor mat. We investigated on the computer and are hopeful his markings tell us it’s a harmless black ground snake, which mimic the coloring of a poisonous coral snake…we sure hope so.
Though it rains almost every day here, it is the rainy season and maybe our unwanted guests are trying to escape the rain. Almost all the critters have come at night when we’ve had the screen doors closed but the main doors open. Hopefully by keeping the doors closed we can keep them away; at least that’s what I keep telling myself.
AUGH…as I write this Jael is yelling that there’s a frog in the house!

Our snake after Dan got through finishing him off.

Run for It!

It was Fall 1992.  I was getting ready to start my freshman year at Vallivue High School.  I was a bit too skinny to do well at organized football, and our school didn't have a soccer team.  My dad said, "Why don't you give Cross Country a try?  You'll be able to get in shape to play baseball."  Well, I had no idea what I was getting into, but that's when I visited Coach Gary Ward's office and became a runner for the rest of my life.

I'm pretty sure that the Apostle Paul was also a runner.  He had all the characteristics that are needed to be a good runner: discipline, dedication, and lack of fear.  He learned to press on whatever the circumstances, and he knew where his strength came from.  "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:12-13)  Whether he was doing a difficult hill workout or witnessing to people in prison, this determined mindset kept Paul going, even when it would have been easier to give up!

When we were in the USA this past month, my family bought me a gift certificate to buy some running gear.  Anyone who runs knows that, when you go out, you want to make sure that you only carry exactly what you need.  Running companies are always developing shoes, shorts, jackets, etc. that are ounces lighter than the models before.  It's also a good idea to minimize the ounces that I'm carrying around my belly by eating a smart diet.  The writer of Hebrews knew about getting rid of dead weight.  We're not 100% sure about whether or not Paul wrote the book of Hebrews, but I think it must have been either Paul or his running partner. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2)  Not only did he cut out all extra weights, the author had his sights set on the Prize!

God has taught me many great lessons through many years of tough running.  Every runner who ran cross country while Coach Ward was at the helm knows of the famous Airport Hill workout.  Every year, Coach would take his runners there one time for a super-tough workout, the most difficult practice of the season.  It's steep, it's dusty, and it's hot.  I experienced pure jubilation when I finished that workout during my senior year, knowing that I would never have to torture myself on the hill's ridiculous grade ever again.  Thankfully, I had a smart coach who knew better.  I couldn't believe it when our bus turned onto the road to Airport Hill again a couple of weeks later in the season for a second workout on the dreaded mountain!  What was our coach trying to do to us?  Coach knew that the state meet would be held at Farragut State Park, and that it included a gigantic hill in the third mile.  The wisdom of our coach was proven a few weeks later when we walked away from the state meet hoisting the championship trophy!

As a doc practicing in a busy rural hospital, I'm constantly faced with grief and loss.  Last week we had some tough times.  I lost a sick 3-month old to severe pneumonia.  One of our Ecuadorian friends' 7-year-old son was playing with dynamite and literally exploded off both of his hands.  These events are devastating for the whole community, and we are blessed that we get to pray with the patients and families during the tough times.  I tend to be a pretty emotionally involved guy, so these cases are also very difficult for me as the doc.  It's time like these that I'm glad to be a runner.  I know that with Christ's strength, I can stick with it.  God has a bigger purpose, and He will work all things together for good.  He's a good God, and we know He will do it.  Sometimes we feel like we're approaching "Airport Hill" for another tough workout, but we know that God is the wisest Coach ever.  We need to trust that He knows what He's doing, and in that trust, we will live in the peace and strength that only He can give.

Kristina is also a runner.  We are sad to report that her grandmother passed away last night.  We will surely miss her.  At the same time, we rejoice at the wonderful life and example that we've been able to witness and be a part of.  Marjorie Mills lived in such a way that she could say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim. 4:7)  We are filled with happiness to know that Marjorie is in Heaven today! 

A Visit to the States

We had a wonderful time visiting family and friends in the United States in February. The trip was much too short and we would have loved to have more quality time with everyone, but we’re thankful for the time we had. Thank you to all who made an effort to see us while we were there. We really appreciated it.

Getting to know the family

Lots of kisses from Grandma

Playing on the farm

Anna was able to meet family she’d never seen and the kids got reacquainted with lots of loved ones. We enjoyed many things we miss here in Ecuador: sermons in English, favorite restaurants (I think we put on the “Furlough Fifteen” kind of like the “Freshman Fifteen” in college), playing in the snow, carpet on the floors, and many more.

The Benedick clan celebrates Christmas (a little late)

Best buds reunited

There were a few times when we knew we weren’t living in the states: when the kids would ask for a drink of water and then questions us, “Is that water clean?” because we’d filled the cup from the tap, or when Jael ran in terror from the vacuum cleaner because she didn’t know what it was.

The cousins were ready to play in the snow

We still are praying about our future plans as to where we’ll be a year from now, but we feel we have a little more direction after our visit home and the time of fellowship we had in the states. Dan is back to work and the kids and I are getting into the routine (boy do I miss the extra hands to help with the kiddos). Thanks to all who help make it a wonderful vacation for us.