Happy Father's Day, Dad!!!

In honor of Father's Day, I'd like to repost an entry I previously wrote about my dad.

My Dad

Today I am missing my dad. So, I'd like to take a bit of time to tell you about him.

My dad is an amazing man. He's always been a very hard worker. When I was little he farmed and had a full-time job doing construction work. During the planting and harvesting season he would have to be to work at like 6:30 or 7, which meant that he had to get up UBBER early! He'd get home from work around 6pm, have some dinner and then head out to the field where he'd be on a tractor or combine till the early hours of the morning. He'd come in sometimes as late as 3am and sleep for just a couple of hours before getting up to go to work. When it wasn't planting/harvesting season he would be working on some kitchen/bathroom remodel jobs in the evenings and then work on our house when he got home.

My dad loves to have a fun time. He's always been one for practical jokes and if you know him very well at all I'm sure you've been on the receiving end at least once! One year he gave one of my cousins a lump of coal for Christmas. Another year he gave "airplane" rides to everyone in the family. And he makes the BEST King Ugga Bugga. My dad loves to laugh.

My dad is ALWAYS late! Growing up, Sundays were always very busy during the morning. There were seven of us in my family and we had only one bathroom. Our Sunday morning would go something like this. Mom would wake all us kids up and we'd eat breakfast, taking turns using the bathroom to shower, brush teeth/hair, do makeup...normal bathroom things. Every time the bathroom was free one of us would run upstairs to get Dad up. The first few attempts he'd just grunt and roll over. After three or four times he'd say he was getting up, though he wouldn't. Finally when all of us were ready he'd slowly make his way downstairs to the bathroom. He'd be in the shower while we were all sitting in the car. Waiting. Fifteen minutes later he'd come down to the car and blame the rest of us for being late because we were all using the bathroom and didn't give him a chance.

My dad cannot cook; though he loves to try! I can remember times when my dad would try to make something, and he'd be really excited about it because he was trying something totally new. But it would be horrible because it was things that should not be put together. But you have to give him kuddo points for effort. However, I do need to say that he does make the VERY BEST hash browns!

My dad is the champ when it comes to games. I don't think I've ever beaten him at a game. He always wins. When we were kids we were convinced that my dad cheated at every game. But we could never prove it because we could never catch him. To this day he swears he never once cheated, but I'm still sure he did almost every game he played.

My dad is very creative. He was a construction worker so he has always been good with tools. One time when we were cutting wood for our wood stove he cut off a portion of a branch and saved it. Later he cut it into small slices and shalaqued them, then somehow attached two of them together and made a butterfly out of it.

My dad is many things, and he is amazing at all of them. He is a great man, a wonderful husband and the best dad anyone could ask for. 

Basically my dad is the best and I love him very much!!

God is good...

I feel totally overwhelmed right now; so beyond blessed!
Today and Friday we had a rummage sale at church to help raise funds for our new building project. I was allowed to hold a book sale (one gentleman donated over 1300 new books) at the same time to help raise funds for heading back to India. It went pretty good, I got to visit with several people and sold around 350 books. I was also selling chai (home made) and pizza that was donated for this purpose. The total amount raised was $607.50, which was really good. My goal for the weekend was $700 so I was pretty happy with this amount. And I've got probably 15 boxes full of books now sitting down in my basement, so I can do another book sale at another time.
But it gets better, later this evening I had someone donate $1500!! I am floored! It is humbling to see how much God cares and how He provides. I am blessed beyond belief. It's fun to be able to check off supplies from my list. :)
Thanks again for all your prayers and support!!

Finally...an update!!

Oh my goodness!! I've been home for a month and this is the first update I've done since I've been back!! I am sooooo sorry!! I will try my best to do better.
It's been nice to be home. I've been enjoying spending time with some of my family, my church family, and friends. I have my own place, which is WONDERFUL!! I've lived in community for so long and it's been fun, but I'd been craving having my own place for sometime. I haven't gotten lonely yet...I've been keeping myself pretty busy. I have a good friend that I've been spending some time with...she's been driving me to church and taking me places as I need since I don't have a car. I am helping with the church youth group, am attending a ladies Bible study that starts this week, and went to the first small group meeting of the year. It's nice to be able to attend things with my church family again.
Next Sunday I am going to learn how to make an Ethiopian dish from some Ethiopian ladies that have been attending church for a while. I'm pretty excited about that! :) I love learning about other cultures.
Please keep me in your prayers as I begin to line up churches to speak at. Pray that God will guide me to the groups He wants me to share with, and pray that hearts will be open to hearing about His passion for the lost, catching the vision to share His love amongst the darkest places of the world.
Pray that all the details involved in moving back to India, going to language school, and opening a clinic will fall into place and that God guides me in each step that I need to take. 
Pray also that a car will become available for me to use while I am home. It could be possible for me to purchase a cheep car, but then I'd have to figure out what to do with it when I head back to India, so it'd be better just to barrow one while I am home.

Thanks so much for all you do!!
~sara~

I'm going to the mountains!!

I'm heading up the hill to Bugnay again!! Probably for my last time. :( It's going to be an extra special trip though because we (two of my classmates and the husband of one of them) are going to go to Sagada as well!! We'll be spending an afternoon spelunking in one of the caves, as well as checking out the hanging coffins, and any other adventures we may come across!! It should be a fun trip! Keep an eye out for all the pictures that will soon follow!! :) 

Bugnay...such a quaint little village that is surrounded by beauty!

It's a wonderful day in this Neighborhood...

A beautiful day for a neighbor,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?

Every time I head out to the main road all the little kids rush to pick flowers
that they will then present to me says, "Flower for you Darling, from Bagio!"

 They all have such cute smiles!

And beautiful eyes!

Such innocence

A sweet mama and her sleeping baby

There's nothing like a melting ice cream cone on a hot day!

No, I will not share my cone with you!

And that's my neighborhood! Well, some of it anyway. It's a quaint little community filled with people who love to say hello! Oh! I forgot to introduce one last member of our community...

Meet Bessie. She has a cute little baby, but he was too busy 
playing to allow me to take a picture...maybe another day. :)

Home Visits

Yesterday Anie, Suzie and I went out to do a couple of home visits to my patients. We had a three day visit, a four week visit, and an eight week visit.

Little Zeek is such a cutie!

And his mama really loves him!

My four week postpartum patient lived the closest, so we went there first. She lives just down the street from the clinic and I couldn't figure out for the life of me why she never came for any of her postpartum visits when she lived so close! Well, it turns out that she watches two additional kids (she has a three year old, a one year old, and her baby) all day while their parents are at work because there is no one else to watch them. I wish I'd known that, because I would have made more of an effort to find her house earlier. But both Clair and her little boy, Zeek are doing great! They look happy and healthy. The only concern I had was her stress levels with all those kids around, and the fact that she is doing mix feeding. So often here you hear the women say that they don't have enough milk because the baby cries all the time or after feedings, or because someone in her family tells her that she doesn't have enough. They'll give their baby a bottle which means he's not sucking as much which means that her body slows down production which results in not having enough milk! They are creating the problem they think they have. It's a bit frustrating sometimes. Anyway. I encouraged her to only do pure breastfeeding and drink some jackfruit leaf tea if she really feels she doesn't have enough milk. 

Yeuja is such a wonderful mama!

Isn't Rowen Jake a handsome little guy?

 

Rowen Jake with his Lolo Jacob!

Our next stop was to see my three day postpartum patient. Yeuja had a REALLY great birth, though she'll tell you she thought she was going to die in labor. During transition she was pretty frantic, but focused well with constant instruction. And when she started to push, she did beautifully, giving
small pushes which allowed her tissue to stretch. It was so beautiful, I just love births like that! Anyway, both her and her son, Rowen Jake are doing great. She is a bit tired, but says she feels good. She is doing pure breastfeeding and enjoying her sweet boy so much. :) The unique thing about this family is that Yeuja's grandfather married a younger woman not too long ago. They had a son, Jacob, who is now 9 months old. So, Jacob is Rowen Jake's great uncle! HA! Here in the Philippines they don't have a word for great uncle, so they just call him lolo, which means grandfather. Does it make anyone else think of the song, "He's his own grandpa?"

They are such a cute little family. :)

Little Alvin James...He's getting so big!

Finally we made our way down to Laya. I'm sure you remember my entry about my backwards baby. This is the one we were going to visit. Anie and I had planned MANY times for weeks to go visit them, but each time we had it planned, one of us would have a birth or something. Jane hadn't come for any of her postpartum checks and I felt bad that we hadn't made it down there yet. When we got there she told us about her mastitis (breast infection). She'd gone for a doctor check a week and a half ago because it got so bad. She had a wound about the size of a half dollar that was healing. The doctor had given her antibiotics which she'd just finished. We told her to go for a followup check the next day. The doctor told her not to breast feed on the infected breast, but she had been pumping from it. We told her its better to feed from both sides, and to ask the doctor when she can feed from that side again. I felt really bad that I hadn't made more of an effort to visit her earlier. If I had, than maybe the infection wouldn't have gotten so bad. But other than the infection, her and her sweet little Alvin James (named after my grandpa Al) are doing well. Alvin looks really good and his mama seems happy. I was glad I was finally able to get down there to visit them. :)
All in all, it was a good morning of visits. I always struggle with doing home visits, thinking, "I'd rather just stay home, it's too hot." But once I'm out and doing the visits I love it and wonder why I don't do it more often. :)

Morning Prayer

Jesus,
Thank you for a quiet morning, for good coffee to sip as I enjoy the birds at the window, listening to their song of praise to you. Thank you for the cool breeze to savor, knowing it will be hot later, but enjoying it now. Thank you for this joy that is welling up within my soul.
As I prepare for my day, I ask that you help me to keep this joy with me. Help me not to get caught up in the things I need to do and forget to bring you praise in each moment. Help me to ready my soul for the day as I ready my face and hair.
I pray that the women I serve during prenatals today can see the joy that you have given me. Help me to use each moment to shine your light into their lives. As we listen to their baby's heartbeat and feel the position of their baby, I pray that you keep me sensitive to their spiritual heartbeat and movements towards you. Use me to reach these women today, allow me to be your hands, your voice.
As I do life with my housemates, I ask that you help me to be a servant, always willing to help where ever needed, without a grumble or mumble on my tongue or in my heart. Help me to see each of them through your eyes, overlooking their faults and seeing through to their inner beauty. I pray that I can be an encouragement to them and that you draw them closer to you today.
Help this house to be filled with your grace and peace. Help me to remember that it begins with me...if I desire others to have grace with me, that I must first show them grace, without expecting it in return.
Thank you for a beautiful day. I love you Jesus.