Winding Down for Christmas

Greetings!

So here we are, Tim and myself, sitting in front of two blasting fans. I am wearing a tank top and shorts....Tim has decided to go a few steps further. Sweat drips down my forehead and pools in the creases of my eyelids and on my upper lip. The sound of the Balut bell honking down the street along with the barking of stray dogs and cats crying out in heat fills the air.....Ahhh.."Christmas in the Philippines".

Today I hit my 600th prenatal exam. Yes, I have done a prenatal on 600 women. I came home to relieve Tim from Promise duty and he headed out to work.

Promise has discovered the joy of "Dora the Explorer". Without a TV, pirated DVDs of Dora is all we got for her and she ADORES Dora...or rather, Dora's backpack. We printed off some Dora Christmas ornaments off of NickJr.com and the Bird eagerly watched as I cut them out and tied a ribbon on each one so that she could gingerly place the characters on the tree singing, "Backpack, backpack." With her prickly heat rash and sweaty brow, Promise walked all by herself to our "Charlie Brown" aluminum/plastic tree and hung "Swiper", "Boots" and "Backpack". Tim helped Promise hang "Dora" and "Map" and the "Estrellias" this morning.

I love being a mom. I love hanging with my Lady Bird. I miss my mom.

Shifts at the clinic are getting busier as Christmas approaches. Everyone wants to have their baby on 'Jesus' Birthday'. I was even asked today, "Ma'am B, how do I make my baby come out on Christmas morning?" Her baby is due in early January. :) Meanwhile, the clinic is preparing Christmas food giveaways and ministering to some of the poorest women of Davao.

I currently have a continuity (one of my Bible study patients) in early labor. I am just waiting for the text message, "Ma'am B...I need to go to MMC now...sakit!" I checked her this morning....very early labor. :)

This week is busy. The water project is still busy despite taking a little hiatus for Christmas. Apparently government officials don't want to work for the next 3 weeks. However, the poor still need clean water and so if you check out impactnations.com, you will find out just how many families are getting clean water for Christmas! Thank you to all who have given so freely to these impoverished families!

We've been hanging out a lot with another missionary couple here....Darrell and Shannon...they've become like another set of parents...friends...game partners...you name it! We so enjoy their company...we both miss our families and so hanging together to talk about how much we would rather be home this time of year has become part of our weekly ritual...we are even spending Christmas day together! Tim and I have been so blessed to have them as friends. You can check out what they are up to at www.crosscultureministries.com.

So there are lots of other things on the go, but we will chat about them after Christmas. Maybe we'll get one or two more posts out before the most wonderful-lest of holidays comes....honestly, we are feeling like it's all been "same old, same old". Routine. We will have some more things to say in a week.

Thank you all again for your prayers, encouragements and support! We are missing so many of you and pray you have a beautiful and Merry Christmas full of Christ's presence.

Be blessed.

Here's a pic that Darrel snapped with his iPhone during a visit at the coffee shop yesterday. Shannon and the Bird were both feeling a little sleepy. It's not very flattering, but we haven't taken any pics recently so this is all I've got.