Pain. (not for the faint of heart, read with caution)

Greetings. Thank you for all the comments on last post. Especially the encouragements. We are walking into a busy season filled with visitors for water stuff, journeys for Tim, and continued pregnancy growth for me. Praise God! So thank you for keeping us in your prayers.

And then there's the birth room.

Yesterday was a very painful day. Labor is always painful, but this was painful on every account.

I woke up in the morning with a mild headache.....it turned migraine material by 2 pm. Just in time for my swing shift. I had to leave swing shift for a little over 2 hours for class, but managed to check on my dear patient, J, who was laboring in the birth room since 11 am that morning.

She was doing great. Laboring well with hardly a sound. Her vital signs were great, she was somewhat active, but not pushy yet. And that's where I began to hear her painful story.

Her sister came to be her Bantay (watcher) but had to leave....then her boss came in. Her boss spoke excellent English and seemed to be a very helpful woman....very engaging and was even going to pay J's medical bill! But then she began to tell me J's story.....and J continued to labor.

Her boss told me that J had liked this older man and upon a visit home to see her mother, had been raped by him. She proceeded to tell me what a horrible man he was and how "dumb" she was for ever wanting to be with him....how this baby was a punishment to her for her "sins" and that she would "pay" the rest of her life.

Totally appalled and heartbroken, I stopped her boss and looked at J and said, "Your baby is not a punishment...it is a blessing and a gift and God will keep you strong for your baby". To which her boss said, "She has to be strong....she's doing it alone!" I once again stopped her and said, "She is NOT alone!" Between the Lord, the four midwives, and her sister, she was gonna be fine. Needless to say, this boss had ticked me off enough. After defending J again and again from the lies that satan would want her to believe about her baby for another hour, I finally asked this boss to step out and allow her sister to come back. I used some medical reasons, so I wouldn't get in trouble....she left....

From there, J's contractions became more severe, more painful and I began to realize just how much pain she was going through for a baby she didn't want....didn't want to fight for....and yet, was so willing to go through it all for this baby.

Now "normal labor" is painful on its own, but her labor took a drastic turn and her pain became an incredible sacrifice for an innocent life...a blessing and not a punishment.

At 6 pm, my supervisor, Ate Elai, gave me permission to do another internal exam to check her progress. Her baby had dropped significantly and so did the baby's heart tones. Her cervix was not dilating all the way around, so we had her on her hands and knees doing pelvic rocks. Less than an hour later, she was ready to push....and I mean READY!

Ate Elai did one more internal exam to make sure it was time, but the baby's heart tones were continuing to drop....80, 70, 90. Ate stimulated the head....100. They have to stay above 120. J was exhausted. We put her on oxygen and gave her an IV. Baby's heart tones increased to 116. We needed to get the baby out now.

I will try to save you the gory details, but I believe it is important to understand the severity of the situation and the amount of strength and sacrifice J went through to meet her baby. The one her family referred to as her punishment.

From there, J pushed....with the help of me and her sister, she braced her legs on us and pushed some more....then her sister fainted. One less bantay. We now needed more midwives in there to care for the bantay, monitor the IV, brace the patient pushing, monitor the heart tones and tend to her oxygen....then suddenly the birth room was full...and all but one patient was pushing.

J continued to push....puffy-eyed, in and out of consciousness....she pushed in many different positions....baby's heart tones were steady at 90. Ate Elai needed to give the baby more room and quickly cut an episiotomy (which we seldom do). By 8:40 pm, J was so exhausted, we were praying, yelling at her encouragements, her bantay in and out of fainting....the birth room full, and the need for other midwives was very clear. We called for reinforcements.

But then, J pushed her hardest push and baby's head began to come....blue and with a caput, the baby's head popped out sporting a triple cord coil....yes, the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck tightly 3 TIMES. No wonder the baby was having trouble breathing! I delivered the baby at 8:49 pm with Ate Elai unwinding the cord. We put the baby on her momma and fought to get her baby crying...breathing....something.

J immediately began to lose a lot of blood and turned white nearly passing out....her episiotomy bleeding profusely.....baby began to breathe....sister came-to.....baby was a beautiful girl. But it wasn't over, yet. J continued to bleed despite efforts to stop it. We passed the baby to another midwife...the midwives from upstairs came to join in the chaos and we tried to keep J awake....exhausted and pale, she turned a scary shade of white. We quickly prepared her for transport to the hospital for a possible blood transfusion. Oxygen and IV on her the whole time, we made it safely to DMC and raced her in..... with Ate Elai, Ate Susan, Rose, and me, we all had a job...between carrying the cloth stretcher, oxygen tank, IV and chart, we were a force to be reckoned with....DMC gave us pretty fast service and we had to say goodbye to J....her baby still at Mercy.

Still with the migraine...mild contractions, pain in every muscle from various contortions during the pushing stage, I was ready to collapse. So was Ate Elai. But the baby was healthy. Strong...and her momma would be okay. I cried. When we got back to Mercy, the place was buzzing....more labors had come in....more babies had been born, two women were transported, then one more was ready to go, some premature, some breech. Many of the students from the Orange House came over to hold the orphaned baby without a name or just help clean up the intense amount of bodily fluids.

And J's baby girl was given a chance at life...another postpartum patient who delivered a boy nursed J's baby for the evening to keep her healthy. The pics above are of the little girl....looking for food...and there's me...looking like I'd been beat with a stick....not too far from the truth, though....but happy to be holding the precious little lady. She's beautiful and I am so grateful for her life and her momma's perseverance to give her life. And I was overwhelmed with the reminder of how much Christ suffered to give us a chance....He fought for me...even moreso than J did for her little one. Whew. I was a mess. Nobody would have blamed her if she had just done away with the pregnancy or gave the baby up....but she fought for her daughter's life.

How precious is this child to God!!! And after witnessing all that occurred last night, I was even more convinced of the preciousness of this baby.

To update a little on my nephew, Levi, Andy and Ruth's baby set to be born in August....please continue to pray. The doctor is no longer concerned about Trisonomy 18, but wants to recheck in 6 weeks to make sure. The cysts on Levi's brain are still there, so please keep them in your prayers.

Thank you again for all your encouragement and faithfulness in praying for us, our families, our patients and friends. We are so grateful.
Be blessed.

Snapshots and lazy writing...Oh brother

Sorry we haven't written for a while. Nothing much going on I suppose. We've been busy, but nothing exciting has happened. Just more of the same. On Sunday, Bethany and I went for a nice Sunday afternoon drive. She hadn't seen the towns that are north of Davao, so I took her in that direction so we could explore a little bit. It was a nice drive. We stopped for a "treat" at the Chow King in Tagum City. I just had a Coke, but Bethany enjoyed a nice Halo-Halo special. Yuk. There are weird stringy things in the ice cream that make me think the employees are in need of hair nets.

Yesterday it was back to work. Toti has been doing a great job of building water filters. He hired a man named Gang Gang (sounds like gong-gong) to help him build them. They are getting so good at it that they finish too early. But the filters are turning out well. Our second steel mold arrived this morning, but I'm concerned that there are too many flaws in the fabrication. I suppose we'll find out tomorrow when we extract our first filter from it. Pastor Glen (my Texan friend with the boat ministry) is back in town for a couple months. He will be welding us a third mold, so we will soon be building 3 filters a day, 15 per week. I'll be making arrangements with Glen to distribute some of the filters to remote islands on his boats.

I found out yesterday that our printer is broken beyond repair. Jenn and Joe have graciously offered to let us come over to their house to do our printing whenever we want. That will work for now, but eventually we'll need to get our own. I'm really cheesed because we had a really nice printer and I just bought a whole bunch of ink cartridges for it at Costco when we were in Vancouver last month. What a waste.

Bethany and I had a nice time playing speed Scrabble on our deck last night. We enjoyed listening to some tunes on my computer and watching the sky change colors. It was difficult to concentrate with the bunnies jumping on our feet and wanting to play. Bethany is now hard at work on her next assignment. She's feeling a little ill today and suspects that the baby is having a growth spurt. Nine months is a long time. I want that baby to come out now.

Well, that's all I have to say about that. I've included a couple of snapshots of our activities.

Peace out.
Timmy

Growing each day...sorry not as interesting as Tim's!

Greetings! As Tim shared last post, things are cooking up crazy in the water filtration world! Toti is having a gas and Tim had the opportunity to train more Filipinos this week. He also got to help out with an outreach with our church right here in Agdao…our neighborhood. He got to play the pharmacist again and thoroughly enjoyed it. He is learning so much!....like ALWAYS bring sunscreen wherever you go! (He’s rather a lobster right now!) But again, I am so proud of him.

As for me….Monday, I finished that gargantuan assignment on breastfeeding that I had missed during furlough. Four 9 ½ hour days of just me and 10 textbooks, handbooks, and guides….it is finished! And I got 99% on it! Whooooppeee! (Don't worry, I won't post my medical drawings for you this time! Although, they were VERY good, if I do say so....) Then I went to my birth room shift and had an incredible time of learning and growing in a painful way.

Dear Elsie came in towards the end of my shift and I was up to meet her….except she came in fully dilated and ready to get her baby out….while normally we LOVE that scenario, her baby was breech. When I examined her, the baby’s head was WAY up in her ribs and his feet were hanging low….I ran (LITERALLY) to my supervisor saying, “It’s breech, she’s pushing…TRANSPORT??” And Ate Elai grabbed a pair of gloves, ran into Elsie’s cubicle, and proceeded with an internal exam to see what was the presenting part….there was nothing….then something, but we couldn’t make out if it was a foot, a knee, or a hip….ACCKKK!

So explaining to Elsie what was happening, we prepared a stretcher and the transport papers to rush her to DMC to deliver her baby….in these cases, cesarean is usually indicated, but we were praying for a miracle. We instructed her, "Dili utong! Ginhawa!!" In other words..."DON'T PUSH, JUST BREATHE!" Yeah...tell THAT to the baby who was ready to come feet first!

So we prayed….and in the ambulance, we prayed, and when wheeling her on the stretcher to the OB counter at DMC, we prayed. And then they rushed her off to the operating room. It all happened so fast….her bana was running after her as they wheeled her through the tight, people, animal, and nurse-filled hallways of DMC….I really didn't get a chance to get to know her or even get her story.... I was saying goodbye to a stranger, but I felt soooo sad and concerned for her...like I had known her all my life...it was really painful...like the pain you get in the pit of your tummy...ya know?

Tuesday morning, I took the exams….breastfeeding and the semester exam….passed both. Whew. And then headed to DMC to check on Elsie…hoping she had delivered vaginally, safely and without too much fear….

Walking into DMC with my dear friend Serena, we carried bananas, toys, and oranges to Elsie’s bedside and beside her was her precious baby boy….delivered vaginally without complications and without a name. ☺ Yes, she had wanted a girl…but this boy was very special. And as I told her what a miracle he was and how much we had prayed for the two of them, her eyes lit up and she seemed more content with this baby boy, who certainly looked like a boy and NOT a girl. That's us above...

Then Serena and I headed to class, then to home group….busy day.

Wednesday was a prenatal day…..7 am to 12 pm….buntis fun! My awesome continuity, MJ (remember her?) texted me that morning saying she was in labor….and in so much pain, so I said, “Well, come in and see me!”

So she arrived looking very unhappy and carrying a BIG bag of special Milky Knots and crackers for me! I was blessed.

We talked for over an hour about what to expect from her labor, what are the signs that say she is progressing well and what she can expect from Mercy and me over the next while. I encouraged her to eat well, drink lots of water, ihi (pee) as much as possible, rest, go for walks….and to help progress her labor by having “contact” with her bana….use your imagination and figure out that one! She was MORTIFIED! I assured her that the baby would not get a hole in his head and that everything would be just fine….she needed convincing….and then after convincing her, she asked me to convince her bana…Mmmm. Didn’t work.

And then she thanked me for the items we had brought her from Canada…beef jerky, nail polish, some jewelry, books, CDs (thanks, Dad!) and some chocolate….the only trouble was that she and her bana had never seen beef jerky before….

MJ proceeded to tell me how confused they were that I would give them meat….first they boiled it....and after realizing that it wasn’t changing colors like most meat does, they tasted the broth…”Mmmm..Teriyaki!”….but they were still concerned about the meat, so they chopped the jerky up in small pieces, fried it with noodles and had dinner! I just about wet myself I was laughing so hard!!! She still didn’t understand why I was laughing….then I finally couldn’t help it and I explained that beef jerky was already cooked and ready to eat….no preparation required! She giggled and squirmed forgetting all about her contractions which were slowing down…..we had a wonderful giggle-fest and I told her I would bring her another bag of this mysterious meat product for her to try the REAL way. We also had a great prayer time of just asking Jesus to come and be a part of her labor and be her strength throughout. I am seeing more and more of Jesus in her every time I meet with her….Praise the Lord….He is doing good things!

Then I had class….I missed Tim sooo much…but we did get a meal together at Jenn and Joe’s and that was such a blessing…Busy days…everyday, but God has been so good.

We just passed the 3 month mark of pregnancy, too! Almost 13 weeks now…Praise the Lord. I am finding my energy is picking back up and while I cannot sleep as well at night, I am truly getting used to this whole pregnancy thing.

Speaking of which, we found out yesterday that my brother and sister-in-law who are expecting their third baby went in for an ultrasound and the doc found clusters of cysts on the baby’s brain. A sign of a chromosomal anomaly, it can lead to death quickly. We are asking all our family and friends to pray with us for Andy, RuthAnn and their baby boy, Levi. Please join us in prayer for this precious life as we know we serve a God of miracles….a God who loves to reveal His miraculous Hand…to Him be the glory. Amen.

Thank you!
Be blessed.

Was blind, but now I see

I'm trying something new. As per usual, I've posted some of the photos below. If you would like to see any additional photos, you can click on the links throughout the story. I'm kinda rusty, so I didn't have many good pics this time, but they'll give you an idea of what I'm talking about. As the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words. But then again, so do I.

I've been trying to write this story for a few days now, but my muse continues to escape me. I've given up on flowery prose for now, and so I will endeavor to turn a very long story into a very short one. As Joe Friday used to say, "Just the facts, Ma'am."

This week, Joe and Steve and I went to a remote mountain village. Steve and his wife and six children are from Alaska and have been staying with Jenn and Joe for the last couple of months. We went to the mountains to spend time with our friend Beth, who was working with the barangay health official, doing a medical outreach. We were also there to scope out possible targets for the water project.

We stayed in Upian, a village that is only a 50 minute hike from the highway. After spending the night on a bamboo floor (there are no beds in mountain homes), we woke up at 4:30 and hiked for about 4 hours to get to the village where Beth was doing the clinic. The hike itself was eventful. We came across a family in need of some medical attention (children with possible pneumonia, and a woman with a mass in her stomach), and were able to pray for them. We also pooled some money together to get the woman to the hospital. During our hike, I broke my flip-flops (we call them slippers here) in the mud. A wonderful man who was hiking with us gave up his shoes so that I wouldn't have to go barefoot. At first I refused and tried to withstand the pain of walking over some very sharp rocks, but after about a kilometer people insisted that I take the shoes. They were probably getting frustrated with my slow pace.

Having arrived in Newtawas, we watched as Beth and the barangay health official did some basic health and sanitation teaching, similar to the teaching that Aunt Sylvia does for Impact Nations. We learned that this week, two of the villagers had died from diarrhea. It broke my heart to hear this, and I immediately determined that this village would be at the top of my priority list for water filter deliveries.

During the clinic, Steve and I had fun listening to lungs for signs of TB, and learning from Joe how to take blood pressure measurements. Before we left town I bought a blood pressure cuff, and Bethany gave me her spare stethoscope. Anytime we came across strange sounding lungs, we would refer the patient to Beth.

There were lots of children to play with as well. I had fun making strange noises at them and trying to convince them to let me listen to their lungs. One little girl was screaming and crying so I asked her mother if the child was in pain. The mother laughed and told me through an interpreter that the little girl was terrified because of my white skin and my beard. It would seem that white guys are a rare occurrence in those parts.

Before we left the village we learned of a baby that had bloody stool. We prayed for the child, and again we were able to provide some money to send them to the hospital. I'm no doctor, and at times I felt completely useless. However, I think our mere presence is a great encouragement to the people. Also, having seen the people and their homes gives me a much greater appreciation for their need for water filters.

The hike home was equally eventful. I had been rather impressed with myself for surviving the morning hike, in someone else's tiny shoes no less. The afternoon hike, however, was much more of a challenge. Luckily, I had brought an extra pair of shoes. They weren't available to me during the morning hike because our bags were brought in later on horseback. With new shoes on my feet and a light snack in my belly, I was feeling rather sure of myself as we set out. Within ten minutes, I was sure I was going to die.

Soon, I was huffing and puffing so hard I could barely see straight. At one point I lost my balance and stumbled, nearly falling back down the mountain I was climbing. Shortly after that, having lost all of my pride, I made a rather strong suggestion that we stop and rest for a moment. I quickly found myself on my back, staring up into the heavens and asking God if this was His great plan for my life. Then I noticed that the heavens were looking a little blurry. My pulse was slowing down, so my vision should have been improving....

Sitting up, I asked sheepishly "Has anyone seen my glasses?" I started looking around my resting place, wondering if I had been delirious enough to put down my glasses on the dirt path. They were nowhere near me. The beautiful, precious man who had given up his shoes for me earlier that day, was now volunteering to go back down the path to search for them. I was feeling ashamed, and thanked him very much for his help. We waited for what seemed like an eternity until he finally reappeared with my glasses in hand. It seems I had lost them when I stumbled, but hadn't noticed because I was busy having a heart attack.

Embarrassed, but grateful for my improved vision and the much needed rest, we resumed our 15 km hike back to our host's home. The rest of the hike was filled with many more lengthy rests and great patience from the rest of our crew. Joe supplied me with the best apple I've ever had, and Steve was very kind and gave me some of his water after I had run out. I was pleased, and mildly surprised that we reached our destination before nightfall. Thanks to our crew for their undying patience and grace.

That evening, we had an incredible time of fellowship with our host. Tatai and his wife run a horse ministry. They have a horse name Jungle and help to move people and goods around the region. Beth interpreted for me as I shared with them my desire to get water filters to the nearby villages. I told them that I would like to partner with them to help meet this very practical need, and they were very eager to help me. We agreed that in a few weeks time I will deliver several filters to a home at the side of the highway. They will use their horses to deliver the filters and the sand to a few homes in the neighbouring village at the bottom of the mountain. I will then join them in the village and train them to install the water filters. Once they have become installation experts, I will continue to deliver empty filters at the top of the mountain and they will continue to install filters at the bottom of the mountain.

The next morning we dragged ourselves out of bed and began our leisurely stroll back up the mountain to the highway. We were back in the city by 11am, and I was very glad to see my beautiful wife.

Well, so much for telling a short story. I did manage to abstain from gratuitous metaphors and pretentious adjectives. That should count for something. And the Dragnet reference was unavoidable. So, in summary: we hiked an estimated 30 km of mountainous terrain in one day; we paid for two people to go to the hospital; I broke my shoes; I lost and then found my glasses; and we found a solid strategy for distributing water filters to a very remote region. I'd say it was an eventful 48 hours. There are some photos below.

In other news:

Bethany is working her butt off trying to complete an assignment for Tuesday. She's barely looked up from her books this weekend, though we had a nice break playing cards together last night. She will be taking two exams on Tuesday, so please be praying for her.

Cheers,
Timmy.

Getting back to some kind of routine?

Greetings! Thank you all for the wonderful encouragements and prayers last post! We are certainly beginning a very amazing and miraculous journey (not that we weren't on one already!...things just keep getting more insane! In a good way).

Monday I started work again. Tim and I were so thankful for the break from Wednesday night's arrival to Sunday night. We were so tired and battled nasty sinus infections. Feeling better now! YEAH!

We were so blessed by our church on Sunday...they found out that we were expecting and decided to share our story in the service! We were prayed over and blessed enormously...it really made us feel at home and well-supported....

And then early Monday, I walked to work....got there tired. Amazing how little energy I have as of late, but I have been reassured that the second trimester will be better. :)
So the birth room was quiet....I was first up to deliver a baby because I had been gone so long....first labor that came in had to be transported to DMC for premature labor....DMC was able to cause the labor to stop through a few injections. I believe she will carry her baby to term.

Next, my dear continuity that delivered in my absence came to see me! Remember Jelly? We prayed for her several times in the past....Well, there she is pictured above with her new daughter, Annecia Mea, and her bana! She had a cesarean as a result of polyhydramnios and other issues. I was so disappointed to have missed her birth while on furlough, but so thankful she came in to see me! She is a joy and very happy to be a mother!

Next on the agenda, just about shift change time, amidst constant hunger pangs and the like (I never know how much food to bring to shift...I am ALWAYS hungry...especially for MEAT!), I got another labor in! This time, the patient, Tata, was anemic and a medium risk patient....and she was PUSHING! Yes, she came at 1:10 pm fully dilated! Scrambling to set up her birth room, I yelled to my supervisor "She's pushing!"....and my supervisor said, "Tell her to stop!" I laughed.

So telling the patient to stop didn't work and I prepared for her birth.....my supervisor didn't believe me when I said, "Ate...I see baby's head...assist please!"....My supervisor said, "You didn't do an IE?" (that's an internal exam!)...."Ummm NO...THE BABY'S HEAD IS COMING RIGHT NOW....ASSIST PLEASE!".....Baby girl named Leandra was born 13 minutes after admission ....baby was healthy and beautiful.....and then we had to pop the placenta out quickly as Tata began to bleed...and bleed...and bleed.....and then I started having mild contractions! ACK!

But the bleeding stopped as did my contractions and I shuffled my way home, tired, worn, and ready for bed at 3 pm. Only to have another meeting at 7 pm. I might've zoned out a few times.....but I was thankful that God sustained me through my first birth shift back and even gave me a safe and healthy delivery for Tata.

Then today, Wednesday, I had prenatal exams....awesome. Love those....love praying for the ladies and getting to know each one....and I got to see my dear continuity, MJ, who is due March 9th. She is fantastic and staying healthy for her baby! Please continue to pray for her relationship with Jesus....that she will seek Him with her whole heart. I am so looking forward to the birth of her baby boy. She is soooo nervous.

After prenatals, I got to go with Ate Melody and Ate Bebing to the post office to pick up a package from our dear friends, Andy and Nicole Vieira! Inside was coffee and chocolate and pictures and Christmas decor....they had sent it in early November! We just got it now! But it was an incredible blessing and somewhat of a "welcome home" present. What a joy to feel so supported by our friends and family! We feel so blessed! Thank you!

Things are kinda getting back to normal here.....Tim left for an outreach this morning and will be back on Friday....he's doing a bit of scouting for water stuff and also helping with medical clinics....he was so excited to go!....I have our two bunnies (pictured above...my, how they've grown!) to keep me company as I fight my way through more assignments....next one is on breastfeeding....

Tim is very excited (as am I) about the water filtration stuff....new developments there...but I will let him tell you when he gets back! VERY exciting stuff! He will be busy these next few months!

Sorry for the lack of pictures....Tim will be home soon with plenty...thank you again for all the prayers and encouragements....we have been facing a bit of attack right now with our health and finances....things have been breaking and busting here....first it was some electrical wiring in our house as well as a few fans....then it was our computer cords and we are feeling some of the stress, but God has been so faithful and though we are never consistent with Him, He is always consistently here with us.

Be blessed!

September 12

Bethany and I arrived in Davao safe and sound yesterday afternoon. In a couple days I'll tell you more about our feelings upon returning home. We'll be back to updating the blog at least twice a week now, so be sure to check back often. Thanks to all of you who commented on our few posts during our vacation. Sorry we didn't write much, but there wasn't much to say. We had a great time in North America, and perhaps I'll tell you more about it later this week. But I've got something else on my mind tonight.

I joined Bethany for her ultrasound today. Awesome. I am so excited about being a Dad. My kid has a big brain. I can tell because its head is HUGE!!! The ultrasound dude says that everything looks good in there, and that the pregnancy is progressing nicely. I was amazed as I observed the whole thing. You can see so clearly. We watched as the baby was dancing about and doing little flips in Mommy's tummy. The doc said that our baby dances like Britney Spears. I thought that a rather rude thing to say, but I held my tongue.

I think that today I somehow gained further understanding of the "fear of God". I've often wondered about that concept. The paradox of loving Him and yet fearing Him all at once has often left me puzzled. Today I cried as I saw our little baby (only a couple of centimeters long) on the monitor. I was filled with joy and terror as I contemplated the change that is coming to our lives. I am so very excited, but I'm also extremely afraid. I don't know anything about babies. The responsibility of raising a child is incomprehensible. What have I gotten myself into?

Oh, but I love this little one already. I can't wait to welcome it into this world. I can't wait to hold it and sing to it and read it bedtime stories...and hand it to Bethany when it needs changing.

Thank you all for praying for us and our baby. Today felt like a really big deal. It was one of those "This is really happening" moments. This is happening, and it's super-fantastic-wicked-awesome-sweet. And a little scary. The due date is now officially September 12. Please continue to pray for Bethany. She is suffering from a bad cold and this week's traveling has left her pretty worn out. She'll be heading back to work on Monday, so please pray that the Lord gives her lots of energy.

I'll post again in two or three days. For now I'll leave you with the first official photos of my kid. I think it looks like me. Big head.

Peace out.
Tim.

Eventful

Greetings! Once again, I apologize for the absence of posts! We are currently in our last week of furlough! We are staying with my parents in Gresham, Oregon and have been flabbergasted by God's generous love and support through my parents.

From the moment we arrived here in Oregon, my parents were weepy and full of joy, encouraging us and looking for ways in which to bless us.....they even took the entire week off from work to spend with us! We were so blessed. We have never felt so spoiled! And they were so thankful and amazed at God's faithfulness to us in the Philippines as well is in our new pregnant state! Originally, my mother stated that I HAD TO COME HOME (that is, to OREGON) if I ever got pregnant....but this visit proved that the Lord had been speaking to them, too. They confirmed what we felt in our spirits.....that the Lord had brought us to the Philippines to serve and because my health history-this pregnancy was truly an act of God.....strange timing, but fully part of God's plan....we felt total peace that we are to return to the Phils and call it our baby's home.....

Then, this passed Sunday, we had a wonderful dessert get together with our friends who have been praying for us.....between the Knopp family (8 out of 9 of them came!), our neighbors, my best friend, Alissa and my mentors, Debbie and Deanie, there was a good number of us all telling stories and sharing in the faithfulness of God. We showed a brief slide show of our adventures and our new friends in the Phils, shared the vision that God has given us for 2008 and everyone confirmed once again, that we were to go back expecting God to carry us through the coming months because He has been so faithful thus far. No one encouraged us to come home or considered it unwise to return to the work given the pregnancy. We were so encouraged....they shared how they had seen a great change in Tim...so much more happy and full of peace....and they said they'd never seen me more joyful and we astonished at how much we missed our "home".

After viewing again the slide show Tim had made, Tim and I laid awake in bed talking about how strange it is that we feel a total peace about returning home....home to the Philippines.....we talked about missing our friends, Jenn and Joe.....my lady friends at the clinic....my peers....and missing the simplicity of our home, my Saturday mornings with An-An (I miss her!) and Tim's afternoons in Joe's back yard. We missed the smiley Filipinos....the taxi drivers....Gaisano....seeing God in new ways, both big and small.....and I miss my continuities. We're ready to go home....and for some reason, it feels more like home than ever before. God is so good.

Despite these precious moments, we have had our share of stress, too....from Impact Nations business, Tim's computer crashing for the 3rd time, and we found out our truck in the Phils died, some bills in the Phils were overdue that we were unaware of.....all financial burdens that have made us a little.....well, nervous. And then there's all the changes happening in me....I no longer fit into my pants (Praise God....tee hee) and the need for new clothes is becoming a little obscene.

Thankfully, my mom has come to the rescue many times throughout the trip making sure that I understand that because she cannot spoil her grandchild like she currently does my niece and nephew, she has to spoil me (and the baby) now! She bought me some comfy preggo pants, a few preggo shirts for the Phils, gave me some comfy undies (mine are now rolling south!), and some precious baby onesies for the first 6 months. Each gift was like the Lord confirming to me that He will continue to take care of us.....even in the small things like needing bigger pants. They also convicted me that I am to continue to believe by faith that this pregnancy is the fulfillment of God's promise to Tim and myself. To be honest, this is a challenge for me....there are days when I fear that this is all one big joke and that at some point, a disaster will come....but God reveals His grace once more....

Please continue to pray for us as most of you know that there are many added costs to having a baby so we need extra grace in our finances, but also please pray for the safety of our baby....my gracious naturopath saw me while I was in Vancouver and shared her joy and mild concern with this pregnancy. She is not worried, but wants to make sure that I am taking it easy and staying healthy....she is such a blessing.

Please pray that we make it home safely and that there will not be anymore financial complications, but financial blessing instead!.....and please pray for Mercy Maternity, too, as they have been hit hard these last few weeks with staff getting sick, financial burdens and high risk patients. Thank you for all your prayers and support! We are so grateful!
And to our friends in the Phils....we are sooooooooo looking forward to seeing you! Only one more week! We love you!
Be blessed.
PS. Sorry for the lack of pictures....with Tim's computer on the rocks, he hasn't been real motivated to take pics....but I promise we will this week!