We always have time on our hikes for a snack...
This gentleman is picking tea leaves, a local cash crop.
Our little hikers did a great job thanks to the help of a new walking stick.
The hike got a little dangerous,
And we ran into a few wild animals.
And a few monkeys in the trees.
Then we headed back home for some play time and turtle time. What great entertainment!
Nathan was very gentle with the turtles, even though he carried a big stick.
The rains have returned, so we've spent a few more hours inside. The kids enjoy their bedrooms and any kind of props we can find.
Bath time is always fun.
See our artwork on our bedroom walls?
Mealtimes and snacks are never dull. We've all gotten into cooking - below Eric and Julia are making pancakes for breakfast.
Maybe I should work in the Dutchman Bakery?
Yeah, we made chocolate chip cookies and ate the entire first tray right out of the oven. Life is good!
As you can tell, we're having fun and making lots of memories. The rains have come - all of Saturday and Sunday have been grey with occasional downpours at different times of the day. Our apartment feels awfully small right now, but thank goodness for some borrowed DVD's, the IPOD and a few new games in the closet. Let's hope the clouds clear and we can head outdoors again on Monday morning before we all get on each other's nerves.
Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers during this time.
Jodi
Heart In It (Eric)
It’s not what you do, but why you do it.
There have been many, many times since I have been working at Tenwek that frustration has almost gotten the best of me.
The other day I went to deliver a baby that was in distress. The mother was completely tuckered out and, although the baby was almost out, she just didn’t have the strength to push any more.
Ah ha! This is the perfect opportunity for me to save the day with a vacuum extraction. I call for a vacuum, but no one can find one. This would not be too unexpected deep in rural Kenya, except for the fact that I brought a whole suitcase full of them! Where are the vacuums?!
Silence. All I heard was a cricket chirping in a far off corner.
The baby is in distress, so I had no choice but to call for a C-section. But by the time we get her set up, the rest she was given gave her the strength to push the kid on out.
Great.
So over to the warmer goes the baby. He needed to have a tube put down his windpipe to help suction out his lungs. But woops, the batteries are dead in the light that allows me to see down the throat. So it never got done.
I kind of lost my cool during that time, and the nurses saw it.
Kenyans are laid back. They tend to be 15 minutes late for everything, and lax in organization. This can be amusing at times. But when their laxity crosses with the need for emergent medical care, it can be very disturbing to an American doctor.
But for all my irritation, I discharged the child from the nursery today after it did just fine.
Another day recently I was having a bad day because, right after I finished making October’s call schedule, the obstetrician let us know that he would be returning from leave 2 weeks later than expected. No reason was given why, just a message stating that. This is not an unusual event in Kenyan culture.
That day in our outpatient clinic, my irritation showed. It was the typical story. One after another patients would come in for hypertension or asthma, something that should only take 5 minutes. But as the clinic visit is almost over, there is hardly a patient that doesn’t go into the fact that they have abdominal pains . . . and back aches . . . and their legs hurt . . . and they have headaches . . . and their neck hurts . . and . . . This doesn’t come all at once either. They start with the legs. Then when you are done with that, they bring up the abdomen and so on. They have come a long distance and have waiting a long time. They are going to let you have it and would sit and chat about their problems for 2 hours if you let them.
So this day it was obvious that I was irritated. The nurses saw it and the patients saw it. It sounds so heroic to travel halfway across the Earth to help people. But I was only doing harm when I was not doing it with a good heart. The “job” was still getting done. The baby survived and the patients had their hypertension and back pain attended to (not to mention their headache, leg pain, neck pain, and abdominal pain, and . . . ). But it was all in vain as it was so obvious my heart was in the wrong place.
The same is true for every “good deed” we do. It is often hard for us to figure out what our motives are, but it is often easy for the recipient to figure it out. If you truly want to help someone and truly want to please God, make sure that it is being done with your heart in the right place.
As a wise man once said (Bruce Hamsher, Bouquets), “Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.”
Eric
There have been many, many times since I have been working at Tenwek that frustration has almost gotten the best of me.
The other day I went to deliver a baby that was in distress. The mother was completely tuckered out and, although the baby was almost out, she just didn’t have the strength to push any more.
Ah ha! This is the perfect opportunity for me to save the day with a vacuum extraction. I call for a vacuum, but no one can find one. This would not be too unexpected deep in rural Kenya, except for the fact that I brought a whole suitcase full of them! Where are the vacuums?!
Silence. All I heard was a cricket chirping in a far off corner.
The baby is in distress, so I had no choice but to call for a C-section. But by the time we get her set up, the rest she was given gave her the strength to push the kid on out.
Great.
So over to the warmer goes the baby. He needed to have a tube put down his windpipe to help suction out his lungs. But woops, the batteries are dead in the light that allows me to see down the throat. So it never got done.
I kind of lost my cool during that time, and the nurses saw it.
Kenyans are laid back. They tend to be 15 minutes late for everything, and lax in organization. This can be amusing at times. But when their laxity crosses with the need for emergent medical care, it can be very disturbing to an American doctor.
But for all my irritation, I discharged the child from the nursery today after it did just fine.
Another day recently I was having a bad day because, right after I finished making October’s call schedule, the obstetrician let us know that he would be returning from leave 2 weeks later than expected. No reason was given why, just a message stating that. This is not an unusual event in Kenyan culture.
That day in our outpatient clinic, my irritation showed. It was the typical story. One after another patients would come in for hypertension or asthma, something that should only take 5 minutes. But as the clinic visit is almost over, there is hardly a patient that doesn’t go into the fact that they have abdominal pains . . . and back aches . . . and their legs hurt . . . and they have headaches . . . and their neck hurts . . and . . . This doesn’t come all at once either. They start with the legs. Then when you are done with that, they bring up the abdomen and so on. They have come a long distance and have waiting a long time. They are going to let you have it and would sit and chat about their problems for 2 hours if you let them.
So this day it was obvious that I was irritated. The nurses saw it and the patients saw it. It sounds so heroic to travel halfway across the Earth to help people. But I was only doing harm when I was not doing it with a good heart. The “job” was still getting done. The baby survived and the patients had their hypertension and back pain attended to (not to mention their headache, leg pain, neck pain, and abdominal pain, and . . . ). But it was all in vain as it was so obvious my heart was in the wrong place.
The same is true for every “good deed” we do. It is often hard for us to figure out what our motives are, but it is often easy for the recipient to figure it out. If you truly want to help someone and truly want to please God, make sure that it is being done with your heart in the right place.
As a wise man once said (Bruce Hamsher, Bouquets), “Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.”
Eric
6 comments:
Hi Eric and Jodi!
I've been reading your blog consistently since it was shown to me, and it is a great encouragement to me as I work through medical school to get to the point that you are at right now. I hope to do a 4th year rotation at Tenwek in a couple years. Thank you so much for both being willing to give candid glimpses of life on the mission field. God bless you immensely!
Ryan Schmucker
As always, great commentary, perspective and pics. Praying you won't lose it when you come back. Have a feeling it's becoming even more ingrained. We love ya and can't wait to see ya'll again. Oh and Jodi...now that's one hunk of dough!!
Thank you for letting us in on your life, with the pictures, and life reflections...
We're in the midst of political debates here in the US...Daniel has e-mailed me some of his choice commentaries!!!...
Enjoy your service...kids look like they are loving it...we pray for you...
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