Mexico - Post 3

I think this will probably conclude my Mexico posts - thanks for sharing this me. So many of you have told me how you prayed for us and I just want you to know that the prayers were felt by all of us.

Last day of Clinic - 6/26/08

This was a crazy day. We saw over 40 children. The morning was pretty calm and most of these 40 kids came through after lunch. We worked at seeing patients until after 6:00 that night. We had two patients come through that were having some issues with their anatomy - that's all I'm gonna say about that. I have to tell you though, we are so spoiled. You know we are used to private examination rooms for even the most basic health problems. In Mexico, if you have a clothed body part that has to be looked at you have about three people come over and hold a sheet up around you. Yea, pretty crazy, huh? We had one little boy come through that was around 4 years old. He got pulled off the line out front because Holly thought he had Spinobifida. His mother was holding him because he could not stand or walk by himself. Dr. T, bless his heart, he is such a gentle soul. He took that little boy by the hand and walked with him around the sanctuary. The little boy let go of his hand and walked several steps by himself. Everyone in the pediatric area cheered. The smile on that little boy's face was a look that I pray God never lets me forget. He was so proud of himself. The pastor's wife was trying to get some sort of therapy worked out for him. If only their parents knew what kind of exercises to do with them and then actually did them, so many of these kids would be better off. The other patients that stood out from this day were this sweet brother and sister that came in - I don't even remember what they came for now, but the grandmother told us that their father beats them and only feeds them twice a day and it is the same food over and over again. Wow. That will make you stop and think. Can I tell you all how many times last week I considered what would happen if I tried to bring some of those kids home with me? In all seriousness, when you spend a week in that you just want to love on those children and on your own children. It also makes you want to try to make your own children understand what good lives they have. One of our children, who will remain unnamed, is in this stage where nothing is good enough. That has been really hard to deal with this week. I pray that one day we will be able to do a mission trip like this as a family and that it will impact my children like it impacted me. I have always considered myself as being pretty content. I haven't always been that way, but the last several years I've felt like I was content. After this week, I just walked away with a new perception of contentment for so many different areas of my life. You find yourself asking, "do I really need that?". I don't know if this is making any sense, but I guess when you see how little these people have you just realize that you could do without so much frivolous stuff. Okay, I realize as I'm typing this that I still haven't sorted through all of my thoughts on that subject and that is why I'm rambling so let me move on.
After we ended clinic on Thursday, the church did a farewell service for us. Our group sang, " I Will Never Be the Same Again", and then the choir members that we had with us sang, "Lord, I Believe." It was incredible. Before the service began I had a chance to talk with Pastor David about the week and how much it had meant to me. Imagine my surprise when during the service he asked for people to give testimonies. When nobody from our group volunteered, he called me by name to come up front. If you know me at all, you know that I do NOT do this. I feel like I'm going to vomit if I even think I might have to speak in front of a crowd. I get nervous when I'm meeting with a couple of clients at work by myself. Well, the thing about this is is that I knew God had worked on me that week and I knew I could give a testimony, but God knew that I never would on my own, so He pushed me. I wish I could remember what I said, but I don't and by the time I got back to my seat I thought I was going to have to excuse myself to go to the bathroom and be sick. Sadonna was even shaking for me!
There was so much love in that sanctuary Thursday night. I had one girl come up to me and just grab my neck and hug me and say, "I love you, I love you" over and over again. Talk about humbling.

Journal Entry from Today--
"...I wish I could put into words everything that this week has meant to me, but I'm not sure I can. Things I have prayed over for months have been answered this week. Struggles over situations that I realized this week that I am growing a root of bitterness over - "get up, get over it, and get on with it" - thank You Lord for Bro. Terry who doesn't mince words and always hits me right between the eyes. I have prayed that God would bring back the joy of the crucifixion in my life and yesterday, He really brought it home. Jesus left the unexplicable joy of walking with His Father on the streets of Heaven to come to this earth and take on the sins of a nation who rejects Him continually. Wow! There are no words for that. I've prayed repeatedly that God would help me not to come home the same as how I left. He has answered. Our theme for the week has been, "I will never be the same again". Lord, You orchestrated all of this long before we left. You have heard my prayers and answered and I will never be the same again. I'm hooked on missions..."

Okay, I thought I could get all of this in one entry, but there is no way. I'm going to have to break it up because I have a couple more things to tell you about! Here are just a few pictures of some of the kids that we saw. The first one is the little boy that I told you about. Sadonna and Janna, I hope you don't mind me borrowing your faces! The little girl that Sadonna is holding was so precious. The pastor's wife was carrying her around because she couldn't find her mother. So we all passed her back and forth. They finally did find her mother! She is one of the ones I really would have liked to have brought home!