July has flown by....

wow...it is already the end of July, it seems just like yesterday that i arrived back from Canada and here I am almost 4 weeks later.


A taste of July
I cannot claim that lots happened this month but it has been busy non the less.  Ellora and I started on our assignment titles "Well-woman" and no it does refer to the woman at the well.  It was a very interesting assignment but kept us very busy.  I got to be involved with some more births, which as always wonderful, amazing and nerve wracking.  We also have two interns from Austria staying with us and it has been great getting to know them, especially since they are from Vienna! Ellora has headed off for her four week furlough in the states, and tomorrow the new girls head to a mountain village for four weeks so I will be the only white person living the house for the next few weeks.

Alright, so I am not going to lie, my return here to the Philippines was a little more challenging than i was expecting, not for any one reason in particular, but I was definitely pretty home sick the first two weeks back.  I had just finished getting over the real big bout of homesickness back at the end of April so it was a little unfortunate to have to go through it again, but then I suppose it shows just how blessed I am to have such a great family.  Sometimes I find myself disappointed with how slow I seem to be in getting the hang of things.  I will be honest I did not realize that this journey would be this difficult. I have had many good people in my life however that have been encouraging in addition to this I was reminded of something the other day and was actually able to put it into words while writing a letter to a friend.......

Dancing through the thistles 
Some of you know, that I love to go places barefoot.  On the ranch during the summer months I rarely wear shoes unless there is a real reason to.  The thing with going everywhere barefoot however is one often runs into thistles and thorns which do not feel so great on the feet.  Whenever I encounter these thistles that tend to disguise themselves among the grass so that often I do not know that they are there until I step on them, I am faced with three choices, 1) I can turn back, and miss out on what is on the other side of the thistle patch or 2) I could run through as fast as I can but then I would have so many thorns in my feet that I probably would have problems walking any further or I can choose 3) slowly moving around, over, side stepping and maneuvering through the thistles.  I tend to pretty well always choose option 3.

I feel like the challenges we face can be like that.  When we encounter struggles and hardships we can turn back and miss out on what God has for us (although sometimes it is God;s leading that we choose a different route) we can force our way through but then cause more harm to ourselves than good or we can let God lead us in a dance through the thistles.  It is usually a slow dance and it takes time, and even when we are careful we will still get thorns in our feet, but by the time we get through and are on the other side, we can look back and realize that God turned the thistle patch into the dance of our lives.

Other things
Anyhow that is my sentimental moment for this blog post.  Last Saturday we had our labour and delivery seminar and I had the task of teaching on the second stage of labour.  I had fun explaining the different positions that one can use while in labour and the benefits of each.  It was the first time that I did a teaching with a crowd since being here.  I have done a few devotionals but not a a teaching.

Since the two new girls have arrived four of us Americanos have started our own little church service Sunday afternoons, we have not done it every Sunday, but we get together in the evening sing songs and share something.  Recently we all told our testimonies which was pretty cool,  we had to divide it up throughout the week however and give each one of us her own night.

Prayer needed
The  clinic has been busy and we have had many wonderful women and babies pass through the doors.  I do have a particulate prayer request for one of the patients.  She recently delivered a baby last week but a few days ago she was confined in the hospital due to a fever.  It turns out that she has Dengua fever and a Urinary Tract Infection.  Thus she has to be separated from her baby and is not able to breastfeed him.  The baby is staying with her family and is doing well, but their whole family could use prayer.  Dengua is a very unpleasant illness and in some cases it can be fatal, but she is in good hands now with a very good doctor, please pray that she recovers soon and will be able to be reunited with her baby and family.

To close
With this I shell leave you for another month
other prayer request in addition to the above include continual learning, joy, confidence and humility
For the new assignment that I have started which requires a a lot of research!
Also for my Grandma who is recovering from a burst appendix In Canada.  I am told that she is doing a lot better and I am hoping to skype with her soon so that I can see for myself.

As always I thank you for your prayers and support during this journey

There and Back again: A Furlough Tale by Vienna Moilliet

Well as the title of this blog indicates (in addition to my obvious appreciation of Middle Earth books) I am back again after four weeks in Canada spent with family and friends

the trip back to Canada went very well, April and Anker picked me up in Vancouver, which was a real treat, it was so much fun coming out into arrivals and spotting April, running towards her as we both squealed in a way only sisters can do.  After a lovely cup of Starbucks coffee we headed east! we made a stop along the way and visited these old railroad tunnels, it was a lot of fun and felt good to be among Canadian forests again.

                                              Sister fun on the way back!

That evening I had supper with my brother and sister-in-law and of course my wonderful nephew whom has grown up so much.  It was so good to see him!!! then my mom and dad stopped in which was a wonderful a reunion.  Later I went back to April and Anker's where I slept very soundly

The next morning held a lot of biter-sweetness.  Sweetness because we went to a Breakfast place (still in Kamloops) where I got to see two sets of aunts and uncles, and nearly all of my siblings (one of them had to stay back and look after the ranch) it was so good to see them and I was nearly bursting with excitement I even got to see my soon to be sister-in-law.  The bitterness of this morning however was that the reason that so many of my family were in Kamloops this day was due to the fact that a dear friend of the family (mentioned in my last blog) had  unexpectedly died and his funeral was being held that day.  It was a very sad day as we said goodbye hugged his family members; he was only in his thirties.  Thank the Lord however that he had the Hope of Salvation and that he is the arms of Jesus and we will soon meet again.

That afternoon I returned with my mom, dad, younger brother and my nephew (who was to spend with weekend with up) to the ranch.  It felt good to smell the smells of good ol' Aveley, see more friends and family and play with my nephew.
                                                 
                                                daddy and I hanging out at the ranch pick nick

Unfortunately I got quite sick that weekend with a nasty cold.  I went to church that Sunday not feeling the greatest but tolerable.  Joseph and Cadence then took me out to lunch in Clearwater.  it was a lovely afternoon but by evening I had a fever and was all achy.  Anyhow I survived and got over it in about a week but my couch lasted longer than I would have liked.

The Merendia evening went well there were about 40 people there.  From the evening to the end of the month I raised almost a third of what I estimated I needed.  I thank everyone who contributed; it was truly a blessing, about half of the money has already gone towards my tuition for this year

June 20th was a big day for us as one of my younger brothers; Seth, tied the knot! and got married to a lovely girl whom is a great match for him.  I had the honer of being one of her bridesmaids, along with her sister (maid of honer) two of her friends and Cadence.  It was an adventure! as with many weddings there were unexpected little mishaps that came up but they were all worked through and everything in the end was beautiful and no one knew the difference.  I shed quite a lot of tears and was thankful I walked up the isle with a tissue in my hand.

The next day the rest of our family stayed in the house that we had rented in Vernon and hung out together as a family, we had a relaxing morning as the kids played and then went swimming in Kalamalka lake.  We finished the evening off with a delicious BBQ which included lamb...oh so good.  I had a blast with me nieces and nephew, it was hard to say goodbye.

                                                 BBQ time at the rented house in Vernon

I returned to the ranch for the final ten days, they were a bit more busy than I had hoped, but such is life.  I visited several people, went huckleberry picking with a friend (which included a lot of bush wacking) Helped mom take my youngest brother into Kamloops because he had to have knee surgery, and help nurse him a bit thereafter.  I also had the honer of baptizing a young friend mine.  The following day we had another young person who was also baptized.  I went for a drive with mom and dad to Clearwater lake, of which I had never been to before.  I went riding for the third time that month, watched some Lost episodes with my younger brother, said goodbye to my sheep Tiah and before I knew it was time to leave.

                                                 Clearwater lake: quite cold

                                              Saying goodbye to my old sheep Tiah

The trip back was certainly a journey.  I already knew that it was going to be a long trip of about 42 hours, due to lay overs, but it turned into a bit of an adventure.  April and Anker dropped me off at the Kamloops airport where I flew to Vancouver.  I discovered that my flight was delayed by two hours which was fine since my layover in Beijing was 7 hours so I had plenty of time to spare.   The 11 hour plane ride to Beijing went very well, I was happy that I seemed to feel fine (I have a history of sometimes not feeling well on planes) we were fed two meals the last only about an hour before we landed.  Again I seemed to feel fine but as soon as we started to land I started feeling really sick.  It was very fortunate I had bought a small beg of chips in the Vancouver airport and that I ate them as it allowed me to have an empty beg at my disposal, I was, after all unable to get to the bathroom since we were in the middle of landing.  As soon as we hit the ground....well you can guess the rest I won't give you details.  I was hoping that I had gotten sick just because of the motion.  But upon entering the airport I was in need of another bathroom.  I managed to make it through security but needed another bathroom right afterwords.  With about four hours till my next flight, I found an empty gate (fortunately I had idea of the airport layout since I had stopped there on my way over) stretched out on the chairs and slept for two hours.  After that I still didn't feel great but there was nothing left in my system to throw up anyway.  When I got on my next plane (which went to Manila) I found myself sitting by a woman and her young son.  I noticed earlier that she looked tired and exhausted and I soon found out why. Turned out that we had been on the same plane from Vancouver, and that she had also been sick and had had the same meal as I did.  We were both relieved that we were not the only ones sick and agreed it must be food poisoning.  Both of us slept pretty well the entire four hours to Manila.

I figured that was enough excitement for one trip but alas it was not the end.  I had one more flight to catch, an hour flight from Manila to Tuguagarao, from there I would take a van back home to Tabuk.  But I arrived in Manila at 12:30 AM and had to wait until 11:15 AM.  So I wondered around, facebooked, read, and slept on the airport floor for another two hours.  We boarded the plane at 10:45 AM and started to get ready to head down the runway lane, but before we could the pilot informed us that due to weather the flight had been canceled, so off the plane we went.  At first I was just going to stay overnight and get the plane the next day but by texting with friends back in Tabuk it sounded like the storm was going to last until the next day.  So I decided to take the 11 hour night bus.  I took a taxi to the bus station where I discovered that all buses to Tabuk were full but managed to get the last seat on the bus going to Tuguagarao.  While I waited I meant a really nice family and we chatted for about half an hour and they helped me get on the right bus.  I finally headed out of Manila at 6:30 pm that evening, slept off and on, arrived in Tugeagarao at 5:30 am, where there was lots of wind and rain (I confirmed later that the flight for that day was also canceled, so very good I did not wait around) got to the transportation van in plenty of time.   I finally arrived in Tabuk at 8:30 AM where Georgia and her husband kindly picked me up at the terminal so I did't have to walk in the pouring rain, not that I would have minded but my luggage would have.

It was so nice to see everyone again, there was lots of hugs and "glad to see yas" all around.  I met the two new young ladies that have joined us here at the clinic, they will also be here for 2.5 years. They are great gals.

Oh boy that was long post but you know I love to tell stories and there were so many that happened this last month.

So here I am again, I start doing clinicals again on Thursday and must begin my next assignment today.  It is going to be a crazy next 19 months filled with learning.

Thank you so much for all the prayers this last month
I think there will be a big learning curve approaching as the clinic has become quite busy.  I can definitely use prayer (as always) for the ability to grasp concept, understanding and wisdom.  you can also pray for the new girls as they begin their language classes.  And four our second years as they begin to prepare to graduate (so sad to loose them :( )

Much love and Blessing to you all!!