As my friends and family know, I have spent the week hospitalized due to an intestinal infection and parasite. Despite my sickness, God provided for me SO much this week, and for that, I rejoice and am healed in Him.
1. Prayerful People:
My parents, friends and family's concern and prayers for me during this time allowed to see just how much they care for me, and I can never be grateful enough. People I barely even know we're asking how I was doing, and for that, I am extremely blessed.
While Dad calling the US Embassy in Managua may be too much, it does make for a great story. 😉
2. An Incredible Team:
I received beautiful letters from the rest of the team while I was at the clinic and a decorated room when I returned to Cicrin, and they will never know just how much it blessed me. They are so sweet, and their encouragement and support this week showed me how great Christ's love is.
3. Ever-present Team Leaders:
Whether it was running to the pharmacy or sleeping in the hospital bed next to me, one of our two amazing team leaders was constantly by my side. Their encouraging attitudes and serving hearts helped me push through this week.
4. That it was me:
Being in this monolingual hospital, where no one on staff speaks English, I am thankful that it was I who got sick rather than one of my French-speaking teammates.
When I became sick, I was a little scared. The hospital was beyond sketchy, and the devil was attacking my physical, spiritual and emotional health. God soon heard our prayers and put this verse in my heart, and it carried me through the week. "That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10 NIV)
When He gave me this incredible peace, I was able to enjoy the little things He placed in my life at that time.
5. The small humorous circumstances:
– When I had to give a stool sample, they didn't have a designated container. So, after fumbling around for a while, they emptied a random box full of medicine and gave it to me to use.
– In order to receive medicine or injections, you have to get them yourself. For example, when they first have me a prescription and exclaimed "¡ahora!" they actually wanted me to leave the hospital, with the IV still in my arm, and run across the street to buy my next injection. Fortunately, one of our fearless leaders was able to go for me.
– A group of 20 nursing students would come into the room, and when the professor was explaining my condition and said "look at all the bug bites," there would be a unanimous "Ooooo…" among the crowd.
– While all this was happening, outside my half-broken window, the occasional malnourished horse would pass by and four chickens would be eating the leftover food we threw out.
Through all of these big and small influences in my time at the hospital, I was able to really learn what God's peace looks and feels like. While it may have started off as a bad circumstance, God certainly used it to glorify Him.
Amén y amén.
