It is indeed a thankful Thursday when you are able to schedule your daughter's wisdom teeth extraction knowing that insurance will cover it in full. And, it is indeed a thankful Thursday when your doctor decides that PT is the best option for your daughter's knee rather than surgery. Indeed it is a thankful Thursday when your son announces that he has an interview to be a head guard at the Y on Monday morning. And indeed, the most thankful thing this Thursday, is having spent a week at Vacation Bible School in the "Hall of Truth and Justice" with your husband and daughter, starring your hub Sam as the "Prophet Samuel" . . .
Every year on 18 July — the day Nelson Mandela was born — the UN joins a
call by the Nelson Mandela Foundation to devote 67 minutes of time –
one minute for every year of Mr. Mandela’s public service – to helping
others, as a way to mark Nelson Mandela International Day. Our
volunteers, of course, dedicate more than 67 minutes of their time to
serve others but as we honor the service of all who are called to work
with Mercy Ships we take a moment to honor Nelson Mandela and express
gratitude for his endorsement of Mercy Ships in its desire to bring hope
and healing to those who most need it in Africa. One patient at a time,
one procedure at a time, one smile at a time- we do indeed hope to make
this world a better place.
“I applaud Mercy Ships in their
efforts of transformational development as they make a lasting
difference in a world of need. Mercy Ships has committed themselves to
the vision of an African renaissance in their vision of bringing hope
and healing to the continent of Africa. … I salute the vision and
mission of Mercy Ships and ask that you join me in supporting their
noble work and contribute to make this world a better place.”
- the late Nelson Mandela, Former President, South Africa.
Today's post is reblogged from "Through My Porthole". Enjoy!
If there was a collective noun for people healed from goitres,
it would have to be a chatter. Imagine having a huge growth on your
neck that effected your breathing, your speech, and the way people
treated you. Now imagine the growth disappearing within hours, with
little evidence remaining that it was ever there. Here is Lalao’s story.
Lalao’s and her husband struggle to make ends meet. Five of their six
children live in with them in one-room in Madagascar’s capital city.
Lalao’s husband travels to work on a rice farm, and Lalao helped support
their family by working in a small local eatery.
She gasped for breath. Pic J. Forrest
Their financial challenges increased 13 years ago when Lalao noticed a
lump in her neck. As time passed, the growth increased in size. Despite
the scarf she wore to cover her throat, the café owner dismissed her
appearance would disturb his customers. “That left me in a difficult
situation,” she shares.
The ever-cheerful Lalao set her hands to work at whatever came her
way; washing clothes by hand, toiling in the fields – earning less than
one dollar a day. Exertion made it difficult for her to breathe.
As the swelling at the front of Lalao’s neck grew, so did her
anxiety. Sometimes she awoke during the night choking and gasping for
breath. “It affected my breathing, in the beginning that was
frightening!” she recalls. “If I lay flat my breathing was blocked. I
had to make sure my head was upright, and I woke two or three times
every night.”
A friend received a text message alert advertising that Mercy Ships
was screening patients for problems like hers, so Lalao went along. She
received both a diagnosis and a solution.
Lalao & Serafine; a friendship forged through adversity. Pic K. Keegan
Mercy Ships could remove her goitre, but it requires pre-operative
monitoring of hormone and blood levels. So Lalao and half a dozen other
goitre patients would make the trip to the hospital ship on the coast
every month to have their check-ups. This made it impossible for Lalao
to hold down regular work. Reaching the goitre clinic involved six,
nine-hour return bus trips for Lalao, and the family’s finances were
stretched to a critical level. “I had to travel so many times, and it
costs a lot,” explains Lalao. “It was really difficult to lose my job
and the money. It was hard for my family to pay for my travel. I did any
work I could get just to help.” She even borrowed from her neighbours
who encouraged her to continue with her treatment.
When her surgical date finally came, Lalao sold the last four family
chickens and bought a bus ticket to take her once again to the Africa Mercy.
Lalao looking awesome a few days after surgery. Pic Justine Forrest
Lalao’s transformation was immediate and complete. Surgery was a gift
that removed the goitre which had plagued her for 13 years. “I feel
really free!” she declares. “ I don’t need that scarf (to hide my neck)
any more. I will give to my mother!”
This Thursday I am thankful that God still speaks to us today, whether through His Word, His people, dreams, visions, strangers . . . He speaks. Let me share just two talks from today:
On our way to Micah's 2:00 p.m. dental appointment, I felt that God nudge to talk to her about getting her wisdom teeth out, what it entailed and why it may happen. Sure enough, less than five minutes in to her appointment, our dentist shared with Micah that she needed to get her wisdom teeth out. No worries . . .
On our way to Micah's 3:40 p.m. doctor's appointment, she shared with me that she had had a dream last night that she was going to have surgery, so we talked about that and how sometimes God speaks to us through dreams and visions - or not. Now this took a lot longer than five minutes - can you say "running an hour late"? - but our doctor believes Micah may have a torn meniscus root her in right knee. It's pretty rare, so he is consulting with another doctor and her two options will be physical therapy or surgery. If it is surgery, it will same day surgery but recovery will require six weeks on crutches, not using her knee. Yet she remained calm and at peace because . . . God speaks!
County Road 8 east of Highway 13 was closed last week for construction, so I took 185th Street/Eagle Creek to Highway 13 on my way to work at Sand Creek this morning. Being a bit adventurous on the way home, I decided to follow the eastbound County Road 8 detour off of Highway 13. When the detour went south, County Road 10 went north so I took it north knowing that I had to go north to get home! I kept thinking sooner or later, I'm going to hit 185th Street - only I didn't! Nope, I circled around and ended up back on Highway 13 - about 5 miles north of where I had gotten off! My sense of adventure squelched, I took Highway 13 to 185th Street and home!
I knew the clocks at Black Hawk Middle School in Eagan ran five minutes fast so I got there at 5:24 p.m. last night to teach CPR. Only CPR wasn't at Black Hawk - it was at Falcon Ridge, so I was about 20 minutes late for class last night! Oops!
an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.
Heidi, Micah, Annie (the dog) and I went to Cleary Lake yesterday. Heidi and I were on our roller blades, Micah was on her bike, and I had Annie on her leash. We had made it half way around the trail and had stopped at the wooden bridge so Annie could get a drink from the creek. Somehow, I rolled backwards down the bridge, my wheels caught in a groove, I fell on my bum, and cracked my head against the pavement - with absolutely no help from the dog! I saw a few stars and now have a rather large lump on the back of my head. Can you say ice and rest for today? (And quite possibly a mild concussion . . . arg!)
