Contentment

Mwiriwe (Good afternoon)!  It’s been a great day here in Rwanda.  Starting out my day with my Bible, journal, and this view: not too shabby!  I know I’ll be quite underwhelmed by my backyard view upon returning to Mobile (rusting patio furniture).  We are currently studying 2 Timothy, but I got very sidetracked this morning.  I was thinking about Paul, the author of this book.  He was imprisoned, flogged, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, etc, in his sufferings for Christ.  I wondered, was he was ever angry or resentful?  What if he hadn’t had perfect peace in his Savior- that there was a plan in all his suffering?  He knew the truth of who God is and he chose to forever focus on Him instead of his sufferings and circumstances.  Because of him (and his superb writing skills/inspiration from God) we have a majority of the New Testament!

I found comfort in this for myself and for my team.  We have watched things not go as we planned here.  The hospital lacks basic labs that we would write for in a second back home.  There are many medications we would rely on that are not available.  There’s no CT machine (what would the USA ER do?!), no Echo, no ventilators, no crash carts, and the list goes on.  Communication barriers are obviously very real.  Babies that would have a fighting chance in the US have passed away.  Patients come in with burns, ingestions, and scars from initially visiting the ‘traditional healers’ or the not so PC term, witch doctors.  We don’t understand why some of the medical decisions are made.  It can be very frustrating when we watch what we don’t believe is enough being done or even the wrong things being done.  I pray today Lord, give us a heart like Paul! In the midst of what seems like defeat, may our path not stray from You.  Satan is on the prowl right now.  He senses our exhaustions, frustrations, and discouragements, and if only we will let him, he will feed those feelings with the ultimate goal of bringing on our destruction.  That makes me want to fight back!

“Be self controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” 1 Peter 5:8-9

While we can’t always understand and see the purpose in the hardships of life, we can know that God is good.  I long and pray for full contentment in Christ and nothing else.  And to accept the knowledge that I may not know this side of heaven why some things happen the way they do, but if I understood all that he did and all that he was, he wouldn’t be God, he’d just be one of us!  Patients are dying and suffering and that is so tough to watch.  We have sick and hurting family back in the States.  But You are in each and every event that takes place here, back home, and everywhere in between.  We don’t understand it all, but we don’t need to, just give us the strength to trust you in the hard times and be content in the fact that you know so much better than we do.  Whatever our sufferings, help us to rejoice in them as Paul did!  Our troubles and heartache only show us that we were made for something better, that we do not belong in this world.  And somehow he’s using these struggles to draw us closer to himself. 

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4

I am loving peds.  I asked Cody yesterday if it was inappropriate to write in my note- “general appearance: SO FREAKING CUTE!” Unfortunately, he said to not EVER do that… One of my babies in the NICU who was malnourished did a good job gaining weight and went home yesterday! I missed him this morning… Destin is the boy with the terrible empyema who Shannon chest tubed last week.  His Xray looked so much better and clinically he is much improved.  He was SO close to smiling yesterday when we taught him how to fist bump.  This morning, we handed out beautifully handmade dresses to the kids, boys and girls alike (it is very, very hard to tell the difference between boys are girls here because the girls have short hair and the boys wear dresses.).  They loved that.  They are also obsessed with pictures.  If ever I have a kid who is scared for me to examine him, all I have to do if take out my phone and take their picture and they are enthralled.  I will have to come up with better tricks for American kids who would be very unimpressed with that trick.

We have less than a week here in Kibogora! Pray that our hearts are refreshed and we are carrying out the work God brought us here to do. Murabeho!

-Elizabeth