Sunrises, Babies, and Encouragement
Left to Right- Brittany, me, Julie. At the wedding, outside the church while waiting for the ceremony to start
Left to Right- Brittany, me, and Momfi (one of our staff midwives). We were seated inside the church waiting for the ceremony to start. I wasn't feeling very well at this point (hence why my face looks like that)
Doing the newborn exam on baby Lance. Measuring his head circumference, which was 36cm (14 inches)
Julie and I at the wedding
Cuddling Baby Lance after the newborn exam
Baby Lance and I
After both of us had a bath
Ephesians 2:6-7
For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the Heavenly Realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:6-7 is such a great reminder that everything that happens, will at some point, be used to show His incredible grace, kindness, and love for us. He brought us out of our sins, and now we have a seat with Him in Heaven.
Even when missionary life is hard, I'm homesick, I'm exhausted, or I just feel so discouraged, I know that it all happens to point people to Him and how wonderful He is. The last 4 months have been a struggle, but I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be here in the Philippines!
April ended with settling into our new apartment and working out all the kinks. We finally have a working oven and stovetop, and for the most part, we don't have to worry about waking up to no water anymore. Our neighbors, the ones with pet monkeys, enjoy singing karaoke at all hours of the day and night, and it's extremely loud. Even with our windows closed, we can still hear the scratchy, off-key singing of love songs, and the screeching of microphones that are not working correctly...mixed together with the sounds of pigs being slaughtered, roosters crowing loudly, and dogs barking. #MissionaryLife
Our church hosted the 24th Inter-Church Fellowship, which consisted of over 14 churches from all over Kalinga, and there were over 150 people who attended. It was interesting to see presentations from each church and just be able to fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ.
One of our midwives got married, and some of us attended the ceremony and party. It was incredibly hot and crowded, but it was nice to go show our support and love for the family. Although I had heat exhaustion and wasn't feeling the greatest afterwards, it was interesting to experience a Filipino wedding for the first time.
I handed in my first assignment, Antepartum 1 and 2, and I have the exam in a few days, so I have been studying for that lately. I also have a college math class final exam as one of my prerequisites soon, so I've also been pouring over the pages of notes for that.
May came with a lot of excitement as I was able to welcome my first baby into the world at 5:18AM! It's such a privilege to be the one witnessing such a miracle, and this one wasn't any different. Baby Lance entered the world just as the sun was rising (breathtaking moment), covered in dark hair, weighing 3.495 kilos (7.7 pounds), and with the most adorable chubby cheeks! He needed a little assistance with breathing at first, but drying him off with a towel and feeling his chest finally fill with his first breath...I seriously cannot accurately describe what that moment feels like. There are just no words for something so amazing! Baby Lance puts me at 13 births in the 4 short months that I have been here at Abundant Grace of God Maternity Center!
This month is full of working clinical shifts, lots of assignments, more babies being born, and a few staff birthdays. It will go by quickly, and then my parents will be visiting in June.
Remember that as Christ uses the things in our life to bring Him glory, we don't need to go through life alone. We need to encourage the encouragers in our life. We need to serve the servant hearted, to protect those who protect us, to fight for those who plead our cause. Sometimes we lose ourselves figuring out how others can best love us. We stop asking how we can love others. We forget that our heroes are as human as we are. That we are made to show love as well as receive it. And sometimes the moments we witness people loving so fiercely are when those people need love the most.
Thank you to everyone for all of your support! :)