To the Mountaintop
Baby Mira. She was the 3rd baby that I personally welcomed into the world (June 2019), and I ran into her and her family in town the other day
**The blog is only allowing me to post one picture, but if you would like to stay updated on more of my daily life, please follow me on Facebook :)
I want to start with a quote that actually hit me so hard that I wrote it in the front of my Bible:
"Do not let your desire to be comfortable eclipse your ambition to be great. Because the thing about contentment is that it always verges on complacency. It is such a fine line. It might soothe you at the end of the day, but it will never stoke a fire in you, it will never fulfill you, you will not arrive to the end of your life breathless and exhausted and sweating and grateful. That is not what contentment does, however nice it may feel. So while you should always find time to enjoy your life, remember the objective. You are here with purpose, you are meant to leave an impact, your path has been ingrained in your cells, and you must now choose whether you will follow it up the mountaintop." -Brianna Wiest
Sometimes I find that although I live in a foreign country, I end up facing contentment and complacency head on. I can be stubborn, not wanting change or do hard work, and I desire to be comfortable, despite my surroundings. This quote reminds me of Gods calling for my life, and how the things that are hard are usually the things worth doing. "Do not let your desire to be comfortable eclipse your ambition to be great." READ THAT AGAIN!! It can be so difficult in our current society to continue on, especially when God asks us to not just step out of our comfort zone, but to leap outside of it.
February was one of our busiest months, with 28 births. The clinic director said this has been the busiest February since the clinic opened 13 years ago...so it is keeping us on our toes. Some days it requires all hands on deck, which can make for long nights as well. We have had the local midwifery students here for hands-on training recently, and I love having them around. I've gotten to know a few of them really well, and it's always fun to make new friends who you can encourage through this student midwife journey. There is a festival every February, called Kalinga Days, and it starts Feb. 1 and goes until Feb. 14. We love Kalinga Days, as there are food vendors, souvenirs, fabrics, karaoke, flowers, parades, carnival rides, dancing, tribal gongs, and much much more. This year we were able to go to the Kalinga Day booths a few times, but unfortunately all of the activities were cancelled because of the recent coronavirus outbreak. Thankfully there haven't been any cases where I am yet, but please continue to pray for us.
I just finished my postpartum assignment, so now I am working on my well-woman assignment...which is broken down into 3 sections: provision of care, physical assessment, and cancer screening. It is fascinating to study this aspect of midwifery care as it covers different aspects of the female body, not just the delivery of the baby.
The weather continues to get warmer as the weeks go on, and its definitely starting to feel like summer already. I am currently sitting at my kitchen table in front of a fan while writing this, and I am daydreaming about the cold mango graham shake that my housemates and I will enjoy later. The weather app on my phone says that it is 91 degrees F outside currently, and the humidity is outrageous. I have seen all of the pictures of snow that everyone from home is posting on Facebook, and I don't know if I miss it or not. I enjoy gazing at the rigged mountains across the rice fields, the palm trees swaying in the breeze, and the birds chirping outside the window...but I wouldn't complain if it was about 20 degrees cooler.
This morning I helped teach the Labor and Delivery Seminar for the pregnant mothers who are due soon, and it went really well. I covered the first stage of labor, which includes pre-labor, active labor, transition, what contractions are/feel like, and some different techniques/positions for pain during labor. We had 3 expectant mothers, 2 husbands, and a sweet little girl who was excited to meet her baby sister or brother.
Life continues on here in the Philippines. I leave in less than 4 weeks, so I have been stressed about packing, homework, finishing assignments, and just leaving for 6 1/2 weeks. It will be a new adjustment, and that can be scary at times, especially since Tabuk has become my home now. I'm trusting that God will continue to be faithful and provide, but buying plane tickets twice in the span of a few months was not really in the budget. Thank you to everyone who continues to support me, and those who trust Gods faithfulness in my life through financial support.
If you have any questions, comments, or encouragement, feel free to connect with me through Facebook, email, or snail mail :) Thank you again for all of the prayers and support as God continues to take me on this adventure!