A new kind of normal

A week ago someone called me and asked if I'd do an ultrasound on a worker who was new in the country and seemed to be having a miscarriage. The young girl came to my house and after checking her, I saw evidence that she was indeed still pregnant. I didn't want to get her hopes up since she was bleeding pretty heavily and cramping too. A few more days went by and things weren't much better so I checked her again. The gestational sac had doubled in size so I was really stumped but still couldn't see a clear fetus. I decided to take her to a "private" hospital to see my friends' sister who is a doctor. The doctor was insistent that no one would come in the room with her but I insisted and pushed my way in. There were no fewer than 10 women in the room with a woman in labor, yelling loudly. They told this girl to take her clothes off and get up on the table. (the table was way across the room) We looked at her like "right here, in front of everyone?" Of course, it's normal. She dutifully undressed and walked across the room in front of all those women. She checked her and was pretty sure she had miscarried and said she would need a D&C. Praise the Lord she let her wait a few more days to see what would happen. The girl laid in bed pretty much for 5 days, the bleeding stopped and she began feeling very nauseous. Tonight I went over to her house with my portable machine and did another ultrasound on her. Funny side note is that there is only one plug in the bedroom and it couldn't reach the machine so we had to do the ultrasound on the floor. Normal. Sure enough, there was a baby, big as life with a strong heartbeat! How exciting for this young couple, far away from home in a rather primitive place. The thought that that doctor was ready to do a D&C is pretty scary! I believe that she could have been carrying twins and miscarried one of them. Praise the Lord for my portable ultrasound machine which was bought many years ago with Alliance Women's money. It has been a blessing to so many women and continues to be. Thank you!

The real Kurd'sh New Year

Here, Dec. 31st is considered Christmas and March 21 is New Year's. So this was the weekend for huge celebrations. We had no idea what we were in for but were told that everyone wears traditional Kurd'sh clothes so we dutifully went to the bazaar & bought them. Friday we got dressed up in our garb and went downtown to a certain street that was blocked from traffic and where the party would happen. When we arrived, we were shocked to see literally hundreds of thousands of people walking the street in their beautiful, colorful clothes. The party basically consisted of walking for 3 hours or more, up and down the street. At certain points we could not even move one inch because of the crowds. Surprisingly, in those mobs of people we saw quite a few that we knew. In fact, we started out with just 3 of us and by the time friends started joining our group, we were more than 10. There were random groups of people dancing all over the streets with loud music, food & drink stands,and just an incredible air of celebration everywhere. We even saw a large group of US soldiers and they greeted us warmly. I actually forgot that I was wearing high heels until after about 3 hours and then my feet started killing me. It also started raining so we were walking very fast to get somewhere out of the rain! We finally decided to go back to a friends' workplace and eat at the cafeteria there. It was a perfect end to a fun day as we sat around and relaxed, ate a delicious meal and drank tea. We arrived home exhausted but so happy. Little did we know what lay in store the following day...
Saturday morning we awoke to pouring rain and dark, cloudy skies. We had a picnic planned with lots of friends in the mountains. It seemed our plans would be ruined but we delayed an hour and decided to go for it; the internet said sunny & 68 degrees so, although we don't always believe the internet we hoped they were right. By the time we arrived at our destination, the sun was beginning to peek through and it actually became hot after a few hours. We found a gorgeous place, overlooking a lake and set up camp. The scenery was breath-taking. The hills were alive with people covering just about every square meter but we had lots of room to spread out. It was a picture-perfect day and so much fun to enjoy God's nature after a long winter. We are truly blessed with wonderful friends here and we long for them all to someday join our family. From the time we left our house until we got home at night, it was 13 hours; a pretty long day but oh so much fun. I'll include a short video here of some of us singing around the traditional New Year's fire! There was dancing going on from the first hour until the last and it got wilder as the night went on. These people know how to have fun! We look forward to lots more picnics this Spring as we've been told that every Friday we'll be heading to the mountains with our friends. Let the good times roll..

Bittersweet visit

I'm afraid I'm losing my readers since you probably check so often here and find nothing new! Sorry about that but I really have been crazy busy, being away from home for 3 weeks in Thailand and then Jordan. Now it's back to real life and I must say I've had a hard time getting back into the swing of things.
I want to tell you about a visit I had to Aqaba. Of course it was nostalgic for us as we drove into that city (where, by the way, we were sure we'd stay until we retired!). Within a short time of our arrival the phone began to ring with friends wanting to see us. A beach party was planned to get several of our friends together in one place for us to see. It was wonderful to reconnect with so many and to see some BIG changes in the hearts of some. It was also very wonderful to be able to communicate freely in the language I love. I didn't realize how frustrated I've been not to be able to talk to people about meaningful things! (It made me more determined to learn this new language) Sitting on the beach at sunset talking about my best friend to a group of people who are hungry for truth was so rewarding. I spent other times with different friends and had some incredible conversations, talks I can't imagine happening just a year ago. There are so many opportunities in this city and so many open people that I felt a bit sad that we weren't still there. The good thing is that as we boarded the plane in Jordan and headed back to this place, I felt like I was coming home. I had a deep sense of THIS being where God wants me right now. I also know that I give my heart away very easily and find that anywhere God puts me I quickly put down roots & fall in love with the people and culture. It is good to be at peace.