Whoa, another week!

This week has been good. I've been slacking on my blogging lately, partially from being busy, and, partially due to the fact that island life is becoming relatively routine and normal to me. It's still exciting, yet, the days are starting to roll by so quickly and they all kind of mesh together. Let's see what I can remember.

• Monday, we had clinic as usual and then made a guest appearance to the 4-6th grade class to talk about how plants help people because medications can sometimes be created from them (examples: digoxin for the heart comes from the purple foxglove plant, aloe vera helps the skin, penicillin was discovered from mold, etc.). It was fun to see how engaged they were. Monday night, Erin, Sherry and I had Bible study on Ephesians 4, which holds many great truths. Paul starts off the by urging us to, "to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." It's a great verse for self-examination - sometimes I wonder if I am living up to God's calling for my life, or simply living to please myself. Sherry likes verse 26 most, which states, "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry."
• Tuesday morning Erin came with me on home visits to meet some more people in the community. We had a good time talking with Ms. Nella. However, she hasn't been taking her medications lately and her pressure is up to 165/110 and I talk to her about the importance of taking responsibility for her health. She told me she doesn't like taking pills when she feels good and I tried to teach her how important they still are, even when she feels good. I do really love to listen to her. We got to pray with her and she prayed for us. That afternoon, Alisa and I went to see Ms. Indiana and check with one of Mr. Lee's sons to find out how he's doing. Papa Lee is still "off island," but it looks like they are not going to operate because his heart is so weak and they are fearful of what anesthesia would do to him.
• Wednesday must have been unremarkable because I remember nothing about it except that we ran clinic. Oh, and we played CRANIUM!!!
• Thursday (yesterday), Alisa and I went to Northside to visit Nila and Betty. Ms. Nila did not take half of her pills this week and, as a result, her blood sugar and pressure are up. I've found that it's difficult to convince patients of the importance of taking medications as a way to prevent detrimental health consequences (i.e. stroke, heart attack, etc). We had 2 new missionaries to Roatan, Roger and Pam, spend the day with us. I brought them to Northside to show them a major construction undertaking going on. The men (Rock, Joe and Camas) have been working really hard on the house that Teddy is buiding. Teddy is the pastor of Northside church and currently he, his wife and their 3 (?) kids are living with his parents. His wife, Heather, comes to the weekly Bible study Dierdre put me in charge of while she's gone. Heather is pregnant and due this fall. I've been impressed by the progress they've made on the house in only a few days.
• Today we closed clinic because the whole team left to go down island. I worked all morning and all afternoon trying to shape up the pharmacy and clean up the clinic. We have a MD and his wife arriving tomorrow - yay! I'm excited and hope to learn a lot from him. It's been a joy to get to know Erin, Rock and Janis this week. They all have such servant's hearts, willing to do anything to help. Devotions have been tearful this week, as people have really been sharing about how God is working. I love the community that is experienced here.
• There were many highlights this week, including...
• LUCY! Lucy is the daughter of Dr. Spiro, the stateside medical director of our clinic. She spent 2 weeks with us and left today - we both cried when we hugged goodbye. She went to SPU and graduated 3 years ago w/a theology degree and is now going into counseling in Seattle. I loved spending time with her, especially the morning we woke up at 5:30am (yikes) to walk to Rocky Point as the sun was rising. She has such a fun, quirky sense of humor, is laid-back like me, and is SO encouraging. I hope to see her in Seattle sometime soon.
• A dance party last night with Tisiana, Brenda, (two 6th grade girls) Alisa, and Lucy.
• ooh, time for dinner! Thanks for hanging in there with me, this was a long one!