Meeting Fatima

Thank you for praying for my friendship with Fatima, the girl whose little boy died of complications from CDH (Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia) in early September. She promised she would call me the next time she came to Quito and so I wasn't surprised to get her phone call this past Saturday! She was on her way to Quito from her home-town of Ambato (about 2 hours south of here).

So we made plans to meet for cafecito and a chance to chat. I packed up Nathan into the car, with lots of questions in my mind and wondering how I was going to reach out to this young girl who had already learned so many life lessons . . . . well, God had already paved the way and it turned out that we had no problems talking and chatted away like old friends.

She had lots of questions about our experience with Nathan and we talked about how important it is to have God in our lives - through both the good times and the bad. She's back to work now and trying to put her life back together after her loss. . . . and with much optism and enthusiasm, she's looking forward. She still has difficult days and thinks often of little Mattias - who only lived for 4 days (I erroneously mentioned 11 days in my last post about Fatima). But she realizes that raising Mattias by herself would have been a difficult job and that Mattias is now in a better place.

We said our goodbyes with promises to stay in touch and invitations to each others homes. I am excited to see what God will do with this new relationship - it's an amazing world as God brings people into our lives unexpectedly. I pray that I will make the best of this opportunity and point the way to Him through my actions and words. Thank you for praying for this meeting! And continue to pray for Fatima - she is seeking and looking . . . .

Update on my mom . . .

. . . thank you for your continued prayers for my mom. I talked to my parents this evening and she is DOING BETTER! Isn't that great news?!?!? She has a ways to go, but she has gone a couple of days without any back pain at all - which is a huge step. She met her physical therapist today and will be starting sessions on Monday. Pray that the sessions will help her back. It appears that her anxiety and fears are lessening as well - a result of prayer! Thank you!

Nathan is growing up!

Nathan will be 10 months old on Saturday! It seems like he's changing daily. His favorite activities are going up and down the stairs (does it quite well, I might add) and growling like a lion and eating Cheerios. He also loves to be tickled by his dad and lights up whenever he enters a room full of people - he is extremely social! He also absolutely loves bath time. He crawls, climbs, pulls himself up, almost stands by himself and is cruising along furniture like crazy.

He has figured out how every door and cupboard works in our house and is fascinated by anything that blinks, has a light or is shiny. We have to hide cameras, remote controls and cell phones from him. He has eaten dirt and tried to eat a June bug (or something similar here - kind of looks like a small beetle). He also manages to keep the kitchen floor pretty clean of any crumbs that have fallen.

He has four teeth now (two bottom, two top), with two more popping through (the two next to his top front teeth) and an additional two right behind those ones (the "I" teeth - the ones that everyone tells me are the worse - I'm praying that everyone is wrong!).

If you want to see more photos click here!

Thank you for praying . . .

I talked to my parents this afternoon and they had received the results of the MRI on my mom's back. We are grateful that the results were good and that there is no problem. The doctor did recommend that mom start some physical therapy for her back to help strengthen it and to help with the pain. So dad is working on getting her in to a physical therapist close to where they live. We are so happy that nothing showed up on her back. However, she is still being bothered by pain. We are hoping that the physical therapy will help with this. And please continue to pray that the anxiety meds that she is on will finally kick in and help her with the fear and anxiety she is still experiencing. We know that God can work a miracle in her life and that she can be better soon.

We thank you for your notes of encouragement.
Blessings!

Continue to Pray

Here is a photo of Nathan with my mom when we visited them in September. Her cane turned out to be a good teething tool for Nathan! Smiles!

Thanks everyone for your kind notes and emails about my mom. I forgot to mention that her name is Eula and she's 81 years old. It is hard to be away right now, not being able to help much. But praying is the best we can do in any situation!

SO . . . thanks for your continued prayers. Please pray for peace and freedom from the fear and anxiety. She's also having a tremendous amount of pain in her back. The MRI went well yesterday, but we won't know results for a week or so.

They'd still like to travel to FL on Nov. 15. We pray that it will be possible

Thanks again and blessings.

Prayer request for my mom

Many of you know my mom and probably would like to pray for her (and for those who don't know her, we'd love to have you uphold her in prayer too). She is suffering from severe anxiety and fear at this time. It's very difficult for both her and my dad as he having to do most everything around the house, plus take care of her (this has been going on for a few weeks now). She started some new medication for the anxiety about 2 weeks ago and we're still waiting for it to kick in.

She is also experiencing a great deal of back pain - we think it is related to the nerve issues; however, tomorrow she will be having an MRI done to make sure there is nothing physically wrong with her back.

She was crying on the phone this afternoon as she so badly wants to travel to FL again this year to spend winter there, but under her current circumstances, it would be very difficult for her to travel. They do have plans for November 15. Please pray for healing and rest and relief from the anxiety and fear. And for strength for my dad.

And I do want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Aunt Elva (mom's sister) who turns 91 tomorrow!

Fatima and other items . . .

Hello everyone - I know that I have been really terrible at posting. Is the fact that I have a very active 9 month old (almost 10 months) baby boy running around a good enough excuse? It seems like there's never a quiet moment when I can get some desk work done! And therefore, my lack of taking time to post on our blog.

But it's been great to hear from so many of you and to know that you're still there praying for us!

I do want to mention that Santi passed his oral exam for his English class last (and thus passed the 5th level). Congratulations, honey! The classes are increasingly getting harder. I seriously am not sure that I have ever even thought about some of the grammar stuff that he's having to learn and I actually like English grammar (yea, I know I'm weird). His oral exam last night was to talk for five minutes about the importance of recycling. Thankfully we found an article on the internet that was just perfect for it! And he passed with flying colors! So we were excited last night. He has a break for about a week and will then start Level 6! I hope I still know enough English grammar to be able to help him out. And we do need to be speaking more English at home so that he can put into practice all that he is learning.

Many of you have asked about Fatima. The girl who called me out of the blue a couple of months ago because she was pregnant with a baby who would be born with the same CDH complications that Nathan was born with. Our pediatrician connected her to me. Her baby was born the day we left for the states, so I didn't have an opportunity to be there with her. I finally called her last week to see how things were going.

I was very sad to learn that her little boy, Mattias, passed away in the NICU at Metropolitano about 10 days after he was born. They did do the same surgery on him that they did on Nathan - but when they opened him up they found many more complications - including his stomach and liver being up in his lung cavity along with a tumor on his kidney. He just wasn't strong enough to make it through the surgery and recover.

We both cried tears of sadness as we talked on the phone. And a rush of emotions came over me - both for Fatima and her little boy that she only got to know a very short time and also for my family - knowing that Nathan's life could be so different than it is now. I often am weary trying to keep up with him (I kid you not, he is extremely active and never stops moving when he's awake - he also moves in his sleep!). But I'm also grateful for his activity knowing that things could be so much different for him. God has truly brought Nathan's life to be for a reason and we pray every day that we would be faithful in bringing Nathan up to know God's purpose for his life and to live his life to the fullest!

I also was reminded of our time in the NICU just a short time ago - when Nathan was so little and helpless and how God and the prayers of His people sustained us. And Santi and I had each other. I so felt for Fatima, knowing that she was basically on her own during all this time.

She is now back at her home in Ambato and was starting back at her work in an office for a agricultural company (they grow roses - probably the very same ones that are exported to the US). She will be coming to Quito in the next couple of weeks and she promised that she would call me so that we could finally meet and get together for a cup of coffee. She is also anxious to meet our little "gordito" as she calls Nathan. Please pray for this meeting - I'm a little nervous about it as my emotions are still raw and also knowing what to say to her - here I am with my little boy all healed from his birth defects while she's still grieving for the loss of hers. I'm asking God to give me wisdom and just the words to say. Please pray with me on this.

Galo and Marianita and María

I have started posting entries about the various residents that we have come to know at the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the Elderly). My last post introduced you to Samuel and Hugo.

Today, I'd like to introduce you to three more residents: Galo, Marianita and María

GALO: Galo was born in Quito and has lived in Quito all his life. He worked for the Municipal of Quito for 32 years before retiring. He worked as a machine operator. He has lived at the Hogar for 5 years. He never married, but does have some sisters. They only come to visit him once a month when they come to pay his pension at the Hogar. His left side is paralyzed due to a bout of thrombosis. Galo is a quiet man who keeps to himself. He's also very kind and sweet.


MARIANITA: Marianita has only been at the Hogar for one year. We love her smile and her great attitude and she's always a good participant in the services on Sunday. She is only 59 years old, but you would never be able to tell that by her very crippled body which she is hardly able to move. When Marianita was 41 years old, she came down with rheumatoid arthritis that completely cripped her body. Her spirit and mind is bright though and it is a delight to talk with her. She has two daughters and a total of 8 grandchildren. Her husband passed away many years ago.
MARÍA: María is a Quichua (indigenous indian) lady who came to the Hogar a couple of years ago. We don't know much about her, other than she is always crying and begging us to take her back to her home in Quinche (apparently the town where she lived). She is sometimes hard to understand, probably because she most likely talks in Quichua (her native language). She gets around with a walker and mostly spends time by herself. From what we can see, she hasn't made any friends at the Hogar.

And finally I couldn't resist including this photo of Nathan with our good missionary friend, Helen Broach Swanson. She has lived in Ecuador for a very long time and often comes and helps us at the Hogar on Sunday. We love and appreciate Helen. She's a dear!