Ditching

I have been ditching the blog, avoiding the blog, or maybe even ignoring the blog the last few weeks.  Ok it's really only been ten days since I posted but what I've really been avoiding is sharing an update on my health.  Maybe I think that if I ignore it, it's not real or maybe it will go away.  But that is not the case.

I had an appointment with my doctor via Skype on April 12th and haven't really talked about it since.  Right now I'm avoiding 25 different foods.  For example: bread, pepper, lemon, oranges, yeast, milk, eggs, corn, vanilla, and the list goes on.  Oh wait I forgot the most important one, coffee.  So I have been doing this for the last month and it wasn't so bad.  But, I also found out that I have a yeast overgrowth in my intestines and while being treated for that I can't have any sugar.  Did you know that sugar is in everything?  And did you know that all the "sugar free" products are made from corn?  So it's a loose loose situation.  I have been on the new diet, no sugar, for over two weeks and I'm struggling.  I just want to go eat a big ole piece of chocolate cake, no, I want to eat the whole cake.  The yeast in my intestines crave sugar and carbs and that is what feeds them.  Hence the no sugar diet.  I think I could handle the no sugar diet but with all the other foods added in it's really hard. And to make things worse it is going to take months to treat the yeast and there is no telling how long I will be on this diet.  I also have some other issues going on but the yeast overgrowth has to be taken care of first.  To say I need your prayers is an understatement.

I miss coffee!  (and sugar)

On to more news.

We are officially coming home the end of June and will be living in West Fork.  God has already blessed us with a great place to live with all of the appliances and a washer and dryer.  How great is that?  We are in the process of throwing pieces of furniture and other items together from family trying to set up house.  Our main reason for living here is to be near family.  Our kids wanted to live by their cousins, Madison and Macen.  And they are so excited!  Megan tells us how many days until we go home everyday.  We also bought a car in January so we have the main items needed when we get there, a house and a car. The rest will come in time.

Check out this picture of the kids.  This was taken in the Little Rock airport the day we left for Costa Rica.  Wow, they have grown up so much.  Stay tuned for an updated picture in June.

Megan has been baking a lot and the latest thing that she made was this cinnamon roll cake.  As much as I would like to say that it was good, I have no idea because I didn't eat one bite.  But from everyone else's reactions it was delicious.  Ethan wanted her to make another one last night but she made chocolate chip cookies instead.  Here's the recipe if you want to try it for yourself.

We also have company here for the week and I'm very thankful to have a friend here.  It seems to keep my mind off of my problems.  It's the McCarthys and they are missionaries from Uruguay and we were neighbors in Costa Rica.  Steve is here doing a sports ministry conference and Jill is hanging out with me. I must say that it would be a whole lot more fun if we could drink coffee together.   

Here's a picture of Steve and Jill and me and Shannon.  This was taken in Costa Rica almost two years ago.

Medical Team Recap

Here are a few pictures from our week.  We had a great week and many lives were touched, not only by medicine but by the love of God.  There were lots of salvations but I don't know the exact count, I don't guess that really matters.

Here is an example of an appointment with nurses and if they thought a doctor was needed then a doctor was called over.

Cortin the clown entertained the kids.

There were lots of kids that came to the clinic by themselves.  He came for stomach medicine and his throat hurt.

These kids were by themselves too.  When asked where their mom was they said, "In the bed." These kids also attend the feeding program that this church does every Saturday. 

Megan didn't feel good yesterday, she had a really bad sore throat.  So she seen the dr.  and then we put her to work translating.  I must say that she did a really good job.

Checking in patients.

Ladies from the church praying with a mom and her baby.

This is my favorite picture from the week.

This is a nurse, a translator, and a mom and daughter having an appointment.

The pharmacy.  The most popular medicine that was given was parasite meds and vitamins.

Praying after an appointment.

Shannon made a new friend, this is the pastor's son.  He told Shannon that he was his best friend.

Just clowning around

What's a medical clinic without a clown?  Shannon had a great time playing with the kids today at the clinic and they loved him.  He made about 85 balloon animals today, he's a pretty good clown.  We have one more day and we are having a great time working with the team from Maryland. 

This little girl loved him.

This little boy is 5 years old and he came to the clinic alone.  He was so sweet and happy.

She wasn't sure what to think about all of this.  She was really scared.

Clinic

We are helping with a medical clinic this week in South Quito.  It is really fun to watch families that come into the clinic and be blessed.  One lady came in today and just wanted some tooth paste, how sad is that?
Not only do the people get medical attention they also get prayed for.  We are going to enjoy our week with this team.

Here are some pictures that I took of a few of the children today.  I'm always a sucker when it come to children.  They are just so cute.

See how cute she is?

This little guy wasn't excited about seeing the doctor, all he wanted was a sucker.

Look at this precious little girl and her big beautiful eyes.

This little guy gave me a wink.  

Spring break

Spring break here is better known as holy week.  

The kids left last Tuesday and flew to Costa Rica for an MK Retreat.  I was really nervous about them traveling alone and I think they were a little nervous as well.  They did great and they had a great time at the retreat, they had so much fun that they didn't want to come home.  

They flew home on Megan's birthday so we showed up at the airport with balloons for the birthday girl, oh and a Dr. Pepper.  They were really tired but they talked nonstop about the retreat.  We went straight to McDonalds because they were starving and then home.  Around 4:30 they were asleep, we decided to let them sleep all night and they woke up the next morning at 8:30.

Since the birthday girl slept her birthday away we took her out to eat the next day for her birthday.  Of course we went to TGI Fridays and of course hers wasn't free because it wasn't really her birthday, but that didn't matter.

We are so proud of our kids!

Ethan enjoying his hamburger.

Megan enjoying her birthday lunch.

While the kids were in Costa Rica Shannon and I flew to Cuenca for a couple of days.  I love Cuenca and I'm so glad that we went.  We haven't really had a lot of time to travel and see Ecuador because of the kids school schedule so we decided to take advantage of the time and go.  

Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador and it's beautiful.

While walking the streets on Good Friday we ran into a processional.  

There are lots of little restaurants, coffee shops, and ice cream shops that line the streets.

On another note,  I have an appointment tomorrow with my doctor in the states and I'm praying that he tells me that my allergy test was wrong and I'm really not allergic to all those foods.  Hey, I can always dream, right?  Eating out is not one of my favorite things to do, it's just too hard.  I didn't eat when we went to TGI Fridays for Meg's birthday, I just had a pineapple juice.  I am hoping that I will know more after tomorrow and things will get easier for me.  I will share what I find out in a later blog post, stay tuned. 

Passion

Remember this?

Yesterday our church went and put a roof on for this family.  Shannon left our house at 4:30 a.m. and didn't return until 9:30 last night.

These pictures brought tears to my eyes and Shannon couldn't even talk about it without crying.

This family raises sheep for a living and the husband, Juan, sells banana chips at a toll both here in Quito.
Their house had been damaged by wind and storms and they only had half a roof and the rest was covered in plastic.  They have dirt floors so that means when it rains, which it does everyday there, they would have a muddy floor.  (Last night they had dry floors!) There are nine family members that live in the house, which includes Juan's sister-in-law and her child.

Shannon said it was a beautiful drive.

Here is the house.  They had to park at the top and then carry all of their supplies in. They were at about 14,000 feet about sea level and it was really cold.

Here is a closer look at the roof.

This is their kitchen.

This is where they do all of their washing.

This is Juan's son at the front door.

This was their neighbors.  If you look closely you can see all the sheep.

Shannon and some men of the church.

Putting on the roof.

Putting in two front windows.  All the windows of the house are covered because they don't have windows.  

This is Juan's wife and daughter.  They have five kids.

This is the family.  Juan is in the orange hat.

They stopped at this volcano on the way back to Quito.

Take time today to thank God for your many blessings.