I am really struggling today. I could blame it on fatigue because our neighbourhood mosque has really beefed up their P.A. system for Ramadan and the local Marabout is either preaching or playing Arabic music until 11pm and then the kids are sent out with pots and pans at 4 am so that people can eat before sunrise.

Or it could be the adrenaline marathon that I have been running for the last couple of months between taking courses, hosting a team from Canada, running a leadership retreat, getting the boys back in school and finishing my course work. (I am too tired to even appreciate that I did well on my courses.)

Or it could be the emotional rollercoaster of dealing with a seventh grader’s anxieties about starting into “high school” (middle school and high school are combined in one building here) coupled with the realization that life is so cheap here if you or someone dear to you has a heart attack the cardiac clinic will admit you to watch you die. (Maybe that is just the reminder that we are all really on God’s medical plan no matter how much we would like to hide behind the wonders of medical science and technology.)

Or it could be the concern of school starting and there still not being a teacher for my fourth grader’s class—we are blessed that there is a temporary solution filling the gap for the first few weeks, but we could really use prayer for the right person to come.

I guess I could really use a vacation but I don’t really feel like I deserve one having let all my regular duties slip while I covered “extras” in the last couple of months. Not to mention, that it really isn’t going to happen anyway because of travel warnings in country and the increase expense of visas and travels out of country.

I can relate to the Psalmist:

Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him my Savior and my God. Ps 43:3-5

It is so good to know that we aren’t alone in our struggles and that we don’t have to stay there.

False Alarm

Thanks to all those who have been praying for Dave. After spending the day in the clinic and consulting with our doctor friend the doctor in the clinic decided that the second EKG was fine and that he could go home. So, Dave still has some problems but they probably aren't heart related. It is such a blessing to know that we have friends who care and who pray!

Pray for Dave

Please pray for Dave, he was experiencing some heart relate symptoms yesterday and finally last night he got me up to go to the clinic. The doctor on call told us that we would have to come back in the morning for an EKG because the technician doesn't work at nights. Dave asked what that would mean if he had a heart attack at night and the doctor's response was "c'est la vie". Not very comforting!
He slept well and seemed to be feeling a bit better this morning, but Cole woke up with a fever. He decided to go in for the EKG because the doctor told him it was good to have something to compare it to even if he wasn't experiencing any problems at the time. He assured me that it would ok for him to drive himself because he was feeling ok and it would be best for me to stay with Cole. So, I let him go, but I have just received a call that they are admitting him for monitoring because the EKG has shown something. As I write this I am waiting for a neighbour to come take me to the clinic to find out what is going on-- the added blessing is that the neighbour coming is also a missionary doctor. I will try to update when I know more, thanks for praying! He is in good hands.

Catching Up

Sorry I haven't gotten to this earlier, I thought that life would slow down long before now, but I should have known better...
The retreat went really well, thanks to everyone who was praying. Dave did a great job of handling the preaching and was even able to incorporate a number of interactive sessions. There was a good attendance with church leaders from four different churches involved. The ladies from Brantford did an amazing job, in fact one family was told by their kids that they didn't want to go to a birthday party (that was at least impart for them), they wanted to stay for the rest of the kids program.
I never could have made it through the weekend without Joan from St.Catharines, because she helped with Cole who was very sick for the whole weekend (and most of the rest of the week). If fact as I was writing last weeks blog Dave came in to tell me that Cole was throwing up and had dry heaves. However it wasn't until Cole told me that I was standing in it that I realized that he hadn't made it to the toilet and that Dave hadn't cleaned it up.
Unfortunately after the conference was over the ladies that came to help had some difficulties of their own with traveller's diarrhea, but were able to overcome that and made it safely home on Friday. Thanks to them and all the others that helped to make it possible for them to be here.
I was hoping that things would be slowing down by now, especially because I have a week left to get my assignments done for the courses I took this summer. But I have had some digestion difficulties of my own this weekend and then shortly after we came home from church tonight a friend came to our house looking for help because his one month old baby was running a fever. Please pray for the baby and for Dave as he has driven the family to the hospital as I write this. Also remember me in your prayers this week, I have an incredible amount of school work to get accomplished this week.