First time in 22 years...

It was the long awaited day, a day I had unknowingly been dreading my entire life; my first birthday away from my twin sister.

On Saturday, the youth began to sing happy birthday, without thinking I joined along to sing happy birthday to my sister. I realized I was singing happy birthday to no one.  I didn’t feel sad it just felt really odd knowing that everyone was singing specifically and ONLY to me. That feeling of being the center of attention during the song had never occurred to me. I have always shared the “spot light.”

On my birthday we took our boat out to the ocean! We set out on a three hour tour… Wait no… we didn’t…. We set out on an adventure. On our way out we enjoyed tubing behind the boat, watched flocks of Scarlet Ibis fly by, and enjoyed the cool breeze as we sped along the river.

We reached our destination in the early afternoon. Not only were we at the ocean, but there was actually a beach!  After “parking” the boat everyone unloaded our picnic and we sat down to eat. I enjoyed fresh squeezed orange juice, homemade “manapua” (biscuits with filling inside), perfect papaya, and molasses cookies! Our stomachs were full so we decided to walk the beach. I loved the feeling of having my feet in the sand. As we walked some sets of waves came in and the ocean was so tempting. I had to go in! There is something about just being in the water that just feels right. I can’t explain it… But, I’m sure it is a feeling that others understand. While I was in my bubble of happiness I mentioned to one of the others that I couldn’t be any happier. Then a tour boat came in with a group of local nurses and doctors. One of them had never seen the ocean before! He was ecstatic! He was definitely happier than I, but his happiness just multiplied my happiness. We had to leave the beach before 5:00 pm because the sand flies would come out. If it wasn’t for those flies I could have stayed there for hours more.

On our way back we ran into a tropical rain down poor. We got soaking wet and freezing cold. Who ever thought I would need full blast heat here in Guyana. We piled into the car and made it a sauna. A nice warm soup with homemade crackers was a welcome site when I arrived at home. Finally, at the end of the day, I was able to call my sister and wish her a happy birthday.  Our first birthday apart was easier that both of us expected. Thanks to the people around us we felt celebrated and loved.

Jana had a little lamb

 1/26/14

I’m officially a proud mom. You read that right, I am a mom. Never did I imagine that coming to Guyana would give me the opportunity to become a mom.

On January 7, I had just come back from volunteering at the hospital; a busy clinic day of giving vaccines. I was finally doing nursing stuff. When we got out of the car we heard a hissing sound and saw a nail in the front tire. I volunteered to help change it, because we had already changed a flat tire about two weeks before.  As we were pumping up the spare tire, with a bike pump, we heard a sheep was going baa-baa  in the sheep pen.  I needed to take a break from holding the bottom of the bike pump together so ran to look inside the pen. There was a tiny lamb, still wet, hidden and stuck in between some vines. I quickly left so the mom could care for it. But, apparently it was “dropped” too early, and was way too small for the mom to care for it. The owners of the sheep were just going to let it die. If you know me, you know that was not an option! I talked with the family I’m living with and asked for permission to bring a new baby into the house. They agreed and we brought in a tiny lamb. I immediately got a towel and dried her off. She was a tiny three pound lamb. I didn’t have much hope that she would actually survive. But I wanted to give her a fighting chance.

The first night I got up every 2 hours and fed her. Because she was so small, she had a hard time staying warm. I held her until she would stop shivering and then warmed up some old jam bottles with water to put into her box. The next night I was up for two hours trying to warm her up, get her quiet and stop her shivering. Eventually she got a name, Lamb Chop Sally. We just call her lamb chop.

It’s been over a  month, she is now the size of a typical new born lamb. She has grown and taught me a lot. I have learned patience, perseverance, and that I still need to wait a while before having real kids! Our family has realized why we are compared to as sheep in the bible. Lamb chop can see a direct path towards me, but somehow manages to find the path with obstacles in the way, but eventually, with my help, she finds her way. Seeing lamb chop reminds me how God is constantly calling us towards him. He has a path planned for us; we just need to follow it. We may have bumps in the road and sometimes we may take wrong turns, but God will always be there to get us “out of the rain”. When Lamb Chop was out in the field and it was starting pour rain, she had no idea what to do. I had to run out, pick her up, and take her to shelter.

We need to remember to rely on our Shepard. He knows what is best for us and wants to lead us in the right direction; we must accept his guidance and follow Him.