"Chicken and a basket of eggs"

Previously when I talked to folks about what it would be like to live and work in PNG (and mostly when I was complaining about medical insurance), I joked that I would one day be paid with "a chicken and a basket of eggs."  Actually, it is more likely to be fruits and veggies than a chicken.

Today a mother brought her baby in to clinic.  I had seen the child several weeks earlier for a rash.  I thought the skin condition was caused by some sort of virus, so I treated the mother's worry by giving a couple of tubes of over the counter hand cream.  Well, whatever it was it didn't get better and was actually getting a bit worse.  Oops... time to reevaluate and try something different.  Despite the fact that there was no improvement, mom returned today with a thank you:  17 gi-normous oranges from her garden.  (Thankfully they are not lemons!)

So sometimes we do receive "a chicken and a basket of eggs" so to speak.  But the true gift is not what is tangible.  The true gift is the graciousness of our patients.

"Every good and precious gift comes from above..."

~ James 1:17