Crown of beauty

Belinda is one of our third year nursing students, currently on rotation in the emergency room.  She was wearing the most beautiful tiara to work this morning.  Her crown certainly bestowed a smile on my face :).

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in Zion--

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair."

~ Isaiah 61:1-3

Hurricane... in Ohio???

So last week Central Ohio had one seriously wicked storm.  Some are calling it an "inland hurricane"...  80 mph winds.  Trees down.  Houses and buildings damaged.  Power out to millions of people for up to a week, or even more--and in 90+ degree heat.  (Geesh, that is worse than the bush of PNG!)

My parents certainly had their fair share of the disaster.  A very large limb from a giant oak tree fell onto the one-story part of our house, what Mom and Dad call the "music room" because that is where the baby grand lives.  The limb caused pretty significant damage to the roof as well as the surrounding deck.  Rain poured in and most likely ruined the piano.  [Tear.]  Thankfully they were not home at the time and no one was injured.

They were also without electricity for about 5 days.  Great aunt Naomi shared her generator so they had enough power to run the fridge, a few lights, and the air con at night until the power came back on Tuesday.  Unfortunately Aunt Naomi lost her power the very next day and had to get herself a new generator.  Oops!

This is one of those times when PNG seems so very far away from Ohio, even farther than the end of the earth.  I am so thankful for second hand reports and Facebook posts to know what was going on.  Wish I could have been there to help and encourage and love on my family!  Although I don't think I would have been much help with the monster log through the ceiling.  Praise God for some amazing friends and a very large tree-moving crane.  Even Grayson played pick up sticks!  The mess is now pretty much cleaned up. Mom and Dad are just waiting on insurance to start making repairs.

Love my family.  And even though I can't be there to give you a hug, I am praying for you!!!

"Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me,

for in you my soul takes refuge

I will take refuge in the the shadow of your wings 

until the disaster has passed."

~ Psalm 57:1

Polling day in Jiwaka

The long awaited election finally arrived in Jiwaka!  I say finally because it was originally scheduled for sometime in May.  Then last Friday.  Then for Sunday.  And then Monday and Tuesday of this week.  Well, today was finally THE day.

Things were relatively quiet at the hospital.  Only one mother in labor.  Just a handful of patients were brave enough to come to the outpatient department.  Good thing, because all of our staff were standing in line to cast their vote!

Since there wasn't much to do, I stopped by the polling place to take a couple of pictures.  This is what an election looks like in PNG. 

 

By the way, there were 57 candidates running for governor of our new province.  Fifty seven.  How in the world do you choose?

Thankfully it was peaceful day.  But many of us are wondering... is this is the calm before the storm?  Last night the emergency room was already full of election-related violence--chop chops and stabbings and spear wounds.  The post-election weeks in PNG are notorious for being a volatile time, especially as ballots are counted and results announced.  Please continue to pray for peace and for God's kingdom to come in this country.

Today also happens to be July 4th.  We American missionaries celebrated our nation's birthday with a cookout--hobo dinners and footlong hot dogs, and real sparklers for dessert.  Almost as good as fireworks.  Happy Independence day, USA!!!  Oh, and I forgot to mention the best part... our party was rained out.  Yep, that's right.  After several weeks of little rain, our close to dry water tanks are filling up.  Praise God for the showers of blessings!

"Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

~ Matthew 6:10