basically, dolphins everywhere

so, we're still sailing. but yesterday started and ended and was filled in the middle with dolphins. at one point, the c/o (big polish guy) came on the overhead announcement and said the above "basically, dolphins everywhere". the nurses have been having morning devotional time out on the bow and the day started with a pod of dolphins racing the ship just off the bow. throughout the day we got many overheads to say dolphins here or there. and just before i headed to bed, i sat out on the catwalk off the bridge in the dark and got to see dolphins racing alongside the bow again. however, in the dark they showed up just as a streak as the phosphorescent algae churned up around them. good day really. =)
the photos are from the nurses' devo times and are taken by ali.

rest and wonder

we are sailing! and for me that means a lot of rest. there are no more patients to care for and no more quick trips into town and the fact that sleeping keeps the urge to vomit at bay ;-). (unfortunately the first 4 days of sailing meant some seasickness for me as well). this time of rest is needed. after giving and giving and giving of ourselves for the last 10 months, it is nice to have this time with lots of nothing to do to just soak in the sun and feel the winds off the ocean and just rest.

yesterday was a day of "rest" of a different sort. i didn't get much physical rest (in fact, i'm running off 2 hours of sleep right now) but it was a rest of the mind and spirit. i spent hours outside, first having a time with the Father, lunch, watching an awe-inspiring sunset, and finally, sitting on the catwalk around the bridge watching the night sky. not just any night sky, though. it was a sky filled with more stars than you can see in any city, even than i've seen when camping out. and set off by the vastness of the ocean surrounding us. to make it even better, last night there was a meteor shower. in the day, the ocean touched by the sun is such a magnificent blue, in the night, there is so much darkness except where the ship churns up the phosphorescent algae and sparkles light the waves that crash under the bow.

and all this brings me to the wonder i found here in the sail and in the time of rest and reflection on all that we've experienced these last 10 months. all that beauty that i get to enjoy here on the sail...God didn't have to create it. He could have just painted the sky blue and the ocean greenish blue and left it at that. but no, He made a million shades of blue and for fun added in the sunset which washes the sky in pinks and purples and kisses it with gold. He could have created the stars although we wouldn't really have known if He didn't...but to add in the meteor showers! phosphorescent algae...who would have known if not for the ark and the need to learn to sail the oceans? but He knew and created it for His enjoyment. more wonder still...He created us with the ability to enjoy it just as He does! He didn't have to. but He did. and as to what i've experienced these last 10 months, He didn't need me to be part of it. but He invited me to join in. how amazing is He! how wonderful!

buying a cow

i could start off with yet another apology about not keeping the blog up very well. but, instead, i will just say that right now my heart is too full and too broken and my spirit is too tired to really be able to coherently share.

my cabin mate tayler was a bit startled a few weeks ago when i asked her to ask her friend tim how much a cow would cost here in benin. what?!?!? you want to buy a cow?!?!? this led me to sharing with her wasti's story.

wasti and his mama showed up on the dock a few days before the end of surgery. wasti had a cleft lip but along with his cleft he didn't look quite right. he also had not really put on much weight since his previous visit but it was just enough that he was okay for surgery from a weight point of view. what about his not looking quite right???? well, his labwork was quite skewed and so he received a CT scan which showed holoproencephalopathy...but just a mild version. so, we told mom the risks of surgery for him. she almost said no but she had fought so hard for his life to now that she didn't give up and said yes. we were prepared for the worst...even to the point of having to make a decision to withdraw support if he ended up on a breathing machine post-op. and yet, he came through the surgery great! and on the very next day after surgery, wasti had on dark charcoal eyeliner below his eyes. this seems a bit strange from a western view but it was a huge deal. mom was claiming him...claiming him as hers and showing her continued fight for his life. it was something to rejoice over.

the next few days were quite time intensive for me. i had him when i was at work but even came in when i wasn't on shift to work with mom. mom, who spoke a dialect none of our translators spoke directly, except one. mom, who had to learn to feed her baby with formula milk since her milk was dried up...how to prepare clean water and then to prepare the milk. mom, who had to learn to feed her baby on schedule rather than demand which is counter-cultural but necessary for wasti to survive. mom, who had to learn to tell time before she could learn to feed on schedule. and all of this from me to bio (our translator) to wasti's mom and then back to make sure she really understood it.

so, why did i want to know about buying a cow? well, wasti's mom shared her story with us as the days progressed. her baby was whole (at least on the outside now) so she was able to return to her village that had shunned her when her "cursed" baby was born. she was sure she could go back home but wasn't sure her husband would provide for her and the baby now. he had given each of his wives a cow and some land but, she had sold everything to care for her broken babies. (wasti's older sister had needed help with her eyes). so, how much to buy a cow to give her a chance at life, to give wasti a chance at life? 150 CFA which is around 300 US dollars. we took up a collection hoping we could do this for her. we had to tell people to stop giving! as i was doing some teaching about her going home and we gave a very small amount of money to her to get her from the port city to her village on the bus, she said no, it is too much, you have already done too much for me. (little did she know). later in the evening, several of us took her into a room away from others to give her the cow money. we showed a picture of a cow and she named it in her dialect. then we showed her the money and pointed to the cow and then to her. she was stunned and almost unwilling to hope even with the money there before her. but finally she accepted and began praising God (that surely came through despite the language barrier). and so, she went home with a baby that will be accepted and a chance at having a life.

and God let us be part of that! what an amazing and humbling experience to be part of what He is doing!