at work

I am wiped so this is gonna be short, but it's too good not to share.

Matt translated for a master's course all morning, and when he got home at noon we headed all through town to visit Woudislande and Micheline and sweet baby Milourah at the public hospital.

After coming very close to losing her on Thursday, and waiting and waiting for blood since Tuesday, Micheline learned from a few other patients that the Red Cross in Port au Prince had just sent a small shipment of blood to the North.

In hospitals here, if you need breakfast, you'd better have a family member who will bring you breakfast.  If you want a sheet on your bed, you'd better bring one when you come.  If you need a glass of water, you'd better have a friend to bring it to you. If your baby needs to eat, someone better bring her to you.

And if you need blood, you'd better have a mama with her ear to the ground to literally run to the Red Cross, to GIVE blood for the bank, so that they can then RECEIVE blood from the bank. There wasn't much available, so Micheline was only able to get one bag.

And at 10 o'clock when the hospital closes, too late for public transportation, all the parents and friends and helpers leave the ward, put a sheet on the ground outside the hospital and sleep, on the ground, until 5 am when the hospital opens again.  To help their loved ones to the bathroom and to get them water all over again.  In the room with 30 other beds, all about 3 feet apart, with 30 other women laboring and healing and suffering and struggling and not. one. chair.

Micheline is one heck of a mama.

That bag of blood was clearly what Woudislande needed.  While she's still quite weak, still unable to sit up or even lift her head, and she still needs to have some major work done on her stomach, I was absolutely holding the hand of a miracle today, so near to death a few days ago, so needing blood that seemed to be impossible, impossible.  I was SO thankful, SO thankful, to kiss Micheline and see her smile after the voice of agony all week, so thankful to kiss the baby and see her snuggle her mama, so thankful to hold her hand and pray for her and see her...see her alive.

And I'm so thankful for all your prayers.  So thankful to be able to share them with Micheline.  Please keep praying.

Meanwhile, Nora learned to do this at the hospital.

From there we headed to a friend's house for their precious 1 year old's b-day party, and had our visiting professors who were leaving today call from the airport to say after hours of waiting, the flight had been cancelled...rushed home and pulled together the dinner we hadn't planned on making or serving, and now I'm sitting here with you and Matt, praising the Lord.

He does what we cannot do, He is what we cannot be, He loves like we cannot comprehend, and He gives us chances, everyday, to see Him at work, to see Him at work.  It's a gift to sit back and dwell on Him at work, tonight.