Benadryl

Benadryl has been the drug of choice for the last couple of days. My trip with Joel was great, but I ate something that has made my face itch something terrible! It might have been the chile pepper that they convinced me to eat for supper one night. It won't burn they said....
Joel and I attented a meeting of pastors, visited some friends, and I got to see the school that Pastor Jacobo and his wife Julianna run. They're doing very good things.

For this post I wanted to share a scripture that impacted me a lot when I first came to Guatemala. In Isaiah 58:10 God tells the prophet, "and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your light will become like the noonday sun." This and many other scriptures tell me that God cares for the poor, the hungry, the widow, the orphan, those who are being beat up by life circumstances. He sees them and what they're going through, and I was reminded today of this. A mom came in to the clinic here in Canilla with her baby. We have known her for quite a while and she comes nearly every week for her baby girl, Helen. Helen has some type of condition that I don't completely understand, but part of the result is severe hydrocephilus (the fluid in her head doesn't drain normally). This means that little, one-year-old Helen has a head the size of a bowling ball and many other problems as well. Her parents spent a lot of money and several months in the City at a hospital, but the doctors never showed up to maintain a working shunt to relieve the pressure from Helen's head. Mentally I think she is still pretty normal. She looks around, cries, eats, and is pretty normal. But she cant' sit up like a normal baby of her age because her head is so big. I say all of the this mainly just to ask for prayers for the mom, dad, and Helen. We have spent many hours with them; I've made house visits to pray with them, and Leslie has developed a good relationship with the mom. There are days that Helen is better (we measure her head every time she comes in) and although her parents have lost hope in the health care system here, they are praying to God for a miracle. So if you think of it or feel led, please pray for encouragement for Helen's parents and for healing in her body. I know God sees them.

And my bees are still alive and working hard. Joseph made some sugar water for them while I was gone, and they thanked him by giving him a fat upper lip. For some reason they got made at him today and stung him right on his lip. The swelling is going down now, but he was pretty funny to look at. If I were a little meaner I would have taken a picture to put on here. Also, I may be able to find a picture fo Helen to post, but I didn't feel like it was a good time to take a picture of her today. Lots of people were already staring at her, and I didn't want to make a bigger deal of the way she looks. That's all I've got for now. I think the Benadryl is kicking in and making me tired. I hope whenever and wherever you're reading this you can take a moment to reflect on the blessings God has given you in your life, and take moment to thank Him. He is watching over us in every circumstance.