Moving Forward

Yesterday we went to church in Makati. After the service I talked with Dea, who had me contact Jeri in the first place! I also met her daughter who leads the college group. I went with her group to a starbucks (I know)! to have a Bible study. I met two girls who were new to the church and also new to the Philippines. It was so exciting to meet them! After church Jeri, Sarah, and I rode home on public transportation, which was interesting. : ) 

    For the afternoon we had planned a party for an elderly neighbor who was turning 80. It was the sweetest thing! We sang happy birthday to her when she walked in (this was all a surprise) and she turned around pretending to look for who we were singing to then she started crying. I think this was the second time in her life that her birthday had been celebrated with a party. What a blessing we may have if we only look for opportunities like this one to love on others. This was so easy and small to us, but meant the absolute world to this little lady. 

    Today Deborah took 

me shopping for a cell phone. Get this: people for the most part text only! My pre-paid plan is a texting-only plan! Jeri says this country is the texting capital of the world. We also bough

t groceries since I'm going to be staying in the birthing home

 starting tomorrow. I spent under a hundred for cell phone and over a weeks worth of gr

oceries; wow! Buyi

ng in the store was really interesting as all the packaging was totally different and most of the time I had no idea what to be looking for. It is interesting, because I became aware of the lack of mentality I have in the US regarding paying attention to how much I am using of anything! Here I know exactly how much water I use up for 

a shower (measured in buckets : ), I buy one small stick of

 butter because there isn't very much room in the refrigerator because the refrigerator is small to take up less space and less energy, I buy the cheapest phone possible because I don't need anything fancy since I'm only going to be here for six months (as if just because I'll have it longer means I need a calendar on it). Basically I am much more conscientious of my usage of things for my own self. It's a good thing to have and I hope I will continue to be thoughtful when I go back home. 

   After shopping we came home and had family dinner (meaning with Deb, Darren, and the boys instead of the usual Jeri, Sarah, and I). I showed Jeri my hand which had begun to worry me the night before. I've had a problem of dermatitis started from the sanitizer with which we cleaned our dishes at

 Jamba Juice. Right now I'm a little bit angry with that company! Anyways, the dermatitis is getting a lot worse and to a stage that is contagious. Therefore I cannot do any prenatal care or deliveries until my hand heals. This is very frustrating to m

e of course since deliveries and etc are the purpose I came here. I guess God has some other lesson for me now. Maybe just to study and make relationships with the women through taking blood pressure and stuff like that. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the hustle bustle that is many times a large part of a place like the birthing home so that when we are pulled out of it though we feel we aren't accomplishing anything, we in actuality are learning much more about the world around us and ourselves and etc. At least that's what I'm hoping for. : ) Anyways,  a great thing is that doctors cost much less to visit, so maybe I'll actually get this taken care of for good this time!