Rosalie's Story Pt. 1

Well, for some reason my post from the eighth of July is just now showing up. Not sure why... Sorry about that! Anyway, onward...

Life in the Philippines has become something normal, and I'm feeling less and less like I'm visiting in a foreign country. Davao has become my home, those I encounter through Mercy, my family. Well, my Filipino family anyway... The Filipinos live such simple lives, getting by with little of nothing, and yet they are rich on so many other levels. They work hard, often starting their day as the sun rises. I don't know that I truly realized that until a few days ago.

I was really sick the end of last week through Monday of this week. I won't go into any details, but suffice it to say I was in bed for four straight days. Most of those nights were long, as I was unable to sleep due to fever. I watched the sun come up, and since I had quarantined myself to a bedroom at the other end of the house, I was privy to noises that I don't normally hear down in my bedroom.

Like the steady, coarse sweep of a broom, back and forth across a floor that is perpetually dirty. And the snorting of pigs that are kept in a pen in close proximity to our building. And water filling a bucket for laundry. As I lay there, I couldn't help but think when these people who are sweeping the floor, feeding the pigs, and doing the laundry are sick they don't have the luxury of laying in bed for days to get better. They work until they drop, and then I see them hooked up to an I.V. in the overcrowded emergency room at Davao Medical Center. They work so hard for little of nothing.

This brings me to the sad story of my continuity, Rosalie. I picked up Rose's chart a couple of months ago, called her name and showed her back to the area I would do her prenatal in. I believe it was her very first prenatal at Mercy, and so I flipped over her chart to read her information. My heart sunk as I read "wala" in many of the spaces for husband, job, money, phone. (As I write this, it occurs to me that I may have mentioned her in a previous post.) This meant that she had none. No husband, no job, no money, no phone. She needed Mercy in more ways than one.

As I looked into her dull, haunted eyes I saw deep pain and distrust. She knew very little English, and at the time I knew barely any Visaya, but that didn't matter. Her need for someone to care about her transcended our language barrier. The Lord whispered of His love for her in my heart, and so I told him I was willing if he wanted to use this broken vessel to minister to Rose. I put my name on her chart, and made plans to see her in a month.

Since that time, I've seen Rose for 2-3 prenatals. The most recent visit was a couple of weeks ago, and we made a break through that I hadn't anticipated. For the first time, I saw a smile light up Rose's face and eyes as I made eye contact with her. During her prenatal, she opened up, asked questions, and whispered in quiet agreement as I brought her before the Lord in prayer. My heart swelled with so much love for her, I didn't hardly know what to do. I couldn't imagine how much more God's heart swelled with love for her! It was amazing! I was really looking forward to her next visit in August.

I must get ready for work, so I'll have to conclude Rose's story tomorrow. Sorry to leave ya hangin!

To everyone who faithfully checks for updates on my blog, please accept my humblest of humble apologies. I have not been diligent about keeping you up-to-date, and for that I apologize. Well, it's really late here (1:23am) and I should be sleeping, but put together a slideshow of some of the babies I have caught since I got here. This only represents a handful, as I have now caught 28 babies. Things are going really well, and I'm soaking up great experiences! I'll post more later. For now, enjoy...