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like all the rest of us
I saw Grace yesterday. Her feeding tube had fallen out at home, so Esther and Anthony made the long trip from Benin back to the ship three days early. Our feeding program coordinator, Jess, stopped by...
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dr. gary
Today was a big day down in D Ward. Nothing spectacular happened as far as surgeries go, and to be quite honest the pace was slow enough that it wasn't until shortly before lunch that I even...
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walking towards the Kingdom
Today marked fifty-six days since Papakey's first surgery, the one to create a nose to cover the hole left when robbers with a machete made their indelible mark six years ago. Just before rounds, his...
View Articleon walking away
When I opened up the nursing schedule this morning to check staffing for the upcoming week, I glanced up at the top line. It’s the one where my schedule is posted, and I never really look at it...
View Articleone in six million
I'm sitting here laughing to myself as I read back over that last entry, the one where I said I had no idea how I was going to walk away from all of this. I really should stop saying things like that,...
View Articlethe next chapter
Tonight marks one week until I leave the ship for at least five months. I hate leaving. I know that it's for a good reason this time, but I'm already dreading the feeling of bumping a heavy suitcase...
View Articlegather these moments
Today was another one of the jumbled days, one of the ones where I live a thousand moments that I want to tell you about and then find myself sitting here in front of an empty screen, searching for...
View ArticleGod knows
And now for something completely different. My brother always e-mails me when we send out a newsletter. Something along the lines of, Nice to hear what you've been doing, but tell the HoJ I really...
View ArticleHis plans
Well, it's Friday, and I'm sitting comfortably on the couch in my cabin on board the Africa Mercy, mulling over the events of the last few days, once again completely amazed by God. For those of you...
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breathing deep
It's been rather quiet in this place since I arrived back on US soil. Rest assured that I am safe and sound, just settling back into the routine (or lack thereof) around here. I've just been taking a...
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the full forty
After such a long silence, here's the state of things as of this morning. Today's the official due date, but since only around five percent of babies actually make an appearance on their long-awaited...
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introducing zoe rae
Yesterday at 5:03 in the afternoon we became a family. Six days after her due date, Miss Zoe Rae has arrived, weighing in at seven pounds seven ounces and measuring twenty inches long. It was the...
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a baby story
In the months leading up to Zoe's arrival, I did a lot of writing. The day I found out I was pregnant, when we realized how tiny the new life inside me was, I opened a new file on my computer and...
View Articlefar-away firsts
Although I'm far from the Africa Mercy right now in distance, my heart is still very much there with my friends and ship family. It's been hard this week; the big screening day for the field service...
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learning curve
A list, by no means comprehensive, of the things I have learned in the past two weeks and six days: 1. Baby boys are not the only ones you need to watch out for when changing diapers. Certain girls,...
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not home yet
As of Saturday night, we are back on board our floating home, and the transition into our new life has begun. Zoe was amazing during a long twenty-nine hours of travel. I had nightmares for weeks...
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new paths
We've been back for a week now, and life is starting to fall into a recognizable rhythm again. It's a strange mix of familiar and firsts. Everything is the same around me, but I've got a baby who's...
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distanced
It’s hard not to feel disconnected from the ‘real world’ over here. I’ve felt it keenly over the past few days as the furor surrounding the presidential election completely swamped my Facebook news...
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cash money almost-millionaire
Since returning to the ship as a family, I'm learning about a whole different side of life on board, one I was only dimly aware of before Zoe made us three. There are all kinds of activities and...
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baby mamas
Today's trip to the grocery store was a resounding success. After dealing with the morning poosplosion (she's really working on her aim; this one was only an inch or two away from actually blasting...
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