Here’s an update from Day #1.
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We just passed the 24 hour mark after Christina sprained her ankle. THANK YOU for praying. Please keep praying!
Last night went surprisingly well for Christina. With the help of some pain-killer and some pillows to keep her foot elevated, she slept through the night no problem! Unfortunately, within 5-10 minutes of being “up-and-about” this morning, it was throbbing with pain. We’ve heard that a bad sprain can be worse than a broken bone, and it seems that she might be testing that theory. :-/ With some more meds, rest, elevation, and ice, the pain level dropped significantly.
Unfortunately for me (James), last night was pretty hard. I slept great until about 4:15 am when a child needed me. About every 20 minutes after that until about 6:15 am, I was up with one or another of our children. Needless to say, I was pretty exhausted today. Please pray for better sleep for the other 4 of us tonight. ;-)
This morning, a Papua New Guinean “grandma” type friend came and helped by washing dishes, sweeping, mopping, tiding up, and watching Laurel and Timothy. She has been helping us since we first came to Ukarumpa (our support center) and we really like her. Her faith is very strong, she loves our kids, and they really like her too. In fact, this morning Timothy was hanging out with Mommy when “Mama Ruth” came. Timothy excitedly got down to go see her (meaning, he left his “comfort spot” with Mommy in order to be with Mama Ruth). She also helped us out by feeding the kids; when it was time for Mikayla to go to preschool, she had already eaten, which was very helpful. I, on the other hand, was so busy taking care of things around the house that I forgot to eat until about 11 am. Oops.
A friend graciously agreed to drive Christina to her ladies’ Bible Study this morning. She wouldn’t have been able to get there otherwise. 1/2 mile over a dirt road on crutches?!?! Are you laughing too? ;-)
Lunch went fairly well, but was a bit late. I helped the kids eat at the table while Christina had a reclined lunch (so she could keep her foot elevated).
This afternoon was fairly uneventful. Christina was able to continue resting with her foot elevated while Timothy and Laurel slept and Mikayla watched a movie. And when the kids weren’t resting, they were enjoying having a captive audience with Mommy.
They sure enjoyed having her so “available” to play!
This evening I was on for dinner, so I went ALL OUT! PB&J all the way! ;-) I was amazed how well the kids ate, and they really enjoyed their “special treat” of canned apples. And they are indeed a “special treat” here because we RARELY get them. Add some cinnamon and YUM!
Today I saw (again) that we work MUCH better as a team. “Everyday” life here in PNG is hard, there’s no doubt about it. Sometimes the dishes, laundry, and cleaning seem endless (and Mama Ruth only comes once/week). Then add cooking from scratch and a host of other things and you become VERY grateful for the help of your spouse just to take care of the “everyday” things. I am so grateful that both of us are normally able-bodied and can work together.
On top of that, I was again reminded of what an awesome woman I married today. Christina is SO strong and this picture proves it:
LOOK at that!! She has to keep her foot elevated and is happy to be folding laundry. What a woman!!
Thank you for your continued prayers as we keep on truckin’ here. Tomorrow we will be blessed with a meal prepared by one of the other ladies on center. That will be a huge help!
God is good, Christina is doing well despite some pain, and we made it through Day 1.
In Him,
James and Christina