vaccinations and eye exams

Vaccinations and eye chart exams...that´s what I got to do this morning. The others were taking weight, height, medical history, and listening to lungs and hearts. We were at a very poor neighborhood on the outside of Guayaquil. Some people now have septic tanks but there´s no sewer so there is literally urine running down the road, trash everywhere, and half dead animals. Surprisingly the kids looked really well. The schools were all uniformed which probably helped the impression and the kids are padlocked in. You sure couldn´t do that with American fire standards! Trying to explain to kids what to read and ask questions about clarity was really challenging with my limited Spanish, but was still a great chance. And vaccinations were just fun and routine, that didn´t push my comfort zone at all.

Another thing I´ve noticed is how much harder it really is to listen and understand Spanish when your tired. It is incredibly exhausting to have that kind of concentration constantly. It is so tempting to just listen and not try to understand, but then you never know what´s just breezing by. It struck me that sometimes that´s what we do with God. Listening to him takes effort, not just going through the motions. It´s easy to sit a listen for the big things or the words we know but then we miss the context and everything that is intend for us. I was reminded of a passage in 1Kings19:11-13:

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. (12) After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. (13) When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

It is hard, it´s tiring, but that´s what I want to do, I want to listen for the whisper and encourage you to do the same. The results are overwhelmingly amazing!! God bless!

Oh by the way we are in Riobamba now, and will be heading towards Tena and Puyo.