When you
live in a developing world, you learn to adjust your expectations that things
will just be a bit more difficult. That’s healthy in many ways. There are many more unpredictable things to
manage, and being flexible with a few less expectations is a good way to keep a
positive attitude.
One area
of our new life I have been dreading, just knowing it would be beyond
difficult, was medical appointments.
First it’s hard for me to make the appointment over the phone, asking
the receptionists to repeat themselves a few times, so I understand their
Spanish. And hoping I am not botching my
communication too much. Then there’s the
inevitable new location to find and so on.
Many of my worries stemmed from Kellton and Astoria’s fears of medical
professionals and procedures. Simply say
“dentist” and Astoria would burst into tears.
A few months of shots and things to get ready for Bolivia took my kids
off the doctor’s fan club roster.
But I
knew I could not put off the dentist and eye doctor appointments any
longer. The dread and fear had sure set
in, but we just had to take the plunge.
We were in for a real surprise.
First of
all, the Dentista is a friend of a
friend, so that began the appointment on a happy note. Turns out, she spoke English quite well and
has a heart for children’s ministry.
Kellton passed his cleaning with flying colors, and immediately asked for
another appointment right away. Astoria
had the beginnings of a cavity and even happily sat through the drilling. Are these my children?! Plus the fee was less than I anticipated…who
knew? We were out the door with two
delightful Christian children’s books the dentist had written herself, and I
was completely in (happy) shock.
Next
round was the eye doctor. Elated from
their dentist appointments, they were pretty relaxed. Kellton had been wearing an eye patch to
cover his stronger eye, for about 2 hours a day, every day (that his parents
remembered to torture him with it). Lo
and behold, his eye sight had improved, and he no longer needs to wear a patch,
and no longer needs to wear glasses all day.
And at Astoria’s last appointment in Montana, we were told she’d need
glasses by this time in Bolivia. Quite
the contrary…the doctor said no glasses are needed and she doesn’t need to come
back for 2 years. Again…is this
happening to us?! And Kellton’s new,
weaker prescription wasn’t too expensive and they were happy to use his old
frames.
For the
sake of guarding one’s heart against disappointment, at times it’s easy to slide
into a mentality that “things just won’t work out.” We all know this can be very true many times,
and yet God calls us to take in His wonder, and to be ready for His
surprises. Even today we had another
gift from God. Kellton who is very
careful with his money, had decided he wanted to pay for a motorcycle game at
an arcade near the grocery store. I told
him I’d take him, as long as he was pleasant the whole grocery store outing
(hard duty for a 6 year old boy, mind you).
He had a great attitude, but was quickly crushed with the arcade wasn’t
open.
On
the way home, we spotted (how could you not?) this crazy turtle vehicle. For 5 Bolivianos, you can get a ride around
the park. I said we could go, but
Kellton only brought 2 Bolivianos, the amount he needed for the arcade. Astoria to the rescue, offered to pay for all
of us. I had even forgotten my
money! So off we were in the turtle. Bummed I forgot my camera, another family on
the ride had a camera and offered to take a photo and email it to us. Perfect!
So while
there will be unpredictable hardships of course, I am thankful for the way God
weaves in surprises. He has unexpected
grace and joy for days begun with worry at the doctor or disappointment at the
arcade. He is Lord of the good surprise.
So, friends, take a firm stand, feet
on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether
in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our
Father, who reached out in love and surprised
you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you,
invigorate your work, enliven your speech.
