A most difficult weekend...

It is Monday morning and I am still feeling the effects of a very challenging and exhausting weekend. I am physically tired and emotionally fragile but somehow I sense that God is with me and for me as I wrote in my previous entry. In that entry I described how Friday Eva took very ill and we spent much of the day trying to get medical care. On Sat. she was a bit better but still very sick. And on Sunday, we took a huge step backwards as her fever in the morning again was just over 103 degrees. Margaret and I were quite distressed as we had been giving her all her meds and still she was doing poorly. It is amazingly hard to stand and watch someone suffering with chills and headache and stomach ache and burning with fever and be able to do very little to alleviate it. We sponged her and got some Advil down her but it took over an hour to get the fever down. Dr. Kanda was wonderful in that he answered our calls on Sunday morning and had us call back a couple of times with updates. The fever did break enough that we didn’t need to drive her to the office. For me personally, all this was compounded by the fact that I was really exhausted from 3 nights of very little sleep – partially due to checking on Eva and partially due to being so hot from not having electricity. The concern for Eva was weighing heavy on me but I kept crying out to the Lord for help and wisdom and He did give it. Margaret stayed home from church with me and we spent most of the day in the kitchen where we were close to Eva’s room and could check on her frequently. The electricity was off for a record almost 16 hour run – from Sat. at 7:30pm to Sunday noon -which was frustrating and distressing. Margaret and I sat together in the still of a Sunday morning in the kitchen reading, talking, being quiet, praying and eventually cooking. It was interesting to us that in the middle of all this our internet was gone and we couldn’t even send out an SOS for prayer to our respective prayer teams. But God alone knows why it was this particular time that it happened. On the practical level the internet was off b/c of two mistakes – one mine and one Margaret’s. In the midst of being ill and taking care of sick roommates, I didn’t pay the internet bill on time and they are very quick to cut any service like this if you don’t pay early or on time. On Friday b/c the internet wouldn’t connect Margaret hit the reset button on the wireless box which effectively wiped out all connections. So between the two of us we took care of our internet for the weekend:) Live and learn. The electricity and internet issues were really rather small in the midst of Eva’s illness but somehow they were large to me as I was so tired and frustrated. Once Eva’s fever broke, Margaret and I took a small rest and it did wonders for both of us. It never ceases to amaze me how being tired can skew things so much. The electricity came on and the afternoon was better all around. Eva was more comfortable, I had a better perspective on life and Africa, and Margaret started cooking which she loves. We thanked the Lord several times for electricity and for helping us through the morning. I was reminded several times that the Lord is for me even in the midst of a tiring and stressful weekend. He never left me and brought me strength and patience when I cried out to Him. Please pray for Eva for continued and complete healing and for rest for her mind. She worries about the burden she is putting on us and Michelle no matter now much we tell her we love her and are glad she is with us so we can care for her. And please pray for Margaret and me as we care for her and also try to get our respective jobs done. The big conference we are hosting here is just in a couple of weeks and there is much to be done for that – most of which is my responsibility. I know that God is and will help me to accomplish it. I just need to trust Him and not panic:) Thank you for praying.