A Work in Progress!

We are settled back in the Philippines after a nice long vacation in states. We had a few weeks before school started so we went to the Hospital to check on the progress. It is coming right along. I have lots of fun reminiscing about the project in Niger and the first days of being there. This building is quite different but the cement smells the same and the feelings of great expectations are all the same too! The the grittiness if some wonderful and new being constructed. Can’t explain how excited I get when I enter t his place, already!!! Hope you enjoy these pictures, feel free to ask questions. As you will see the rooms are labels but there are no windows or doors. The kids were a little freaked out getting too close to wide open spaces….it is a 5 story building after all!

The exterior of the Tebow CURE Hospital Davao Philippines

The lobby is looking quite inviting! Maybe it I am biased by the sweet inviting faces?

 

Kitchen

Leron’s office

Some views from the inside looking out. See the rooms are tagged with their number and purpose? Exam rooms, radiology, nurses station, wards, play area, lab….and the list goes on throughout the building.  So exciting!

 

This big room will be used for training and larger group gatherings…chapel? This is quite a larger “open space” Drew took care not to get too close. Ha!

      

Here are some views out the window….some of our guys hard at work, stairwell….elevator shaft!

The sloped entrance at the rear of the building….pretty steep!

Operating block…little dusty. We traded the red sandy dust of the Sahara for the dark volcanic dust of the Philippines….

Lots of butterflies looking at these pictures, whether it is seeing my kids close to large openings in  the side of the building or navigating the sloped walkway instead of stairs or the thoughts of all that will go on here when we open! Lots of people to meet……I am beyond excited! I am watching a dream come true with my eyes wide open. Stay tuned. There are many wonderful things to come!!

Introducing Dr FISH

Yesterday, I tried something new. A new friend of mine suggested that we take our girls out on a date. I was thrilled & with REAL ITALIAN gelato in the equation, it was a yes for sure! Our destination was the Fishiology Fish Spa. We went to meet Dr. FISH…..and that we did! 

  

The thought of putting my feet in a tank with these little fish to eat the dead skin off was not too threatening, right? They were just little fishies. Here was my view.

 

I am thankful that I only signed up for 20 minutes….the sensation was somewhere between tickling & having electric current running on surface of my skin. B said that it felt like “a thousand tiny kisses”. There were times, I thought I could not take it. It was quite a strange sensation.

 

I giggled ALOT. It was such a treat just to sit, relax & talk & enjoy being together. I am thrilled for the next adventure!!!  Oh yeah, my feet are amazingly smooth & I had 2 flavors of gelato, chocolate & white chocolate caramel. YUM. It was quite a wonderful experience. Definitely something to repeat….funny feeling and all.

Frangipani Trees

Smells like “home”. I was just thinking  how nice it is to have some familiar things to bridge cultures. This was one of my favorite plants in Niger. We had one in our front yard. Here in the Philippines, they are everywhere. There are some different colors, but I like the white ones with yellow centers. I call them Frangipani trees but they have other names like plumeria. They are one of the flowers used to make leis in Hawaii. I just love them! One of the streets in our neighborhood is lined with about 20 of them. As I walk alongside them, I often pick one up and smell it. Sweet fresh vanilla like fragrance. Like honeysuckle in the states, they can just put me in the best mood. For someone who has a VERY strong and sensitive sense of smell, I think things that smell good are truly wonderful (well, I am sure about anyone would appreciate that)!

Home

Early May, I had the rare privilege to travel “home” alone to Indiana, PA. My last Grandparent, Hazel Howarth passed away. She was 101!  Living so far away from “home” I was not sure I would be able to joining my family to remember my Grandma’s life. I already had a ticket booked to travel home for a month’s break with my family on the 30th of May. My husband graciously asked me if I would like to go and  he reassured me that he would be able to handle things in my absence. What a gift!! I made it “home” in time for the memorial and enjoyed spending time with my extended family and then I enjoyed a whole month living with my parents. It has been years since I lived at home with just my Mom and Dad. I enjoyed just hanging out there, enjoying their company and just resting and taking it all in. When I would visit in the summer, many of my days started with visiting my Grandma, now there was a bit of a void. I was so glad to be there with my parents, to sit on the porch, watch birds, bike ride and take walks. So good to be “home”. Over the past 20 something years that I have not lived under my parent’s roof, I have still always loved to return to be where they are. They have moved a couple of times but it is still “home”, just to be with them…..that is home to me. Funny but I just slipped into their routine, totally content to do what they do and just BE with  them.

I started thinking about this and realized that with all of our relocating,  am I passing this value to my children? Living abroad has drawn us much closer as a family. That has been such a positive benefit of our life. I have found great truth in the saying “home is where the heart is”….the challenge there is that my heart is in many places…..PA, SC, Africa and now the Philippines. Now that I am back in the Philippines after about 2 months in the states, my heart aches. I want to be in all  of these places at once. Part of readjusting to being back in the place that is geographically home at this point in my journey is to find true contentment in the now. It was different coming “home” here. It was just Leron waiting at the airport, no phone calls or visits to welcome us back. That is the tough part of being new somewhere. Knowing that I have left my friends and family on the other side of the world, I depend on technology to keep me connected. I am thankful for that, but I trust that this next year will be full of making connections here. Building relationships and  well getting more at “home” here. I am full of hopes and dreams in this new place.

I think that HOME is such a wonderful thing. Thinking back on even the past two months, I felt at “home” so many places be it Indiana, PA or Duncan, SC or Dillsburg or York or Mount Joy or Vintondale or Armagh ……being with so many friends & family made me feel like so happy and alive! I spent time with family, new friends, and old friends. So instead of being sad or feeling lonely in this fairly new “Home”, I will look ahead to the days to come as the Philippines becomes more of a “home” !  I woke up this morning really embracing the adjustments and transition that I am in right now. I have been reading The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison. So much of what she writes put my thoughts into words. This particular quote put a lot of things into perspective:

“What began for us as a trial-starting afresh in a new town, where everything was different from what we were accustomed to-turn out to be, instead, a kind of reeducation, as we find ourselves surprised by delight in the ordinary moments and the modest pleasures of everyday life. Surprised, too, to find  that happiness hasn’t much to do with perfect surroundings, with having a lot or doing a lot. It comes with living simply, taking care of one another, allowing time in the day for ease and pleasure and play. In our own ways, we all forge strong connections to our new home, or rather home-to-be.”

I am so thankful for the many connections over the years that have made my life so rich. I have a new sense of “home”….. seeing you all again is like coming home over and over again. I am expectant in this new day, here in my new home!

16

Andrew Jacob Lehman entered the world at 8:40 AM on April the 14th 1997. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember the whole pregnancy and all sorts of details. He was so perfect, with such a gentle little cry….I won’t go into all that. I can not believe that he is now 16. He has been 16 for a week….for some reason this particular birthday seemed big! I have been thinking a lot about letting go little by little but enjoying each and every moment.

Isn’t that what being a parent is all about? Little by little we “let our kids go”? From the 1st time I left him with a babysitter to preschool…..public school…sleepovers etc Hopefully we have prepared them for the situations that will arise. How will the act? Manners? Living in the Philippines, he is not old enough to drive here. That does not mean that he is not eager to do it! Just last Friday, after the band concert D asks to go to a movie with his buddies…I immediately said yes. He was so happy and animated and I could tell, he was just thrilled. Then my mind(and heart) started racing…how will you get home? Who’s going? Do you realize that it is already almost 9:00PM??  I mean we are living in a city….in SE Asia….WOW! I never would have imagined that at this point in his life he would have lived on 3 different continents….there is a bit of a gap between what I imagined his 16 year life would be and what it is….but I am extremely happy at who he is and who he is becoming. Won’t get sappy…I just love how complex he is, goofy yet so pensive.

  

Yet, as his Mom, sometimes I know what he is thinking by the look on his face or by a simple sigh. It is a thrill to be his Mom and see him everyday. I guess I started getting a little sentimental while listening to The After's new song entitled “This Life.”

Just brings home that “We can’t own it ….. we just get to hold it for awhile…This life…..we can’t keep it or save it for another time…this life…. What we give is all we have….. How we love is what lasts….this hope will carry us through…this life”. Hope that is encouraging and does not make you sad. Have to admit, I do have tears streaming as I write…The past 16 years have been quite amazing and wonderful. Yes, there are laments of time passing too quickly and not living on the same continent of so many I love dearly. I hold on to the times we are together and I know….. “we were never meant to stay…We don’t have to be afraid of what is on the other side…of THIS life”. I am so thankful for this life but most importantly for eternal life. I have learned a lot in these past 16 years but there are many more to come!

The Badjao

This morning, Leron and I visited a small community of Badjao people. They are often referred to as sea gypsies.  Everyone in that area are squatters.  Due to commercial shipping & other factors since WW2, they have settled on land. This particular community is in a Muslim area. We saw at least three different mosques. There was one little main street that would accommodate one way traffic. Lots of trikes. Lots of people. even a pool hall and kids playing games in the little dirt alley ways.

 

 

This particular area is one that I’ve seen as we travelled  to and from Samal Island. They are stilted houses. The Badjao people are living over the water. From the shore you can see both Samal and Tulikud Island. The kids were enjoying a swim (not the cleanest place to recreate, but alas, it is what they have)

 

So, that means, no sophisticated plumbing and well, they live over floating sewage trash. Planks of wood to walk on……some very slim passage ways. A maze of small humble dwellings.

    

 

We met a pastor at the church. Loved hearing the history of his people…different languages, customs, clothing & even physical attributes. Totally unique! We also checked out their school (no children as it is summer break…April/May here), observed some boat building, & toured the small part of town while our host followed up on a medical clinic.

 

       

I am still processing my thoughts from the morning. Wow, such poverty!! I was a bit overwhelmed as I had to watch each step. making sure my feet landed on solid boards so that I did not fall through to the raw sewage and trash below. But in the midst of it we were greeted by smiles… such gracious, kind, peace loving  people.

 

 

 

Such joy in the midst of such a harsh environment. I am always looking for the beauty…..the wonderful…. and here, I found in the people’s faces. They loved to have their pictures taken & I enjoyed playing peek a boo & just laughing with the children. Next time, I will be ready with my bubbles!