Full of life again
Nestled in my lap between crossed legs, Lamaran focused on my finger and thumb, gripped them tight and drooled ferociously through a half-healed lip. He is precious, this tiny little boy, with a...
View ArticleIn color
It would be easy to turn and walk away. Escaping reality with the TV turned up just a little louder, telling stories of the good old days and ignoring the hurt in front of us. To walk through a day...
View ArticleYu sabi?
Ortho kids from Sierra Leone with Melinda and MichelleChristiana stood at my elbow, stethoscope around her neck, watching intently as I entered the assignments for the night nurses into the computer...
View ArticleAdventure to the interior: A beginning
Well the land rovers are packed and our team is ready to head out early tomorrow morning at 0430. Two weeks of guesthouses and camping, muddy dirt roads and plenty of coffee, large crowds and lots of...
View ArticleInterior Screening: Conakry to N'Zerekore
It was almost midmorning on day 2 of the interior screening trip when I found myself belly down over the spare tire on top of the Land Rover, hooking ratchet straps into the frame and rearranging our...
View ArticleInterior Screening: N'Zerekore to Kankan to Mamou
There's a space of time before dawn when the world seems to stop - just to take a moment and breathe - before jumping into a new day. In sandals and scrubs in the twilight before the morning, I turned...
View ArticleInterior screening: Lemon tree thorns
It crept up on me slowly, barefoot on the cool tile floorTiptoeing in the near-dark to where I stoodLighting the gas stove with a matchTo boil filtered water for coffee.It whispered warm across my...
View ArticleLooking for you
Halima is a petite little grandma...not much left but skin and bones and tumor. I can feel each of her ribs through her dress as we embrace - the same bright dress she was wearing when we met in the...
View ArticleYourself again
I can still count your ribs under my fingers, prominent beneath the thin patient gown. It's all you wear now, besides the bold headwrap and clean white bandages. You weren't yourself yet when you...
View Articledry
One of our hospital chaplains caught me walking through the hallway last night as I was on my way back to my cabin after a long day. Laura, do you have a moment? I want you to witness something. I...
View ArticleOne more
Halima (The previous star of blog posts Looking for you and Yourself again) came back last week for a scheduled outpatient appointment. Her face is filling out nicely, and the place where there was...
View ArticleSunset Club
There is an insistent breeze that lifts off of the water, dancing in the gray-gold of sunset and the cloudless dusty blue of harmattan sky. It whispers poetry to me, cool and steady, weaving between...
View ArticleA different normal
More and more often I have moments when I forget I haven't always been here. It's normal to tie an infant on my back if he's fussy and causing trouble - it doesn't matter that he's not mine. I'm full...
View ArticleDr. Seuss and the fizzy mango
Dr. Seuss and the Fizzy Mango: A bedtime story from Africa* by Heather Klassen, Laura Coles, and Trudi AttemaTravel to the beach and seeHow fun my Africa can be!Would you do what we have done?Try...
View ArticleOld enough for a nose
November 2011...We sat together in the back of the church service, listening intently to a three-language sermon. I was trying to understand the Krio that sounded so familiar, and Kadi was trying out...
View ArticleWhen the bandages come off
One of my favorite moments of a day shift is that first dressing change...when the bulky bandages finally come off and a new face is revealed for the first time. What would it be like to see your face...
View ArticleRetrospective thankfulness
Retrospective (adj): Looking back on or dealing with past events or situations.We had gathered in our customary circle at shift change, taking turns sharing what we were thankful for that week. "I'm...
View ArticleDalaba musings
The wind whispers to me, combing long fingers through the hair that falls free outside my hammock.I have kicked off my shoes, let down the tight ponytail, and lifted my face with the morning glories to...
View ArticleThese last days
Scars and struggles on the wayBut with joy our hearts can sayYes our hearts can sayNever once did we ever walk aloneNever once did you leave us on our ownYou are faithful, God You are faithful.I...
View ArticleExtravagance
I love sailing. The hectic pace of life slows into final reports and meetings and handover, a time to think over all that God has done the last few months, to mentally close a chapter in the adventure...
View ArticleA special kind of grace
I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave, but I knew I couldn't stay. It was time for the next chapter of the story, the next leg of the journey...time to follow Love as he led me away from the crazy life I...
View ArticleToday
Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin. ~ Teresa of CalcuttaSometimes I wake up and realize…my room is too big. There should be at least 2 or 3 or 5 other...
View ArticleSnow on bare feet
I have lived in a different sort of existence these last months, my time filled with writing and grading papers and hospital clinicals, with food by the handful here and there and the majority of my...
View Articlemy dreams were too small
I entered my fourth decade this summer…a subtle shift that crept up on me; one I’m not quite sure how to understand. Society tells me I’m a career woman now that I’ve turned 30, an adult, a...
View ArticleIntentional
How would life look differently if each of us lived every moment intentionally, making the most of every opportunity in a life of love? How would my life and interactions be different?I don’t usually...
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