Desperation

On my first trip to Honduras I remember walking through the hospital to just see things with Katrina. We walked through the entrance straight into the emergency room. Okay, so first of all this hospital is pretty nasty, needles on the ground, dogs running through the halls, no air, so it’s hot and smelly. So we walk in straight into a little boy maybe like 8 years old who is in a comma. Of course everyone knows Katrina and Katrina is always so willing to stop and talk to everyone. So we stop and talk to this family Mom, Dad, and I think another child was there. So they begin to tell us that their son had fallen out of a mango tree. Everyone in La Moskitia climbs mango trees to get food. So this little boy routinely climbed a mango tree and fell out. He was in a comma because he hit his head and from what I understood had fluid on his brain, his family did not have the money to pay for a plane ride to another city where there was a doctor who could do the surgery. So they were pretty much just simply waiting for their son to die or a miracle. Miskito’s do NOT cry… they are very strong and to cry shows weakness, This woman was crying.  So Katrina prays for the boy and we place our hands on him. I remember placing my hand on this boys feet and I am praying LORD show me he is going to be okay just let him slightly move something anything LORD let him be okay. His foot flinched under my hand and I just knew he was going to be okay! Well the next time I saw this boy he was squirming all over his mom was holding down his feet and his dad his upper body as he began to come out of the comma. A few days later when I was again at the hospital and he wasn’t in his bed like usual so I ask and Katrina when I got home and she said well he may have been moved to children’s or he died and she said I am pretty sure he died. Well turns out he did die.

This was the point where I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t take that something so curable in the States would cause a child to die. It would be a simple surgery. How could this happen to this boy. I could do NOTHING. This is the first time in my life I think I was actually desperate for the Lord to do something. For the Lord to show up and do something that only He could do!

When I went back I found why the Lord had shown me that little boy. He was teaching me to be desperate for him.

I would end up many days back at that same hospital desperately crying out for the Lord to heal my daughter. As I held her only a few feet from where that little boy's bed was, her arms stuck with needles her blood being drawn nurses giving shots, as she screamed while I held a  nebulizer to her face. I would get to know the doctors, nurses, and people through this hospital but with a new sick baby, Grace. I would cry out in my bed at night for the Lord to heal her body of any diseases. That the Lord would use her for His Glory.  The Lord did answer my cry and Grace has a happy ending she is now a beautiful healthy growing girl. I still am praying for her health and an disease that she might have would be destroyed from her body.

I remember getting sick and calling my parents and asking them to tell any and everyone to pray I would get better. I did not know at the time I would have a disease that hundreds of thousands of people die from each year. That by the time the symptoms showed up I had parasites running through my blood for 3 weeks already. I did have to go to the doctor but I  do believe the Lord was the ultimate healer through this because a few hours after getting the medicine I was back to normal.. a little tired but I was working the next day. That doesn't happen it takes weeks to recover.

I remember taking a girl to the hospital who had both legs amputated this girl wanted to see her grandfather. Since she couldn't walk I drove her in the mule. Well right when we pull up as its getting dark outside the mule stops. We decide to just go in and visit ... quite a long visit. We come out its pitch black dark. There was only Miskito men around. I can't walk home alone, she can't walk that far. So I begin to desperately pray again. Desperate for the Lord to show up. Well of course He did, we got jumper cables.. a car drove up.. I chased it down... I tried to explain how to jump the mule off when I didn't really know how to do it much less explain it in Spanish... The 5th time it worked and we drove away praising the LORD!!!


I think that in America it is so easy for us to go day to day without ever truly crying out to the Lord until... something doesn't go our way.

We don't have to worry if we don't have food for dinner we can just go pick up fast food. We don't have to worry about being thirsty we can simply turn on the faucet.
We don't have to worry if our children will see a doctor if they get sick.
We don't have to worry about the pharmacy having medicine if they do get sick.
We don't have to worry about having clothes for tomorrow, we have closets and drawers full.
We don't have to worry where we will sleep tonight, or if we will get a bed.


But in La Moskitia every day, every step, every minute, the people are desperate for something to happen.


During this desperation I believe the Lord does show up. When there is nothing we can do , when everything is out of our control. When we just turn control over to him! He will make himself known!!

 However, He does have a plan and He does know the end so His answers might look a little different than ours. His answer might be wait, or something totally opposite, or an absolute no.