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The latest edition of our Filipino Martins newsletter is now available for your reading pleasure. You can find a link to the file here. There is also a link on the left sidebar with links to all of our previous newsletters.

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

Char Lang!

I have a funny story to tell. It's about some stuff I said the other day, all in Visayan. I'll provide the translation in parentheses after the Visayan. So here goes...

Friday night I went to a youth fellowship gathering at a friend's house in Agdao. He works with YWAM and has helped out at the ministries I've been working with. He had asked me if I would share a word of encouragement to the kids. I agreed and went there this past Friday evening, for the first time. I don't think I had met many, if any, of these kids before.

Now that you know the setting, here's the story.

September and October 2011

So much to do...so little time. That is the flow of my days since coming back from break.

I have caught 10 babies in my time back here. I hear rumors that the month of October involves about 280 or so pregnant women who are due. :)

September and October have been stretching months for me, I have encountered tough experiences, but come face-to-face with life and death (that delicate balance), God and His sovereignty.

Some things I can check off my {100 interesting experiences before I die}

1. I experienced first-hand a bloody mess. And no I don't mean the British expression. I mean fully-soaked-front-of-my-scrubs with blood.
   {Visualize an exploding can of spaghetti sauce, close range paint gun shot...whatever helps you 'walk' in my shoes} :)
   Hence I learned CCT (controlled cord traction to help placenta out) + mom ALSO pushing = bloody mess

Happy Birthday!

Here's a photo dedicated to my mother, whose birthday is today.

(Taken yesterday at a beach-side party for the daughter of missionary friends)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Typhoon and Flooding

So it's been a while since we have said anything on here. Well, not much is happening (at least that feels worthy of a blog entry). We are back into the daily grind. Christina is busy with the clinic. She had a few busy days with a catch in two or three consecutive days. But it is going really well.

And now begins "Year 2"

Our return trip to the Philippines began with a hurricane named Irene. What's the relation? Well, let me tell you.

It began with the simple fact that our initial flight was to depart from the Newark airport in New Jersey around noon on Sunday, August 28. A few days prior to the flight, someone told me that there might be a hurricane off the New Jersey coast mid-day Sunday. I'll admit my first thoughts were, "Oh that's nice. Now we'll get wet going in and out of the vehicle." But after three or four people said something about it, we decided to check into it.

Thursday night we heard that some airlines were waiving the fees associated with changing flights for anyone going through airports in the potentially affected area. So on Friday we looked at what other options we would have. Long story short, we decided that a 6:00 am flight on Sunday from Harrisburg, PA would be a better choice. That meant getting up by 2:00 and an 8-hour layover in Detroit, but it seemed to be the best option available.

First impressions...Back in the US on break!

Waiting in Davao airport

I'd like to think that I was one of those people who successfully documents their life in a journal. But the truth is, I only sparingly journal in a lined paper notebook sometimes. And I have an odd tendency to skip pages, so it's not even in chronological order. My one effort to be disorganized. ;)

So, since I'm back in the land of my birth I thought I would post some thoughts and reflections I've had recently. The flights...from Davao to Manila (philippine's capital) we then flew to Nagoya, Japan & then to Detroit (our longest one at about 13 hours). Our last flight was from Detroit, Michigan to Philadelphia, PA. We were greeted by Josh's parents who drove us home. Josh was quite the talkative one at that point. I had only cat-napped in our 30+ flight hours home, so I was crashing. I mostly slept the car ride home from Philly to our cozy home in Stevens, PA. It was beyond delightful to slip between the covers of our bed (yeah, I'm odd I suppose, I've been dreaming of this mattress here for awhile...but it's SO cozy). You know, it's the 'little things in life' I am starting to appreciate most. :)