A Collection of Short Stories

A short day but a good day :) so here’s a collection of short stories ;)

Kurdish Church

We only worked until two today because the church we are using as our clinic base has Kurdish services on Wednesday nights which they needed to set up for. Bummed that we couldn’t see as many patients but so in awe at this church which serves so many underserved and even hated groups. We have seen several Kurdish families, which always leads to double translations, so I hope what got through was correct ;)

Squeamish Translator

My translator from the first day was back today and so I got excited that I would get to work with him again but a dentist swiped him! I would see him every so often when he came to get another patient, and one time he said something to my current translator that got him laughing and so I asked what was up. He told me he was trying to bribe my current translator to switch with him because he couldn’t stand the blood any longer and wanted to go back to the easy job 😆

Sleepy Baby

Since we are down a pharmacist (please be praying for him, he’s like super sick :(), one of the triage nurses went to go help in pharmacy. The pediatric nurse offered to go, and the other triage nurse is scared of kids, so that meant I got all the cute squishy babies today! Score!!! One even fell asleep on me while mom (or grandma? Friend? Idk. Current guardian.) went to get eyeglasses. Precious!!!! He had the cutest cowlick on his forehead — I wish I could show you photos!!!

Muslim Prayer

Right as I was about to send this young lady to the doctor, she asked if I could pray for her. Mind you, about ten minutes earlier, I couldn’t get a blood pressure because she didn’t want to take her jacket off because she was Muslim. This kind of shocked me, but of course I obliged ;) I prayed for her through the translator, for healing and clarity, and that she would know without a doubt that Jesus loves her so much. And then sent her on her way.

Bathroom Bouncer

One of the toilets in the ladies room broke today and they had a guy in there fixing it for us. But when we needed urine samples from the women, we had to use the guy’s stalls. So I was their bodyguard ;) I cleared the area and then stood guard outside so no one surprised the women in there. Several times, there was a lot of teasing from the translators and American doctors about why I was posted up in the men’s bathroom, and several fake rounds of boxing, as you do. But it all worked out, as it usually does.

Hummus Fellowship

First off, their hummus is the best hummus EVER!!! I want to put it in a piping bag and squeeze it into my mouth!!! They brought some more for lunch (score!) and since clinic ended early, everyone got to eat together! It was such a nice time of community around good food: two of the things that Arabs do best. I talked with my American teammates, and my Arab teammates about their lives, families, and what they love about Jesus. I might have even managed to snag one of the translator’s wife’s hummus recipes! To be determined tomorrow ;)

The Ring

My blood pressure cuff was getting borrowed and so I was making small talk with my patient and commented that I loved her jewelry (she had a bunch of necklaces and rings and it was clearly like a set that all matched, and it was so sparkly and suited her) and she blushed and thanked me and then asked me what my favorite was. I pointed to one of her rings which she then proceeded to pull off of her finger and slide onto mine!! I protested, but she wasn’t having it. And wouldn’t you know, it fit perfectly! She hugged me and kissed me on the cheek, and I was a bit misty eyed when the blood pressure cuff was dropped onto my lap again.

I think it can be really easy to get caught up in the big things God is doing, especially when you’re talking missions. We all want to see thousands miraculously saved, or a life threatening issue caught and resolved. But the truth is that God works just as powerfully, if not more so, in the small, day-to-day, “unimportant” moments. Just like Elijah(sha? I get the two mixed up all the time!!) who asked God to speak to Him. In all of the powerful displays, thunder, wind, fire, God’s voice was silent. But then He spoke to him in a tiny whisper.

I hope that I can get better about remembering to hear God’s voice in the whispers of those “unimportant” moments in my life.