Answers to Prayer

In the past 14-plus months, there have been a lot of things to complain about, and believe me...I have done a LOT of complaining. If you don't believe me, just ask my husband...or mom...or coworkers. But we have also had a LOT to be thankful for. Some things that come to mind are: - living in a community where Dominic could go outside and play with his friends every day, while many kids (and parents) around the world were restricted to their own homes - Kristopher and I received both doses of a well-studied vaccine in Kenya, although we had initially thought that we would have to travel back to the US to receive it

- a short-term visitor who came despite the pandemic to give me a vacation last November

- despite many of our family members contracting COVID, no one has become critically ill 

Two major things have been weighing on me in the last year, and some of you can probably guess what they are. The first is the OB/Gyn oral board exam, which I have been preparing for by collecting "cases" since July 2020. The exams happen every year between November and January, after a candidate's case list is reviewed and approved. Last year (the 2019-2020 cycle) the oral exams were cancelled and candidates took a computerized exam instead. Let's be honest here...oral exams are intimidating, and I've been praying that the same change would happen for the 2020-21 cycle. Last month, I started getting pretty serious about trying to find someone to cover OB at our hospital while I return to the US in the late fall to study for and sit the exams. Well, sometimes prayers are answered in ways we don't expect. Through a series of miscommunications, it turns out that I am not eligible to take the exams this cycle.

Thankfully, my case list can still be submitted for review, and I'll be able to transfer my application to the 2021-22 cycle. As much as I just want to get this exam over with, the barriers to getting coverage at the hospital this year have been pretty huge. In the long run, although this isn't the solution I would have chosen, I think it will end up working better for everyone. 

 The second big weight for me and our family has been homeschooling. It becomes more obvious with each passing week that trying to squeeze Dominic's education into the two hour window between waking up and me getting to the hospital is not a healthy situation for any of us. We've been praying for a solution, and haven't found any solutions for the long term, but for the next two weeks, our answer to prayer has come in the form of Anna and Caleb, a mom-son team who came as short-term volunteers through SP. While their other family members are working at the hospital, Anna and Caleb have taken on the homeschooling responsibilities and are doing a MUCH better job than I could ever do. Dominic loves them, and we have time to just be a family in the morning.

We have NOT been praying for a new house (especially as an open house means the departure of more good friends from our community) but we are nonetheless thankful to have moved to a larger, quieter, and WARMER house this past weekend. Again we were so thankful to have help from friends and neighbors as we quickly got all our things moved over. We have a lot of organizing to do, and furniture to buy, but we're so excited about the change!