Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

I know most of you live in Michigan and have no sympathy for my pathetic little whining I'm about to do but hold on! Remember, we've been either in the Southern states or Africa for most of the past 2 years. And up until the December 28 it had been pretty mild, cool, rainy that kind of thing. Now it is zero and we have our first snow. The funniest thing was that in snow this deep the weather men came on the TV and warned everyone to stay home and IF you had to venture our take food and water - - were they afraid we couldn't find the pub on the corner of every block?

Well it's not just cold outside but our port-a-cabins don't fare very well for heat either. The water in the kitchen has been frozen up for days and the toilets were frozen, yuck! I didn't think too much of the water freezing but DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS TO A BRIT? NO TEA! Oh my gosh - how do we make it? Life is just so unfair, so hard, so miserable.....WAIT - I don't like hot tea, what am I complaining about? I think I have set a new office trend however, do you see how my jewelry goes with my gloves with no fingers or my nice Mercy Ships hat and different color scarf? You don't even see my pink fuzzy socks! A girls' got to do what a girls' got to do. What will the girls of the Africa Mercy be wearing next season? Stay tuned!

As is Robert's custom to get injured every other week, he fell through the deck floor down in the engine room and had an angle iron go into his thigh. They can't stich it because it's jagged and took out a chunck of meat so it is having trouble stop bleeding. The medic at the ship yard didn't clean it out just globbed some ointment on a bandage and slapped it on him. He bled through 3 of those gauze pads by the morning so he went back to the medic and they sent him to the hospital to have it checked out. They gave it a "proper" scrubbing which nearly sent him through the roof but at least we know it's clean now, put iodine on it then put a big wrap around his leg. By the time we were standing in front of the hospital waiting for the taxi Robert said the bandage had fallen down around his knee. I told him to get some duct tape and do an American "proper" job on it. On the more serious side, I know that God had us there for a reason. There was a VERY sick young lady in the emergency room throwing up blood and becoming paralyzed. While her dad fretted over signing her in I went and sat with her, rubbing her back and asked if I could pray for her which she was very appreciative of both. God himself could have done the same thing but I really love the fact that He CHOSES to use us instead.

M/V Africa Mercy at First Snow

At 3:00PM - it is completely dark

Lord, We thank you so much for friends and family we love and who love us. We are grateful to serve you in any way you chose. We are humbled by the friends that touch our lives through emails, cards and phone calls. Please watch over and protect all those we love this year, bring peace and joy into every home and rekindle the flame that burns inside each of them to please you and to be the face of Christ to others.

HAPPY NEW YEAR - Robert & Susan Blanchard