Traveling in the USA

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Travel has always been somewhat of a dirty word in my family. From the time I was six months old my family has been on the road and I, now a grown man with a child on the way, find my parents have yet to slow down in their travels; and my mother has yet to get used to the sometimes frantic and tiring aspects of life on the road. The past two weeks have been just another exercise for me in packing, re-packing, saying hello and quickly saying goodbye before stopping somewhere else to go through the process once again. Times like this remind me of all the great friends and family I have, while also making me feel awkward about the short time I have to spend with everyone.

 

Highlights from the trip:

1. Visiting my Siblings – It was a great time to get together with my sister and two brothers over the past two weeks. The first night in Memphis I made Chicken Plov and my sister and I caught up on the past two years. In memory of all the crafts we used to do together with our mother in our childhood we did a creative project for a class that she was taking for her Masters of Education degree. The next evening I got to spend time with my sister’s cool husband who had just returned from a trip to Louisiana where he interviewed at one of several universities where he might do an Orthodontics Residency. He graciously took me to a great place for pulled pork despite not being a big fan of barbeque and taught me how to play Rock Band. We rocked out to the new Beatles game.

The next day I got to visit my youngest brother and a few of his friends at Harding. He was pretty overwhelmed having just finished pledging for BOX – his social club.

And finally I got to see my middle brother at Pepperdine who is about to finish his degree in History and hopefully continue his studies with Teach for America. My bro is involved in at least three different prayer and worship events a week on campus and I spent a week and a half going with him to most of these events. He and his friends have gathered a great community of friends from campus that encourage each other in their faith.

2. Visiting Family – I got to see everyone from my grandmother to my second cousin once removed and my great aunt. It is a great blessing in this day and age to be able to go from Orlando to Los Angeles and have family to stay with and visit all along the way. I am reminded every time I travel of the great wealth that is wrapped up in a large family. I believe the benefits of having a large family far outweigh the sacrifices one makes in sharing rooms, struggling for prime seating in the car and having to work one’s self through college.

3. Visiting Friends – I got to see my friends from my college days in California and in Texas. We spent our time doing what we always used to do – talking while playing video games and unsuccessfully trying to have adventures. In Texas I got to see all the improvements on the ACU campus and met up with some of my old co-workers and mentors. It’s always a bit strange to see how much places change while one is away.

4. Going to a Concert – While I was in Los Angeles my brother invited me to see Florence and the Machine who were playing at the Troubadour in Santa Monica. The openers for Florence were I/O Echo. Being the oldest of four I get to keep up with popular culture. For example I learned that the new way of expressing pleasure about things is denoted with the term “epic.” While this is not a completely new term it has come into frequent usage over the last two years among young people. Of course it is important to emphasize each of the syllables in the word for example, “the concert was ep-ic!” This way of saying things reminds me of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. So, the concert was epic as were the doughnuts we ate after the concert.

Babies and Butts

Babies and butts have been what I have been doing the last few weeks. You may be wondering- huh? (how inappropriate!) . haha. Probably right! But I'm studying to be a midwife and we take care of the well woman and the pregnant women. So that means pap smears, STD cultures and the fun exams for fetal heart tones and cervical dilation.

From the beginning of August I have been working with a wonderful midwife, Vicki Brooks (not Vicky), who has been patient, understanding and a great teacher! I am so thankful that in His perfect time, God provided a place for me to begin my clinicals. A typical week has me in the office Monday- Friday with Wed. mornings and Fri. afternoons off. We are at the hospital at 0730 and in the office by 0830. If no one is in labor (or delivering immenintly) we get to eat lunch and go home by 1700.

The last few nights have been interesting! I had given one woman my cell number because she was planning on going natural (without an epidural or medications) during her labor and delivery and I wanted to experience what she went through. I was nervous about how that would go. Would I be the odd extra person in the room? Would I be at all helpful? Well God is good. Her sister called at 2100 and told me that the lady was having contractions every 3 minutes and they were heading to the hospital, so I put back on my scrubs and headed over. From 2115 until 0030 I enjoyed watching as she rhythmically rocked through contractions, changed positions, moaned or even yelled (only for a few when she felt out of control) through the process. It was amazing to see this strong woman go through the BACK LABOR she was having with such composure! Her husband, the only other person in the room, would occasionally put counter pressure on her back or wipe her brow with a cool towel. Their daughter was born at 0043 and I got to catch the little bundle of joy! It turned out that this sweet couple did not have any other family in town and were so thankful to have me there- just to support and "be" It was an honor for me!

So, after getting home about 0123 I woke at 0530 a few hours later to be back at the hospital for rounds, and a full day of work. It was a good day and besides CRAZY allergies I learned a lot, felt like a help instead of a hinderance, and went home at a reasonable hour. We were on call that night....

Sure enough, Vicki called me at 0130 to say one of hers was in labor. So up I got, put on my scrubs and headed out the door (trying not to wake the dogs who would wake sweet Marie- the dear woman who is letting me stay with her). I was pretty awake when I arrived and beat Vicki there (unusual). The lady in labor had an epidural and sat comfortably, smiling as we walked in. She had been 6-7 cm when Vicki called but when I checked her and, at the command, broke her water (my first experience doing that) we found that baby's head was just inside and the patient was a full 10 cm. So I coached her through pushing (her epidural made it so that she could feel nothing, not even pressure or contractions). It is always exciting to see the head crowning and this new life come through the birth canal! The baby was having some periods of low heart rate and so Vicki walked me through cutting my first episotomy. With the little extra room baby came right out with a TRIPLE cord wrapped around the neck (aka- it was around the neck 3 times!) and a knot in the cord! It was no problem (they most often aren't, praise the Lord) as we caught that baby keeping her head toward mama's legs and did a summersault motion with the body. The cord easily came untangled (measured almost or more than a YARD long- normal is 20 in?) and baby began the joyful noise of crying. I helped repair the episiotomy site until I felt faint and backed off. Vicki thinks my blood sugar was low, and while orange juice helped I was still weak. I think I was just tired. I didn't feel ill to my stomach. I'm sad. I have helped with two repairs but have yet to do one on my own. It is an art in itself.

So then, today was another full work day. So it's been a crazy last few days. I'm thankful to be home a little early and relax, put in my numbers for school and go to sleep early.
Last night the internet wasn't working either so I have some catch-up to do. The real sad thing was that I couldn't catch up on e-mails from Andrew! But I'm so thankful I got to read them today! I look forward to Skyping with him tomorrow. In this CRAZY LONG separation I am so thankful for Skype and e-mail. What a blessing!!

I want to end by telling you the most beautiful thing I have seen during my clinicals! About a week ago I was able to witness part of the labor and catch the baby for an amazing couple! Mom was going naturally and what a champ! During contractions she would put her arms around her

husband's neck and do a slow dance with him as he supported her. Inbetween her head was up, she was smiling and talking. When another would come on she would say "excuse me" and get close again to her favorite person. When contractions got harder, and she was in the bed, she would stare into his eyes and he stared back at her and told her how good she was doing and how proud he was of her. They were the most amazing team! When she said "I can't do this, I don't remember it being this bad" He would say "You are doing it and you are doing great. You are in control, look back at me." It was the most beautiful thing I have seen yet! I wanted to cry! If you are considereing going naturally YOU CAN DO IT! What a beautiful thing! Talk with your husband, practice at home, read about it and do it! She was up and moving, nursing and chatting within the hour (and could have been up sooner). Every birth is a beautiful miracle, but this last one I will remember all of my life!

Olympos and Olympus

Many of you have probably never even considered the geographical difference between the letter "o" and the letter "u" between the "p" and "s" in the word Olymp's. For me the two differing spellings represent bookends of my trip to Greece from Turkey this last week. In the span of two weeks I was on the slopes of two historic mountains which have leant their name to the mythical aura of the Mountain of the Gods. I started my solitary trek from the shadow of the pines of Olympos in Turkey two weeks ago.

Olympos, Turkey is a mountain which has gas deposits that can be lighted. Once the sun has

gone down one can hike the thirty minutes to the first area of gas springs or the longer hour hike to the high flames and see the mountain aflame. Part of this range is an area called Chimera where the story of the wild fire breathing beast, with a head of a lion and a goat and a tail of a snake, who was defeated by Bellerophon and the Pegasus is said by Homer to

have taken place. Turkey's Olympos is also part of the Lycian way, a historical road which runs between a series of city states which comprised the kingdom of Lycia.

My time at the Chimera flames on Olympos marked the start of

my journey to visit my parents and grandparents in Athens and consequently brought me to the top of another mountain. I departed from the base of the Turkish mountain and took a bus along the coast following near the Lycian way on the modern road which runs from Antalya to Kas and beyond. At Kas, pronounced kawsh, I caught a ferry to the Greek island of Kastelorizo where I walked to the airport. The airport on Kastelorizo is located between two of the highest points on the island and requires some hiking to reach.

After catching my flight to Rhodes and then to Athens and spending some precious time with my youngest brother, who was on his way to college, and welcoming my grandparents to Greece from Southern California at my Mom's pressing we tackled a more formidable Mt. Olympus, the

better known but less firey mountain. We spent two days hiking and climbing to the highest peak on Olympus called Mytikas. We found no Dodekatheon, but did enjoy some fearful climbing up some steep slopes. My parents were able on this trip to realize a twenty-five year old dream to climb Mt. Olympus. This was something they wanted to do when I was a young toddler but were unable to do. Now that I was able to carry the heavier items for the trip and not need to be carried as I would have needed at two years of age my parents were able to realize this dream.

My father's excitement and my mother's joy in accomplishing a long desired goal made the trip a

special time and began a summer tradition for me of climbing to the top of

mountains. Last year Ararat and now this year

Olympus only the Lord knows what mountain it might be next summer but it may need to be the metaphorical mountain of parenthood, or the very real mountain of diapers that will have been changed, Lord willing, this time next year. My time climbing the two Olympo/uses was a great part of my summer and a welcome distraction from the fact that my wife is across the sea finishing her Masters of Midwifery. More than I looked forward to seeing the peaks of these mountains I look forward to seeing her on the other side of this seeming mountain of time as we both look forward to the mountain top experience of our first child.

Blessings to you as you climb mountains of your own, metaphorically or physically.

Okey!

I was saying to Mike the other day how lovely it would be if there was a table we could sit around and eat. Unfortunately, at the time we believed there was no such contraption in the bachelor pad. We were wrong.

This morning after finding out that my meeting with friends was canceled, I sat down to stumble a bit and then after responding to a few e-mails I was in the middle of reading about a cheap way to make outdoor lights when V. came in with a friend E. and after a few minutes of talking about the relative heat and the upcoming wedding people settled down and began deciding what they would do on this hot Saturday morning. E is getting married in October and his engagement party, a completely different concept from the American engagement party, is this evening.

It was then decided that the guys in the apartment were going to play Okey, a variation of Rummykub. At that point V. told me I was going to have to get up cause they were going to have to use the table. It was a moment of revelation. The two by four foot thing that I was sitting at was the apartment's table and when it wasn't used for housing random electronic devices and the laptop, which I am now holding in my lap and utilizing the characteristic of the device from which it's name is derived, it is used as the house table. And so with that realization the house became a younger version of what you can find on every corner in Turkey - a Turkish Tea House.

The Turkish Tea House is usually filled with retired or unemployed men who have given up on the ambitions of commerce and accomplishments and have resigned themselves to watching the world pass by while challenging eachother to a battle of luck and wits while playing Backgammon, Okey, or Pishti. When the guys sat down and started teaching Mike to play Okey I knew his Turkish cultural education was nearing it's apex. In a matter of hours Mike would have the germ which permeates most Turkish males. Unfortunately, the Turkish guys were unbeatable and Mike walked away without being hooked on Okey the way he's hooked on Backgammon.

Living with my Turkish Brothers

In every man's life there comes a time when he gets/has to live in a house where the toilet rarely works and the washing machine is on the fritz, when air conditioning is not an option and the concept of personal space is limited to the bathroom walls when the doors are locked. There comes a time when a young man wants to find out the limits of his patience and the depths of his resolve towards personal hygiene. Is it enough for a person to shower once a week if stepping into the bathtub brings danger of cementing ones feet in soap scum residue? Is it okay to schedule your visits to other people's houses around your bathroom necessities? Is it okay to leave a plate on the floor of the kitchen if there is no more room in the sink or on the counter filled with dishes? What is the shelf-life of unrefrigerated eggs at 40 degrees Celsius? What is proper etiquette when dining in the living room while using an overturned cork-board for a table? How quickly can an apartment be filled with empty Coke bottles? These are all questions that I have been finding the answers to over the past two weeks. I am certain that in the two months to follow more discoveries in the exploration of the natural habitat of Turkish bachelors will turn up even greater discoveries and more poignant, or possibly pungent, pictures of life in apartment "Rejep Bulbul."

On the first day I came in with Mike who's been staying at the apartment already for a few days. After having a glass of coke and finding out that it was fine if I used the laptop anytime it was not in use I plopped down on the floor, since all the couch space was taken up, and began to play a sad song on the guitar as I realized I had another two months of separation from my wife. The first song that came to mind was by a group called Pinhani and the song was titled "Beni Al." The song laments the regrets of someone who is not with the person they love. So, after a few moments of self-pity one of the housemates V, who has an awesome testimony, came over and we played Turkish worship songs together. As the clock hands were pushing 1 AM I made my way to the bed in the corner of the living room and the others moved to the balcony.

I was told the next day by Murat, who was visiting that night, that around 2 AM while he was watching an episode of LOST on the laptop, which sits on the table ten feet from my bed, I sat straight up in bed glared at him and lay back down. This is not something out of character for me. I tend to do odd things when I am stressed out in a sleeping arrangement and am only glad that my reaction to this new situation was not worse. I have been known to sleep walk or threaten people in my sleep. Just ask my college roommates.

Take My Hand

I recently downloaded a song by Shawn McDonald called "Take My Hand." The song expresses a great need for the Father. The song was introduced to me by a group that visited us from the U.S. this last month. They spent three weeks praying for, studying with, learning about, and exploring the land of the Turks. In that time I was greatly refreshed in several ways. Primarily it is a great pleasure to work with people who love the Lord and with whom we share many of the same goals and dreams. In a relatively short amount of time we became a team with the group, and I got to experience for a short time the focused and expedient result of team evangelism. If it takes a village to raise a child, as many educators point out, then the same should be said of raising a new believer in Christ. I hadn't realized how much I have missed the benefit of a more focused communal work, and was blessed to experience the presence of one this last month. The visiting group turned out to be fuel on the fire, giving added energy to our endeavors with friends here.


From encouraging young believers to develop personal quiet times to praying for some suffering spiritual oppression and reading the Scriptures with others, it seemed our time was a constant opportunity to witness to our faith, hope and love. Now in the absence of the team we continue to seek after a cross-cultural community that holds as close ties as those we have had with many of you, our compatriots. We are seeing more and more of this with our Turkish brethren as we interact on a regular basis and with greater fluency. Sitting together and struggling through the difficult topics of faith and doctrine, while sharing in meals and watching football matches, sun-bathing and swimming, visiting parks and attending church.


The upcoming months hold many new adventures for us. Andrew is a few short days from finishing his Turkish proficiency classes and being graduated from TOMER. Katie is preparing for her final test before returning to the U.S. to complete her Masters of Midwifery in July. We will both spend a two week period serving at a Youth Camp an hour from here in a place called Olympos, prior to Katie's departure. After that Andrew will be moving in with a couple of Turkish bachelors and will be involved in several endeavors. He will be learning about running a business as a foreigner while helping out Dos Plumas with their new Biblical Tours work, at the same time he will be providing a summer language course for the personal and professional improvement of the Turkish believers and whoever else from the community chooses to join, while continuing his responsibilities to the Russian Church.

During that time Katie will be finishing her lab-based studies in Kentucky and going from there to the still unknown location of her internship. We are in the process of finding a Midwife who will take Katie on as an intern for the three to six months that it will take her to finish her requirements for her degree. In short the next six months will be quite hectic for both of us and we're leaning heavily on the Lord's hand as we walk firmly in his promises knowing that he will show the way.

The past few months have been filled with such a variety of events from the reception of a new brother and the return of an old, from ministry to the abused to studies with diamond merchants. It seems as though the Lord is giving us a wide range of people with whom we might share our life. We hope you will keep these things in your prayers.

March-ing On

We recently sang this old hymn in the international worship service we attend and the words with the simple tune came across as such a powerful message that we both mentioned how the hymn touched us. I believe part of the struggle is holding fast to the hope that regardless of the situation or how bleak a believer’s life looks physically or spiritually we are called to hold up our fellow brothers and sisters with great resolve.



How Firm a Foundation
Selections of: John Rippon


How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?


In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.


Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.


When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.


When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.


Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.


The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.


In the recent weeks we’ve seen where we have been lacking in our encouraging those who are in need. We need to be more resolved as we were reminded in the final verse of this hymn. It is easy to slip into a feeling of fatalism about the faith of our fellow followers of Jesus; to believe that we play no part in the development of their spiritual character.

It comes as no surprise that the hymn was a favorite of several presidents and a soldiers tune for many years. This tune speaks first of God’s amazing saving power and his faithfulness throughout trial, but finishes with the task at hand - to hold fast to the souls of our brothers knowing that their lives are in the midst of a spiritual war. In these verses I felt the admonition of the Lord to not let go of several for whom we have been praying for here, and the moving to continue to encourage the local believers in even greater ways.