It's Friday night and I am chilling.  I am watching three children tonight and have enjoyed it.  They are all tucked in under their mosquito nets getting all the sleep they need for a full day tomorrow.  It's the end of a week here and the music from the neighboring village is just now beginning to float through the air. A somehow steady rhythm coupled with different bugs competing to be heard.  Surprisingly, it's a calming combination.  The phone is laying beside me.  It's my first night on call.  Somehow exciting.  The phone has rung twice.  From the same person.  It was a really easy first call.  The man calling was calling concerning his wife.  She is seven months pregnant and is having intense abdominal pain.  As soon as he informed me of those two key points, I directed her to the hospital.  The second time I talked with him, he was telling me she was being admitted.  My prayer is that both she and her baby will be ok.  It's been a full week.  A week of saying goodbye to dear friends and a week of diving into full time  hours at the clinic.  It's been a week full of malaria, wounds, and opportunities to learn, learn, and learn some more.  There is so much learning to do.  So much.  Many of the kids from my family group are down with malaria. Today, Phionna came in with a fever, body aches, and just not feeling well.  I talked with her, assessed her, and the walked over to a bed so that she could rest.  A little while later, I brought her some paracetamol (tylenol), Lumartem (malaria treatment), and some water.  standing beside her, I put a watered down washcloth on her forehead.  I prayed for her and then assured her that I would check on her.  I checked on her a short while later.  I saw two little tear drops just hanging below her right eye.  She didn't want me to know she was crying.  I asked and then drew her near.  I just hugged her for a few extra seconds.   Thankful to be able to stand with Phionna.  And when the time is right.... to be able to walk forward with her as she journeys on in life.  She is a beautiful girl with a heart hungry to know love.  Excited to be able to love her and journey with her as she comes to know the love of our God more and more.  

Linda, me, and Phionna