The Importance of Vision!

Beau climbing by the water

Uncle Matt was with us for the week doing dentistry!

The importance of vision has taken on quite a new perspective for our family over the last several weeks. Many of you have already heard, but Shea lost almost complete vision in her left eye several weeks ago. She ended up having something called Pan-uveitis. It is essentially an inflammatory condition where your body inappropriately makes white blood cells that cause significant swelling inside of the eye. It has provided our family with an unexpected curve ball, and Shea with a lot of stress. Thankfully, with the advice of my Ophthalmology friend Cedric, an eye doctor in Guatemala City, and a lot of prayer she is finally starting to make out shapes again with this eye. We hope she'll make a full recovery over the next several more weeks, and are really grateful for all of the prayers.

Having someone you love loose sight, has not only impressed upon me the gratitude for my own physical vision, but also the importance of spiritual sight. The spiritual analogy of sight is an obvious one, and you don't need a masters in divinity to understand the correlation with sight as it pertains to the spiritual world. Both Jesus, and his disciples often used this analogy of physical vision when giving us insight into spiritual blindness. Jesus physically healed the blind multiple times in scripture. Often after these physical healings he would use that as an oppurtunity to teach about spiritual blindness and the importance of seeing, and understanding our sin, and need for a savior.

Dr Luis preaching outside one of our village clinics.

In several instances the book of John quotes Christ. In John 3:3 "Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" In John 9:39 "And Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind."

I know for my friends and I, the moment we truly understood the gospel was like seeing for the first time. Understanding the magnitude of my sin waited against the perfection of  God, and knowing that He sent his son for my substitution, and complete forgiveness of sins is mind blowing. Because of this I can truly see,
and I'm so thankful for it!

Gracie pretending to be a dog....why not?

Of course the kids found a mud pit to play in.

More hospital pictures coming soon.

Back in Canilla!

Our Arizona family minus Shea manning the camera

Our Kansas family with my Parents and all 16 grand kids

Our temperatures have risen significantly, and the persistent dust lingers in, and on all of my kids clothing. This signifies our complete transition from northeastern Iowa, to Kansas, to Arizona, and now Guatemala. We're excited to be back to work in Canilla, Guatemala. This year has brought plenty of changes both to the landscape of Hospital Adonai, and my children's clothe sizes.

The kids enjoying shorts and time outdoors in Guatemala!

We are glad to start our new year here and eagerly await the challenges ahead. The construction progress is incredibly encouraging and we were happy to hear about the success of treating our first inpatient at the end of 2016. There remains much work ahead. Organizing containers of donated equipment, working on future staffing, and establishing hospital structures all remain formidable obstacles. Nonetheless, the goal of a fully functioning hospital is much closer to the horizon. As obstacles arise our Lord always gives the solutions we need, and His truth can always be trusted.

She working on an infant warmer in the hospital!

I was reminded recently, that in 2016, a new word was coined in the Websters dictionary. It was actually the 2016 word of the year. The word is post-truth. Such an interesting word that means: relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion then appeals to the emotion and personal belief. Simply stated: There is no real truth. As I've watched our culture change over the years this word should really come as no surprise. It saddens me that our "modern" culture is now lead by our momentary feelings and no longer by the Creator of Truth. In other words: if something feels right at that time then it has to be right. Unfortunately, even people of faith find this path dissatisfying and even heartbreaking in the long run.

As we enter 2017, we can all be encouraged to know that we can serve the God who is the Truth. He sent Jesus Christ to defeat sin. There will always be struggles and difficulties in life, but with complete reliance on Jesus Christ and His Truth we have reassurance, and assurance of salvation. In scripture John writes in John 14:6 :

"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. "