love.

As I was at the clinic today, I began to marvel at how much God is at work here. And I have found lately that I very much LOVE so much about being here.

I love worshiping the Lord, singing songs in English and Visayan, with 80+ women who come for prenatals on a given day. The picture that paints of heaven overwhelmed me this morning.

I love taking public transportation--jeepneys are the best. Passing down my 8 pesos (equivalent to about 20 cents) and being familiar enough with the city to yell to the driver to stop for me to get off is a small joy.

Jeepney.....

...packed with people as usual.

I love learning anything and everything about the language here. There is something deep in my soul that is satisfied when I hear someone pray or sing or read in Visayan. It is also equally satisfying to be able to understand and communicate back with my patients in their language.

I love eating rice. I really, really do.

I love laboring with an expecting mom and her bana (husband), especially when the bana is extremely helpful. Helpful banas are blessings to midwives.

I love my continuity patient who texts me all the time to tell me about the progress of her pregnancy. I don't love that every time she comes for a prenatal that there is another complication, but I do love her. (She is due to give birth any day now and I am SO excited to be her midwife!)

I love sitting on shift in the birth room and 'making chika-chika' (just chatting) with the filipina midwives. They always laugh and joke and are wonderful. The culture is genuinely full of joy, and I love it.

I love waking up in the morning and drinking my 3-in-1 kape (coffee).

I love reading about birth and learning about how the Lord creates us in our mother's womb. I love being an eyewitness to that miracle on a daily basis.

I love seeing my patients weeks after they give birth. Pure, inexplicable joy.

My first ever patient as a handling midwife.

Baby Bryan Jr. :)

Most of all, I love the Lord. I love that God sent me here. I love that He has stretched my faith with this leap more than I have ever been stretched. I love that even now that I am here that I can't survive without depending on him for my daily needs--every day. And I love that this is His plan for me.

Overwhelmed with goodness and a purely grateful heart,

Midwife Brittany