Is there an orthodontist in the house?

June 4th – 9:15 p.m.

I am drained. Nathan broke his two front teeth today. He was playing around at the pool and hit the bottom head first. Ben pulled him out of the pool and held his hand while he approached me with a stunned look on his face. What I saw made my stomach absolutely lurch. His teeth were literally half the size they used to be. They were cracked off unevenly and he kept covering his mouth with a towel to keep the air off them because they were so sensitive. I was visibly upset... I almost burst into tears and Nathan just stood there barely saying a thing. The kid is amazingly tough. I would have been balling my head off!

I didn’t know what in the world we were supposed to do! Certainly this wasn’t a hospital situation, and I never even thought about finding a dentist. Nate sucked in air through a towel and then whispered to me, “Mom, I keep hearing and feeling them explode in my mouth. I want to go back to America”. Uh… what do you say to that??? I kept looking at Ben as he began frantically dialing people he knew and I was thinking, “This is crazy… our kids have experienced so much in 2 days… How are we going to make it through 3 months??” Again, doubt crept back into my mind. “Why did God call US to this? It is one thing for me to be attacked, but how can I watch my kids suffer? What will be the cost? I don’t think we can handle this. Etc. Etc.” It brought a lot of tough questions up for me.

In the middle of the craziness, another missionary named Robin had just arrived with her children a minute before it happened. She turned to Ben and said, “This just happened to my 12 year old son in this same pool just 2 weeks ago!” She knew exactly who to call… a Philippine orthodontist named Evelyn. And wouldn’t you know that God had Evelyn go to her clinic for some “reason” today. She answered the phone and told Ben to bring him in immediately. Nathan’s nerves were exposed and she was able to seal off the teeth and then put a plaster compound on them. They look exactly like his old teeth. The only difference is that you can see where the real teeth end if you are up close. Nathan immediately felt relief from the pain and we were very grateful to her. Evelyn, who works for a catholic orphanage, told Ben the story that she has been mothering an orphaned baby girl for two years and the paperwork has fallen through. She even has the crib sitting next to her desk that her baby girl used to sleep in. Ben asked if he could pray for her, which she agreed to. After all the work was done, Ben asked her how much he owed her and she replied tearfully, “Your prayer was payment enough”. It was a miracle… truly… and thank God that He knew what I needed before I knew it myself! Whew~!

Amber is still feeling under the weather. The sinus infection is definitely gone, and now it is in her chest. She is coughing a lot… but she has been asleep since 4:30 this afternoon so that is a great sign. I am really relieved because I am exhausted from caring for her. I feel guilty saying that. But with the jet lag, caterpillars, and now this, it seemed too much today. Again, God was looking out for me.

John 10:3-4 “The sheep recognize His voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After He has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them and they follow him!”

God… you have proved that to me so many times today! But it would be really great if this is the last time you had to prove it this summer! LOL!