Happy (belated) Thanksgiving

Let me just start by saying that I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It's never fun being away for Thanksgiving, but I was able to have a wonderful Thanksgiving feast even here in Kabul. There was a large meal and Thanksgiving service at the UN guest house here and we went to that on Thursday. I had turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing and pumpkin pie - just like home! It was wonderful and the atmosphere was very festive. Although, Dad, I must say that their stuffing didn't hold a candle to yours :)

I had another exciting night of call on Thursday night. A lady came in with twins and complaining that her water had broke and was now having regular contractions. She was preterm and both babies were breech and her cervix was 6cm dilated. In the States, we would have headed back for an emergent C-section, but after discussing it with Dr. Jacqui, it was decided to do a vaginal delivery. You see, the survival rate for preterm infants (she was approximately 29wks) is very low here and they just don't like to put mom through a surgery for babies that may or may not survive. I went through a myriad of emotions. First, I was angry. Why shouldn't we give these babies their best shot at survival? What if we do permanent damage by delivering them breech? But then I had to take a step back and realize that she was speaking from years of experience here in this country and that my American ideals don't always make sense here. After I had worked through that, I felt pure fear. What if I did something wrong (Dr. Jacqui wasn't at the hospital)? I just started praying that the Lord would give me wisdom. So, we went back and had a successful double breech delivery with breech extraction of the 2nd twin. It was scary and exhilerating all at the same time. So far, both babies (a boy and a girl) are doing well. Mom went home the next day. Oh, and did I mention all of this was done with NO anesthesia? Women here are tough!

After all that excitement, I needed a break. So, today we went to a beautiful lake on the edge of town that is surrounded by mountains. It is a popular picnic spot during the summer I hear. It was great to get away from the hustle and bustle as well as the overhwhelming dust and smog and just be out in peaceful nature. It was great to see a beautiful part of the city. I've put a picture below.

Thanks everyone for all your prayers and support. I have found out that I have to land in Qandahar on the way home, but have been assured I won't have to get off the plane. So, you can pray for that. Also, we heard today that there was a suicide bomber in Gazni (about 2 hours from here). Please continue to pray that this nation would know peace.

Also, I just found out that my sister took a nasty fall this week at school due to a janitor not properly marking a very wet floor. From what I understand, she fell and hit her head hard, but Xrays are okay. Please pray that Bethany will heal from this and praise God with me that nothing serious happened.

This may be my last post from here. If it is I will be sure to post when I get home. Thanks again for all your support! You have no idea how much it means.

Me with "my" twins

Lake Qargha