The Smiles and the Tears…

 Life is such a mixture of joy and pain. Back here in these mountains some days it seems the pain over rules the joy as we watch stooped, withered grannies hobble in the door… or wide-eyed children with tiny ribs poking out of translucent skin…or screaming babies with terrible, flaking, skin infections…or screaming little boys with oozing abscesses.

Some days my heart gets weary as yet another child screams out in pain, ” Mis Katie, leave me..it HURTS, it hurts!!”…while pus and blood stream from their abscess. Or, when I see yet another suffering baby, too weak to cry, desperately mouthing around for milk. But, on those days, our kind Father is so faithful to send a joy our way. Sometimes it’s seeing gaunt little cheeks fill out with Plumpy’nut…sometimes it’s a perfect birth with no complications…and some days it’s just the brilliant yellow of a flower beside the path on my way home. There is beauty everywhere. Some days it’s just up to us to see it.

 This dear lady came in with her baby a few weeks ago. Her baby was in pathetic shape, with it’s skin peeling off in huge flakes. Nowtthe baby’s skin is healing beautifully…and Mama came to church on Sunday and gave her heart to Jesus. She is so happy.

 This sweet little boy came in this week…pathetically malnourished. His teeth are literally rotting out of his mouth.

This lil fellow is 6 years old. He came in with a terrible head abscess. His mother died and he’s left with a very unsaved, miserable father. He only cries weakly when I clean his abscess and never fights or tries to get away. After I’m done he gives me a hug. Can’t get any sweeter then that!
This is one of my very favorite patients. Yesterday he came in and told me his toes were aching and his lungs were crying. 🙂 He’s 82 and still hikes over the mountains with his one blind eye and tall walking stick.  
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