Day 85

Scripture: Ps 47; Ephesians 1:15-23; Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53


Scripture standout: Ephesians 1: "¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe."


Morning thoughts: I am losing it, truly. I convinced myself that today would be a slow-starting, quiet morning here at the house until 1:30 p.m. when the interpreter arrives for our home visit. I had the afternoon orthopaedic visit in my noggin, too. The morning lab work was not — even though it was right there, on my calendar and everything. My brain must have limited capacity.


It wasn't the end of the world. Quodrat arrived safely, got a little sleep and we were off to Ashraf's doctor's appointment.


His Deed/The Day: I received today some perspective. Two very capable, but very young interpreters — 18 years old if you can believe it — accompanied the 15 children on the 50-hour journey from Kabul, Afghanistan to Jacksonville, FL. The trip involved staying in a hotel in the Dubai airport, it required lots of "mommying" and guidance and to be on-point to keep track of the paperwork, passports and physical needs of all those children. One of the interpreters shared with me today that she broke her tooth while eating dinner on the plane. She said she doesn't get enough calcium, and the darn thing just broke. It's a little tender, she said, but it's OK. And sure, she'd love to have a milkshake after the appointment. She also has trouble with her sciatica, and it acted up during the trip as well — she threw out casually as we waited for Ashraf's doctor to bring in the pin-screwing plan. And yes, she said, she had to carry some of the smaller children through the airport. Oh, and did I remind you that she didn't sleep for 50 hours, arrived in Jacksonville at 1:30 a.m., accompanied children to doctors' appointments today and is now just starting an interpreters' meeting? Did I mention tomorrow is a full day as well? And here's where I got perspective: she wasn't complaining.