God Waves

How does the ocean not make waves?

or light,

or sound,

or heat,

not

for that matter?

And us?

Wave goodbye

to the myth of mortal placidness!

Myth busting physicists know better.

There is no such thing as

“empty space.”

All that is

makes waves.

though not detectable

(through sound

or sight,

or taste,

or touch,

or smell)

UNLESS ENHANCED!

So it is with God waves. 

 Paul Heller 

Seeing Double

Double the trouble, double the work

Double the formula, double the perk.

Double the pleasure, double the fun,

Double the challenge, when there’s more than just one.

Triple the double, triple the twin,

Triple the pair the Nursey lets in.

Isabelle/Thandi, Darlene & Jerrine

Now Moses & Marmen are here on the scene.

Triple the blessing, triple the fun,

Three sets of twins are funner than one.

Two sets are sisters, one set is boys,

(The first in our history, which explains all the noise.)

We’re now seeing double wherever we look

So are the nannies and so is the cook.

It’s not like sextuplets; it’s not quite the same.

Still it bodes giving thanks in God’s loving name. 

Paul Heller

The Jerrines and Darlenes

Darlene

The call came from Social Welfare that there were twins, three days old whose mother had died shortly after birth. We were told that they were so young they hadn't even been named yet. Augustine (our administrative assistant) and I left shortly after the call, as we had 2 openings. (A miracle in itself).

We didn't go alone, however. My twin sister and her husband are visiting us and they went along for the rescue. Jerrine was going to be the one holding one of the twins on the return trip to the nursery. Jim would   document with photographs. So off we went.

Jerrine

The family was devastated by the loss of the mother. Two weeks had already passed since mom's death. Baby care was difficult. The grandmother had a can of Lactogen infant formula, but the girls were already showing signs of malnutrition. This is common, as Lactogen is a powder and it gets diluted too much. Enough powder to make the water whitish is all that is used, so it will last longer. This gives the baby fluid, but not enough protein. Both twins were tiny.

The father and village headman were eager for us to take the babies. They were also very grateful. The babies had already been named, but when the family discovered that Jerrine and I were twins they decided to name the girls Jerrine and Darlene after us, as a sign of respect and gratitude. Their given names would become middle names. This is common in Malawi.

Jerrines on left, Darlenes on right

Jerrine and I were thrilled! The first twin was named Jerrine, as Jerrine came first in our family. The second twin is Darlene, who came second like I did. The similarities were striking. We each held our respective namesake on the bumpy, dusty trip back to the nursery.

Jerrine and Darlene are now 3 weeks old and doing well. They are gaining weight and show no signs of any kind of illness. We are thankful that so far, all is well. And we are looking forward to watching the twins grow into healthy happy toddlers.

You Are What You Eat

Sunday morning, after Paul preached, we began our 5 hour journey to spend a week in Lilongwe for business and meetings. All the babies were healthy and happy as we departed.

Monday evening we called the Nursery just to check in. The news was not good. Lister was suffering from vomiting and diarrhea. Joyce (our nurse) and Augustine (the administrative assistant) took her to the clinic for medical care.

By Wednesday evening, Emmanuel, Barnabas, Chawanangwa, Alesi, and the twins (Thandi and Isabelle), were also sick. What was going on?

Thursday morning, Barnabas and Emmanuel went to the hospital, were treated and released.

Friday, Barnabas and Emmanuel were still declining and Alesi had gotten worse. Joyce and Augustine took the three babies and headed back to the hospital for the third time in five days. Barnabas and Alesi recuperated in the Nursery sick room for three more days. Everything in the nursery was washed, scrubbed or boiled.

All these little ones were suffering from gastro/intestinal problems. For adults this is annoying. In infants it can be deadly. We needed to discover the cause.

If “you are what you eat,” then something in the babies’ diet was the culprit. Joyce decided the problem was with the Likuni Phala. A couple years ago we had purchased a tainted bag of Likuni Phala and now it had happened again. Likuni Phala is a mixture of corn and soy flour fortified with minerals and vitamins. Once they are able to digest it, Likuni Phala is the babies’ staple food.

Administrative Assistant, Augustine, returned the 50 pound bag of tainted flour. The folks at the mill apologized. It turns out they had discovered a broken sieve which allowed contaminants to enter our batch of Likuni Phala. A fresh bag was given to the Nursery.

How to avoid such a problem in the future? Simple. The nursery administrative staff will have the first meal from the new bag of Likuni Phala If no one gets sick, we figure it will be safe for the babies. A small price to pay for healthy babies!

We are now safely back in Mzuzu, and the babies are all healthy in the Nursery. God is good. All the time.