Not Malaria

After an exhausting 24 hours yesterday of aches, chills, fever and some GI symptoms, I called my friend Dr. Erin this morning. I'm sure she appreciated the interruption to her breakfast, with my long list of symptoms. We set up a time for me to meet her at the clinic and I then called my fellow tutor Sr. Grace to let her know I wouldn't be coming to the Maternity ward again today.

I hate missing work, and we have a good group of students on the ward I want to be working with. While the last few weeks on the ward have had their share of challenges, it's been rewarding as well and some good changes are taking place. I was excited for this week on the ward.

On Saturday I had gone swimming with Erin, Tim and Karla in our new reservoir built for the hydroelectric project. The reservoir is the new craze here at Kudjip, probably 100's of people are coming to use it weekly. Swimming, sliding down the "water-holder-backer" walls, washing clothes and bathing all takes place. It's quite a site (and probably means there are quite a few organisms in this water as well). This was my real first swim in a long time, and while it was refreshing to be in the cool water and swim some lengths, I also got a reminder of how out of shape I am! I've only gotten in a few runs and some short hikes lately and need to be doing more. We planned to get in some more swim sessions as often as we can.

Monday, two of my students informed me they had Malaria. Last Friday, one had Measles symptoms and there is a outbreak of them in the area. We gave health talks on vaccinations to all our patients on the Maternity ward and had some more talks planned for this week. Then those symptoms hit me on Tuesday. I prayed it was only food poisoning, but no clue how I could have gotten that because I know I cooked everything well and I haven't been eating anywhere else recently. When the symptoms continued on onto a second day I knew I needed to call a doctor if I wanted to get back to work as quickly as possible. I got my exam and an order for a CBC and malaria smear. I had my least painful lab draw ever and then waited for my results. One of my students with malaria was there for follow up labs, and also one of the college secretaries also had malaria symptoms. I really didn't seem to have the same symptoms they have and was just wondering what it could be. I'm just getting familiar with all these tropical diseases. (Working on the labor ward and not in a clinic or the Medical ward doesn't help too much with this.) We chatted a bit while we waited for our results and had a few laughs because of one little probably 18 month old that was waiting not so patiently with her mom. I wished I had some of her energy.

After about an hour my results came. No malaria. Pretty normal CBC, slightly decreased white cells. Back to Dr. Erin I went. The news from her, "Typhoid." Hmmmm, well at least somewhat quicker recovery than malaria! I got my antibiotics, and a new stash of Tylenol and headed home for another day of mainly sleep. 10 hours later, I'm feeling a little better, fever is controlled and I'm getting tired of myself and a little bored, so I wrote this!

Second year in PNG, second tropical disease. So glad this isn't Giardia like last year. Grateful for friends who have been there for me, concerned coworkers and students and their prayers. It was also a good experience to witness first hand the care that is given at the hospital and relate a little bit more to our patients. And I got a PNG health record book! Thanks for the continued prayers.

A day on the Maternity Ward

So I've been asked lately by a few friends what my days are like now that I'm not teaching in the classroom but working on the Maternity ward. Today might not have been a typical day but it wasn't completely out of the ordinary either. Woke up at 5:30 prior to the pig in the garden behind my house, had some Bible time and then a quick shower, breakfast and started a load of laundry before leaving at 7:25 to go to Monday morning Hospital chapel service.
8:00 attempt to listen to change of shift report (spoken in Tok Pisin. English and PNG nurse acronyms) while counting heads to see if all 17 of the assigned students are present.
8:20 assign each 2nd year student on postpartum 4-5 patients and have them work with 1-2 of the 1st year students, assign two students to work in nursery, make sure the 2 students in the delivery room aren't doing a delivery by themselves, and make sure the 3rd year student charge nurse knows what he is doing for the day.
8:30 supervise the students beginning their daily care for the moms and babies, while Doctor rounds on patients. Begin signing procedure books for all 17 students for procedures done on Friday afternoon when it was too busy to sign then books.
8:45 check on students in delivery room, no one in active labor, one student starting an admission on a multipara.
9:00 continue working on procedure books- sign Sr. Staci approximately 150's times throughout said books, wonder where my coworker that is suppose to be working on postpartum is, so I can fully supervise in the delivery room.
9:20 continue to go back and forth between labor and postpartum, watching one procedure after another, point out some things in the chart for students to pay attention to, chat with a few patients
9:45 coworker arrives, inform him of students task on postpartum and then concentrate on patient in deliver room with 2nd year student Joshua. Time contractions (using hands and wrist watch and patient reports) review labor process, assist with filling out paperwork.
10:15. John now is beginning to admit his patient in the next delivery bay, go back and forth between both bays assisting both students.
10:30 remember I need more latex free sterile gloves to do these deliveries and go to central supply and find my stash. Place gloves in both rooms so I can quickly put on when needed.
10:45 while helping John, hear Joshua's patient make a noise that basically only means one thing on a delivery ward in PNG and run back over to them (10 ft away) and put the gloves on while making sure Joshua is ready for this delivery.
10:49 help Joshua delivery baby boy, try to prevent tearing, not quite successful, big baby
11:00 bleeding controlled, give assistance with suturing but realize this is over my head as American RN's don't suture and I'm still learning, so trade places with my coworker on postpartum
11:05 begin supervising 2nd year students giving scheduled meds after the medication prayer time, avoid 3 medication errors
11:35 switch places with coworker again and assist with breast feeding on Joshua's patient and them do assessment on John's patient. Now she is 7 cm dilated, amniotic sac still intact, and its her 5th baby in 7 years. Fully get her history, it's her first time ever to come to a hospital. Has not had prenatal care, last two babies died at 11 months and 4 months. Wants to avoid another baby dying (why she came to hospital this time) but also has husbands permission to get a tubal after this delivery. Has only had girls. Last baby born 13 months ago. Not the best history, not the most common, but I've seen many similar stories here before.
12:05 let hospital staff know of our patients status, tell John to run and get some lunch fast and head home to get a quick lunch and hang up my laundry! (We are allowed to take a one hour lunch, haven't done it recently!)
12:40 back at labor ward, John is already there and monitoring contractions and fetal heart tones as needed. Amniotic sac still intact. Talk with Joshua about things we could have done better in his delivery.
1:50 Joshua begins to admit another patient, help with assessment and paperwork. Check on John and his patient periodically.
2:45 John's patient remains unchanged. Contractions are not very close together, 7-8 minutes. Decide to break her water. John performs procedure. All is looking good. Contractions pick up.
3:10 Assist with Joshua's patient. All admission done, waiting for more orders as she had prior c-section is now post-dates, not active labor
3:45 John's patient is getting closer to delivery, 9 cm, but wants to keep walking around the bed, of course, right at change of shift. All midwives on ward are at a staff meeting (not located on ward) and all CHW (community health workers, somewhat like an LPN) are in change of shift report out in the postpartum area. We remain with John's patient.
4:15 John's patient suddenly makes the same noise that Joshua's patient made earlier, except she is still walking around the bed and isn't on the side that has the step to get up into the bed. She squats before I can get out any Tok Pisin that would have gotten her to get up into the bed and that motion was enough that we know have a baby coming and no way to get the mom up to our sterile field. Quick instructions to John and we have the field under mom and I have a baby head in my gloved hands (thankful I had them ready to go a few hours ago). I've never delivered a baby this way before and John was suppose to do the delivery but no way it could happen with where we were each located in the room. Baby boy safely delivered and placed on our clean field at 4:20, followed quickly by the placenta. John gets to help at this point, cord clamps and cutting, and we then get them both up into the bed to do continued assessment. I'm still amazed nothing bad has happened but that this lady came to the hospital to deliver safely and we end up delivering on the floor!!! She is smiling though, very thankful we were there to help and loving that she got a baby boy! Some more assessment and we control bleeding and discover a prolapsed cervix to add to all our fun. John and I keep on praying!
4:30 All the nurses return from their meeting in time to help us finish putting mom together and then get her and the baby cleaned up and assessed.
5:15 All paperwork completed, patients successfully moved to postpartum ward. We informed them we would see them in the morning and to keep a close eye on her bleeding. I head home to get my laundry off the line before it really starts to rain.
5:25 Second shower of the day with my lovely heated rain water!

So just another Monday on the Maternity Ward, Kudjip Nazarene Hospital. Love it and this life God has called me to.

The Three P's

So it's been a while since I posted last. I've had computer issues and still do but I'm putting my other technology to use and writing this on the iPad. I'd been wanting to write about my obstetrics class for awhile. Classes finished 5 weeks ago but now we are working on applying those lessons in clinical. I mainly taught about the normal labor process this semester. One of the big lessons was on the three P's, power, passenger and passageway. These terms are referring to what is needed for labor to progress normally; sufficient contractions and then pushing effort from mom, a baby that is positioned correctly and isn't too large, and a passageway that allows that baby to move through it. The students did well learning the lessons and what is good and bad for each of these categories. We have a obstetric model that has helped me to demonstrate some of these lessons. I've found it quite Interesting that the model is Caucasian while the plastic baby doll that is always our "passenger" is the darkest skinned doll I've ever seen (and darker than any Melanesian baby around here). We use what's available! I've used a cloth book bag and towels to hide the baby in to help with identifying baby's position in the uterus and I've used a plastic bag coiled up to represent an umbilical cord and show cord prolapse. It's been fun and challenging to find hands on ways to engage the students, because hands on is a preferred learning method for many of them. I've also gotten to see how those lessons worked now that we are on the labor ward and are delivery babies. The Army way of "see one, do one, teach one" comes in a lot here. We try to get the students to see plenty of deliveries prior to doing a delivery and then they have to do 25 deliveries prior to graduating, but often the guys are so anxious to try their skills and teach them to the other students, that after one delivery they are feeling pretty confident and want to teach those who haven't been assigned to labor ward yet! Controlling this enthusiasm has been my struggle over that past 5 weeks. Constant reminders that two lives are in our hands works of a time! (I say guys because I've only had male students on the labor ward so far, missing my girls a lot but the guys are really doing quite well).
I've been thinking about three other P's recently as well. Presence, Prayer and Passion. Daily presence with my Heavenly Father, a lot of that being prayer and a continued passion to be here in Papua New Guinean despite all the continued challenges.
Also, over the past month our station power situation has been drastically improved because our hydroelectric power is up and running for the most part. A few kinks are still being worked out but it's amazing what having reliable power allows you to do! Like the dishes at 7:30pm, or a shower whenever it's needed, or reading a good book at night using a lamp and not a flashlight, things that rarely could happen before. That daily presence of power has really improved my overall outlook at times. Daily power outages are no longer the reality. It's also a great reminder of what the daily presence and power of God can do in our lives. Who knows what this continued passion will lead to, but I'm praying about the next few years and would also appreciate your prayers in this area.
Seven more weeks on the Maternity ward, then back for more lessons in the classroom, but never ending lessons continue with the Three P's here in Papua New Guinea.

Now a bit of my prayer recently, for my fellow coworkers here, all who are under that great commission and for myself-

But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! (Ephesians 1:16-19 MSG)

Giving Up

Week 6 of classes is complete.   That’s the half way mark for the first year class and 2/3 completed for the 2^nd year class.  Teaching two classes has been a lot for me.  I'm drained a lot of the time and have not been able to do some of the things I want to do, like have people over for dinner and also really work on learning Pidgin (well, speaking for the most part) before I'm back in the hospital for the clinical part of the semester.  Other things have gotten to me recently, like the power being out almost every night!  Clock reaches 7 pm, click, power goes off!  Then it can come back on for a few minutes, but watch out, it will go off again within 5-15 minutes, numerous times each night!  Our head of maintenance, Jordan, truly does a great job trying to keep the power going but it’s a never ending battle.   Lesson plans, lesson plans.  I try to get a weeks' worth of them done on my only full day of not teaching, Thursday, but it doesn't happen!!  Power outages (yup, even during the day!), students with questions and papers they want me to proof read, other teachers with projects needing help, etc. etc. 

This past week I got to a point I just gave up.  Some things just are not going to happen! 

Not all lessons for the coming week can be done the week before. 

Not all dishes can be done before 7 pm.

Not all laundry will dry before the rain comes again, no matter when you put it out. 

Not all dinner plans will succeed (or plans of any kind for that matter!) 

Not all attempts to exercise every day will work out. 

Not all attempts to drive stick shift will go well. 

Not all cockroaches, ants or spiders will be killed. 

But then I came to Isaiah 40 in my bible study.

"Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (Isaiah 40:27-29 NIV)

Yes, sometimes I have felt like Jacob recently, or like those Israelites.  I catch myself struggling and complaining and I don't want to be like that.  I know God hasn't forgotten me or my cause.  I see him at work here too much.  In the smile of my neighbor kids, in the voices of my students during praise time prior to class, in all the beauty around me in nature.  In the lives he is changing in the Hydro Electric workers who have recently experienced a great revival and times of discipleship and many other miracles that occur at the hospital and all over.  I remember my strength is not my own.  He is allowing me to do all these things and he also allows the struggles.  They do tend to help me keep my eyes on Him. 

All lessons for the week got done, and we had some great classes this week.  The students are understanding and most are applying the lessons very well.  And He will continue to help the rest. 

All dishes are washed at this moment and I even got some baking done this week.  I was able to take banana bread over to two of my coworkers on Tuesday.  One was to Grace, who has had sick family members.  The other went to Serah, who along with her sister has helped clean out my garden and get it ready for planting. 

All laundry will dry eventually and two loads got an extra rinse of rain water.  I also have some space in the spare room to hang things to dry and it works well. 

All things in His time.  I still haven't had some people over for dinner who I would like to, but I did have many good meals this week (some prepared by friends!) and I still have leftovers. 

All times with God were a success, His presence is real.  And I exercised three days this week, got in 3 plus miles and 10 trips up and down Hydro Hill despite, rain, mud, back aches and plantar fasciitis acting up again.   The other days I got some much needed sleep and also finished lesson plans just in time because the power was on!  And I took a Sabbath day of rest, even if it wasn't Sunday. 

All attempts to drive stick shift resulted in NO injuries and lots of laughs (once I got over being upset at myself).  I successfully (if your definition of success is no injuries and no accidents) drove to Banz for a shopping trip with the ladies and some teens and got some great second hand bargains.  

All bugs are not in my food (at the moment) and many throughout the house were killed, hopefully before they reproduced! 

And then there were some other highlights this week.  Many students are coming to me with questions on assignments and other things in life and I truly do enjoy those interruptions.   Prayers to be able to relate to them more are being answered.  Some of the girls came over to help me harvest my banana tree and they thoroughly enjoyed teaching me what to do!  Demonstration time in OB class caused so many laughs the other two classes of students wanted to know what we were doing.  I would have a hard time explaining all the humor here! 

All in All, I truly had a good week and a good time these last six weeks of class.  I know to never give up, because my strength is in Him.  The Matt Redman song, "10,000 Reasons" has been in my head, and then we sang it at English Lotu (Service) a little while ago.  (I wrote most of this blog prior to going to the service.)  One part struck me especially while we were singing it this afternoon. 

        The sun comes up, its a new day dawning

                It's time to sing Your song again

  Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me

        Let me be singing when the evening comes 

That whole singing when the evening comes part had been an issue.  As much as I can start my day off well in His Presence, I still don't really want to sing when the power goes out each night and evening plans get changed, or reduced to whatever can be done after all the other little hiccups throughout the day.    But that's beside the point!  The next lines are the chorus,

      Bless the Lord, O my soul

                 O my soul

        Worship His holy name

       Sing like never before

                 O my soul

   I'll worship Your holy name

 

And that I plan to do, no giving up on that one.  

 

Please keep all of us at Kudjip, especially the students and the hospital in your prayers. 

 

 

New Students, Old Books, Many Blessings.

Second week of classes completed.  Obstetrics is going well with the 2nd years, lots of fun questions!  My Communication and Introduction to Technology class with the 35 new 1st years is also going pretty well, lots of unforgettable moments already and I am learning lots of new names.  The second day of class I took them to the computer lab, 33 students present, 35 computers, but only 11 worked!!!  (Hopefully they will be fixed soon!  Prayers please!!)

Third day of class, while giving a lecture on study habits and distractions you can control and those you can't, a tree was being cut down just outside the classroom.  When it fell it scrapped the roof of the classroom and looked like it was going to come right though the window.  No one was hurt, the gutter can be fixed, and nothing more damaging can happen now that the rotten tree is down.  The tree and the chainsaw used to cut it down worked right into my lesson on distractions and those students will never forget our distractions that day! 

So, today was class 4 with the first years.  Basically, the class I'm teaching should be called "How to do well in College."  My lectures were on note taking and exam preparation.  Then we went to the Library again.  We had also been there on the second day of class.  I am overwhelmed by how overwhelmed they are with the Library; how much they love it and want to be in there and use the books.  Now, I love libraries too, but this one is quite small, a little dusty, hot, and has very old books, basically only a few newer than 2005. 

When I had given the students a tour of it last week, I stated that we are working on getting newer books and explained the situation.  They barely listened.  They wanted to read the ones in front of them!  Good lesson for me to appreciate what is right in front of me.  And I do, I am so thankful to be teaching students that have a hunger for knowledge!  Its such a wonderful blessing, and I love every moment of it.  And I'm starting to appreciate those old books too.  (But I can't wait till the new books get here!  Many of the Nazarene University Nursing departments in the U.S. are working on sending us used books and I am also working on purchasing new books as well with some funds designated for this project, but it is a long process.  Pray for this too!) 

Here are some pictures of the new first year students enjoying their "new" books! 

Lena, the Librarian, is helping Rose find information in a book and Naomi is smiling for the camera. 

 

 

The girls found the Obstetric books, they know how to make me proud already! 

Lucy at the magazine shelves. 

Isaac and Robert

Judith and Catherine, great smiles, hopefully good books! 

The Right Foundation

The Right Foundation

 

 So, I'm back in PNG for a second year!  And while it's been a long time since I blogged, I hope most of you have gotten my update letters over the past year.   I've been back for just over a week and it's been a busy one.  I am teaching different classes- Communication and Information Technology, along with co-teaching Obstetrics.  Should be interesting!  The other tutors felt that the English as a first language speaker should teach the communication class, so we will see how it goes.  Basically, I'll be teaching medical terminology, college paper writing in APA format and computer usage.  For the computer part it's how to use Word and PowerPoint.  (Glad that's about it, because I don't know much more than that!)  The whole task is to lay the right foundation for the 34 new first year students to succeed at college and in their nursing careers.  I also am co-teaching Obstetrics with Sr. Grace to the second year students.  She is still on Holiday, so I've had the intro and first lectures to prepare for both classes this week.  I ended up editing the whole curriculum for the communication class!  I see why they wanted the English speaker to teach it!  I had to correct the grammar in the instructions on how to have correct grammar.  I am not the greatest at this, but God is faithful and spell and grammar check are wonderful tools.   

 I also did my shopping trip to town for the month and I am getting back into the swing of my schedule here on station.  This task was a little harder this week because of the construction/redo project at my house.  The bathroom has a shower stall with a tile floor.  It was very pretty when I moved in last year, but the small tiles started coming up after the first week and by one month, I was using shower shoes all the time to avoid cutting my feet.  A work order was put in and the tile got replaced and the correct grout was used this time.  But because the shower isn't completely square the tiles that come attached on those mesh mats didn't work very well and the tile was once again laid out wrong.  It began to come up again a few months ago and also caused the bathroom to flood because it wouldn't drain properly.  Our national construction crew wants to do a good job, but doesn't yet have the experience and first-hand knowledge that would make this task easier to do.  My tile counter top in the kitchen has had similar issues, so the plan was to redo them both while I was away.  PNG time came into the mix and the project wasn't completed before I got back.   

The house that had had a good cleaning right before I left was covered in tile dust, basically everywhere but the bedrooms.   It had a kitchen counter that couldn't get wet, and a bathroom shower that couldn't be used for the same reason.  I am so thankful for a crew of three workers that came that first morning I was back at Kudjip to help clean up the house.  I had started unpacking things in the bedroom because I was too overwhelmed to know where else to start, and looked out the window and saw Tim, Karla and Judy Kay coming with cleaning supplies!!  (I don’t have a vacuum because I only have tile and few rugs I usually just shake out.)  We had the tile dust vacuumed up and things starting to get back in order in a short time.  But still no shower all week.  (I did shower this week, just not at my house!) 

The tile projects are now completed and look great and I got to use them both for the first time on Sunday.  This time the tile was laid by one of our resident handymen Missionaries, my friend Tim.  He supervised the crew that completed the work and did the shower tile himself.   To make the square tiles work in my non-square shower he added a border row of irregular river stones that he collected.   When Nolly, our national friend, saw the work he called the border a beautiful necklace!!  It really is quite fun that the tile has this special added touch.  It also was truly a blessing to stand on some rocks (and tile) that didn't shift and break under my feet.   (I had some hymns running through my mind after that experience; gotta love a good foundation!)  The proper supplies and equipment were used.  I am seeing that that really is the key.  I hope to be laying the same kind of foundation for my students this year.  I'm looking forward to both classes and can't wait to see where God leads.  I'm also enjoying my new kitchen countertops and having some fun cooking and baking again. 

I'm reading in Isaiah currently and this verse sums up my first week back- "He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure."  Isaiah 33:6   Here's to a new year unlocking this treasure and building on a sure foundation.

  The necklace boarder! 

 

The new counter tops!  Tile around the sink, and laminex on the island.   I now have a larger work surface, and can clean it so much easier! 

Just for fun, here is a pic of my updated bedroom.  I used some Christmas money to get the wall decals and duvet cover (love end of season Clearance!)

 

Power- Turn the light On!

Into month three in Papua New Guinea….I love this place and love the people.  Yes, some days are difficult (and what place isn't!) but overall, it is a joy to be here, to be serving God, teaching the students, getting to know new people, working on the language.

 On Wednesday, March 6^th the station was hit with strong winds and rains, and they called it a cyclone.  15-25 trees went down, and the most damage was on a home that Missionaries to Vanuatu were staying in.  It's completely a God thing that Jenny and Bennett, the wife and oldest of the three boys, escaped without harm.  Jenny had been preparing dinner in the kitchen in one side of the house when the storm suddenly blew in, but felt God telling her to go hide in the bathroom on the other side.  She and Bennett got into that room just prior to the huge tree landing on the kitchen side of the house.  The other God thing was that the house had just been remodeled, with a new support beam put up the center and new supports put into the bathroom as the others had started to rot.  The repairs done, helped to save their lives!  So, in the midst of the storm, God provided for them, and he continues to do the same for all of us.  This reminds me of the storm in Matthew 8.  Jesus could have prevented the storm, but He chose to use it to demonstrate His power!  He also could have prevented this storm, but instead He is using it to show how He is a God of protection, reliable in the midst of the storm and a provider of all that is truly needed. 

After the storm I was without power for over 2 days, andsome waited even longer.  Being without power is nothing new to Kudjip station.  Papua New Guinea has the most unreliable power supply of just about all the third world countries.  The station did have a hydro that was washed away about 7 years ago, and a new Hydro power plant is being worked on currently.  The project should be finished within the next year.  Power here goes out just about every day, some times for just a few minutes, sometimes for hours.  Sometimes it will go out numerous times in a span for an hour, really fun when you are trying to shower, wash clothes or do dishes, grade tests, or make copies on the copier!!!   In the week that followed the storm, the power was even more unreliable.  I got to the point where I just would expect it not to work, and planned accordingly for my classes, and all daily activities.  No power to make copies- no problem! Just write out the quiz on butcher block paper, have the students copy the questions and answers onto their notebook paper!  (Only problem was this takes three times longer to do!, so much less time to lecture on the next topic!)  But then a funny thing happens, the power does come back on.  But you are so use to making do without it, that you forget to use it!  You start to light a candle, or use a flashlight to read at night, instead of turning on the overhead light.  You use alcohol gel to clean your hands, when the bathroom sink actually does work!  You decide to go for a walk instead of a run, so you won't need to shower as bad!  You have dinner at 5:00 when you are not really hungry so you don't have to cook/eat in the dark!  Doing all these things was not too much of an issue, life was ok, we made it work.  But when the power is on, it seems really silly to do some of them!

 This got me to thinking about God, and His power.  It is readily available to all of us, all the time. Sometimes we choose not to use it though.   We don’t ask for His help, or we don’t believe totally in His word.  He is right there, just like that light switch, ready to be our ever present help in time of need.  How often do we not let Him turn the power on?  How often do we sit there in the dark of our lives, making do, telling ourselves, "This isn't so bad, I can handle this", when He is right there, ready and waiting for us to turn to Him and His power.    I was very thankful for that reminder this month.  I have a tendency to be very self-sufficient, which is a good thing (at times!)  It also can get in the way of God really using you, or you limiting God.  I have relied on God even more in this past month than I have had to previously, because the nature of things required it.  He would reveal a new area of my life, or a new place for growth, and I just have to give it to Him.  When He shows you a new "light switch" in your life, let Him turn the power on!  Or if you have never experienced His power, the power of belief in Him, the power of forgiveness, don't sit there in the dark any longer.  Life in the light is so much better! 

So my main lesson this month is to be ever thankful for God's power, to never forget that He is right there, at work.  Sometimes His power is visible, sometimes it is not, but unlike the power in PNG, it has never, and will never fail me or you!