Neosporin!

According to my Mama, Neosporin fixes everything!

Me: "Mommmmm! I burned myself in the kitchen!"

Mom: Put some Neosporin on it!

(actually she might just laugh out loud ... my chances of getting burned in the kitchen are pretty low, unless something is just really hot when I pull it out of the microwave!)

Me: "Mommmm! Carrie knocked me off the bed and I have rug burn!"

Mom: Put some Neosporin on it!

(or her more typical response, Carrie would never do anything like that!)

Me: "Mommmm! I fell up the stairs again!"

Mom: Good job Grace Ann! There's some Neosporin in the bathroom!

Me: "Mommmm! Dad sliced is finger off!"

Mom: Find the Neosporin!

(all these are pretty much actual and fairly recent true stories!)

And my most favorite is when I have a visible mark on my face or hand and my sister whips Neosporin out of her purse and lathers me in it without my request! (she's her mother's daughter for sure!)

Even though it doesn't cure all, it's good stuff! Hopefully if you ask my home church they'll be able to tell you about a message about Neosporin that I spoke to them a couple years ago! See, Neosporin has some dang good marketing... You've seen their commercials, a band aid armed w Neosporin goes on the kid's scrape and then when they pull it off... GASP! it's gone!!!

Even their slogan: Neosporin: A Higher Level of Healing! Every cut! Every time!

And they own the 3 C's of proper wound care: Clean it! Coat it! Cover it!

Well, all that to say... we came armed with Neosporin to Haiti... and have been covering this lil guy in it everyday! (Ideally that pic at the top would be right here, but well, this is why I don't blog often because I just don't know how to do certain things!)

His name is Rivaldo! He's adorable! He was in a motorcycle accident (whole families ride motorcycles together here!) I believe in one week I have now seen 3 motorcycle accidents with my own eyes!

Please believe we didn't just depend on Neosporin's higher level of healing, but are confident in THE HIGHEST level of healing! By His stripes!

Who called for the ambulance?! HE did!

Looks like any old ambulance you may pull over for in the US right? Well, that it IS! Months before the earthquake this was shipped over and NEVER used. It's too big to go down the small streets. It was an eyesore & scheduled to be shipped back when the earthquake occurred. 1,ooo's of transports later... this ambulance is now known throughout Haiti and will NOT be shipped back to the US anytime soon! Just one of the many miracle stories... did you know our convoy of hope warehouse had just been filled with meals days before the quake? did you know the US army had come to Mission of Hope our partners in Haiti and said you can have these two huge army bunkers if you'll take all the medical supplies in them just weeks before the quake? Thousands of patients were cared for there. There was an entire ward of amputees! There is a guy named Nyoke from Korea who is a doctor who does prosthetics and is living at mission of hope with us still fitting amputees with new limbs! Oh... and upon his arrival to Haiti to help, he didn't know Jesus... he does now!!!!

Poor St. Peter!

I've been meaning to write this specific blog post for sometime. It seems I can't escape it. I've seen it with my own eyes first in India, then in Unionville, TN, every month at my nail salon in Springfield, MO, and at San Pedro Hospital in the Philippines.

You see, this spring in the Philippines, in typical Mary Beth fashion I got sick, and if I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it BIG so double pneumonia in Davao City, Philippines it was. The double pneumonia has come and gone and the Philippine health care system was surprisingly just fine, but I can't forget this; the statue to the left of these words.

This statue of St. Peter & his rooster stand tall in the

lobby of San Pedro hospital. I'm sure poor St. Peter enjoys

not being able to get rid of that stinking rooster! I mean we

all like to be known by our biggest failure don't we!? I'm not

offended by the statue. We owe a lot to St. Peter as Christians!

Here's the deal. In India, I watched a father pick up a baby who was literally just skin & bones,

worse than any child I've ever seen on any infomercial or in any other nation. He picked up this

baby, it's eyes were empty and bore into mine as he walked in front of me. I saw that he had coins

in his hand, I thought, good! he must be going to get something for the baby to eat. We

followed him and I watched him throw the coins into a cage holding a tree & kneel and ask the tree

for blessing. Horrified I watched him return with the baby to the street. A father looking for hope.

I worked with families in Unionville, TN for a short time, one day a child had several viles. I asked her

about them and she said they were part of her religion. Curiously I asked further. These viles were

part of a wiccan ceremony ritual. Her family needed money and happiness she said so tonight they

were going to have a prayer meeting. A child looking for hope.

Every month I'm in country, I go to a cheap nail salon on Glenstone. That and McDonald's cokes

are my treats! I am greeted by a dusty plastic Buddah idol. It's no wonder Buddah is fat, every time I

see him he has donuts, some sort of meat, or other food offering in front of him. He never seems

to eat very much of it though. The same person who puts those out in the morning has to throw

them away at night. It makes me sad, and not just the wasted donuts! A people looking for hope.

And now this leads me to San Pedro Hospital in Davao City! Short of breath I leaned against St. Peter

one day while visiting my pneumonia doc! Although the lobby is quite large I noticed everyone who

came through the doors insisted on getting really close to me. Don't they know we Americans have

space issues? Later I saw that they were all coming in to touch St. Peter, poor guy, his paint was

tarnished because of the excessive touching. I wanted to tell them that I got up close and personal

with St. Peter each visit & he didn't seem to be helping my double pneumonia. A people looking for

healing!

My mind wanders back to the temple in scripture where they found all the idols and the altar to

the unknown god. People have been looking for hope in all the wrong places for some time it

seems. Please take THE HOPE to as many people as you can, you may think they don't want to

hear about Jesus, but they're throwing coins at trees for blessings, trying to find happiness in viles &

wiccan rituals, feeding plastic idols, & rubbing the paint off poor st. peter for healing! It's no

time to be quiet & tolerant, it's time to give people the hope they're looking for!

Better @ Blogging: Branson

I figure I have to start somewhere.... my life (@least when the interns are in town) is definitely worth blogging about so here I go again! Girls what's my weakness?! Dang it! I'm sure I have ADD sometimes! Of all the bloggable places I visit I'm going to start with BRANSON!

We DID tour The Titanic Exhibit there, which was totally cool & I encourage you to go check it out BUT unlike The Pepper Palace they did NOT allow photos so, here's your HOT sauce blog!

"See Jane on Fire! See Dick Burn! & See Spot in Heat!"

And this is the set I PURCHASED! I figure I'll serve it on my next date! I mean a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

And even the folks in Branson have good taste in college football! Go Vols!!

But they DO NOT have good taste in snacks... Bacon and Cheddar Crickets?!? I guess that's better than just the plain ones?!

And last, but not least here's a preview of some Hot n Saucy attire you can purchase @ The Pepper Palace.

PETA: this one reminds me of my dear sister, Carrie. (And not because she'd wear it, because she wouldn't be caught dead in an oversized t-shirt!) But, one day the news was showing a PETA protest,

to which my sister rolled her eyes. (No one in my allergy ridden household is much of an animal lover of any kind!) But I questioningly asked my hippie sister, "Oh you're NOT a member?!" And her reply well, it was very, Carrie!! " "NO! If I had money, I'd wear a real fur everyday!"

And last, but not least, there's THIS t-shirt!

As I get better at blogging I am sure that this will be a re-occurring theme, but I HATE cats! Before I can seriously date a man I must ask him, "Do you like cats?" If his answer is yes, he is NOT God's will for my life... or a man for that matter. I once asked a prospect, "Do you like cats?" To which he replied, "Sure! I love Chinese food." I thought for sure we'd get married. Sigh! Still Single.

My First Mission's Trip

Backstory: When I finally submitted to the call of God to full time ministry, I reluctantly said, "okay," but there was one stipulation I gave Him, "I'll do anything but be a missionary!" (there were 101 reasons for this addendum, but that's another post entirely!)

6 months later, Christmas break of my freshman year of college, I found myself in Quito, Ecuador. The sights, smells, and sounds were overwhelming, beautiful in retrospect. I chose a ministry option away from the "dirty" people. (Is there a real ministry option away from dirty people?) The least amount of interaction the better, if I had my way I'd come out of this place untouched and therefore un-diseased!

We performed songs and skits in the middle of a busy plaza each day. The only reoccurring audience members were the vendors and their children. One such child was a bit unruly. Angelica, was 5 years old, her older sister would scold her and try to corral her, but nothing could keep little Angelica away from the gringos! It became my job to make sure she was at least somewhat quiet during the prayer times. Each day, we would play behind the stage. In the evenings we were doing services with a local church, we invited Angelica & her older sister, who was maybe 8? They didn't come.

The next day at the plaza, Angelica stayed close by her mother's stand and the older sister sat silently beside her mother with an arm wrapped in a homemade sling.

Around lunch time I began to miss my little side kick, so we approached the stand. Their mother did not acknowledge us, the sister kept her head down, & Angelica clung to my leg playfully as I approached. Realizing something was not right I had the missionary speak with the woman.

As it turned out, the children had tried to come to the service the night before, their father a drunk and not a believer, had physically stopped them, hence the sling.

At 18 years old, I was furious, confused, outraged that this could happen. (Imagine a mad chihuahua held on a leash!) For some reason that's the image that comes to my mind when I think of this day! In my young mind the solution was simple, we take the girls! ha! It's not even THAT simple in the USofA, it definitely wasn't in Quito, Ecuador 15 years ago! Sigh.

The next day was our last. My side kick had rejoined me and I was keeping her quiet for the last time, although on this day she was already quiet and sitting STILL in my lap, my mind was far off and it took me a minute to notice this change. When I looked down into the biggest, most beautiful brown eyes I've ever seen and saw tears dripping from them, I went into panic mode. I thought for sure I was sitting on her little leg or something or that she was hurt in some way! When I asked her in my very poquito spanish... "What's wrong? What's the matter? Are you okay!?"

Her reply: "I want Jesus in my heart like you!" In that moment, MY life changed! Angelica's life with Jesus began and I'd venture to say mine did too!

My Thoughts while Unloading a SEMI by hand....

They did not teach me this in Bible college, but they tell me it's ministry?

Didn't I get my masters to avoid this?

Why on earth did they not use pallets? Who on earth packed this like this?

Always, take the box labeled toilet paper, avoid the ones marked canned goods.

If you're going to drop and break something, let it be something other than balsamic vinagerette dressing... it stinks as it bakes in the hot, humid, semi trailer.

I'm all for miracles Lord, and sure it was cool when you multiplied the little boy's lunch and fed the 5,000, but it was so NOT cool when we could never find the back of the semi today... I am confident that you multiplied those donations and I thank You, but next time could you do it once they are stored in the warehouse?

I'm sure that guy did NOT mean to drop that extra large can of lysol off the truck and onto my toe... I co-currently apologize for any new words the church groups working with us may have learned as a result of this event.

Cases of Pedia-lite are NOT lite at all!

Why did people donate so many snuggies? it's 110 degrees outside, these people lost everything including their couches and tv sets... I'm just not sure how a snuggie is going to be helpful, but what do I know, plus why am I complaining I know I by passed 6 cases of water to grab the snuggie boxes, light as a feather!

I really should get my fork lift certification so I can drive around in one of those all day like Ryan and not have to do all this heavy lifting, but then again I'd probably run into a lot of stuff .... like Ryan.

boxes marked "toilet trees" go on the hygiene pallets. Boxes marked "juce" go with the drinks.

why is no one taking pictures of me carrying this really heavy box?! But when I was standing around at the registration table the TPE guy sure wanted to shoot fotos of me then, just hanging out, there wasn't even sweat on my shirt yet and my mascara was still on my eye lashes, c'mon, where's the paparazzi when I'm actually doing something?

Disclaimer: The above entry does not represent the thoughts, beliefs, or values of Convoy of Hope. It does however, give you a glimpse into the depths of my mind. Your choices are to: Pray for Joplin. Give money to help Joplin. Or meet me at the semi!

My First Day at the Convoy of Hope Office

I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of the idea of "going into the office." I mean my days of sitting behind a desk and listening to people's problems are over, no?

I pulled into the parking lot and saw the fleet of 18 wheelers ... and I was proud. I work here!

It's the first full week of the year and it's spiritual emphasis week, therefore we had a morning chapel / prayer service. The offices emptied and met in the "training room" where we discussed something you wouldn't normally discuss in the corporate world, "staying in the vine." I'll post my notes, it's good stuff! We were then asked to get into our teams and pray for a few moments for the upcoming year so... we did!

After chapel, Matt took me around and introduced me to everyone in the building, some people weren't at their desks because they were in meetings in Washington DC about how to better serve our nation. Then there was the office where someone was speaking Spanish to our partners in Latin America about our feeding programs there. In the donor area they were on the phone with Coca Cola, who is evidently a HUGE donor for Convoy! How cool is that? My high school BFF works for Coca Cola, it's my favorite drink, and they're making the world a better place (as well as a bigger place, but ....) Then we didn't disturb the two ladies in one office who were joined together in prayer. When we got to the disaster relief area they were sitting in front of a couple of big screens of the world with all the current disasters marked watching them closely to see if response is needed on our part, the weather channel was playing in the background as well. On the way to our offices we dodged the fork lift drivers in the warehouse moving product to load trucks!

A pretty cool first day indeed!