Miracle Babies of Mexico City

Our new granddaughter is so sweet and adorable. S. and I so enjoyed the week that we were able to visit her at our son and daughter-in-law's home. Newborn babies seem so helpless and fragile but in some respects they are more resilient than adults. I was relating to my daughter-in-law the story about the newborn babies that survived the collapse of the hospitals where they were born after a devastating earthquake struck Mexico City in 1985. Some had no food or water for up to nine days when they were found by the rescuers. I guess that proportionally newborns have more water in their bodies than adults so they can live longer without food or water. From the Wikipedia article:

Heavy machinery was unable to get to the site until 5 days after the earthquake. Numbers of dead did not include unidentified body parts found. Most of the injured had contusion injuries and many suffered from dehydration, with the severity of the dehydration increasing with those rescued later.^[19]
However, the most memorable story to come from this event was the rescue of nearly all the newborn babies that were in the nursery at the time. These babies were pulled out of the wreckage mostly unscathed but lost their mothers.^[20] These babies were found seven days after the initial event and came to be known as the “Miracle Babies” or the “Miracle of Hospital Juárez.”^[18] The reason for this was that these babies survived without nourishment, water, warmth or human contact for all that time.^[18]

 

I went looking for the story about these newborn survivors to refresh my memory and will try to link to some articles below. I also found information about newborns surviving and being rescued days after the earthquakes in Haiti and Japan. It is amazing that God has given them this remarkable ability to survive in the most extreme conditions.

The Mexican people called them “miracle babies” and wanted to celebrate their survival every year on the anniversary of the quake but they stopped after the children were two because it just made the families remember over and over the great loss of life. Over ten thousand people died in the quake because so many buildings collapsed.

Most of the babies were raised by aunts, uncles and grandparents as their parents had perished in the quake, the mothers in the same hospitals as the children along with the medical staff. Some of the children have done very well, it has been over 25 years ago now and some have had life-long struggles. The length of time before rescue did not correlate with who did best, it was the emotional factors and other circumstances that seemed to matter more.

Here are links to a couple articles.http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/mexico/100201/miracle-babies-1985-earthquake

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/21/world/mexico-quake-victims-try-to-forget.html

Just click mouse on the links above to go there and read the articles.

May our little C. live long and be blessed (I think she already is with the parents she has) and be a blessing in this life to many. Our prayers will be with her and her parents as she grows.

Lou

The Thing Now Has Warp Drive

Do you remember the old Star Trek movies where when the star ship needed to get away quickly from some threat like an exploding star or something, they could go into warp drive and travel faster than the speed of light and all the images out the bridge windows were of streaks of light? Well, I turned on the old vacuum today and it streaked across the rug like that. I seem to vaguely remember S. saying something about having belts replaced at the Oreck dealer. The dealer is one of the businesses that S. sells cable advertising to. Holy Cow the thing is fast now!

I can’t remember it ever acting like this even when it was new maybe fifteen years? ago. I have to catch it just to tap the off control with my toe. Good thing it has bumpers on the front as it is bashing into everything. Poor Penelope she has always mistrusted the thing even before it started to act crazy.

There is a faint rubber smell too. I think I’d better finish fast before the thing blows up! 

Lou

Flowers For The Birthday Girls

My very first grandchild was born today April 28, 2011 at 9:36 A.M.  She weighs 7lbs. and 14 oz and is 20 inches long. She has a little bit of brown hair and is “just perfect” according to my son. Her name is Caroline Faith VC and can be called Callie. Her mom coincidentally has a very good friend named Callie. We are thrilled and cannot wait to go to Kansas to meet her in person although we will have a Skype date later today. We are blessed on this beautiful spring day. The tulips just opened up for the first time today.

Birthday girl number two is my dear sister in law Jill married to my only brother.  I didn’t realize today was her birthday as well until I called to give my parents the good news about baby Caroline. It is good to have other people you love to share a birthday with.

Birthday girl number three is Dayana in Guatemala. We started sponsoring her last fall when we learned our grandchild was to be born in late April. I chose Dayana because her birthday was April 28^th but didn’t really think our granddaughter would actually be born that day. Dayana is eight years old today and is a Compassion ministry child. She lives in a very impoverished area but gets extra help with food and clothing through the local ministry team and also receives Bible teaching. I had to send her birthday card out (in Spanish) weeks ago.

What a happy day for us. I love all the birthday girls.

Lou       

Rain

Today we are receiving the first real rain of the spring season in our town on the high plains at 6,000 feet.  Not an icy rain turning into snow and accumulating on the grass, but real rain, pure rain and it is lovely, plus S. fertilized the yard over the weekend so the timing is perfect.  People in dry lands and producers who rely on it to nourish their crops love the rain. Of course there are those who bemoan the rain and see it as sadness with the gray skies and all. There is another way to perceive it as a metaphor for God’s grace ever flowing into our lives waiting for us to receive the blessing and in turn giving the blessing on to others.

In my preparation for Easter I have been reading a new book “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp. She is a blogger whose site I like but while I have been on my blog reading holiday I have not gone there lately. I am reading her book though that gives the background for her spiritual healing. She tells of the process that lead her from a life of fear and ingratitude even as a Christ follower to a life of gratitude and grace through choosing to see God in all the little things that  bless her life. She literally set out to make a list of one thousand gifts.

Ann’s childhood and her family life is forever changed due to a tragedy that unfolds before her four year old eyes. It lead to a troubled childhood and to cutting herself as a teenager and to panic attacks.  The lingering affects continue to steal her happiness as a happily married adult with six young children of her own. Her account is well written and personal but also triumphant.

I read chapter 10 today “empty to fill” here is an excerpt from page 184.

     "I turn my hand over, spread my fingers open. I receive grace. And through me, grace is meant to fall, a rain …again, again, again. I could share the grace, multiply the joy, extend the table of the feast, enlarge the paradise of His presence. I am blessed. I can bless. A life contemplating the blessings of Christ becomes a life acting the love of Christ

     I listen to wind in the corn, rain on the pane, and I find my place. All the lost pieces are finding their place.”

Later on pages 196-197 She quotes from Isaiah 58:10-11

Feed the hungry,

     And help those in trouble.

Then your light will shine out from the darkness,

     And the darkness around you will be bright as noon.

The Lord will guide you continually,

     Giving you water when you are dry

     And restoring your strength.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

     Like an ever-flowing spring.

Quoting Ann again. “It’s the fundamental, lavish, radical nature of the upside-down economy of God.

Empty to fill.”

I think that message fits in well with the message of Easter.

Happy Easter to my family and friends.

Lou

Admiration from two aisles back

I first noticed the man with the two children when we went through the security check and was glad I didn’t have to manage getting my shoes off while pushing a stroller and handling two kids. I noticed him again while we were in the boarding area for our flight from Wichita to Denver.  He held the (I’m guessing four month old baby) in his arms as he stood by the stroller and his little girl (I’m guessing about three or four) played nearby.  The little girl made the baby laugh and squeal each time she ran by and touched the baby on the foot.

Soon the waiting passengers dispersed from the boarding area as an airline representative announced a delay for maintenance on the plane. The dad (no mom around) put the baby in the stroller and went to a seating area behind us. I saw the little girl continue to play around and she was deep into imaginative play. She had no toys that I could see but she had some kind of game going on and she talked to herself and danced about and sang. After awhile her dad let her go try the hand sanitizer dispenser on the wall. The first time she missed catching the stuff and it fell to the floor. The next time she caught it and her dad praised her. I never saw her fuss or whine. She was quite active though and her dad let her run from one spot to another and back. The baby fell asleep in the stroller.

After about an hour we were allowed to board the plane for the flight to Denver. The pilot said due to the snow and low visibility in the Denver area he was not allowed to shave any time off the route and it would take the full time of an hour and fifteen minutes or so.I have heard so many horror stories from mom’s of their flights with children that I wondered how this family would do.I was sitting on the aisle about two rows back from the man with the two children traveling alone. I still wonder why he was traveling alone, I’ll never know.

He held the baby the whole flight and his little girl had the window seat so I couldn’t see or hear her really.  I could see the baby’s legs kicking and heard a little fussing once and saw the dad bouncing the baby but then things seemed to settle down, maybe he gave a bottle. Soon the little legs were still, and dad seemed to be interacting with the older child. He did not take any beverage when it was offered nor the chocolate chip cookie later.

Another younger infant further up front cried quite a bit on the flight and could not be comforted.  I never saw the man two aisles up lose his cool or even raise his voice with the children. He seemed completely in control juggling those two kids even dealing with the unexpected delay without a meltdown. What a marvel!

The only time he needed extra hands was as we disembarked and he retrieved the stroller and was trying to unfold it in the jetbridge area and struggled as he was still holding the baby.  Another man stopped to help him, I thought that was great too.  The little girl wanted to run ahead up the long ramp after being cooped up and she got ahead of her dad. Erin and I were just ahead of her and told her to wait for her dad and she did. I wish I had stopped to tell him what a wonderful job he did with the children.

All this to say I greatly admired this dad and pray that my son and son-in-law will be equally confident and capable with their children after a little practice of course.

Lou

Bathroom Remodel

S. did the final paint touch ups over the weekend so it is now complete. Penelope will miss Howard the contractor as he brought her treats every day. It is still a tiny master bath but now all new and fresh with a heated floor.

The before photos show the old vinyl floor and the ugly base cabinet with the banjo countertop over the toilet. The old brass shower door was a hard to clean slider and the old shower base was white vinyl and equally hard to clean. The old shower tiles were small and had no pattern. 

The after photos show the new tile floor and base cabinet with a centered sink incorporated into the countertop. The shower door is clear glass and opens in or out and a new ONYX brand shower base that matches the tile color. The new shower tiles are larger and look like stone and have a diamond pattern.

We love it.

Now on to getting new carpet upstairs to replace the rippling old carpet. I guess the backing has stretched out over time as there are now ripples in every room big enough to trip over.

Lou

Blog Reading Holiday

It’s killing me but I have put myself (after promptings from the Holy Spirit I think) on a blog reading holiday for Lent. Protestants do not really observe Lent as the Catholics do by abstaining from meat or giving up bad habits, but this year it seemed appropriate for me to rein in my blog reading. I guess I am just an information addict at heart.

I remember when CNN was a new thing on TV providing 24 hour news coverage. I quickly became hooked on watching the continual news flowing in from all over. The latest live courtroom or a live report from a war zone. Strangely though I’ve never been addicted to any particular TV show. As the CNN system was bought out by other interests and changed over time into more and more political commentary and celebrity gossip I lost interest. Fast forward to today. Today my appetite for information is fed by a variety of websites and blogs. When I last counted I had 43 that were bookmarked on the left sidebar of my computer (note the before and after on the photos.) I used to check in on them daily or even multiple times a day reading the new postings and the comment sections. The internet still amazes me, that all this information is at our fingertips. Science news especially hooks me in.

It starts with one or two interesting sites that in turn link to other sites that are equally interesting and the bookmarked lists grows and grows. The internet is endless and if one has very little self-discipline (and the weather is cold and snowy) it can suck you in and consume all your time. I guess young people are finding this out about social networking. When it starts to take you away from things you know you should be doing then it is turning into a vice. The old adage “everything in moderation” comes to mind but why is it so hard to determine what moderation looks like? How much blog reading is just staying informed? How much blog reading is just feeding a bad habit?

Going on a blog reading holiday (it’s been a week now) has its benefits. I’ve re-discovered books and I am also getting to the things on my to do list and crossing them off much faster. I am not currently reading any of my favorite websites and blogs and am reading only the news that comes in on my home page. A few minutes and I’m done.

The one blog I do allow myself to still read is my daughter-in-law’s blog about the pregnancy of course. I also check in on Facebook. Since E#2 is doing her semester abroad and doesn’t have a phone we rely on e-mail and Facebook to keep track of her so I can’t give that up.

When Lent is over I will re-evaluate and decide how to pare down my bookmarked list and become a much more moderate blog reader I hope. Besides, the weather is improving and the outdoors is beckoning for gardening and walking.

Lou

PS This blog is not required reading for anyone either. Ha.