The new loves of my life...

"O Jesus, I promise You to submit myself to all that You permit to happen to me, make me only know Your Will."
-St. Gianna Beretta Molla-

Peace, peace of Christ to one and all in this Lenten season...

How I hope each of you is very well and blessed, in the midst of whichever mission you may be. As far as the mission of this little soul in Ecuador, I must say that life is beautiful.

Maribeth and I journeyed to Quito last week to welcome our new nurse and fellow Franciscan alumna, Sara Ogrodnick. To be back in my old stomping grounds of Quito is always great...I think I was born to live in the mountains! It was great to be with Sara and our Quito host family again, and hopefully, we successfully oriented dear Sara to life in Quito, where she will be in Spanish classes for the next few weeks.

We were also going to take our second planning trip for Franciscan University´s medical mission to the Amazon region of Ecuador, but as things often work out in Ecuador, it ended up that our priest friends there who we need to finish up the plans were in another province for an eight-day retreat. Sometimes you just need to laugh. Ha.

Oh, but all this typing without yet telling of my new loves. We returned to the Santuario, our home away from home, on Saturday morning, and basically headed directly to one of the family houses to be the mothers of the house while the missionary mom needed to be away for a few days. Wow. To be a mother at all I am sure is an immense experience, but to all of a sudden be a mother to thirteen children was indeed an adventure! More than the love and patience needed to be a mum to these very special children, I was impacted by the minimal resources that the houses run on. There is always food, but not always the best food that little children need. There are clothes, but keeping enough clean by hand-washing and hanging on the line in the rainy season while new not-toilet-trained toddlers have arrived is another story. Buying diapers, water, very simple things often is a stretch. This foundation and their mission is so special. We must find a way to back it the best places for these beautiful children.

And my loves. Well, we arrived back to the Santuario to the news that three new children had arrived: four-year-old Steven and his two-year-old twin sisters, Sarita and Ximena. I have yet to learn their complete story -- we may never know all the details -- but their family lives in the streets, searching through garbages for the necessities of life. Steven is four, but he only speaks a few words. He arrived very ill. The beautiful news is that an amazing and loving family has already taken Steven into their home with arms wide open. His little sisters...oh, my. How I wish I could offer them a home! The first day we spent at their house, they were crying off and on all day; I did not see a single smile. The next day, by afternoon, they were dancing with us and playing tag, with smiles that consumed their entire little faces and laughter that could lift the saddest of spirits...being the precious little girls that they were born to be. Sarita and Ximena. They soon will be leaving to stay with a foster family, but these precious babies will be so very special to me always, always. If I had the means, I would keep them forever. Alas.

And so my life continues in this little corner of the world. The missionaries have a week of vacations soon, so Maribeth and I will return to the maternal life, caring for the eight children who will not be living with families for vacation time. Lots of prayers to St. Gianna for us please!

I love you all. I have finalized my plans for a trip home from March 28th-April 14th, first in Minnesota than a few days in Steubenville. Hope to see many of you!

Peace and blessings,
m

PS: Poll of the week...should I go to medical school? :)

The harvest is abundant...

¨After this the Lord appointed seventy others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.' If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.' ¨

-Luke 10:1-9

My dear ones...

Peace of Christ to each of you in abundance. I pray that all is well and blessed for each of you...and I congratulate my Minnesotan counterparts in successfully coming out of the deep freeze! ;) Believe or not, although the oceanside in this sunny weather is marvelous, I do miss the Minnesota winter. I am a crazy girl.

Well, I write with a week delay because there has been much excitement on my side of the equator lately. First of all, many goodbyes with the majority of the children leaving for a month or so of vacations, and second of all, my sister and mum came to visit! It was lovely to share my little Ecuadorian life with them, and they are great travel pals. We hugged children, visited the beautiful city of Cuenca in the Sierra, and spent some time of the beach...it was great. I hope to have pictures up of their time here soon. It was such a gift just to see them after four months of being here but also a great joy to share firsthand with them just exactly what their Mariya is doing down here. :)

With the absence of most the children, my work at the base has drastically slowed down. I am taking a few days to recollect, perhaps have a little self-retreat, and make a plan for this month. I plan to travel to the areas where this foundation has mini-extensions of their work (for example, locations where two or three missionaries live working in parishes in outlying communities). Also, we will be returning to the Amazon to complete the planning for Franciscan University´s medical mission in March. Soon, on February 7th, we will celebrate the arrival of Miss Sara Ogrodnick to our growing gringo population. Much to look forward to in the days to come.

I promise some better stories of the children here in the posts to come...I think the Ecuadorian sun is getting to my storytelling abilities today! :)

Much love and blessings,
m

Anti-lice campaign! And more! :)

"His love is brought to perfection in us..."
1 John 4:12

Hello dear ones, from afar...

Peace of Christ to all. All is well. I might as well begin by saying that if any of you have heard the news about the volcanic activity in Ecuador, we are not affected by it. A difficult situation for the people there, but to calm any concerns, I am nowhere near it. No worries, Mum and Dad.

Besides the excitement of volcanos, life is so beautiful here. The last few weeks, other than the day-to-day tending to the sick ones, I have been working on the paper work for the Ecuadorian National Institute for Children and Family who we collaborate with in caring for the children of our foundation. As tedious as re-examining each child's file can be, it is great to see that the children have been well-attended and are growing as children should. In other medical news, we have been waging a war on head lice the past few days. Apart from our boys' and girls' homes at the main base, we have 30 children who live together with their siblings and misionera mothers in a cluster of homes in a local pueblo. With head lice abounding, we did a full treatment on all the children plus misioneras...shampoo, laundered bed clothes, you name it. What excitement!

The elementary and high school are wrapping up their classes for summer vacations, which means that many of our kids will be leaving for about a month...either to their homes or foster homes. My, goodness, I love these kids immensely...it will be so different without them here! So I am hugging them a bit longer these days in anticipation of not seeing them for awhile. :) Let's take advantage of every moment we have with the ones with love, eh?

Speaking of which, I am thrilled to announce that my mom and sister will be arriving in Ecuador next Tuesday! What a gift! It will be amazing to have the joy of their company and to share this life with them.

It is time for this missionary nurse to sign off...that each of you may be exceptionally blessed...

En Cristo,

m

***A reminder...www.missionsantamaria.com for anyone interested in supporting this work. It is truly incredible what they are doing for the families of Ecuador. Truly amazing.

He is born...what could be better?

¨Before his gaze all falsehood melts away.¨

Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict XVI

Dear ones,

Peace to one and all. He is born! Let us rejoice indeed! Well, in this week of Christmastime on this little peninsula, all is blessed indeed. Things have been very tranquil with the school closed for the week and a majority of the children away for vacations, and it has been a blessed occasion for this little nurse to have a little rest and extra prayer time. I have been blessed to be able to spend more time in Adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist...and indeed have experienced what Pope Benedict speaks of in his new encyclical letter. Sitting before His Eucharistic Heart, alone in His Presence, in His loving gaze, all that is not of Truth is illuminated away and I am penetrated to my innermost being. Interiorly, in a manner that cannot be articulated, I am reminded of my mission in this life, of who I am striving to be. Held in His arms, gazing upon the Face of Jesus, opening my heart to the love He so ardently desires to pour into hearts. Recognizing my littleness and inadequacy, and trusting completely in His Mercy for His little ones.

This week, in addition to a beautiful Christmas Vigil Mass (the Birth of our SAVIOR...wow), we had the annual Mass for the elderly people of the surrounding communities. Hundreds of ¨ancianos¨ (ancient ones, as they say) came to the Santuario for Mass and a meal. Dear ones laying on mattresses, blind ones with canes, from far and wide. A beautiful thing. On top of all of the beautiful liturgical celebrations, we have been taking many trips to the beach with the kids who remained with us for vacations. Ah, life on the beach...watching all these dear ones jump and giggle in the waves as the sun starts to set over the water. Life is beautiful.

May His perfect peace be in each of your hearts in this time of Christmas. Our Savior has been born unto us. Our Savior. Amazing.

En Cristo,

m

Gloria!

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

--Luke 2:8-15--

Greetings of Christmas peace and joy to all!

Well, after a week of wrapping up the last medical consults with the kids for the year and saying farewell to the children who left for the week to celebrate with relatives, we have arrived to the eve of the Birth of our Messiah. Beautiful. Instead of snow, we have rain (usually it is sunny...Maribeth has been telling me that the Lord is blessing me the precipitation, even if it is not snow...ha). Instead of my family, here I am with these dear children who need the love of a family and these beautiful misioneras who give up their life for Jesus and this work. It is different, but it is perfect...because it is His Will.

I pray that each of you have a very blessed, very peaceful, and very joyful Christmas...surrounded by those you love and who love you...thankful for our Messiah who was born and died that we may live...

In His Love,

m