Down for the Count

Monday morning of the next week, I woke up with an upset stomach. Julie and Hannah had a meeting at the main house. I made the most of having the tent to myself and cleaned up a bit, did some stretching and light exercise, and ate some trail mix (probably not the best thing for an upset stomach but it did okay). I was relieved to stomach down the veggie and chickpea salad with oil we made for lunch. We sat in on preaching class. The Advanced Missions Training students were required to take preaching and had to preach in front of everyone. They were doing popcorn preaching and many were scared. I felt bad to be yet another person sitting in on the class. But, we wanted to and honestly there wasn't anything else to do anyway. They did great and I remember thinking this is a great way to "be prepared in season and out of season." Afterward I got some laundry done which again was good not only for fresh clothes but something to do. Supper did not settle well with my stomach. I can't remember what we ate. I don't remember the next day. I assume we had nshima with whatever we ate with the boys at Nsongew clinic during lunch break (that might have been fried chicken day).I think we had awesome fajitas that night for supper that were delicious. I ate too much and my stomach was not a happy camper. But the next day when I woke up I really didn't feel good and little did I know I wouldn't be holding anything real down for another several days. I couldn't eat breakfast and was so relieved that we didn't have a busy day at clinic. I was going to be sick and wanted to lie down. Julie didn't feel great herself. I skipped going to the main house for supper that night. There was no point. I knew I couldn't tolerate anything. Julie and I watched Duck Dynasty on her computer in the tent instead of eating. I enjoyed that. Then, it came on. Intense nausea. I had eaten a cracker. I knew better. Let's just say I was REALLY sick that night for a few hours. Julie and Hannah helped me so much and poor Julie didn't feel well herself. After a few trips down the walkway and once kneeling into the brush to get sick that I am sure had snakes and scorpions, I made the decision to move into the bathroom for the night. I knew I would probably have ants and spiders crawling on me. But, I was physically weak and couldn't make it back and forth. They brought my sleeping bag and water bottle. I laid on the floor in misery. I also knew the dogs might mess with me cause I didn't want to close the door cause it was too hot. Hannah asked if she could pray for me. PLEASE! I will never forget that prayer. I don't think I have ever heard anyone pray with such authority and I knew it was compeltely out of love for me. IN JESUS NAME SICKNESS GET OFF OF HER!! I'm like, "Yeah!" Julie's brother in law came to check on me and told me the tent next to the bathroom was available for the night if I started feeling better- shorter walk. After another hour or so I did start feeling good enough to get up. So, I walked to the tent and slept. I felt better for a few hours and then felt really nauseas around 5 a.m. To my relief it didn't last long. During the night there was a mosquito biting me. It was the only day I didn't take my malaria medication and my net was in the other tent. Nothing to do. He is my protector anyway. When morning came I felt like tremendously better and had so much peace. I walked out of the tent. One of the Zambian young men saw me and asked, "I thought you live with Julie?" I smiled and said, "I was sick." Spent the next couple of days resting in the tent. I was so thankful for Julie's cold pack that you just let melt on you while you wait for the heat to pass during the afternoon hours. One of the AMT students, Trey, made us jello and I ate some saltines. That jello was so good! It was still a few days before I could keep down a meal. I couldn't even handle a banana which was discouraging. I had Julie and Hannah pray for me one more time Sunday night and after their prayer I chowed down that Sunday night spaghetti, salad, bread, and even a brownie. I decided I was done with being sick. So, I just believed I would be well, ate what I wanted, and we had a good night.