Meti' la Pata

Last Sunday was Father' Day here in Honduras. A day or so later an emotionally challenging patient left a "Happy Father's Day" message on my telephone. As you can guess, it was a bright spot in my day.

"Meti la Pata" is the Honduran equivalent of "Open mouth, insert foot" This past week I had my second serious awareness of doing so, here in Honduras. The first time, a couple of years ago, was in front of a good natured and patient Honduran physician colleague. This time, only Xiomara , my office helper, and I got to enjoy my embarrassment. I say "embarrassment" for perhaps lack of a better term. More precisely, getting to enjoy the sometimes not so gentle, but timely teaching of the LORD.

During a busy morning in Rio Estaban (a rural village clinic) I felt compelled to explain to a happy and "air headed" 35 year old patient that her second pregnancy (her only other was 15 years ago) was "High "Risk". In my attempt to emphasize the potential hazards, I described a (hypothetical) 40 year old woman with her first pregnancy and the elements of risk.

If you haven't guessed it yet, the next lady was 43 years old with her first pregnancy. She was not dismayed. Her uterus was twice normal size with uterine fibroids. Neither did her weight, borderline high blood pressure and blood sugar seem to discourage her.

Vamos a ver. ("We will see".) As she comes to mind, please join us in prayer for "Aurora Lalin" as we pray and walk with her thru this new adventure in her life.

Gracias y Dios les Bendiga,

John