Hotel Hospiten

If you haven’t heard already from facebook, my teammates’ blogs, or elsewhere, I was admitted to the hospital on Sunday afternoon to be treated for pneumonia. It took a good six weeks to recover from it when I got it two years ago, so this time when I had bronchitis coupled with trouble breathing, I figured I should probably get checked up on. It was our first experience in a hospital in the DR. To be honest, I was a little shocked when they said they were keeping me overnight after taking a look at my “rayos x”:

After taking some blood, giving me breathing treatments, and administering a shot, I was sent up to a room—which actually ended up being one of the most comfortable places I’ve been since living in the DR! It was air-conditioned. It had cable television. There was “room service.” It had hot water. There were no ants crawling around. My teammates were always taking great care of me and someone was always by my side—something I could definitely appreciate as it’s times like these when you wish your family could be around. N. even made sure to document the occasion:

                

Jimmy helping with the breathing mask               Jess got locked in the bathroom!

 I don’t think my team minded sitting in the room with me as long as there was cable tv to watch!

Yes, she even got a picture of me getting a CAT scan!

                

Mmm room service!                      I think the nurse thought we were a little goofy…

So while it was a little embarrassing to have my team nearby while I had to pee in a cup, hawk up stuff from my lungs, and breathe albuterol from a Darth Vader mask, it was certainly an answer to prayer from a previous week of getting some much needed rest. Ironically enough, the day before I was admitted, I was studying the different Greek meanings of the word “rest” used in the Bible. The word epanapauo means to cause one to rest (Luke 10:6), as opposed to the word anapauo meaning to offer rest (Matt 11:28). This trip to the hospital, although not ideal, was certainly a way for God to bless me by causing me to rest. Take a break from planning small group, take a couple of days to quiet your anxieties about team dynamics, escape the pressures of wanting to fit into another culture and rest. Jesus knew I needed some extra loving from my team, and even extended that by having our pastor, friends from church, and the students from Vida Estudantil visit me in the hospital with gifts and cheerful company. Family, friends from home, and even people I don’t know were praying for me as I took my 4 day sabbatical in Hospiten (name of the hospital). It wasn’t what I could have ever predicted, but I definitely felt God’s care upon me as I recovered this week. And I’ve learned next time to take the offered rest so I don’t have to go through the uncomfortable consequences of the caused rest!