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Christmas Day

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Christmas Day Drive to the Beach On Christmas Day our little family went to pick up trash on the local beach, which was particularly destroyed by a couple of recent hurricanes and the general partying that takes place there. For those who know me, this doesn’t surprise you as a Christmas activity of ours (please see Emma in the car on the way back, below. Note her shirt as well). This activity wasn’t planned; it was just decided by Anthony and I that morning. That morning, Emma found a beautiful, but very recently dead fish, and carried it around as a small pet. Anthony picked up bottles and plates farther down the beach as I was quietly reflecting on that beautiful, but dead, fish, and the hideous trash within this otherwise gorgeous setting. I realized that I was essentially looking among the natural debris of this setting (coral, branches, rocks, shells, leaves), for spots of bright red (Coca-Cola caps), bright blue (Pepsi), dark black (Dove and L’Oréal deodorant, as well as shoe
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Maybe and Yes.

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Maybe... Maybe too many Gospel-believing Christians avoided jobs in the political realm for too long.  Maybe sometimes they took the jobs, but people-pleasing became their god.  Maybe money and wealth destroyed, leaving the image-bearer poorer than ever. Maybe they took their eyes off the cross and let their gaze shift to the flag.  Maybe this place is too far gone, the vulnerable so flattened by the trampling of our feet over them. Maybe we logged on to social media frequently while our Bibles became dusty on the bedside table. Maybe we trusted the word of the 'authentic' blogger instead of knowing God's word within our hearts. Maybe we stared at our phones while we walked, instead of locking eyes with the homeless and the abused on the streets. Maybe we lorded titles and party allegiance over the actual Lord of all who died for us to see we need no other allegiance beside Him. Maybe we no longer worship the Creator on His rightful throne, but the created in his oval off
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Location: Gualaco, Honduras
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Is it possible-peace in a pandemic? The number of our COVID-19 cases surge at an embarrassingly high rate, resulting in more deaths. At the same time, the city we are closest to has active gang violence, largely unchanged for  decades . The high number of murders, drive-by shootings, and tragically, children caught in the gunfire, is terrifying. Protests rage, sometimes with violence, and always with desperate cries for change. There is so much political unrest with few people who are humbly listening to the 'other side' of opinions. In addition, this morning I personally almost stepped on a enormous snake on my run. Did the above paragraph bring you to picture our life in a 'third-world' country? Are you thinking about  how difficult it must be to live in a less developed' place? Actually, as many of you have realized, I am not writing about Honduras in the paragraph above, but about the United States. Anthony, Emma, and I arrived back
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" What a strange Easter weekend we have this year," our neighbor said. "But then, that first Easter weekend was very strange, too."  Thousands of years ago, something far worse than COVID tried to prevent the 1st Easter. Satan's impact put a man named Jesus, who claimed to be God, dead in a grave. This man had many followers, was known as a great prophet, and was baptized by his friend John the Baptist before a voice from the heavens declared, "This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased." Jesus of Nazareth preached to tens of thousands of people about the Kingdom of God, performed countless miracles, loved with a depth that far surpassed that of which humans could show, died mocked and beaten, 'King of the Jews,' while silent in defense. Satan  might have known the eternal impact Christ’s defeat of death would have on the world. Yet, on Good Friday (as we know it today), it looked as though evil had won the battle as Jesus’ family, friends,
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Mountains and Valleys

Anyone who has ridden a roller coaster knows that once you reach the top, it's time to plummet down to the bottom. Life can be this way as well; a series of highs and lows, peaks and valleys. I am dramatizing, but our recent experience has been much like a ride on a roller coaster. Our family of 3 had a wonderful week in Tegucigalpa, Honduras's capital city. We went there as part of a short term mission trip with World Gospel Outreach (WGO ). It was a long time desire of mine for Kristen to join me on this trip, since it has been so integral in my development as a Christian, a doctor, and ultimately, a medical missionary. I started making this one-week trip with my dad in 2010, and have since returned 4 times. Members from Peace Lutheran Church in Lombard, IL, along with others from all over the US, come to Tegucigalpa with the goal of serving the Hondurans and sharing the love of Jesus for the week. This happens primarily through medical brigades operated out of local church
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A Medical Mystery

In our recent email newsletter we referred to a young lady who very nearly died while in our hospital. I would like to write a bit more about her case, since I believe many lessons can be learned from it.  I'll call her "Y" for short. Y is a lovely 17 year old Honduran girl, from a mountainous village about 2 hours from our hospital. She presented to our emergency department with chest pain and shortness of breath. These symptoms had been present for 2 weeks at this point. In fact, Y had been a patient at a public hospital in La Ceiba (the nearest large city) for 12 days prior to coming to us. She had a chest x-ray that showed a right sided pneumonia with a pleural effusion (collection of fluid inside the chest cavity). Pneumonia with an effusion typically heals with appropriate antibiotics, and only occasionally requires fluid drainage. She had received antibiotics for over 10 days already, so why hadn't she recovered? Could I have the wrong diagnosis? Hardly! Did
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Coincidence vs. Providence

On the very same weekend that Kristen and I usually attend one of our favorite conferences in the states, there was a conference here in Siguatepeque, just 10 minutes from our house! Many of you know about our involvement in Greek Intervarsity, a Christian ministry for students in Greek houses while attending university (It is also the organization in which we met each other). Every year thousands of students from across the country meet in February to encounter Jesus Christ, and learn to depend on their faith with brothers and sisters in the greek system. The lives of students are transformed at 'Greek Conference.' We have been praying for this conference in joyful expectation of what God would do, but also in sadness that we couldn't be there for the first time since college (we also volunteer there every year). BUT GOD (one of our favorite phrases in the Bible) provided for us to attend a different conference this year. This past weekend North American missionaries f
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