Silly Sallymander's Site: I deliver donations to Ruth and my insomnia problem # 5,839 is solved...

The wednesday before this past Wednesday, I visited a student, Ruth, who has been in and out of the hospital with surgeries and appointments because of a dibilitating disease that's attacking her bones and teeth. I went there to deliver money that was raised by selling hand-knit hats and scarves to my church members and a few family members to help pay for her medical bills and to tell her how much I miss her sweet, smiling face in my classroom. When I walked over to the chair she was sitting in, she grabbed hold of me, held me tightly for a long hug and wept on my shoulder after I gave her a card with the money. She's had hip surgery, which eased the pain in her back and will soon have knee surgery by a kind doctor who is doing the hip and knee surgeries for free! She saved money for 8 years just to make a downpayment on dental work. Her teeth have been falling out and it's very difficult for her to talk, even in her native Spanish, with only a few teeth left on the top roof of her mouth. The money raised by my church and family is a small but important slice of the pie; it totaled almost $200. Most money was raised by the West Chicago church that hosts the ESL classes and by our own generous students who made homemade treats and donated money to eat the treats during our classes' break times. Enough money was raised so that Ruth can now pay in full for the dental work that she needed and also have better quality dental work done than she had originally planned! She has saved money for so long and gone so many years without needed treatment and is now suddenly blessed. She is praising God for it! And she was gracious enough to mention that practicing filling out information forms in English in class helped her fill out forms at the hospital. This made my heart happy--that teaching English does make a difference.

What does this have to do with my whistling nose spawned insomnia? A man from the family she lives with asked me if I wanted him to pray for me--for my insomnia and subsequent heart trouble (not serious or fatal) that I mentioned as part of the explanation for why I didn't visit her when she was in the hospital. Of course, I accepted the kind offer. He prayed an amazingly passionate prayer in Spanish--a very long prayer on my behalf, for which I was so grateful, considering that Ruth is in much worse condition and has surely suffered so much more than I have. Ruth, who came slowly limping to class every day before her surgeries, who had to watch her body deteriorate for years before her eyes, due to lack of money and resources, wept for me as this man prayed. How small my suffering is compared to hers and yet, she prayed and wept for her English teacher. After he prayed, I prayed for Ruth. When our prayers ended, I felt an amazing weight being lifted from me and I just knew everything was going to be ok. That night, I had a whole night of sleep and have been sleeping decently ever since. So yes, I bought a humidifier, but God has answered prayer. And no, it wasn't just psychological. I didn't sleep better just because I felt better. I had been feeling really relaxed and sleepy before that and had already had the humidifier going for a couple days, but just couldn't fall asleep because my nose was so noisy. That night, my nose suddenly stopped whistling enough for me to fall asleep. Thank you, dear Lord! But thank you most of all for using us to be the hands and feet of Christ to help Ruth!

Phoebe, the liaison between World Relief and the West Chicago church where we teach English, visits Ruth in the hospital before Christmas and tells her about the fundraising we've been doing on her behalf. Phoebe was the catalyst and organizer of the fundraising and has given many hours to assisting Ruth in her dealings with doctors and payments. Ruth is overwhelmed and holds a picture Phoebe took of some of the students and us outside of the church.