Carmen's Foot update

 

The Grand Rapids ladies visiting Carmen while Seidy cleans her foot

A few weeks ago I posted a prayer request for Carmen's foot. She is in her early 40's and was diagnosed with diabetes about 10 years ago. After her son committed suicide on Halloween night, she went through a time of great depression and her diabetes spiraled out of control. In the process, her foot became infected and she was rushed to the hospital for care. The result was a large hole in the top of her foot (I'll spare you the details, but it was down to the bone in three places). She was hospitalized for 2 weeks and released just before New Year's. She has been home in the community since that time. The day after she came home from the hospital, David and I went up to check on her. Her foot is probably the worst wound I have ever seen and more than Carmen herself could bear. Seidy, another woman in our church, and I decided we needed to help her. For the last 6 weeks we have been going up every morning to clean and tend to the wound, bandaging it every day. This time has been a constant roller coaster, both spiritually, emotionally, and physically, both for Carmen and for Seidy and I.

Carmen's youngest daughter, Karina, and her granddaughter, Hanneth

Seidy with her granddaughter, Itzel, at Carmen's

As Seidy and I began tending her wound, we both quickly realized the wound in her heart was significantly worse than the wound in her foot. We had prayed for a healing miracle, teams that have come also walked up with me every morning to encourage her and pray for a healing miracle. But the Lord keeps telling me that her heart will heal like her foot, all in His time and not in ours. The Lord keeps showing me that to heal her foot instantly would not give Seidy and I the time and purposed intent to visit her absolutely every day. It has given us a reason, an excuse, if you will, to walk up to her house every morning. To pray with her. Share with her. Speak truth, hope, and love over her. She needs this time to slowly heal in her heart, too, from the wounds of her life. It's been hard to watch her go through ups and downs...from blaming God for her son's death and the wound in her foot and wanting to kill herself to realizing that God loved her son and wants to see her well. Seeing her go from days when she doesn't want to get out of bed to wanting to go to church again. There are so many lessons I feel like I have learned in the process that I can't even begin to express or write. The Lord has taken me on a journey of learning about compassion, perseverance, and determination.

Seidy and me

On the physical side, the wound really is healing quickly, praise the LORD!!! I went with Carmen to one of her early doctors appointments. The doctors were fascinated by the work that the Vineyard church is doing in Anonos. They taught me how to care for Carmen's wound and gave me a few days worth of bandages. They also asked me to take pictures of Carmen's foot every three days to see how it is healing. I went in to the hospital this week to get more supplies and showed the doctors the picture. They were blown away at how fast her wound is healing. It was a great testimony to God's healing power. That even though there was no instant, spectacular, fantastic healing, God is healing her foot very rapidly comparatively speaking. It opened a door for me to be able to share the gospel with the doctors in the clinic.


Please continue to pray for Carmen. There are still days when she is depressed and she still struggles with negative thoughts about her foot and her life. Pray that she would continue to feel the power and presence of the Lord in her live and through this whole situation. Pray also that her foot would continue to heal rapidly and it would be a testimony to the power of God's healing in her life. Pray that she would be able to rest more than she does (I often find the bandage filthy because she walks all over her house barefoot to sweep the floors or cook food, even against medical advice). She still has a ways to go, but I know God will be faithful. He has shown me that some times healing has to come in a soft, slow way to make sure every part of the person is healed.