44YO G1PO AMA EDC 10/7/16

Team Rodriguez update

We have been in the States about 8 1/2 weeks, rather quietly for the first month or so. For those who weren’t aware or are new to the blog, we came home rather quickly when I discovered that my mother had a rather large sternal mass which turned out to be a low-grade lymphoma. It took a while for her to undergo all the testing since her initial results were somewhat inconclusive. Then a biopsy came back as an atypical lymphoid infiltrate and Monchy and I booked tickets quickly for a flight home. We are so grateful that Monchy was granted an Immigration Visa in late February. It seems that God knew exactly what we would need for the next upcoming months.

We arrived in the States in time for her surgery but were still very quiet about our arrival initially. Thanks be to God, her surgery went very well and the surgeon was optimistic that he was able to remove all of the tumor/mass. After surgery we waited nearly 3 weeks to find out the final (we had 2 preliminary diagnoses first) formal diagnosis of low grade follicular lymphoma. We are so grateful for the prayers of friends and family during this time and have FELT your support. In meeting with the oncologist after the formal diagnosis and recovery process, it has been suggested that Mom start a radiation treatment. My parents are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary on vacation currently and after they return from their trip, Mom will begin radiation for a 15-18 day schedule. I am so happy that I am in Pennsylvania and able to go with her and be a support to her in this time. We are very optimistic about her diagnosis (my favorite words now are LOW-GRADE) and look forward to finishing this treatment and moving onto the next Big Thing….which… is…..actually….

About me. And Monchy. Team Rodriguez. And our baby on the way. Yup. Magdalena Rodriguez will be arriving in late September or early October. Which is probably as shocking to us (still!) as you! I feel so overwhelmed with emotions every time I think about God’s timing in our lives. He KNEW that we would be coming home to be with Mom. He KNEW that Monchy was going to get a Visa, the very day after I received a very shocking confirmation ultrasound that there was a real live baby growing inside of me. He KNEW that Mom and I would need to see her on the ultrasound the same day that we met with the surgeon after surgery and still didn’t know what the pathology results were. It had been difficult for me to focus on this pregnancy and feel hopeful during a cancer scare….at least until the last several weeks.

But as my stomach is growing and I continue to receive reassurance from my doctors and midwives (ZIKA! Advanced Maternal Age! High Risk! Chromosome studies! Medical assistance! Healthy Beginnings! Perinatology! ), I have been able to settle in and know that this sabbatical- and-then-maternity-leave will be and has been more than a break from most of my work at Solid Rock.  Dear ones, I am more at peace now. This 44 year old first time mama is trying to throw all of her cares upon Jesus and wait this thing out on Him. I am still handling some email and planning work with Solid Rock but I spend my days quietly and very SLOWLY am starting to get out of the house more. I could talk about how overwhelming the States is for Monchy but truthfully would need to admit exactly the same for me. How does it cost 12 dollars to go to the movies now? Why is everyone so busy? How long can it take me to clean out the refrigerator? Why are grapes so expensive? Is it wrong to stay on the couch all day thinking? The list goes on and on. But slowly, slowly, I am getting there.

I went for a drive the other day…down in horse country, Chester County. Oh the hay… and the fields that go on forever. Not a soul around me. Mine, all mine. Then driving by my old house, remembering puttering in my garden, my flowers, my yard. I could smell the peonies. I could feel the dirt under my fingers. I could remember driving home from the hospitals in the morning after a long long night helping babies into the world. I can remember a little bit of who I was…and I wonder who I will be as a Mother. My husband thinks I am “tranquilo” here. Tranquil. Peaceful. Surrounded by my family, my friends. I can sit in the sun all day with a book and listen to old music. I sing loudly and Monch says I’m a “campasino” (country girl). So it seems like this is my time. My time to be with Mom. My time to grow a baby girl. My time to savor, to suck in these moments because although I feel like I’m in slo-mo, I know this is flying by. My time to rest and replug and reconnect and recharge and prepare for a crazy 2017 back in the Dominican Republic.

I would love to talk about what the States has been for Monchy but suffice it to say, my husband is a rock star. He misses his family and friends and his Dominican life desperately but he rises daily at 530 and heads out to mix concrete and haul rocks nearly every day in this heat. He comes back with dust in his hair and exhaustion in his steps. And the first thing that he says when he gets home is “Y Habichuela?” (“And our Bean?”). I can also not say enough about how welcoming and KIND my friends, family and church fam at the MG (Maple Grove Mennonite) have been with my husband. It brings tears to my eyes to enter church and have many people greet my husband by name and make him feel KNOWN and LOVED. I could cry for joy watching him interact and practice English and play church softball with surely the finest friendliest “Young Guns” on the planet and then participate in a weekly small group that some of them attend as well. I love listening to him laugh with his co-workers and take pride in his job and learning new things. I like hearing him talk about baseball and life with my Dad and brother and hearing new words and opinions about American culture come out. It’s still mind-blowing to take in my life here through his eyes.

We do have a few prayer requests though. This past week has brought an unfortunate run-in with the laundry basket which has left me with a minor back injury. I am so thankful this is not pregnancy-related but do find that much walking or prolonged standing is very painful. SO- I stay close to my couch and ice and heating pads and pray that this is temporary. I was hoping for a trip to Ohio/Indy to do some visiting but that is off the table at this point. Please pray that I will recover quickly and that the pregnancy will continue smoothly and without issues. Please also pray against loneliness for Monchy. My husband is a social animal and misses the constant camaraderie, noise and bustle of his barrio world in San Juan. Please continue to pray for my mom as we walk into an unknown world of radiology in the next weeks, specifically that she would have zero side effects and 100% healing. And finally, the idea of becoming a MOTHER is crazy to me. An unexpected gift. Pray that God prepares me to be the Mother to Magdalena that she needs as we plan to raise her in 2 different cultures (and at least 10 “subcultures”) and a busy ministry setting. My controlling nature keeps trying to plan and arrange and have things organized and settled in my mind and then….. Psalm 84.

I mentioned this Psalm in my last blog but it keeps coming back to me time and time again. I understand that to mean that GOD IS SPEAKING IT DIRECTLY TO ME. The whole Psalm is gorgeous and meaningful- every single word. But I can’t seem to shake off verse 5 : “Blessed are those whose strength is in You…whose heart is set on pilgrimage”. Oh that I could find all my strength in You! And please help set my heart on pilgrimage. I feel a bit like a little pilgrim setting out for shores unknown.   However, I pray that my pilgrimage is more than this, more than this stuff on Planet Earth…but that it’s a SEEKING anew of the God who created us.. He built a baby inside me, He sent my husband into a new land, He restores us, He renews us, and He has an incredible journey set up for me and all of us. I want to SEEK and KNOW (MORE!) that God. In my chaotic life, it has been and does get left behind. And in these quiet times, the growing, the grass, the sunny pond and the hay fields, I want to come back to it.

Love you guys. Thanks for coming along for the ride and praying us through it too.

Love,

Nik

** Disclaimer: the title of this blog should be evident to my former co-workers. For everyone else, it’s OB-speak.

** PS- below some photos of (mostly) Monch’s US experience so far.

This (pic above) is Sue Eby and I at the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon in April.  It. Was.  Freezing.

Pic (below) :  Monch checking out Pine Creek Valley and then FREEZING at a campfire with my dad.

Hanging out (below) and learning to mow with my Mom.

Oh man, how I praise God for a large Latin Dominican presence in Lancaster!  Below is Monchy purchasing REAL chinola juice at La Chercha, our fav food truck on King Street, right down the street from La Cocina, a Dominican restaurant.   Monch says it feels like being in Santo Domingo when he’s eating there.

And um, as IF we would NOT go see a baseball game.

Of course my husband met Maicol Franco from Azua, DR.  OF COURSE HE DID!

Hanging with the Straleys at the Phillies game when Dan and Kari were in town.  FABULOUS!

Below:  Not only did Cora come and cook wonderful Dominican food for my homesick husband…Dan, Kari, Jenny and Diego came to spend a night with us.  Please note the 4 Americans (Nik, Kari, Dan, Diego), 1 Canadian (Cora), and 2 Dominicans (Jenny and Monchy).  We felt well represented.   Also below, my beautiful niece Aneesa GRADUATING from West Chester University.

ANDDDDD my manita got married!   I can’t name names…but there WAS some salsa dancing and my husband MAY have been involved.   What a beautiful day!

So cool to meet up with Indira y Yayi Sanchez and Chris Dotterer near Harrisburg and go out for Dominican food.   Filled my husband’s heart (and mine) with Latin solidarity.

And below you have it.  #15 on the “Young Guns”.   My fav guy, #mitodo, and my #babydaddy.   So glad I’m in this adventure with him.

On the Move- April 19

Greetings from the green fields of Pennsylvania! Um YES, much has happened since my last blog post.

As many of you may know, my husband and I had tentative plans to spend a summer “sabbatical” in the United States, arriving in May after our last surgical team of the spring. We were so grateful that Monchy had received his Visa which would enable him to travel with me. Little did we know that we would need it a bit sooner than expected! In late March we received news of a family medical situation in Pennsylvania which changed our plans from departure in May to “the sooner the better”. After fast discussions and planning with Joe and Shannon and the Solid Rock crew, we packed up and flew home on April 6th to be with my family. And here we are! Wide eyed and transitioning….

How does everything feel? Everything feels a bit crazy and overwhelming. Seeing the United States through Monchy’s eyes is definitely different. Car heaters, dish washers, hot water everywhere, huge open spaces, enormous houses, Ollie’s, Costco, mega-churches, multiple expensive cars, and Amish buggies are mind-blowing for him (and sometimes for me too!). And yet we feel so surrounded by loving family and friends during this transitional time. We are trying to take things VERY slowly (to the best of our ability) to soak into this time here. We spent the first 10 days with my parents in Lancaster and now we are tucked away in a sweet lil apartment on the Bare farm in Chester County. My sweet husband can wake up to cows mooing, turkeys gobbling, and a wide open green meadow and pond in front of him.

In the last few days, I have found the 2016 VelvetAshes Retreat to be a very comforting reminder of leaving fear behind in order to get closer to God. The theme of our retreat this year was Leaving Fear and it could not have been more directed towards me. I like to be a planner…and the last month of our lives has been really UNPLANNED. Family health issues, anxiety, travel, immigration lines, husband adjustments, culture shock….. I have been afraid of what I cannot control. I’ve been journalling and processing through the Retreat on fear and although I can say that this is an ongoing struggle for me, I had peace this morning. I read this verse this morning in a book, “Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs: the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, until each appears before God in Zion”.

The verse spoke to me in several ways but the first was through the word pilgrimage. Is my heart set on pilgrimage? Wikipedia says that pilgrimage is a journey or search of spiritual significance. Do I really have my heart set on a search for spiritual significance, figuring out, learning, KNOWING MORE about God? This was a great challenge to me. The other was the phrase “they go from strength to strength”. I cannot look around here without seeing all of the “strengths” that have been provided to Monch and I, from church softball practices to job opportunities for Monch, this amazing apartment, the rides, vehicles, meals, hugs and words of encouragement. In the midst of potentially nervous times at the outpatient surgery center and the doctor’s office, God provided familiar faces from my nursing career here in Lancaster which really eased our concerns and made us feel at home. I feel like I am going from “strength to strength” .

In regards to the family health situation, things are stable at this time. We continue to wait for some pathology results, but I know that my family would say that they have really felt the power of prayer. I am so grateful for all of your support, your prayers, your encouragement. I am going to continue serving with Solid Rock in team communication and planning, which I’m greatly looking forward to. It feels good to stay connected to my wonderful San Juan community too, even if it’s from far away for right now.  Annnnndddd I know many folks are wondering if Monch and I are going to hit the road and do some visiting. We aren’t going to make any plans until we know exactly what will be happening with the family health scenario. So stay tuned and please continue to pray for all of us!