Erickson’s Philippines Updates

It’s been a little rough for me since coming back to the Philippines .  I think around January 1st, I found out I was pregnant.  We were very happy because we have been wanting another child for quite some time.  I was very hesitant about telling anyone (only our parents knew), because I had a feeling that this pregnancy would not go through completion.  Looking back, I believe God was preparing me. 
 
Many of you who knew me as a younger person know that I wanted to have 11 children!  That dream has already been fulfilled. I currently have 24 children here in the orphanage to love and mother 24/7.  Believe me, there is always someone needing something with that many kids around. At the time I thought of having 11 of my own, but I believe God truly knows best.  My brother is 11 years older than me, so when I was young, I didn’t have anyone to play with. I set in my heart then that I wanted children close in age so they could be playmates, although when I think of it God really has answered this prayer as well.  Josiah is surrounded by children around his age to play with every day.  The Lord answers our prayers – even the simplest ones.  It may not always be the answer we want, but it is always for the best.
 
On Tuesday, January 27, I went in for an appointment and found out the baby had no heartbeat, and was only measuring 6 weeks, but I was almost 8 weeks pregnant.  The Doctor gave me some kind of medicine to keep the pregnancy going, and told us to wait another 2 weeks to see if the baby would have a heartbeat.  She told me then to pray.  I believe God can do miracles and I did pray for his will.  I knew in my heart the baby was dead, but believed God could do a miracle.  I kept singing the song “Blessed Be Your Name.”  A little over a week later, I went back to the doctor because I started bleeding.  I remember sitting there waiting outside the doctor’s office and asking God to give me strength.  The baby still had not grown, and no heartbeat.  The doctor gave me medicine complete the process that my body had started on its own. I was in a lot of pain during the first week. While I felt a peace I was also sad, depressed, and hurting.    
 
I believe death entered this world as a result of sin, and sin has caused pain in all our lives.  God allows us to go through things to make us more like Him.  I don’t know what it is like in heaven, nor do I know if I will get to see my little baby when I get there– whether it will even matter or not to me then.  However, I do find peace in the fact that my baby’s soul is alive for eternity.  His or her job was not for this earth, but in heaven.  I am thankful that life on earth is not the end when death happens, but true life is really just beginning.
 
 Lord, thank you for the soul I carried for only 6 weeks and 1 day.  Thank you for the two-year-old son You have given me.  Lord, thank you for my godly husband and for the children in this camp that I can love, hold, cry, and laugh with.  Lord, thank you for your people You surround us with to help us on this journey through Earth. Thank you for life, which is abundant in You. 
 
I didn’t want to announce my pregnancy because if I ended up miscarrying, I did not know if I could deal with the people around me.   I couldn’t stand to have everyone first “dream” with me, or ask me “what you think you will name your baby?”  Or “do you want a boy or a girl?” However, I was quite wrong.  When I did tell people around here what was happening, I felt better – like the burden wasn’t so hard to carry.  I think God also used this to remind me how wonderful it is to have family and friends.  No, everyone does not know what to say or how to say it, but just knowing they were there was a great comfort.  I am reminded to love and to tell others around me how much I care for them NOW while they are still here on Earth.

Sunday night, I was putting Josiah to bed at around 10 pm when I heard the girls screaming and making all kinds of commotion. As I prepared myself to go outside and give the usual “It’s time for bed now, you girls need to obey the lights out rule…” speech, I began hearing them screaming for me, and knocking on the door. I went out to hear the word “Snake! Snake!” and sure enough, there was a “house snake” half hanging from their ceiling rafter with a lizard in its mouth (as pictured below). Now remember that at the time, we did not know it was the non-poisonous “house friendly” snake.

So like any other brave missionary man, the first thing I did was tell the girls to go call Jeff Rice (retired US marine) and Orick dle Monte. There was NO WAY I was going to face off against this snake alone. As we closed in on it, the snake seemed to panic, and released the lizard from its strangle hold, then began to slither away above the insulation. Jeff Rice boldly trapped it through the insulation, then Orick pinned it with a metal pole. Allan was pointing the flashlight into the insulation, Roy was giving support to Jeff with a large curved blade, and I began smashing its head with a bat through the insulation. I know it sounds cruel, but there was no way any of the girls were going to sleep if we didn’t make sure the snake was dead. Eventually, Jeff cut the snake in half with some scissors and we called it a night.

The snake was almost right above Jennilyn, who sleeps in one of the top bunks. As I returned inside, I told the girls, “You will be alright, just make sure and pray before you go to sleep!”

The snake strangling his prey.

The aftermath

Let me preface this post by letting everyone know just how much Josiah loves it here. The Philippines are his home, after all he was born here! When we arrived back home to the Philippines in January at 3am, I can still remember Josiah running in one of the dorms laughing and playing. He was SO happy to be back with his 30+ “brothers and sisters” (counting the FTC and staff kids).

On the flip side of that, he also had a very rough first week. It seemed that so many things kept happening to him. He was clumsy, and kept tripping on small rocks and getting cut up by metal (first picture), as well as getting bit by an ant next to his right eye, causing 2 days of swelling (second picture). For the first week his schedule was thrown off, and he kept waking up at 3am, then staying awake until late morning.

Right now, however, Josiah is over the jet lag, and is well adjusted back to normal life. He enjoys being a kid, and playing with other kids (almost all day every day!). He likes to meet new people and talk to them, unless there’s a lot of attention on him at once; then he gets shy. In the third picture, Josiah is playing with Marco and Shekinah (both staff kids).