Did you know I once saved a life with a turkey baster?
Back when I was a volunteer EMT, a neighbor collapsed in his kitchen.
His lungs were full of fluid, so much so that it spilled into his upper airways.
When I arrived, he was blue and not breathing, but he still had a pulse.
I rolled him on his side hoping gravity would clear his airway.
But it didn't, and in a moment when I am sure God took control of my voice and body,
I raised my hand and yelled, "Give me a turkey baster!"
By the time help arrived, I cleared enough fluid for their oxygen delivery device to help.
As we left for the hospital, the man had transitioned from blue to just really pale.
And with some more-advanced help from the medics, the man was soon a nice shade of pink.
Sometimes, you just have to use what you got at the moment.
This is how I always viewed tasks at work, at home, and wherever.
Whether I was revamping the delivery and supply system of a multi-hospital chain or sizing up used food containers for use in my garage, I tried to make the most of what is on hand.
As you can imagine, that habit really comes in handy here in Guatemala.
We plant vegetable gardens in tires, bottles, and fruit crates.
And we find resharpened crayons and coloring books with used pages torn out work as well as new ones.
Of course, there are times we have to splurge.
When a donor offered to buy us a freezer so we didn't have to mix mission and personal food anymore, I couldn't say, "Yes!" fast enough.
Just because we're good at making do, doesn't mean we mind receiving help.
And our supporters can be confident even the new stuff we buy is the best bargain we can find.
Day in and day out, we stretch donor dollars as best we can.
We still use our home as our office and kitchen, my laptop is the company laptop, and if you call our mission phone numbers, Yesenia or I will answer on our personal phones.
It's our promise to you that as much as possible of the monies donated to our organization go to the children and families of our mission.
This year, some targeted generosity allowed us to replace our cars, build a new kitchen in Cocales, and add a mission pantry to our home.
We also distributed 500 pairs of new sneakers, and are set to share 500 personal hygiene kits next week.
This is on top of the thousands of meals and grocery bundles that form the basis of our mission.
And we were able to supply medicines and cooking gas and pay for electric bills and urgent transportation needs.
We know we are blessed, and we want to do the most we can with what we have.
And if in the months and years ahead, we happen to "got" more...
We'll make sure the needy kids and families of our neighborhoods have more, too.
Thank you for any part you played in helping us out! and God bless!
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