I see the beauty

Light dances on the water and time slips through my fingers like they’ve been thoroughly drenched in olive oil.  I look back and wonder how I got this far in life and how in the world the life I live could have become routine.  But it did and it has.  And so I step back and look for the beauty once again, and I can tell you that it overflows my cup in so very many ways that to sit here and mention it all could take me the whole day.

I see beauty in the sunrise out the porthole, as I eat my breakfast.

I see the beauty in the short walk (seconds, literally) back to my cabin to brush my teeth after breakfast.

I see the beauty in the friend who I thought I had said goodbye to forever who is back on board.(and in the laughter we shared and the fun of looking up the 60 minutes video online!) 

I see the beauty in the eager faces of my nurses, waiting for their chance to screen patients.   (seriously, how often do we get excited to work at home???  I LOVE the attitude of people here!)

I see the beauty of being able to work with friends!!!

I see the beauty of the day workers, who insist on greeting you before they do anything else(and are SO excited to see us every day)... if only I were better at that... it’s the people around you that matter most.

I see the beauty in the eager faces that get ushered into the screening room, hoping that we can help them.

I see the beauty of the community spirit that has people verbally tripping over each other to help translate the obscure languages that others speak, wanting more than anything to make sure that the other person is heard.

I see the beauty in being able to meet a new surgeon who I’ve never met before and work together with him, with the same goal, and being seen as a partner or equal, instead of a servant (as some surgeons will treat nurses.)

I see the beauty of the hospital chaplains, so eager to help, with all the words I don’t have.  There to help explain to patients the condition that we see and why we can’t or don’t need to do surgery.  (and the wonder of not having very many people to say no to today)

I see the beauty of the child tied to her mother’s back, secure and content in that spot of comfort.  A practice that allows the mother to work and still keep the baby close and cared for.

I see the beauty in my ability to speak french and hear a person’s story in their own words and not through a translator.  

I see the beauty in our ability to help.  How amazing is that.  To be able to help, to make a difference in their lives, to take away the deformity that causes pain or leaves them an outcast.

I see the beauty in the time out to pray and do devotions with the other team leaders.

I see the beauty in the community where I can eat lunch with a different person every day... or enjoy it with close friends.  

I see the beauty in the faces around me, the friends who have given up so much to be here, and yet have gained so very much more from the ones they thought they had come to serve.

I see the beauty in the new nurse, who hasn’t been here before, as she eagerly questions and learns how we do things on the wards.

I see the beauty in the patient, fresh from surgery who looks around for someone, anyone who speaks french, and as I say that I speak french, the one thing he so desperately wants to say?  “Merci!” (Thank-you)

I see the beauty in the many cultures, accents, people that I work with every day.  So very different, and yet using those differences to find a harmony.

I see the beauty in the little curtained off space I can call my own. (about 6x6 square feet).

I see the beauty in sharing my cabin with two amazing friends.

I see the beauty in my friend’s baby who crawls up to me at dinner and wants to be picked up and played with, plump hands grabbing at everything, laughter that shakes her body and splits her face in a snaggle-toothed grin.

I see the beauty in the little things.  Do you?