The English Update

On the way home from school last Wednesday, I (Rachel) decided to spend a few quiet hours at a coffee shop organizing my thoughts in preparation for my OLI (Oral Language Interview) the next day. Time in class had been rough, and I was really anxious about performing well on my test. I’m not usually an emotional person, but the stress was starting to get to me and I recognized that I needed a couple hours in Scripture and prayer reminding myself of the Lord’s peace and provision.

Later that evening, I also had plans of going out for dessert with a friend from church. This is a friend we have known since our very first Sunday here in Mexico! For months we have been trying to plan a time to get together for coffee, so I was happy it worked out for us to finally get together. Even though it was the night before my OLI, I felt it was a great opportunity to practice my conversational Spanish and have a relaxing evening before my big day.

While waiting at the restaurant for her to arrive, I took one more pass over my Spanish notes and did my best to remain calm. Our time together started off well and we enjoyed about an hour of great conversation when I got a call from Tyler.

“Hey Rachel, where do you recommend we take Wrenley if I think her arm might be broken?” As Tyler asks this, I can hear Wrenley screaming through the phone. My heart sank.

My friend knew something was wrong by the way I was reacting. After talking through the scenario and determining the correct next steps with Tyler, we decided to meet at the hospital. My friend ran to pay for our food and, without hesitation, offered to come with us as well!

We got to the hospital about one minute before Tyler and my friend went inside ahead of us to find out our next steps. She helped me fill out the intake form as I gave her the answers and snuggled Wrenley. Then, as we were moved into triage, she watched Asher and Graycen while Tyler finished parking the car.

After a few hours of x-rays, assessments, and talking with multiple doctors, it was determined that she most likely doesn’t have a broken bone, but a severely sprained elbow. She got hurt by going down a slide and landing a bit funny, and then having one of her big sisters come down and land on top of her. Ouch!

She will keep a cast on for about two weeks, so next Tuesday we will be back at the hospital to have it removed and check that there no pain.

We were so thankful to have had a national friend from church with us at the hospital. She knows English fluently and was able to confirm we were understanding the doctors and helped us when we needed it. The Lord provided this comfort for us during a very uncomfortable time.

Amazingly, we also had a new friend (their family just arrived here in Mexico a few weeks ago) offer to come and stay with Asher and Graycen so that Tyler and I could be in the room together (the big kids couldn’t come into the room with Wrenley, which made it extra complicated). She was a lifesaver, caring for our kids so well and selflessly giving up time in her night to serve our family. Again, this is another way the Lord provided for us when we really needed it.

This was not exactly the relaxing night I was expecting, but honestly, it was a great distraction from my test. It gave me snuggles with my baby and showed me I have a community, a family here I can lean on, and mostly, that the Lord is in complete control.

With Love,
Tyler and Rachel