"In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind."

So I have come to the conclusion that maybe I am just not meant for blogging:) Even though I am not updated constantly know that I am having a great time here getting to see lots and growing a ton. I will try and re-cap what has happened in the past week or so.
Last Friday morning the 3 med. students (Kim, Lauren, Tiffany), Jinny, and I left on a bus to go to Uyuni. We rode 4 hours in a bus to Oruro and arrived there and grabbed somthing to eat and then went to the train station to ride another 7 hours the rest of the way to Uyuni. Although it was a lot of hours traveling the views were amazing. Late Friday night we arrived at our destination and as we got off the train heard loud music... We found out that it was Uyuni's anniversary! Ahh- it would have been great except the fact that our hotel room was right on the rode where everything was happening. So until 4 am we got to listen to our windows rattling and some very loud music! haha but it was a great experience anyways. Saturday morning we drove out to the salt flats. On the way we stopped at a little town right next to the salt flats where they process the salt and there was a little market and a museum. Then we drove out onto the salt flats. FYI- if you ever go to the salt flats wear sun glasses because it is bright! After driving for a bit we got to an island covered with tall cactuses. It was beautiful! We ate lunch at the isla and then we started headed back. On the way back we got to stop at the train cemetary. Another tip if you ever go to the salt flats bring lots of warm clothes! It was freezing- so that night we visited about 4 restaurants trying to decided which was warmer. We ended up deciding on a one that had a nice warm fire! Saturday night we got on the train at about 11:30 pm to start our trek back to Cochabamba. It was a great trip and amazing views!
Every morning I have been going to labor and delivery. I have been able to see many natural births as well as c-sections. One of the nurses there, Irma, has been very good to explain to me what they are doing. She has also let me do many things including give the newborns a vitamin k shot! It is so exciting to be able to see new life brought into this world and wonder what God has in store for this baby! The other day though I entered the newborn room expecting a newborn full of life, but God had different plans for this little one. The baby had been born dead. A nurse came in and named the baby "Maria" and baptized it (according to catholic belief this allows the baby to go to heaven). I know that one day I will be able to see this little baby girl in heaven not because she had been baptized but because of God's sovereignty and because he is a good God (2 Samuel 12: 18-23). After seeing this I have been thinking about the verse in Job 12:10 "In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind." As I was talking to my dad about this he found a commentary that said, "Every single breath you take is a 'God given" breath. People are so fooled if they think they sustain their own lives. The truth is that we are all one faint heartbeat away from eternity. That's how fragile life is. 150,000 people are snatched into eternity everyday! We often take for granted how much grace abides in our heavenly Father. It is by sheer grace that each of us have been given breath even for just this very moment Praise God for the breath you take because we are not guaranteed life from one breath to the next. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away... We also know that He is soverign - meaning that nothing happens that he doesn't permit. But God is not out there to take life. Satan wants to take life. But God has provided so that not even Satan taking life can be a success for Satan because God has conquered Death." Seeing this has reminded me to take advantage of everyday because we don't know when God is going to call us home and I feel like I have wasted to much time not fully surrending every area of my life over to Christ.
Thank you all again for your prayers and support during my time in Bolivia! The time has been absolutly amazing and I can't believe 2 months have already flown by! I am looking forward to seeing many of you soon!