A Thank You Visit
In 2007, Frank, Pam Viterna, and I took a trip to a coastal village in Papua New Guinea where one of the members of the church in Port Moresby grew up.  Many of the church members came along with us.  I wrote about this incident years ago, but Bro. Norman Malu almost drowned in the river that you have to cross to get to the village.  He was cooling off his feet in the river and walked out too far and the swift water swept him under and he swallowed a lot of water and was unable to rise to the surface.  Several men in the village did not hesitate and dove down from a high, steep embankment into the water and pulled him up off the river floor and into a canoe.  The villagers all said how blessed he was because several others had drowned in the same area of the river.  In talking with Frank recently, Bro. Norman said that he felt led to go back to this village and thank the men once again who had rescued him.  His visit was a great surprise to all of the villagers and there was good fellowship with the men who saved his life.  Both Bro. Norman and Frank have preached the Gospel at this village and we keep praying that seeds are being planted for the furtherance of God’s Word to go forth and work effectually among them. 

Dentists And A Child’s Toothbrush

None of us want our teeth to hurt and we don’t want to lose any teeth so off to the dentist we go.  Yet having a bright light shining in our eyes and little drill bits ready to go conjures up images of “torture” in my mind.  And I have yet to find a dentist office that uses “warm” instead of “cold” air and water to clean things up as they go.  Because that is the very reason I ended up at the dentist this past month.  One side of my mouth suddenly became very sensitive to anything cold. 

We got out the Yellow Pages and picked a dentist.  He had a big ad, which should have been a tip off.  This dentist barely looked at my teeth and said I needed a root canal and gave me a payment plan.  After praying about this, we decided to get a second opinion and looked in the Yellow Pages again.  This time we saw a small ad and thought that might be a good sign because it was so simple and not like he was drumming up business.  Also I just said I needed a check-up and wanted him to spot any problems on his own.  He did a thorough exam plus x-rays and said that all looked well.  He then asked if I had some cold sensitivity because I brush so much that I have worn away the enamel at the gum line.  He was sympathetic about the problem because he said that he has done the same thing.  It’s like some of us want to avoid cavities so much that we go too far with the brushing.  He painted a coating of something on the sensitive areas and then told me to go buy a child’s soft toothbrush because at “my age” old habits are hard to break.  He then said, “That way when you brush and brush, it will be with a super soft small toothbrush.”

After we left the dentist office, we went to the grocery store to purchase one.  Frank found one and said, “Here we go.  I looked at it and it was from the children’s movie, “Cars.”  I said, “Well I would at least like to get a “Princess” toothbrush.”

Something about dental work seems to stick in our minds from our youth up.  I now write to my oldest granddaughter (age 9) on e-mail and here is what she said.  “I'm glad you found a nice dentist.  My Dentist, Dr. David Herman, is also very nice and all the girls who work there are nice, but I don’t like getting my teeth done.  Dr. David Herman is SO funny like one time I asked him when I will get my braces off and he said, “When you get married of course.”  I also go to another dentist, Dr. Man, and he fills in my cavities.  He tells me to put my hand up if it hurts. The shot that he gives me is HUGE and I mean HUGE.”

    A friend in Christ,
    Sister Cyd James