*** CURRENT - 2020 - If your interested we're making some REALLY TERRIBLE videos based around food and family over at tyronebcookin.com . Our plan is to get better as we do more. LOL!***
[JULY 2019] THANK YOU for following our journey these last two years as our family served with Mercy Ships! We appreciate your prayers, encouragment, financial support...We are so grateful for you partnering with us! -- We are now back in Alabama trying to transition back into our community. ~ The Barton Family

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Moms Point of View #1

The Hospital had an Open House with fun activities!
My theme the last 2 weeks has been "It's not about me". I am not here to utilize my skills but to bring glory to Him who called us here. I have said this phrase over and over to remind me not to get wrapped up in myself and keep the main thing, the main thing. Last Sunday I was sitting in church and the title of the sermon was "It's not about me." So there's that.


Living on a hospital ship in Cameroon with a family and 400 other people... is weird and wonderful. I am still in the transition phase and often catch myself thinking "Is this my life?" Some days I say it in a dreadful way and other days I say it with awe.



We have been away from the only home the boys have known. 12 weeks in transit & training, and now another 6 weeks on the ship. Most days go by in a blink and others drag on for-ev-er! The boys are beginning to settle in and I am learning how to be a mom on a ship with 800 eyes on me.

What has surprised me most is the incredible support and encouragement I have received from the
Ezra practices giving Tytus a shot (of apple juice)!
other moms. We had to make a decision about Ezra's schooling. We took him out of kindergarten and put him in half day preschool to get more foundational skills. They rallied behind me, they prayed with me, wrote me cards, and listened to me as I processed the options. These women are the real deal!

The hospital is ready and surgery will start on Tuesday. Our family cabin overlooks the patient "waiting tent". Anytime Tytus sees kids he wants to go down and play with them. He looks them in the eye and shows real compassion. It is definitely the proudest I have ever been of him. We are excited to meet the patients on the ward as a family.

Tyrone tries his skills in a patient bed making race
Last week was nursing orientations for the hospital and we got our ward assignments. The wards are divided by specialty. I will mostly be working in D ward (max-fax, cleft lips and palates, tumor removals, etc). This is the ward I worked on most the last time I was here so it is like home for me. I am privileged to be able to work alongside the nurses with this special group of patients.

Here we go... stay tuned for more updates.

If you have any questions about life on the ship email us. We want to share this journey with you. We are now putting together an album with various pictures of this journey that we have taken along the way(more than we post on the blog)...you can find that HERE --> Mercy Ships 2017

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2020 UPDATE: We are back at tyronebcookin.com doing cooking posts on our blog and our Youtube channel Youtube.com/tyronebcookin.