Settle, Shop, and Sleep

I made it safe!  On my way here God blessed me big time and gave me a few brothers and sisters (in Christ) to talk with.  Being able to have them helped me to focus on the excitement and not my nerves.  God is so so good!   I have had time to unpack and get settled.  There were some men working on our house yesterday and today putting bars on the windows…”had to add bars since the jewel of Fox River is here” –Donna hahaha!  Laughter is good for the soul…I am going to have a very healthy soul this summer if that is true! 

We have mango and avocado trees just outside the house and we get to enjoy lots of other fresh fruits and vegetables.  It is so beautiful here.  Our home is on the mountain side of Managua so it is a little cooler here than in the real city like side of it.  Praise the Lord!  

Today we went shopping to prepare for Fox River next week.  Buying food for 50 people and enough for a week was an interesting/fun experience.  We had a lot of help at the stores from the workers and I am sure we amused a lot of people by the amount of food we bought.  It has been so cool to be part of preparing for this trip and seeing what goes on being the scenes of things here.  That was most of our day today, running around to different stores buying food and things for the mission team.  We had a bit of time to cool off and then church in Managua.  One of the things I am so looking forward to is experiencing all the different churches and areas of ministries that God is allowing me to do.

It has been an exhausting couple of days, but in the best ways.  The heat takes energy right out of me, thankfully God has given us time to take a beat and chill a little bit.  Coming to a country that does not speak the language I am used to has been hard.  Not always being able to understand people and what they are asking is so difficult for me.  I think the hardest thing is that I so desire to know them but I just don’t have it down enough to really ask the questions that build relationships.  I have studied Spanish enough to understand some, but not in the busy chaotic environment that has been my life the last few days.  My brain is on overload a little bit.  New things to see and new people to meet is exciting and also a little bit taxing.  But God is good!  I know that He is stretching me and giving me the strength that I need for right now and sometimes that just means being able to say “I’m sorry I didn’t catch that” or a nice breeze while standing in the hot sun.  He is so faithful!  

Pray for me that I would be bold to speak even if I am not totally certain in my own brain.  That He would open my ears to hear and understand. That God will continue to provide me with energy and alertness when need be and to help my brain turn off when it is time to rest.  Praise Him for His faithfulness thus far and how He will continue to be as we move forward.  Praise Him for the beautiful weather that Nicaragua has welcomed me with!  Praise Him because He is who He is and that is more than enough for this little heart of mine.  I am excited for my day tomorrow and cannot wait to share more about it!

  "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing."                                                                                                                                  1 Corinthians 13:1-3