Dengue.....

Dengue Fever seems to be running rampant through Managua these days. It is a mosquito borne illness that can turn into a dangerous version pretty quickly.

Morgan a great friend from Iowa is down in Nica visiting and traveling around. When she is in Managua she has been staying with us. On Sunday she started feeling really sick and had a high fever. By Wednesday she hadn't improved and was getting dehydrated so I took her to the hospital. She has now been there for 3 days as we wait for her platelet levels to begin to rise. She is starting to go a little stir crazy. :-) She says that this is the longest she has ever been confined within four walls in her life.

Please pray for Morgan. We pray that her platelet levels would rise today for her blood test in the morning. Also pray that no one else gets this nasty sickness. The count of people I know that have had it in the past 6 wees is over 10.

Thank you!

Thanks for praying this week. We have been able to reach some decisions for one of my students. God has been faithful and has been gracious to not only give us peace about the decision but also grace when talking to the parents too.

It has been decided that NCA is not able to provide the services that my little guy needed so he is looking for a new school. Please continue to pray for the family as they seek out the best options for the little guy. Also, his twin sister is staying in my class which is a great thing. Pray for her she experiences this school day separation. I am thankful that I will continue to see the family and hopefully my little guy too. :-)

God is so faithful.

Prayer Request

I have shared with some of you that I have had some kids with special needs in my class this year. It has been a challenge to meet their needs and still help the rest of the class move forward. A decision is being made this week for one of these special need students. I ask for prayer for all those involved in the decision. Also for the students, parents and teachers. May God's grace fill our mouths and thoughts as we sort out this issue. Thank you!

Coming Soon! Mouse Tales!

Love of family

 

Living in Nicaragua comes with some sacrifices but many blessings. While I am far away from my own family God is so gracious in providing other families to fill in some of the needs that arise. While working with Christ for the City teams I have stayed with many, many Nicaraguan families. Some have touched my life in deeper ways. One of those families is the Espinal family. There was a very special bond that formed during the week I stayed with them this past summer. Fortunately they live in Managua and are only a drive across the city. A few weeks ago they called me and wanted to celebrate my birthday. We were finally able to connect up on Saturday. We went out for quesillos! Yum! Yum!
Afterwards we went to a beautiful lookout outside of the city. The kids are teenagers and so the afternoon was filled with jokes, songs, and lots of laughter. We transformed our visit to the lookout into a photo shoot. Here are a few fun pics.

 

From left to right: George, Carey, Giovanni, Evelying, Jorge and Ninfa is the photographer.

 

Turning 30!

When I was younger I used to think that thirty was kind of old. Now that I have just turned 30 it doesn't seem that old at all. As I reflect on my thirty years here so far I revel in all the things that I have been able to do and see in such a short time. While any other year I may have felt the old bug a little more but this year I think I have done more "living life" things than ever before, biking across Nicaragua, training for a marathon, celebrating my mom and brother's weddings etc. I feel very much alive!

From Sep 19, 2009

From Sep 19, 2009

Last Saturday started out like any other day. Some of the girls from the missionary community and I have joined a city volleyball league that plays downtown. We had two games that morning. We thought we were just going to be there for 2-3 hours but it turned into 5 hours. Rightly so our team name is the Sunburns. After 5 hours in the hot Nica sun we were all a little rosy. We lost both of our games but went to a third set in both of the matches. We hope to do better this coming week.

From Sep 19, 2009

That evening we went out to Nagarote the home of the delicious quesillos. Quesillos are a corn tortilla with a form on Nicaraguan cheese, onions soaked in vinegar, sour cream and salt. All of the ingredients are rolled up and put into a bag. You tie a knot in the bag and bite a small hole in the other end and eat the quesillo out of the little hole. They are amazing and only cost about $1 US. Afterwards some wonderful friends planned a birthday party for me. I received gifts of 30 things that I might use. Some examples were 30 coffee filters, 30 Q-tips, 30 craisins, 30 pieces of stationary, 30 piggy banks. (yeah that's right I guess that I should start saving up for my retirement, one piggy bank full for the next 30 years.) It was lots of fun and I felt so blessed to have such great friends and family.

Freedom

Freedom carries different significance for so many. Freedom for a prisoner of war is different than freedom for an average person who has never been physically held captive. While I have never been held physically captive by someone or something in my life I have been held captive by a selfish attitude and sin in my life. Thankfully, through the blood of Jesus Christ shed for me on the cross at Calvary I can experience freedom from these captors. These verses have captured my attention today and I want to share them with you.

Romans 8:1-4
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

In Nicaragua this week we celebrated Nicaragua’s Independence. The freedom from Spain oh so many years ago. We are free to do so many things in this beautiful country. There is freedom of religion here. Many believers gathered all over the country this week to celebrate and praise God for the freedoms He has granted us here. Believers also gathered to pray for this country that all Nicaraguans would be able to experience the freedom that comes from a life hid with Christ on high. During days, months, and years that see difficult economic hardships, lack of employment, food shortages, small harvest years and so on it can seem overwhelmingly hopeless. Join me in praying for HOPE to return to the hopeless here in Nicaragua. I look forward to the day when we can celebrate HOPE alive and freely abounding in the lives of all Nicaraguans.

At NCA every year there is a gigantic Independence day celebration. All of the elementary classes learn a folkore dance as well as the teachers. It is a beautiful celebration of culture every year. My first graders did an awesome job. They were so cute and really made their parents proud. Here is the only pic I have so far from the special day. Felix stole the show. He did an awesome job and was adorable as you can see.

Life

Life is full!! It is full of highs and lows, challenges and accomplishments, yet through it all the Lord Most High, El Elyon is with us. I have been doing a study during my devotions on the names of God and El Elyon has left me pensive this week as I attempt to grasp God's sovereignty over all and in all things.

As I have returned to teaching full time here in Nicaragua I have had opportunities to see the Lord Most High visibly at work in my life. While I have spent two years outside of the classroom I have learned and experienced many things. God has shown me the importance and value in stopping and spending time in relationship with others. Sometimes the "work" is not the most important thing. Now with the weight of lesson plans, learning objectives, grading and everything else that comes along with teaching I see El Elyon placing people in my path to remind me of the importance He places on people and relationship. My prayer is that I see each encounter as God taking an active role in my learning process as well as that of my students.

Now on to some specifics of the new school year! I have 16 soon to be 17 first graders. Ten active boys and 7 talkative girls. Some things you can always count on. :0)
We are starting our fourth week of school. It has been fun. I've sure been tired at the end of every day though!! Shoooo those 6 and 7 year olds have a lot more energy than I do.

I wish I had pictures to share with you of my class and school but my camera was stolen from my desk last week. Therefore I'm in the market if anyone is upgrading and wants to get rid of their old camera. Praise the Lord I left my computer at home that day and that it didn't grow legs and walk away too. Once again I can see the Lord Most High's protection over even my stuff.