Road mark or Roadblock

It is hard to believe that it has been one month since my world was turned upside down with the news of my brother's death.

Road marks or milestones as some call them are those special birthdays, anniversaries and points in your life where a decision, event or life-change begins. Sometimes when you reach those milestones they can seem like a roadblock. There is a feeling of being paralyzed and unable to put one foot in front of the other in order to keep moving forward. Over time the feeling comes back and the steps become a little easier. Though each step still carries with it the memory of those who are no longer walking with you. The roadblock is dismantled and moved aside and one can continue on their journey.

In the midst of my grief God has remained faithful and always by my side. This song has helped me with the words I can't seem to come up with on my own.

Desert Song
Hillsong United

Verse 1:
This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is a God who provides

My God is the God who provides all that I have needed from hugs, prayer, financial help to go home to be with my family, friends who listen and cry with me....

Verse 2:
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

Lord as I pass through this fire I pray that you would refine me and make me to shine your love and light even brighter.

Chorus:
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

Deuteronomy 32:39
Now see that I, even I, am He,
And there is no God besides Me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.

Verse 3:
And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

Bridge:
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Psalm 57:2
"I will cry to the God most high, to God who accomplishes all things for me."

Verse 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow

Lord use this time in my life to be a blessing to others in ways that I cannot yet know and understand.

I've updated my prayer requests on the side of my blog. Please continue to lift up in prayer the work in Nicaragua.

Good-bye Don

My brother's wishes were to be cremated and his ashes buried with his wife Jessilyn. Today is our final good-bye. We will place him in the ground. I wish I had something profound to say.

Kelvin Don Franklin departed this world on February 28, 2010. Kelvin Don was born October 30, 1983 in Lawton, Oklahoma. He was a loving son, brother, husband and friend.
Kelvin or Kiev as many knew him spent every waking moment madly in love with his wife Jessilyn. His life was spent loving and helping others. He was captivated by the cosmos and loved to study the stars and dreamed of being an astronomer. To some, Don was seen as quiet but to those who knew him well they appreciated his great sense of humor. He immensely enjoyed participating in the Scarborough Faire and was an active member of the Scarborough Royal Guard and Halberdiers.

Kelvin Don is survived by his parents Don Franklin and Laura Graves, his three sisters Carylla, Marnie and Bethany Franklin, and one nephew Corbin Franklin.

Kelvin Don was preceded in death by his loving wife Jessilyn Franklin. Grandparents Vernal and Beatrice Franklin, and Bill and Bettye White.


Don I miss you dearly! I wish you were still here and we could go on that bike ride we always talked about.

Procedures and Routines, Rules and Consequences

Hmm.... sounds like a lot of teacher stuff eh! Well you're right! This weekend has been full of opportunities to work with Nicaraguan teachers.

Friday a group of teachers from NCA went to Colegio Hosanna Sur and did two work shops. One group of NCA teachers worked with the upper elementary and secondary teachers while the other group worked with the lower elementary teachers. There was lots of creativity shared and fun lessons and objectives written or discussed during our time together. Our group acted out the life cycle of a plant. It was a very artistic dramatization. :-)

Saturday I was invited to a small town 45 minutes from Managua to share some teaching strategies with teachers at a local public school. 7 wonderful women were there. We had a great time working through some classroom management ideas. God showed up in a very special way as we were talking about building relationships with our students and making an impact in their lives. God opened up the door for us to talk about Him and the value of prayer with our students. In Nicaragua there are no hard and fast rules about religion in the schools therefore making it possible for these teachers to pray with their students. It was a wonderfully sweet time.



Here are some of the ladies making their rules posters to take back to their classrooms. They were so excited to write out their Positive Responsabilities for their students to follow. Pray for these seven women that as they go to their classroom on Monday that the Lord would grant them strength, creativity, patience and lots of love for their students.





I continue to praise God for the opportunities he has granted me to share with teachers here in Nicaragua. I pray that he would continue to use me in meaningful ways in the field of education.

Just For Fun

The last few posts have been pretty serious so I thought I would lighten the mood a little.

The 2010 Winter Olympics are well underway in Vancouver, BC. In the spirit of the Olympics we put on some hot coffee, roasted some marshmallows and made smores. Aimee, my Canadian roommate, donned her winter toque (hat).





Last night we sat down after our smores we cooled off by watching a few winter events.

There are not always lots of entertaining things to do around these parts so we have to be creative. You can imagine that this is Nica version of the Olympics.



Imagine it is a little bit different version of the Bobsled event in the winter Olympics.





This is the Ice Dancing event.

Crossing the Jordan

Sidenote: I started this blog two weeks ago and was unable to post it until now. It seems so appropriate to add more after the most recent events with my family. I've added more promises fulfilled in blue below.

I have the privilage of working with 15 wonderful first graders every day. We have lots of fun learning and growing together. This past week we re-enacted the crossing of the Jordan River into the promised land by the Israelites. What joyous occasion for the Israelites after waiting for 40 years in the desert. The joy of God's promise to them fulfilled!

As I reflected on some of the other promises that God has fulfilled throughout the Bible with my class I looked as bit farther at the promises He has fulfilled in my own life.

Here are just a few:
Psalm 20
¹ May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

² May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.

³ May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
Selah

⁴ May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.

Verse 1: God has protected me from many close calls while driving on the roads in Nicaragua as well as from sickness that seems to plague many here.

Verse 2: He has sent help and wonderful support from family, friends and a great community of believers here in Nicaragua.

Verse 4: The desire of my heart this past year was to return to teaching and God has granted that opportunity. I am overjoyed to be able to work with a special class of first graders and learn from them.

What a great and mighty GOD I serve! Not only for his answers to prayer and promises fulfilled but also for the trials and challenges he puts us through that motivate us to move deeper into His presence.

On Sunday, January 24th I received news that my sister-in-law passed away suddenly. Doctors did not know it at the time but later discovered that she had a very rare and aggressive form of cancer. Upon receiving this news I immediately made plans to go to TX to be with my brother during this difficult time. Don and Jessilyn had just gotten married in May of 2009. While the trip was a difficult one I can say that I still say that I serve a God who fulfills his promises. Though we are often plagued with questions like: How? Why? What am I supposed to do now? There is comfort that can be found in the fulfilled promises of our Lord and the reminder they are to us that we are not alone in this life and He does not change.

These are just a few of the promises I saw in my life over the past few weeks

verse 1: HE does answer in the day of trouble. God provided great friends who helped me find the cheapest ticket to get home fast, a sub for my class, a beautiful, spontanious prayer time.

The God of Jacob did set me securely on high! There was a peace unexplainable and an assurance that God had all the details in His control.

Verse 2: Help and support from Zion! Boy oh boy was there ever. Not only physical help in preparing lesson plans from friends at 11:00pm but also financial help too. Not to mention LOADS of prayer from so many of you.

Psalm 20

⁵ We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests.

⁶ Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he answers him from his holy heaven
with the saving power of his right hand.

⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

It is my prayer that always boast in the name of the Lord. He truly does save his annointed. There is no doubt in my mind that He answers us with His saving right hand.

Prayer Request:

Please continue to pray for my family as we work through the grieving process.

Pray for Don, my brother, as he learns to live without the love of his life by his side.

The custody of 4 yr old Gabriel. He is Jessilyn's son and is in the middle of a very difficult situation.

I'd love to share more of what God is doing and has done so if you want more details please write.

Relationships

If I were to sum up 2009 in one word it would be relationships. God has blessed me with so many great friends, family, co-workers and acquaintances. A perk of living in a "warm" culture is that people tend to be more people oriented rather than task oriented. The longer I am here in Nicaragua the more I long for those long afternoon conversations with others over coffee or a cup of Rojita (for all those cough syrup tasting soda lovers).

Since I stayed in Nicaragua this Christmas my primary objective was to visit and catch up with all of the friends I've hardly seen since the school year started. The past two weeks have been RICH in fellowship, heart to heart talks, laughter, tears and yes... coffee.

I love and cherish every moment that has been spent over my break with people. I feel refreshed and revived. What an exciting way to start out 2010.

Today I took my truck to my mechanic. Bismark is a brother from one of the churches that we work with and has been a true blessing to our base not only with his mechanic skills but also with his amazing testimony.

Last Spring Bismark's wife died suddenly. It is customary in Nicaragua that there is an all night visitation that starts pretty much right away. Family, friends, church members etc come and comfort and pray with the family and then a burial service is generally the following day. As we heard the news last year our hearts sank as we mourned the loss of a dear sister. Our prayers went out to Bismark and his sons as they grieved. As I went to the "vela" visitation and talked with Bismark I was left speechless at he gave testimony to God's power, purpose, peace and provision in the midst of this difficult challenge. I thought that I was going to give words of comfort and encouragement to a hurting brother but in turn left awestruck by the power of our great God and His testimony through Bismark's trust in Him.

Back to today... Bismark and I were chatting and I asked him how his holidays were know that they were very different for him and his boys this year. He shared that it has been difficult and that he has felt strange these past few weeks without his wife around. As we both shared tears and a prayer together Bismark gave praise to the Lord for providing a moment to talk and share what he is experiencing. He is taking comfort from the words of David in the Psalms during these days.
Psalm 77
11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

12 I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds.

13 Your ways, O God, are holy.
What god is so great as our God?

14 You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.

Please pray for God's peace and comfort to reign in Bismark's life and home.

God I thank you that you have made us relational people and that you provide people to talk to when we need it most. Thank you for always being our Rock and Provider.

Mailing Address

Many people have asked about my address for Christmas cards so here it is.

Cristo Para La Ciudad
Carey Franklin
APDO MJ -46
Managua, Nicaragua

Merry Christmas!