Here are a few shots of what we've been up to, in between eating chilean sea bass, drinking coffee and shooting clays with some of our friends.
We went to Port Discovery, a children's museum, in Baltimore, MD. It was so much fun! Below, the kids actually have their very own diner, and can serve the parents. It even has a real jukebox (which I LOVED). My boys loved getting my order, cooking and then serving it to me.
We spent the evening with some of Steve's old work friends. Their house is a child's dream come true. Especially the trampoline, which my boys enjoyed most of the night.
Steve with my baby and the "other" baby...our newest nephew. He's a cutie, don't you think?
We spent the evening with Steve's cousin at a nearby park.
The boys playing with a cousin and second cousin at a family get together.
For our last date, we went to a truck/tractor pull (if you ever wondered what rednecks do for fun, now you know). It was pretty amazing to see how many engines these guys to strap to a beam and then call it a tractor. and was it LOUD!!!
We've really been enjoying our time with friends and family. Catching up on what's been happening and seeing all the new changes in our friends' and family's lives has been fun and interesting.
We are adjusting to the culture here.
I no longer feel frozen when walking into air-conditioned stores. The boys have stopped asking if hot water will come out of the faucet. 90 degrees actually feels hot. The crickets put me to sleep. Homeschooling is going well. We are starting to arrive on time to events. The limitless opportunities and resources no longer feel overwhelming. Our stomachs have changed to adapt to a small lunch and big dinner. I now routinely use the toaster and microwave instead of the stove top.
BUT...it started to hit us this past week.
We're tired. Very, VERY tired. Emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally.
And thinking about leaving in only a few short weeks to return to Nicaragua made us feel even more tired.
Don't get us wrong. The last 3 years have been phenomenal. Life changing. We don't regret it for a moment. but it has also been exhausting, on every level. And it is starting to hit us, as we've finally started to slow down from all our travels and visits.
So we thought...do we have to return in a few weeks? Could we stay a bit longer for a time of refreshment and renewal? And return to Nicaragua in 3 or 4 months?
So that's what we are thinking about. We don't know what it will all look like. Where we will stay, what we will drive, the financials, but the more we think about it and pray about it, the more peace God is giving to us. To our hearts. and to our spirits.
So please...
Be in prayer for us as we continue to discern God's will for us, and as we seek the rest and renewal that we so desperately need.
Also pray that we could discern God's timing for our return to Nicaragua.
We'd like to share with you our recent partnership with World Outreach Mission. World Outreach Mission will be acting as our stateside mission and will handle our "office work", including maintaining our prayer and support list, sending out prayer letters and handling any donations that come our way. They will send tax-deductible receipts to our supporters and also offer online donations.
We have partnered with WOM for two main reasons:
1. They do not tell us what our mission should be or how to run the day-to-day. They only support us in our work, whatever that may be.
2. They provide a way to easily channel donations while giving donors a tax-deductible receipt.
If you would like to learn more about WOM, click on http://www.worldoutreach.org to see their website, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
If you would like to support us, either through prayer or financially, please let us know. We would like to have at least 10 people committed to praying for us on a daily basis. Regarding our financial situation, we hope to be self-supporting within a few years, Lord willing. If you have questions regarding our budget or would like to support a particular area, such as schooling, rent, food, etc. or a specific project, we would be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you for taking the time to walk with us on our journey, and may God continue to bless you on yours!
We sold the majority of our belongings, including furniture, housewares, garden tools, linens and clothing. We had a fantastic Labor Day weekend sale, thanks to all who stopped by to support us and to those who helped tremendously with the advertisement and organization.
Was it hard going through our belongings and deciding what to sell?
Most definitely.
But I heard Jesus whisper to me those words he said so long ago, If you want to follow me, you must leave father and mother and brother and sister behind. (paraphrase). It's amazing how tightly we hold onto our material possessions, even without realizing it. I know God is calling us to return to Nicaragua, but as I looked longingly over my possessions, I thought, Am I really going to do this? So many memories, so many "nice" things. But that's exactly what they are...things. Was I really going to let a few items stop me from following God? I asked God to give me peace about all these weighty decisions, which He has. But it certainly gave me a lot to think about.
Do we follow God's calling on our life and lay aside those things which hinder us, or do we cling even more tightly to those things which offer a short and false security when we sense God calling us in a different direction than we had planned?
However, I must admit, I did keep some of my better kitchen things, things that cannot be bought in Nicaragua, in the hopes that I can find a way to bring them down and support my desire to start a bakery, and perhaps even offer classes.
This past week was the first "normal" week we've had since arriving from Nicaragua. Steve started his job, working mostly on finishing doors, and I started homeschooling Zachariah. We worked on our reading and math skills this week, and dabbled a bit with astronomy and read lots of books on dinosaurs. How I love the libraries here! However, I was disturbed to see such a difference in the night sky here. It looks like there are not as many stars and they are hard to see. The night sky has a perpetual orange hue, due to light pollution. Not so in Nicaragua. The sky in Matagalpa is so black and the stars look like a thousand jewels God flung onto a black velvety dress. It always takes my breath away.
