A Day of Rest.....

Good morning.... I am thankful that I have been able to post pictures during this busy time. Every once in awhile I have thoughts go through my mind that I want to write for you but of course now that I have a moment to sit and write............

There is so much. Everything is still so new. Dwight and I had a role reversal this last week (kind of), I was at work each day by 7:30 and he was here with the kids and taking care of paying bills and grocery shopping. He had to make several trips to the bank because you can only withdrawal $400 each day and our bills are more than that ~ he got it all figured out and learned to drive through the city. He is still learning that you slow down at the rotundas and not speed up, for some reason he steps on the gas ~ this makes even our Nicaraguan friends scream!

He did all those household things and made his way the Villa each day to work on the bookkeeping with Enrique ~ Enrique said Dwight is a very good work partner!

On Saturday night we had the opportunity to share our highs and lows from the previous week (Mario and Larry were here with us)

• Maggie said her high was having so much fun with William at our house
• Williams was that he lost a tooth in only 20 minutes (we are a little concerned that the toothfairy doesn't come to Nicaragua ~ we'll let you know)
• Josh has declared that he wants to translate for teams and is learning so much spanish and working with teams was his high
• Dwight loved spending a morning with Josh and Mario going to the hardware store, getting our tires repaired and eating a bacon, cheese hotdog!
• My high was having God direct me so clearly when to step in and share His word and encourage my team to share. I got to visit so many homes and pray!!!
• Mario was thankful to see God working in his life and and encouraging his heart and of course scoring a goal in his first game back from a broken nose.
• Larry's high was a man on the bus sharing about what God was doing in his life.

It is important for our family to have these times together. For 21 days straight we have had our days filled with people, it's good but also very difficult to catch up with each other. We have a week now before school starts. We have a lot to get done; new student orientation, open house, final pieces for the uniforms and a lot more ~ we will still spend a lot of time at the Villa, creating our "normal" schedule.

God is faithful and He is so good. There are so many needs, so many. I struggle to understand what I can do and what will help the most. I will be studying Isaiah with my friend Tamara this year and just this morning I received an email from her talking about standing up for the oppressed and clothing the naked ~ while we were at the dump the other day I watched a little boy play all day with the team, eating the lunch that we brought, having a butterfly drawn on his face and all the while ~ no pants, no underpants, nothing. I want to be able to clothe the naked because they really exist! I want to feed the hungry because they are everywhere. I want to give water to the thirsty because there are so many that don't have access to clean water or water at all!

It is so easy to close our eyes or turn our heads so we don't have to see it. Praise God that He is close to the broken hearted, the naked and the thirsty.

Prayer requests:

• At night William has been getting homesick, especially when he gets very tired.
• That things could feel a little normal to Dwight.
• That we could understand how to fix the washing machine that was given to us so we can wash clothes.
• For unity in our family, loving words and patience ~ I know this is our greatest witness to those watching and to each other.

Love to you all!