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For Christ love compells us... 2 Corinthians 5:14
I am compelled by his love to love others. I am compelled by his love to write this blog. I am compelled by his love to reach out and touch people. I am compelled by his love to live differently because of the things I have seen, the people I have met and the places I have walked. My hope is that you too are compelled by his love to love differently than you are capable of loving on your own. We returned to Managua last night after spending two days in Leon at the church of Dolores, the mom of all of my closest friends here in Nicaragua! It was such a blessing to be with her. 4 years ago we visited Leon with our very first team it was so fun to return and see the changes and even see some of the kids that I remember from 4 years ago! I am excited to compare pictures from both trips.

This is Dolores working on sand art with Maggie and some of the kids. She loved it! I love that so many people here find joy in such simple things, I want to be like this.

This is our bus ride to Leon. Do you see Josh, Larry and Will in the back? Maggie and Dwight up close? It took about an hour and a half there and I think 2 and a half home!



Friday night we went to Flor d liz's house for dinner. It was (of course) amazing!!!! I loved being there because my desire is to know the life of all of my Nicaraguan friends and they are so willing to share their lives with us! This picture is William and Shirley (another daughter of Dolores, sister of Wilbert, Larry, Flor d liz). She works with a ministry called CECNIC, it is a ministry connected with Intervarsity. She is also studying to be an architect. She was excited to show Dwight her drawing table and the plans that she had drawn.


This was one of the nights that we were at the Montelimar Resort and we called the Shoracks on skype because we knew they were having the team over for dinner. What a gift it was to talk with them and see them on the computer!!!! We were able to share highs and lows since they arrived home.


This is a funny picture but I wanted to show you the inside of our favorite fruit called Pitaya. It's that bright pink fruit at the top. It is so good with lime. William loves it!


Dwight and I at Pochomil Beach. It was so good to be there. It is a huge resort and there were so few people it felt like we were alone. The water is warmer than Hawaii, the beach is perfect sand. When you look back toward the resort all you see is giant palm trees. There was a great big pool and the whole place was dreamy. It was good for us to be away from Managua but we were all still a little tense after having our team leave. There is always an adjustment time and this time we adjusted while still in Nicaragua.


Our family at the Montelimar. They had a tiny zoo and put put golf.
Everyday I remind myself to pay attention to where I am! To look around and not take any of these moments for granted, I don't want to miss anything and everyday I want to experience all of this with my family. This hasn't been easy, Dwight and I have had difficult times, he came at a super busy time... I was staying with the older girls at the villa, facilitating our team and running all of our projects. This left me with little time to be a loving wife. I have always known that our strongest ministry is our marriage and I am confident that even this time is preparing us for what God has planned for us down the road. I am thankful we haven't just started a 5 year commitment as missionaries, only 2 months, this is a good starting point to work out all the kinks. Thank you for loving us so well, for praying for us and always remembering us. God is so faithful and has been so close to us on this trip.
Don't worry about us, I share all of this so you will be praying for God's strength and wisdom and for clear communication. Dwight is leaving on Friday and it is going to be super hard for him to be home alone for 3 weeks, if you want to visit I think he would love it. His phone number (because I changed all the phones while I was gone, which has totally isolated him) is 425.773.... I can't remember the rest, I will send it later. Love you all!
I just found out we're having pizza for dinner! YES!!!






Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 28, 2009 at 9:23 PM

    I love what you said about being able to enjoy the simplest things. I saw that in Africa too. I think it's such a blessing to be able to enjoy life like that. It is so much easier and wonderful because there's less worry. I pray that that desire will stick around once you're home too.

    Also, I love what you said about Christ's love compelling you. Megan brought it up tonight at Bible study and I just loved how free it is. That we really don't have to worry about doing good or being a good witness because when we love Christ, his love shines and loves through us. We just need to worry about loving Christ and he'll love through is in return.

    Thanks for sharing. I love that you keep us all so updated! Miss you!

    ReplyDelete

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