“You never know what you got ’til it’s gone…”
Here in Nicaragua, what I thought were necessities are in reality blessings to be received with thanksgiving from my heavenly Father.
Sufficient sleep, running water, full stomach, purified drinking water, good health, clean fingernails…I have learned that these are spontaneous gifts to be enjoyed rather than daily essentials. Never before has roasted chicken for dinner (along with rice and beans, of course) or a jar of peanut butter from another mission team been received with so much thanksgiving among the members of our team!
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” –James 1:17
For the past week, the 12 of us girls on the team have had the exciting adventure of sharing a small room with one light bulb, a broken fan, six mattresses, one giant lizard, Edwardo the mouse and his three friends, a poisonous fuzzy green caterpillar, a couple of 4-inch long cockroaches, and an army of winged ants.
Moises showing off our unexpected roommate
The greatest adventure came, however, when the city turned the water on at night and we got to clean ourselves beneath a torrent of frigid water splurting from a plastic piece of tubing that poked down from the ceiling of the little wooden shack behind our room. The fact that the toilet was 6 inches from the pipe shower certainly served to bring us much closer together in a short period of time.
Life is an adventure, and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way!
Each new day is a precious gift from our Daddy. It is so easy for the newness of our days to become routinely ordinary. “But the treasure of each brand-new day is so special that Moses was led to write, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” –Psalm 90:12 (Our Daily Bread).
Twelve-year-old Maria always marches the kids into the eating area for every meal singing (to the tune of Frère Jacques),
“Buenos días, buenos días, ¿como está? ¿como está?
Estamos muy alegre, estamos muy alegre, estamos bien, estamos bien!”
What a great reminder that the joy that God gives us does not depend on our circumstances. Even when sitting down to eat for dinner the exact same meal of rice and beans that they had for the previous two meals, the kids sing that they are alegre (cheerful), and that they are well (bien).
“Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
Praise:
- Praise God for an incredible Bible study and toe-nail painting party with the preteen and teenage girls at the farm! We discussed the lies that the world tells us about our beauty and worth and the Truth about God’s love for us as his precious baby girls. I held back tears as many of the young women openly shared their struggles and the power of God’s Spirit working in their lives in the midst of their hardships.
- Thank God for increasing time to spend with the children here at the orphanage in the midst of other ministries in Managua and the surrounding cities. It’s been so fun acting out Bible stories with them, teaching them to say “What’s up man!”, and just talking and living life with them.
Pray:
- Ask God to open the doors of the jail here in Managua for us to be able to share the light of God’s freeing love with the prisoners there.
- Ask God for even deeper bonds of care and unity to form among the members of our team as we bear daily with one another in love.
