The End...Sort Of

I flew back to the States on Thursday.  It was a long day of flying - I woke up at four in the morning and did not arrive in Springfield until ten o'clock that evening.  Thankfully I am use to delayed flights and they hardly bother me anymore...though a delayed flight tomorrow might get under my skin a bit - I am quite eager to be in California again, even if we do have a fly on our endangered species list and 21 of the counties have an unemployment rate of 15%....Just hope Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties aren't one of those counties!

My term comes to a close today.  The last couple months in Nicaragua were a great way to finish it off.  I ended my last week there presenting and training on entering and analysing nutrition data.  Since, I was only there for a few months it was really important to me that all the work I did was taught and learned by people that live and work there every day.   During my last few days there, work began on the Convoy of Hope warehouse.  The very base was built when I got there, but the funds came through, while I was there to continue the building.  This will allow for the expansion and growth of the program.  Currently, the food is stored in the first floor of the LACC Building, which really isn't meant for the storage of goods.  Also, Nicaragua like other Latin countries is prone to earthquakes and flooding. The warehouse will allow for more food to be on hand when a natural disaster strikes.  It was cool to see the first stages of this warehouse and see it come to life. 

As for my future plans, some is unknown and some is known.  Derek and I are getting married in December and he will begin grad school in the fall at Western Seminary.  He will be studying Marriage and Family Therapy as well as Addiction Studies.  I will be looking for a job and trying to figure out what direction to go in that area. I am waiting tell I get home to do any serious job searching.  This is an exciting time, but a time of many changes for me.  I am stepping into a lot of unknowns, which can be a bit intimidating, but I serve a God who knows all.  As I end my time you can pray for guidance and direction, and for safety on my travels home.

Thank you for your prayers and supports over the last couple years!  They are and were much appreciated.  There is no way to properly thank you for the sacrifice you have made in terms of time in prayer and financial support given!  I pray that God blesses you and your families abundantly.

Also, the blog is not going away.  It was one of my favorite parts of these two years.  Writing my thoughts, adventures and sharing about God have been a great pleasure, so it will continue.  It might start to look more ecletic with having more freedom to delve into a few more topics, and I have this idea to try and review every flavor at Marianne's Ice Cream, as well as continue to write my musings on life and God.  Hope you continue to check in once in awhile! 

"And that's about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. Greet one another with a holy embrace. All the brothers and sisters here say hello. The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you." 2nd Corinthians 13:11-14

State of the Heart #1

For the last few months I've been contemplating on this word we like to use in church called "calling".  I think often this word is translated into our lives as "doing".  Calling becomes this thing that some Christians become obessed with - saying "I'm looking for my calling", "I'm not sure I'm called to do that"or asking "What is your calling?". Christians fret and worry, so much about this word "calling".  I too have gotten caught up in this at times. 

There are even Christian kids in college who will change universities three times or change majors five times all saying that God called them to change everytime (now I know God does ask us to make life changes and only that person can ultimately stand responsible to God, but also I don't think God is not a God of disorder and 5 majors in 4 years is a bit disorderly....).  The Church (at least the United States church) gets hung up on this word "calling".  It becomes about what you "do".  Not that God doesn't give us certain passions or doesn't ask us to make certain career choices, ultimately though I believe that God cares more about how you live than what you do.

Christ would rather have a hard working, honest, God listening, kind, business man than a pastor who uses his position to empower himself, and is mean and angry (and in the meantime turns people off to God).  God wants us to live in a way that represents him.  He wants his followers to first love HIM and then love their neighbor.  I think it time for the church to take the pressure of this word "calling" and instead encourage the members to live lifes that represent Christ.  As Christians we shouldn't fret and worry, but instead have faith, trust and hope.  In saying this I am not saying that we should ignore God in our career choices, God should always be the first in our decision making. I am saying that maybe God cares more about the state of your heart than your career choice. 

My first try ever at homemade tortillas.  Masa, water and a little salt.  They don't look too pretty, but they taste good, though not quite the same.  I think a tortilla press might make the job a little easier, I don't know how they make tortillas perfectly round just using their hands!  Lots of practice I suppose =).  One thing I have done alot here is practice making foods from region.  I made beans from the grain, cooked yuca, fried a ripe plantain (my next project is cooking a green plantain) and so forth.

Mud and Shoelessness

My alarm this morning went off nice and early at 5:20 am. I rolled out of bed a few minutes earlier and got myself ready for the day. About an hour later my ride came and I was off to visit a community. We eventually turned off onto a dirt road and this is when I asked where we were going. Sometimes, I lose some information in translation. So, I thought we were going to a city called Leon and I knew this dirt road wasn't heading towards Leon (either that or some sort of short-cut I had never been on). We were headed towards a city called San Francisco and later I would learn that the actual community was called Santa Maria.

I was with two other Convoy of Hope staff here in Nicaragua. We drove about an hour or so before we met up with the pastor of the community. We then proceeded to drive another thirty or forty minutes down another dirt road and we took it until the road was impassable. We drove through mud, holes and very, very, big puddles! On the way the Pastor told us that during the rainy season life is very complicated in this community. The road is often covered with water. This water contaminates their wells and makes their water dirty. It also makes their roads impassable; meaning the trucks they sell wood to cannot get through. Selling wood is their main source of income.

We finally arrived and I wished I had tennis shoes on instead of sandals. The area was a mud bowl. The truth is I was lucky to have sandals. I saw several women and children who were barefoot, standing in mud. We eventually were able to share with the people about Christ and distribute the bags of food. It is just a small little bit of food in the scheme of the things, but I hope it serves as an encouragement to the people of this village.

Many people here in Nicaragua live in homes that really don't offer much protection from the elements, so the rainy season means a constant drenching. Maybe next time you invest in a new pair of shoes think instead of investing in a not for profit that donates shoes or maybe investing in a pair of Toms. Today pray for those who are missing the basic needs - food, water, shoes, and clothes. Remember them in the way you spend your money and in the way you give. Don't take for granted your shoes, your closet, your home and the food you eat. Love God and then love your neighbor.

New Day!

Before I get started - I have put in pictures from a couple of the schools.  The picture of the scale is mine from a school called Lirios de los Valles.  We took measurment here.  The other pictures are from a school in a city called El Sauce.  They were taken by Joel, who works for Convoy of Hope in Nicaragua. 

It rained all day yesterday.  Well, most of the day from morning to evening the sky was gray and overcast. The rain came down hard.  Creating rivers in roads, and ponds in parking lots. Rain covered the city.  It was the first time that during the day I actually felt a little cold and last night I used two sheets instead of one.  I kept pushing my fan farther and farther from my bed and then decided to just pull out my extra sheet.  It did the trick.

Then this morning the sun was out and the sky was blue.  The birds were chirping and the dirt parking lot where I live was drying out.  Traffic was bustling as a new day began.  The rain came down hard, but the next day was new day.  The air was fresh and cooler after the rain.  The same thing goes for our lives.  Sometimes we need a good rain or a good sweep of our heart and mind.  1 Peter 2:1 says " So, clean house!  Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk.  You've had a taste of God.  Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God's pure kindness.  Then you'll grow up mature and whole in God." Maturity is a characteristic to be sought after. 

I truly believe that if more adults allowed themselves to mature and grow we would have less social issues in society.  Imagine if more adults actually practiced getting rid of malice, pretense, envy and hurtful talk.  Imagine what that would do for marriages.  If people actually practiced 1 Corinthians 13, especially verses 4-7 : "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. "  What if these attributes of love where not only practiced at home, but practied in the workplace, in government, and in the streets? 

We are all human and we all fall short.  However,  I also believe that humans have the ability to grow, change and adapt (it may be a long road with lots of obstacles at times).  When that person has Jesus Christ in their life I believe people have even a greater ability to grow and change and when rough patches happen they have a friend in Christ and the support of their church family.    I encourage you today to clean house, to start a fresh new day, to turn over a new leaf and keep it turned over!  Strive to become mature in faith and to be a person who practices 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 in all areas of your life. Don't let your own insecurity guide your behavior - don't let your insecurity make you into someone who feels the need to cut others down. Find confidence in Christ who made you, build others up, encourage others, don't be self-seeking, but be selfless, and lastly, take personal responsibilty in all that you do.  Go out and live in love =).  

Fingerprints

"The one true mark of a saint of God is the inner creativity that flows from being totally surrendered to Jesus Christ. In the life of a saint there is this amazing Well, which is a continual Source of original life. The Spirit of God is a Well of water springing up perpetually fresh. A saint realizes that it is God who engineers his circumstances; consequently there are no complaints, only unrestrained surrender to Jesus. Never try to make your experience a principle for others, but allow God to be as creative and original with others as He is you" (Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers, June 13th). I read this section in Utmost for His Highest yesterday morning before church and it clung with my thoughts all day yesterday. The words that stuck into my mind were "original life", "perpetually fresh" and "creative and original". God created us as original and unique human beings. He made each one of us distinct. I think sometimes as we live life we lose or forget that God designed us and that we are creatively and uniquely made by Him (and others are uniquely created as well!). Through the Holy Spirit and through entering into relationship with Christ we once again are reminded that God not only created us, but is continually creating something new in us. We can live with a freshness that comes from knowing God and His grace and His love.

Each one of our experiences with God is unique. How God may interact with me, may be different than he interacts with you. God called me to Him differently than He may have or will call you. My experience is uniquely my own. It is important that we don't push our experience or our "callings" (what we believe God has asked us to do) onto other people. We have to allow God to work without getting in the way. It doesn't mean that our lives aren't examples, it doesn't mean we don't speak when we should speak; it means that we let God work without getting in the way.

We also should be careful to judge. My experiences with God have almost always been in nature while, snowboarding in the mountains or running down West Cliff. However, the two most significant God experiences in my life occurred in my bedroom and the kitchen. They almost never occur inside a church building. For someone else they might have their moments in a worship service or in fellowship with friends. This doesn't negate the fact that Christ has called us to live lives that represent him well, but it might take some of us longer to get there or it might be a different experience that gets us to that point of realizing Jesus is the Son of God and that God is the only God and in him we find ourselves new, fresh, and bubbling with an "inner creativity". Yes, he call us to a different way of life and yes, that life may not always be easy or without hardship, but in that life you find a freedom that you never knew when you lived without Him.

Time is Short

Monday Morning.  Good thing I brought my Starbucks Travel Mug and plenty of Tazo Awake Tea with me to Nicaragua.  I feel a bit sluggish this morning, but I also feel a sense of urgency.  In fact I almost vetoed the blog this morning to get straight to work.  When the sun sets today I enter into my last fifty days as a Missionary Associate.  The time is short, but the work is much. 

Nicaragua is the second poorest nation in Latin America and the Caribbeans.  According to the World Food Program Website, http://www.wfp.org/content/country-programme-nicaragua-2008-2012, 48% of the population in Nicaragua is below the poverty line and 17% live in extreme poverty.  The statistics says that 1.5 million people here are undernourished.  They believe that 20% of the children under the age of 5 have chronic malnutrition and it may be as high as 50% in some of the most food scarce regions.  It is said that the median income of the poor covers only 24% of the cost of the basic foods needed to live ( http://www.wfp.org/countries/nicaragua ).  As is with most third world nations the richest 20% own 60% of the wealth and the poorest 20% only own 3% of the wealth.  That is only the economic side of poverty.  The stats on these pages don't show those who are poor in spirit.  Those who are in need of a kind word or smile, those who are in need of a Savior, those who need to hear the word of God - the Love of God!

The time is short and the work is much.  This is what pushes me as I enter into my last days here in Nicaragua.  To work hard to support the work that the missionaries are doing here, to work hard to help create a way to assess and evaluate compassion projects here in Nicaragua.  This morning I feel urgency for the work ahead.  I encourage you to feel the same urgency where you live and work and play.  For the time is short, the work is much and the harvest is here.

I leave you with this verse:  "Let me give you a new command: Love on another.  In the same way I loved you, you love one another.  This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples - when they see the love you have for each other".  John 13:34     

Ant Lessons

I moved this weekend.  I basically moved up one floor and over a hallway.  The place is bigger, with a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.  It was quite filthy when I went to take a look at it, but with the help of two ladies who work where I live we got it cleaned up pretty quick.  However, they discovered a bat family that lived in the ceiling above my closest and I think there is still something up there because every morning I find dirt from the ceiling space in my closet.  Also, my refigerator has become over run with ants and I don't think it is really working as none of my food was cold.  Oh well =).  I'm sure I will figure something out to take care of them.  I have used bleach, hairspray, water, instant death by smashing them, and yet they still persist. I had to throw away cheese and butter yesterday. It may be silly, but please pray the ants will leave me alone! It wouldn't be so bad, but since they are in my refigerator I don't know how to protect my food.  Really, in a lot of ways the place is nice with a sitting area and stove.  The bathroom sink is larger for washing my dishes, since I am still without a kitchen sink.  There are plans for redoing the apartment, but that won't happen until the end of my time here in Nicaragua.  I have two fans, lots of space, more utensils, plates and bowls.  The ants and bats are just adventures along the journey.  Frankly, it could be a lot worse.   I don't have any pictures yet of the new apartment, but I will try to post some soon. 

Ants are interesting creatures.  I think we have some lessons to learn from them.  They are incredibly persistent.  They just won't quit.  No matter how many I kill, they always return.  Their job is to find food and that is what they will do.  In many ways this is how we should live and work for God.  In persistence - without giving up.  We should be in constant prayer and lifting up our requests to God.  After all didn't the persistent widow finally get the judge to give her justice? Jesus's intended purpose for the parable was to show the importance of persistent, constant prayer and faith (Luke 1-6).

Ants work as a team.  Ants scout for food and once food is found they form a trail from the food to the nest.  They work together to get the job done.  They cooperate to support the whole.  Wikipedia, the oh so trusted internet source, says this: "The colonies are sometimes described as superorganisms because the ants appear to operate as a unified entity, collectively working together to support the colony" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ants). I believe as Christians we should to operate as an unified entity. Not that we will always agree with each other, but that in the in the midst of the disagreement or difference in opinion that we still support each other and love each other as Christ loves us.  As 1 Thessalonians 5:13 says "Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part" (The Message Version).  

One thing that ants don't seem to do very well is to learn from their mistakes.  While, persistence is a good thing, to never learn that maybe their is another more effective way to do something is not a positive trait.  You would think after realizing that so many of their ants friends are dead they would find a new food source.  One, which would still feed the colony, but would spare the lives of others in their community.  As Christians, we should learn and grow.  We shouldn't keep doing the same things that hurt us or hurt others around us.  We should even be willing to change our ministry programs or how we minister if the current method keeps failing.  We should have confidence in God to be able to say "I messed up" and then begin to fix or change things.  This can be a sin or this can be simple a methodolgy or way of doing things. Again in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 when discussing the time and hour of Christ return, "He won't call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would.  About the time everybody's walking around complacently, congratulating each other - 'We've sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!' - suiddenly everything will fall apart.  It's going to come as suddenly and iescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman".  So, we should be on our toes, aware, never status qou, constantly learning from our mistakes and mistakes of others. 

Enough said on lessons from ants for today.  "May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together - spirit, soul and body - and keep you fit for the coming of our Master Jesus Christ.  The One who called you is completely dependable.  If he said it, he'll do it! 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.    

(The pictures are all from a google search for ants, mistake and dependable.)