La Vida Nica

Well two months passed in the blink of an eye!

But seriously, I can’t even believe the last time we wrote on this blog was two months ago. Apologies all the way around. Let me try to catch up. 🙂

After Thanksgiving we had only a few weeks in Nica before heading to the Pacific Northwest for some much needed family/framily time. In that time I helped with a medical team from FSU and we both hosted our friends from Oregon who are MOVING here!! So insane! The Ohrans and the Herrings are headed down very soon, and we couldn’t be more excited to expand the beautiful community we have here. The Ohrans will be helping us out at Ruby Ranch and the Herrings will be helping around Open Hearts, as well as beginning a surf ministry out at the beach. Both are families of six and we are incredibly excited to see how the Lord redirects and moves in their lives as they are taking this giant step in His plan for them.

We also moved into our house! And by ‘moved in’ I mean we put all our random stuff we brought with us in one of the rooms, locked the door behind us and got on an airplane to the states. Ha! Needless to say there has been a lot to do since we returned. We had only had enough money to buy a bed and a washing machine before we left, so we figured those were a good place to start. We’ve been able to order a table and chairs, and a simple standing height table I will use as a desk, but we still need quite a bit more. We want our home to be a place that we can not only feel at home in, but also a place where friends can come to visit, and we can host gatherings with our friends here in Nicaragua. And really whatever else the Lord places in front of us to do with the space. We are so grateful to have a place to call home, and we want it to minister to others as much as it does to us.

While we were back in the states we had an incredible time. Really. It was beautiful how we were able to see so many people, hug so many friends who are like family, and just be with everyone. We love living in Nicaragua, but the distance stings. On our good days we wish you all were here to share in the joy, and on the hard days we wish you were here to tell us it will be ok. So being around so many loved ones was very special and encouraging. We really did try to soak in every moment.

And interestingly enough, not everything we were around for was good. But somehow that made me appreciate it that much more. We sat with ailing grandparents and answered the same questions multiple times due to failing memory. We were informed of scary prognoses and were able to ask how everyone was doing with it. We had multiple conversations about the hard things that our friends and family are walking through, and I appreciated it so much. Oftentimes we all want to put on our ‘happy face’ for the friends visiting, but that isn’t why we became friends in the first place, or rather, it isn’t what has kept us as friends. We all need people for the good and for the bad, and I found myself grateful to be able to be present for some of the bad.

Since being back in Nicaragua we have ran multiple errands, tried to establish our home a little more, and I was able to host my first medical team out at Ruby Ranch. It has been a great first week of reconnecting with friends and acquaintances from here, and I have been very encouraged by how much easier it is to communicate now. Don’t get me wrong: we both have a LONG way to go with our Spanish, but there is something comforting about noticing progress, and after so much time of just speaking English in the states, it has been wonderful to get back to Spanish.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support of our work down here in Nica. We are truly amazed by it, and are so grateful for each and every one of you.

If you would like to help us out with setting up our home here, you can visit our finances page and find out how to do that. Thank you so much!