La Vida Nica

I think, subconsciously, I have resisted writing this update. (There are a lot of big feels about it all…) But it is time. So here we go:

On June 13th, the three of us boarded a flight and returned here to the United States, for what we are calling a ‘forced furlough.’ A handful of things transpired between our last post and that departure date that made it apparent that we could better serve Nicaragua, and all those we love there, from here in the States. As you can imagine, it was not an easy decision. We LOVE Nicaragua. It is where we want to be. Where our daughter was born. Where our home is. But we were feeling the effects of the situation going on around us very acutely, and with our daughter being as young as she was, we felt as though we needed to leave for a while. At some point, maybe, we will have time and space (and not a super active 9 1/2 month old) to sit and write out some of the stories. But for now, we felt like it was better to give an update on our family.

We are currently back in the Eugene area, staying with family, who has been so gracious to let us stay ‘as long as you need.’ Which also means we get to be back attending church services at our awesome church, Westside Faith Center. Can I just say how WONDERFUL it is to walk into a place where the whole of the place is for you and praying for you and loves you? Like seriously. Our church family is so beautiful, and we are honestly loving getting to spend so much time with them all. AND, added bonus, a TON of our close friends all had babies around the same time we had Scout, so we get to see all the littles in their precious first years of life. Seriously, such a treat.

We are planning on being here in Oregon at least through the end of the year. Whether it was our own brains/hearts, or the Lord whispering to us, we had a feeling (when we had that super difficult conversation about leaving) that we would be back in Nicaragua in January or February. We will continue to watch things there closely, but we are hoping to return after the first of the year. And we have had the question of, “what if it nothing is better by then?” And honestly, we don’t know. What we do know is that Jesus gave some pretty clear direction about the future, and worrying about it, when he gave the sermon on the mount. (Matthew 6:25-34) Specifically He said:

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” 

And honestly, that is what we are leaning on. That this whole beautiful mess we are walking out is way bigger than just us, and He knows.

In the meantime, I (Jamie) am getting to flex my big nerdy muscles behind the MRI scanner. Which is something I missed, and am very grateful to be able to do again. (It is also supporting us being here in the States, so that all the support we receive in this interim time can be used for our ministry in Nicaragua. Which is amazing!) And Landon is getting the incredible opportunity to be taking care of Scout, full time. Which is such an answer to prayer, and we are so grateful that it is working out.

We ended up purchasing a car, for this interim time. We felt like it was the best option for us, and we plan to resell it when we go back to Nicaragua. (So if you’re in the market for a great used car, let us know. 😉 ) The purchase of it was such an answer to prayer, as well. We had been searching, searching, searching and kept having things being sold right as we were going to look at them. Finally, I gave up. Ha! Landon is more patient, so he kept with it, and found something that looked promising. Then the sellers were so kind and helpful, and it was just so good. So if you see us driving around in a VW, you know why.

We continue to appreciate each and every prayer that is offered on our behalf, and look forward to sharing some very exciting ways our friends here in the States can love and support Nicaragua, in the coming weeks.