I have been MIA....

Yes it has been over a year since I have posted anything on our family blog.  My hope is to be able to share more of our daily life here in Nicaragua with you, our family and friends.  Now, I can't promise that it will be daily but at least 1-2 times a week.  I want to be able to share things that you might not read on Facebook or in our newsletters as well as some of the same things that you would read on Facebook and in our newsletters.

So, if you are new to our blog let me introduce our family to you.  My name is Laurie and I wanted to begin their blog in order to share about our life as missionaries in Nicaragua.  I am married to a wonderful man, Josh, and we have twins, Sydney and Noah, who are 9 1/2.  We moved to Managua, Nicaragua on December 31, 2013 in order to begin language school in our country of service.  We were the first missionaries with BMDMI (Baptist Medical Dental Mission International) to attend language school in their country of service.  We felt this was important to be able to learn the dialect of the people we came to serve.  We were in language school for 6 months and let me tell you that it is hard to learn a second language as an adult but we are still a work in progress.  Maybe, I should say that I am still a HUGE work in progress when it come to speaking Spanish.  Our children attended the same language school for 12 weeks and we decided to enroll them in a private, Spanish speaking school.  This helped them tremendously with their Spanish speaking skills.  It is the philosophy of amercing them in the culture and the language. They remained at that school for 1 1/2 years. They made some great friends and were able to learn so much while attending NCA-Nejapa.  One of the pros to being able to attend language school in your country of service is that you get to begin building relationships immediately with other missionaries as well as the people you came to serve and work alongside.  We were able to begin helping with existing BMDMI ministries.  But, this can be a con to coming to your country of service.  You have a desire to begin working with these ministries and you loose your focus....language school.  However, for us this was not a con but a major pro.  Josh was able to work alongside some of the men at The Emmanuel Home of Protection, a home for girls who are minors and have been abused, and build relationships while practicing his Spanish.  I was able to begin leading a bible study with the girls, since our children were enrolled at NCA-Nejapa.  At first this was a terrifying thought, leading a bible study in Spanish, when I have only completed 12 weeks of language school.  But the girls were wonderful and so patient with me.  They were my biggest cheerleaders.  They still are today!

Now, fast forward to 2016.  We are still working at the girl's home and helping with their agriculture program.  Josh has learned so much in the last 2 year about raising pigs, rabbits, chickens, cattle and tilapia. He puts a lot of time into researching different ways to help this program run more efficiently and economically. He amazes me at what he is able to put into practice.  I am now homeschooling our children and growing more and more everyday in my ability and confidence as a homeschool parent.  We tried to homeschool the kids when we first arrived in country but moving to a new country, attending language school, transitioning into a new culture and homeschool did not go together.  We don't have perfect days but God uses those not so great days to mold us into what He wants us to be.

Join us along this journey and who knows you may learn something new about us, about Nicaragua or about raising fish.  Stay Tuned....

Be Still

Psalm 8: 1-9

1 O Lord, our Lord,

How majestic is Your name in all the earth,

Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!

2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength

Because of Your adversaries,

To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;

4 What is man that You take thought of him,

And the son of man that You care for him?

5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God,

And You crown him with glory and majesty!

6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;

You have put all things under his feet,

7 All sheep and oxen,

And also the beasts of the field,

8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,

Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,

How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

I wonder so many times like the song, “who am I, that the Lord of all the earth, would care to know my name,  would care to feel my hurt.”  Do you ever wonder this?  When I look around me and take the time to marvel at the wonders of His creation, it amazes me.  To the smallest of details God has put thought into His creation.  Sometimes I get so busy with living life that I forget to LIVE life.  Does that make sense to you like it does in my mind?  If it doesn’t let me try to explain.  I wake up in the morning with my list of things to do and go about my day with the purpose of marking things off my list that I forget to ‘stop and smell the roses’.  God says in Psalm  46:10” Be still and know that I am God.”  He wants us to acknowledge that He is in control of everything.  He pays attention to the smallest of details from the number of hairs on our heads to the stamen and pistil of a flower.  How cool is that!  I forget to LIVE life with the purpose of living for Him. 

When was the last time you took the time to stop and marvel at His creation?  

This morning?

Yesterday?

Last week? 

Or even last month?

Yesterday I took the time to go around our neighborhood to take  pictures of flowers.  Why?  I want to make a book for a friend who loves flowers.  Of course, I can send her flowers in the states but I wanted to send her flowers from Nicaragua.  I can do that with 1800flowers or FTD but I want her to have flowers from Nicaragua.  I want her to see the beauty in these flowers but also to remind her of God’s creation and His love for her.  On this walk I found myself reflecting on His creation not just with flowers but all of nature.  So many times I get distracted by the things in this world that I loose sight of the world.  (Romans 12:2)  I forget to live my life with a kingdom perspective rather than a “me” perspective.  So many times we begin our day incorrectly.  So if today you woke up like I have before with that list of things to get accomplished for the day, take moment right now, and ask God to help you change your perspective so you can LIVE life today with purpose.  Take time during your break time or lunch time to spend quietly with the Lord,  Reflecting on His beauty around you.  

Prayer: You O, Lord are majestic!  You have created the stars in the sky and the creatures of the sea.  You know the hairs on my head!  Thank you for Your abounding love for me.  Thank you for giving me the sight to see your creation whether it is with my physical eyes or in my heart.  Thank you for Who You Are!  

Clinging to Life

Do you find yourself clinging to life right now?  I have to confess I am clinging to life.  Clinging to things I miss.  Clinging to relationships with friends back home.  Clinging to things familiar.  Clinging to my first language.  Clinging to everything but what I should be clinging to...the TRUTH of God's Word!  Josh and I had a good discussion last night, which was a major milestone for me.  I have found it difficult to have in depth conversations with my own husband for years.  Why?  Maybe from fear of really sharing my heart and those thoughts being out there vulnerable to what I don't know.  But I felt like a light turned on last night for me not only in this area but in the area of where I am having difficulty.

This step of faith, in coming to Nicaragua, has been one of the hardest things I have ever done but I can probably guarantee will not be the last.  I have had to depend on things other than myself which is what we all should be doing everyday!  We should be clinging to the very foundation of what our life is about - Christ!  Josh reminded, which I knew already but so need reminding everyday, me that I am here in Nicaragua for a purpose.  I have discovered that in the missionary community it is a lot like the military community in that people have reservations of making deep friendships with others for fear of them moving away.  If you know me, really know me you know that is so not my nature.  That is the complete OPPOSITE of my personality.  I want to develop deeper relationships and am not afraid of sharing my heart, all my heart with others.  I have felt God nudging me to get closer with the ladies in our neighborhood but definitely need God's help with this.  Another mom in the neighborhood talked about when she first came it was hard to get into a group that already looked so tight.  We must be willing to open our hearts to have others be a part of our groups.  Because who are we to say someone would be a part of the group or not.  Think about the movie, "Yaya Sisterhood" (one of my favorites) and the diversity of the ladies who were friends.  We need diversity because we can all learn from each other.  We learn how to be a better daughter of the King, a better wife, a better mother, and a better friend when we let down our walls.  Jesus calls us to LOVE but how can we love others if we put up walls and cling to things in this life, instead of clinging to HIM.

God uses the daily things in our life to bring us closer to Him if only we will allow them to do so.  Don't look at the trials as something bad but as a chance to go deeper in your relationship with others and with God.  Cling to the TRUTHS found in God’s Word.  Cling to the PROMISES that He has given.  Cling to not only the CROSS but to the EMPTY TOMB.