Jesus. You are worthy.

Guys. I’m not sure I can explain how much I love snow. The pure white canvas it paints over everything it touches. The cold weather it brings that requires scarves, gloves and hats. The new playground it brings. Goodness. I just love it!

However, today Atlanta is experiencing snow and ice that I don’t feel quite as joyous about. You see Uncle Steve, affectionately called Uncle Devie, passed away on Saturday. The pneumonia and staff were too much for his body, and he is in his eternal home now. Through the advice and help of so many friends, I was going to be on a plane right now to Atlanta. From there ride to Tennessee tonight and be with my family for the funeral tomorrow. The snow had different plans. So I am waiting, mostly patiently, just across from the airport to try and fly out tomorrow.

My soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.

 Lamentations 3:20-27, 31-33

The waiting is giving me time to process alone. To examine why and how much I want to be holding my family. I know I won't be able to make the funeral tomorrow. That does make me sad. My dad will be speaking. Dad has a gift with words, especially in hard times. He balances tenderness with his jokes and isn't afraid to show his heart through his tears. I love him all the more for that. Please be praying for my family through the blur of tomorrow and through the coming days as we remember and celebrate Uncle Devie. Thank you for those of you who have reached out through facebook, texts and calls. All are so appreciated. Please also pray that I can make the flight tomorrow.

I woke up today singing Yesu Unamanda, which means Jesus, you are worthy. It’s one of my favorite songs we sang in Zambia. My family has is not the only one with a loss. There have been so many beloved people in the last two weeks that have left this Earth. We grieve their lost presence here but celebrate with the angels knowing where they are. Through all of this hurt, we are blessed. Our God is faithful. He will provide what we need to get through the next hour or day. So right now, I chose to say, “Jesus. You are worthy.”

Before I finish, I want to share with you though are a few examples of our faithful God through the last few days…

• Even though I left my phone in Jinotega, there’s internet in the hotel. So I’ve been able to talk to family and friends through emails!
• Music and songs are some of the best medicine for my spirit and the clearest way of communicating to our Father. Come To Me by Bethel is a gem. Along with By My Side (Tenth Avenue North), All This Time (Britt Nicole) and Savior Please (Josh Wilson).
• Lilly and I have had plenty of laughs, mostly at ourselves, but all laughter is good.
• The North Americans at the mission have been so supportive in giving advice and helping me make the decision to go back to the States or stay in Nicaragua this week.
• A dear friend gave us a buddy pass to bring me to the State and took care of booking all of it for us!
• Psalm 40:11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and faithfulness will ever preserve me!SO thankful for the internet. It makes communication over multiple countries so simple.
• I had a successful meal speaking to the waiter only in Spanish. It’s the little victories.
• After 3 visits to the Claro store, I have a working Nicaraguan SIM card with minutes!
• Lilly and I got to go grocery shopping with the whole team at the big store on Sunday.
• Yesterday, I got to hold and rock a sleeping baby boy. Lucas is 4 months old and has a great smile- when he’s awake! I dare you to find something more comforting to me than holding a sleeping baby.

¡Bienvenidos a Nicaragua!

 Welcome! I’ve been in Nicaragua for 5 days, Jinotega for 4. As soon as I stepped of the plane I had this huge smile on my face! After months of praying and planning, I am finally here. Immigration went smoothly, found my bags, found Lilly and the only thing not smooth was me trying to get 3 rolling suitcases, a backpack and a pillow through customs! Ha! I felt like such a girlie-girl because I’ve never had that much stuff through an airport or on any trip. But I’ve also never packed for 11 months so I guess that’s fair. We, Lilly and I, walked across the street to the hotel where we were staying for the night. Since my flight didn’t land until 8:45 pm, we wait until the next morning to get to Jinotega. The hotel has definitely upgraded since I was last there. There’s wireless internet in the rooms, a hair-dryer in each bathroom, new bed sets, and new televisions. It was a little overwhelming. I was already feeling spoiled. After letting family know I had arrived, we just talked and went to bed.

Lilly and I are both early risers so we were both awake by 7:00 am on Monday morning. We had plenty of time to enjoy one more warm shower, get breakfast, repack and checkout before Harvey (one of the translators for the mission) came to pick us up at 10. Well since we are in Nicaragua, it’s only right that we go by Nicaraguan time. Our 10 o’clock ride turned into noon. Completely normal. While waiting, I finished my last blog post, practiced my Spanish lesson and enjoyed texting family back home. The ride to Jinotega was beautiful. The land is still mostly green with rolling hills and mountains in the distance. I love it. We stopped in Matagalpa to drop of a preacher and his family, we had picked them up in Managua. From there it was only about 30 more minutes to Jinotega. I was so giddy! The temperature was dropping and so was my stomach with the hills :) The road comes up, over and around and brings you in on the East side of the valley with a clear view of the whole city. Home. After being gone for two and a half years it was comforting to recognize so many things on the drive in and later in the afternoon as Lilly and I walked around town. We were welcomed by Sheila Holland; she and her husband, Jonathan, live in the mission. She showed us our rooms and gave us keys. Lilly and I stretched our legs after the ride and picked up some food for dinner- we tried to keep it simple, sandwiches. We are both very grateful to have wifi at the mission. It makes staying connected to people back in the States very simple.

The rest of the week was spent getting settled in our corner of the mission and helping out with some small projects. There’s been lots of sorting and counting for Casa Materna and the medical supplies that the mission has. (I will share more about Casa Materna in another update soon.) We successfully grocery shopped and made some very nice meals this week! Our chicken from Tuesday night was one of my favorites. We made it early enough to eat and clean up before church at 6:00 pm (which actually started on time)! The cleaning process is quickly becoming routine. The water here is not safe to drink so we wash with “dirty water” and soap then cleanse everything in scalding water. It takes a little longer than back in the States. Last night we had tacos! Lilly’s an excellent partner to have in the kitchen. One because she likes chicken as much as I do and also because she’s not nearly as scared of lighting our propane stovetop/oven as I am. You have to light a match then turn on the gas slowly and then if you’re me jump back 2 feet just incase! It’s not my favorite thing, but Lilly’s basically a pro. Our kitchen adventures continue daily. Lilly will be posting more pictures, so you should check out her link on the right.

 We’ve also had time to visit with the other North Americans living and serving here in Jinotega. The Hollands, Browns, Counts, and Hennigers. They’re all wonderful, and I am excited to learn from them while working with them.

The other daily occurrence is Spanish lessons. We’re still trying to find a Spanish tutor, but for now I’m using an app called duolingo. It’s coming slowly, but I’m learning. We’ve also watched a couple movies with Spanish subtitles. It’s entertaining.

Please continue to pray for our transition. We’ll begin focusing more on the areas we came to serve with this week and developing some sort of routine. Pray for my brain to stay strong as I think in another language all day. Pray for open eyes as I learn more about the Nicaraguan culture and search for ways I can help without hurting. Thank you for sharing this journey with me!

*P.S. I won’t be posting pictures for a while. I want to make sure I know what I’m seeing before sharing it. Thanks for using your imagination! 

Happy New Year

December 31-January 19

I began the New Year by traveling. But let’s be honest. There’s no other way for me. Birmingham was the first stop. The church at Riverchase has become family to me, and I thank God for them always. We had a New Years party for the youth group; then stopped by the college age party to visit those awesome people too! After a quick morning with some quality time with the Pruitt’s and the Dyer’s, it was back on the road home.

We had New Years Breakfast-for-Dinner with our family’s best friends the Davis’! They are such an encouragement because they are great examples of a family living out their faith daily. I love when we get together because the conversation is never just about small talk; we talk about what God is doing in our lives (and sometimes Obama Care haha). They’re also really good at pingpong. Like I said, we have a great time together.

On January 2^nd I headed up 75 North to Knoxville. Jason, Jamie and Everett Terry let me join them for a day of games and laughter. This family is so special to me. I’ve known Jamie since I was 8. I was with Jamie while she was getting to know Jason - aka fall in love with him. Jason hired me one summer to intern with his youth group… There are just so many ways God has tied our lives together. It is a blessing to watch Him work. So their oldest boy turns 3 this week and Jamie is due in March with their second baby boy! Jamie and Jason are great parents because they walk with their Father so well. I also got to have dinner with a couple friends from Harding before heading back home that night!

Once at home, we were in full preparation mode for the Mart. Americas Mart is three big buildings in downtown Atlanta where retailers from all across the country, and world, come to buy the products they sell all year. On the 18^th Floor of Building 2 is a showroom owned by Darrah & Co. Years ago my mom and Susan ended up with an offer to work as a temporary sales associate for the Mart’s major gift show in January. That has turned into Mom finding 20+ hard working people to work for Darrah for that same gift show. So we were finishing last minute projects, picking up people from the airport, putting together training materials and driving down 85 quite often. Jami and Joseph were driving down from New Hampshire, John was flying in from Dallas. Once we all were trained and ready for the week. John, Jami, Joseph and I went down to Beth’s house to spend the week with her. She is such a joy and a blessing! She loves to host us and laugh with us after our days of selling.

our very special family

While we are at the Mart, sometimes it is hard to remember how much life is happening outside of Building 2. This year, that was not the case. There were so many great blessings that week! But there were also so many things that were giving us heavy hearts and driving us to our knees in prayer from the moment we woke up.

Joel stood up by himself and took his first steps!!! HUGE answered prayer!

Rodwell is growing and developing SO well!

Got to see Andrew Baker. And talk to him about Benny.
Still praying for full healing!

Sunday was a very long day. But it ended with laughing and praying. For that I was thankful. Monday was our last day working the mart. Tuesday began the last 5 days at home… Crazy! As I mentioned last week, there were many people sick and in the hospital. A continual reminder that we are so fragile. God is our strength, and He gives us breath. He provides what we need for that day. And to watch him provide for me and the people around me this week was incredible. I’m just going to share pictures of some of the highlights of the week. Please know that every hug and word of encouragement and smile meant more than words can say. I woke up Saturday and felt such a strong peace about leaving. I knew it would come, but it was sometimes frustrating, even in the beginning of the week, to not feel ready or as excited as I thought I should be.  But it came on Saturday. And it was still there on Sunday. Even through the goodbyes.

Seeing Fozen with these awesome men!

Jami planned a surprise lunch with David and Britni!

Got to spend lots of time with my church family and some of my favorite guys!

Lindsey! We have been best friends since we were 10.
She was home to visit her dad after his heart attack, but he is doing well.
It was a great to spend a little time with her too!

We listened to lots of music on the way to the airport but THIS song was mine for the day.

Whatever will come our way

Through fire or pouring rain

We won't be shaken

No we won't be shaken

Whatever tomorrow brings

Together we'll rise and sing

That we won't be shaken

No we won't be shaken

Building 429 We Won’t Be Shaken

I have made it to Managua and Lilly found me at the airport! All our luggage made it. And we had a restful night! Please continue to pray for us through this transition. And for our families as we adjust. I've continued to be reassured by our Father that I am in the right place. I also ask for prayers for me to listen to Him over the coming week not my own wants or plans. 

December 2013

So. We’re not going to talk about the fact that I leave in 4 days yet… Let’s look back at December.

I love the month of December because it means cold weather, family time, birthdays and extra reasons to bake! This December also began goodbyes for me. I gave my two weeks notice at Kidz Academy and left December 20^th shedding a few tears- I already miss my munchkins! 

Christmas visits were wonderful though. We had lots of time with our extended family and Beth got to come with us! Grandad and I laughed until we cried within the first two hours of being together. Gran let me help her in the kitchen until she wore me out. She truly is one of the most servant hearted people I know. We played rook, watched movies, visited Grandad’s childhood friends, listened to stories of Grandmother and were entertained by my younger cousins. I just sat and counted my blessings. It didn’t take more than a minute to loose count. That made the leaving them even harder.

For the last couple years, Colossians has been one of my favorite books of the Bible. Through the tearful goodbyes, I held onto Colossians 3:1-2. “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

As crummy as the goodbyes are, I know they are not permanent. If I was being selfish, and I am quite often, I would stay home and spend every day with my family. I’d visit my grandparents in Fayetteville and Hendersonville every other weekend. I’d get a job in Birmingham because the teenagers there are the best. But I’m trying to not be selfish. I’m trying to “seek the things that are above.” For me, right now, that means following our God to Nicaragua to serve and love on His children. It also means remembering that there will be no sad memories in Heaven. Once we are in God's presence, we won't be able to count the number of goodbyes or the number of "big moments" we missed in each other's lives. We'll just be praising God with the people around us. I have to step out of my family shell and make sure there are other people around us. 

To keep me focused on that. My goal is to memorize Colossians 3 by the time I leave. Then all of Colossians by the end of March. PLEASE hold me accountable to that! Ask me how it’s going and if I’ve been studying.

 I am a wreck of emotions this week. I am trying to sort them out as I pack not ignore them. But I’ll be honest, it’s easier to stay busy and push away whatever I’m feeling. I am so thrilled to be going but so not thrilled to leave. Please be praying for my heart and head over these last 4 days. Wow! It’s really that close!

Also. Please lift these friends and family in prayer.
-Benny Baker- the director of the mission returned to the states last Friday and is now recovering from heart surgery.
-Steve- my uncle who is in the hospital with pneumonia and staff.
-Clay- one of my adopted fathers and dad to my best friend, is also in the hospital getting his heart tested and cleared
-The Harding family as they lost two students who were so loved by many.