Cadence and I started the month with a little vacation in the mountains of Matagalpa. It was a much-needed couple of days after the craziness of the last few months kicking off the new school year, lots of goodbyes, and celebrating a staff wedding. We were able to take a couple extra days off to pray, process, rest, plan ahead, spend time with Jesus in coffee shops, spend time with wonderful friends, enjoy the beautiful mountains and cool weather, and eat delicious tacos (pictured above).
One of my favorite parts of this month was getting the opportunity to work alongside the wonderful folks from Independence Hill Baptist Church. They are the sister church to our church plant in Santa Matilde. I was able to spend the entire week with them serving as one of their translators. This group of people is so amazingly loving and generous. We spent the entire week in Santa Matilde working with children, visiting homes, expanding the bridge to the garden, leading women's ministry, and preaching at church. (Some of my favorite pictures from the week pictured above). I loved watching them fall in love with all my little loves in Santa Matilde. I'm excited to visit their church when I'm Stateside in July and to work with them again in August.
While I was in Santa Matilde with the team from IHBC, I was able to spend the week loving on my precious Allan (pictured above). Allan is one of my sweet little loves from Santa Matilde. This kid has my heart! A couple of months ago Allan moved away to live with his dad on a farm. I believe that this has been a good move for Allan, but I miss him like crazy. He was back in Santa Matilde during Easter week to visit his family there. The first day I saw him, he came sprinting toward me and leaped into my arms. I loved getting this week to hear how he's doing, see his notebooks from school, and pour out the Lord's love over him. Thank You Jesus for this gift to my heart! To find out more about Allan, read: Chosen & Speaking Life in the Dirt.
Cadence and I were able to take our beautiful friend Derma (pictured above) out for a girls' night this month. Derma is one of the most hardworking, caring, and just lovely moms that I know. She selflessly serves her family caring for her husband and four beautiful children. She is always thinking of others. We wanted some time with her, away from her children and responsibilities, where she could have fun and feel loved. So we took her out for a girls' night in the park. We ate dinner together, talked and laughed, and even caught part of a free concert in the park. It was a beautiful time to just pour out love over Derma and to hear more of her personal story and struggles.
I have been loving working with our youth. We've been having so much fun seeing them laugh, form deeper friendships, dive into the Word, and step closer to the Lord. We've been having a lot of fun with them! (some of our youth pictured above playing games) And I love to watch the Lord begin to speak to their hearts and to watch them begin to enter into His presence in worship. It's a beautiful thing!
April 15th we celebrated the lovely Kellie Medlin's birthday. We celebrated together as a family, alongside several of our Nicaraguan youth, by going to an awesome swimming pool in Chinandega. We spent the day playing in the water, on water slides, on a do-it-yourself ferris wheel, and eating delicious birthday cake. It was such a fun day to just spend playing and acting like kids together as a family. It was the most fun day I've had in awhile. I can't wait to go back again soon!
Lately Tommy has stepped back from preaching on Sunday nights so that local pastors can step into more of their authority. I love hearing them preach! And the best part of this is that I now have my Sunday evenings to sit with my sweet girls! I've missed our Sunday night time to worship alongside them, to watch them take notes, or to have them fall asleep in my arms. I value this time with them so much.
I realized this month how much I have been missing my relational time with people outside of sponsorship. I spend a ton of time in people's homes, but it's almost always checking in on students' grades, meeting with people about sponsorship requirements, etc. I have been missing having time to just sit in people's homes and love them and talk about our lives and the Lord. So, I made it a goal this month to begin making time at least one day a week to go and just visit with families that I love. My heart loves this time so much! I'm so thankful to be surrounded by such lovely families.
Even though the heat is completely unbearable here in April, this month does kick off one of my favorite times of year…. mango season!! There are mango trees everywhere in our area and this time of year, people are always offering me mangos to take home with me. I love it! Of course sometimes families will hand you a giant bamboo pole with a hook on the end so that you can pull down the ripe mangos from the tops of the trees. It's much harder to do than it sounds, but makes for some entertaining moments (Cadence pulling down mangos pictured above).
Sweet Lydia (pictured above) was so sick last month. She was hospitalized with an illness caused by protein deficiency. We helped care for her baby sister, Elisa, and visited Lydia in the hospital in Managua. We've been following up with her each week to see how she's doing. It has been so good the last couple of weeks to see her personality coming back! I love seeing her play and act silly once again when she's been so lethargic for so long (silliness with Lydia pictured above).
Loved the update. So glad you and Cadence had time away for refreshment. Much needed and I hear Maltagalpa is cool! A year ago I was in Nicaragua. I’ve been thinking about for days now. Jovanny was sad that I’m waiting til next year to come. Well, we’re getting our roof fixed so we’re saving money. But my heart is with you right there. Love all the photos. Take care and my prayers for you as you serve God there and me here. Hugs!