My Journey: Whirlwind

    Lately my life has felt like a complete whirlwind of activity. A swirling of home visits, sponsorship meetings, a million questions from a million directions, residency hoops to jump through, sponsor updates, supporter updates, finance meetings, Bible studies, church services, construction groups and sprinting all day long.

    I flew back into the Nicaragua December 27th after a short visit to see my family for Christmas. And I hit the ground running and haven't stopped. I think that this might be the craziest my work as felt ever. And yet there is still peace. I'm behind in everything. My desk is a ridiculous mess, even for me. Ideally just the sponsorship part of my job would be split between 4 people. And somehow in the midst of that all, my heart is at rest. And that is only the Lord. 

     Let me give you a little example of what I mean… currently I oversee our student sponsorship program. I am in charge of everything on the Nicaraguan side (thankfully I have Whitney Foreman taking care of the US side sending out beautiful sponsor communications to our sponsors). I do home visits and sometimes school visits. I meet with sponsored students. I go over regulations. I keep track of their school progress, family situations, and current needs. I have momma chats with them when they need it. I know my kids. I love them. The Lord is blessing this program abundantly. And now I have 104 students who are sponsored for school! Praise Jesus!! I love to see how that number has grown from 68 only a couple months ago to 104 now. But that's 104 children in four different villages to oversee alone. I love it with all my heart, but it's becoming a job that's too big for one person.

    It's a whirlwind of bike rides over rocky roads and bridges, through rivers (pictured below right) and sugar cane fields, past volcanos and beautiful Nicaraguan views. Sometimes it's an hour one way to meet with groups of sponsored kids, to get into their homes and see how they are doing, to check in on their progress. Lately as we have been giving away school supplies and preparing for the new year, every time I step outside my door there are at least a handful of people waiting to talk to me. Yesterday, I had been on my bike running errands and eating lunch. As I rode back to the property I hear someone yell, "Here comes Lisa; there she is." and then about 30 people came running over to me and all started simultaneously asking questions. Like I said, it's been crazy!! Honestly I've started praying that the Lord will send 3-4 more people to do my exact same job with sponsorship.
    There are days when I feel like I'm struggling just to maintain my sanity. There are days when it's 2 p.m. and I realize that my cup of coffee is still sitting there waiting for me to have a free moment to drink it. There are days recently when I find myself praying, "Jesus can I just have enough time to use the bathroom before someone knocks on my door again." There have been several days recently where I find my stress level rising and subsquently my patience diminishing. I have been whispering prayers for extra grace every time I venture out my front door. And then there are moments when one of my beautiful little kiddos (like Maryuri pictured above left) skips out from her front yard and throws her arms around my waist and I remember exactly why I love my job so much! I remember why we're doing what we're doing and why I'm actually thrilled that there are now 106 little ones sponsored for school instead of just 68.