God Is Good

This month I have learned something I am afraid I will continued to learn till I die.  About the second week I prayed a prayer to God. I prayed that God will mold and shape me into a woman He wants me to be.  I did not realize how God would answer that prayer. He brought a situation that crushed me to a point that it hurt.  That right now it is too personal to share.

Around the third day of December, I started advent devotions with my Bible app on my phone.  God must have known that I needed these devotionals. There have been many verses that have stuck out to me.  Some of the verses are Isaiah 12:2-6 “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation. Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.  And in that day you will say: Praise the Lord, call upon His name: Declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He had done excellent things; Things known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst.”  It does not matter what we are going through we are to praise God. I will confess it is hard when you are at a very low point in your life.

I started this month by doing report cards for my students.  Ok, I know I have only two students. I think I understand how teachers do not enjoy doing report cards.   But that soon ended and I continued to enjoy my long extended Christmas Holidays. I helped to take Nathan and and Angie plus their family to Managua.  They left on the first Thursday to go on furlough to the United States. The whole drive to Managua I got to hold little Rhoda. She fell asleep on the way there.  When we got to the airport she woke up. I had to think that when they return she will have grown. I hugged each of the children good-bye. It was a little hard to say goodbye to them.  This might be show where I am at right now. I want to go home and visit my family.

I enjoyed a day vacation to Matagalpa.  It was a much needed vacation. The beauty of Nicaragua still amazes me.  Also, the weather was cooler. I know I am from Canada and should be use to the cold; but moving to place where it hot all the time,I must say I have gotten used to the heat.  Twenty degrees Celsius seems cold to me. There are nights that I have my fan on low just for air circulation.

Also, I have started walking throughout the city more.  I walk by the bakery and see an elder lady I wave and smile to her.  She does the same. I walk by the house of where I have children from children class.  They run and give me a hug. All the while, my heart breaks a little inside for them.

Also, I started having English class with two members and one person who comes regularly.  Just try to explain the English language when you are still learning their language. It has been a stretching.  Also, I have started having more Spanish classes for myself. I have been wanting to learn more.

The third week of December Darling’s family and friend came for a visit.  The first day we visited Cerro Negro which is a volcano that blew outside of the mountain.  I can see the volcano from here in Leon. It is about an hour drive because we drive back roads that are  back roads from where I am from. The second day we went to the beach. I have been to the beach but have not always paid attention where we were going. But now that I have driven to the beach.  I can drive to the beach without much help. The last day they were here we hiked the volcano Telica. It is about 11 minutes to the road from house but it is about hour drive off this road.

Some parts are just a normal cow path where I come from.  Needless to say we used four wheel drive part of the way. I will not forget the smell of sulfur when I reach the top of the volcano. Also, this volcano is considered active. But the views from each of the volcanoes was beautiful….. I think I now know why Nicaragua is known as the country called ‘the lonely planet’ when you look it up on the internet.  All the places that I have traveled to in Nicaragua. I have found beautiful scenery. Also, I have also realized how small I feel.

We had our youth banquet on the third week of this month.  It was held in Malpaisillo. We had rice, meat, carrots and potatoes, and bread.  After we had finished eating our main course, we headed over to the church, where the youth acted different parts of the Christmas story.  It all happened outside. After the skit was finished, we returned to the house of Jason and Krista house for dessert. We had cake and coffee.

 

As the youth were acting I had to think how similar it was that first Christmas night.  There was no snow on the ground. The crickets may have sang their songs. There may have been one shepherd reluctant to leave their flocks behind.  There may have been some very important people at the inn where Mary and Joseph tried to find a room. But today what can we offer Jesus? We can give Him our hearts as the song says.  But it is not just giving Him our hearts. It is our entire life in service to Him.

Also, we do not have to snow on the ground to have Christmas.  We do not have Christmas programs, caroling, family dinners, shopping, decorations, and many Christmas gifts.  I understand we Christians give Christmas gifts as a representative of the gift God gave us. But do we need to give expensive gifts to each other.

On the second last Sunday of this month the youth were invited over to Ken and Brenda’s house for supper.  We had a lovely meal of lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and pudding. After supper, we played some games. One of the games was to draw a snowman on a piece of paper on top of our heads.  Some other games were Dutch Blitz and soccer. Also, we were given keychains from Ken and Brenda. My keychain has the verse from Romans 8:39 ‘Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romanos 8,39 ‘ni ninguna otra cosa creada nos podrá separar del amor de Dios..’

Christmas Eve is the day Christmas is celebrate.  There were many fireworks that went off until about midnight.  Christmas Day the streets were quieter than normal. I asked Darling why everything was quieter.  She said many people went to the beach for the day. Also, Darling and I passed out Christmas cookies to the members, staff, and those that regular attend.

Newest baby of the church.

Also, we visited the newest baby that was born the day. She is such a little cutie.

Christmas Day Darling and I went to the market to buy vegetables and fruit.  I had to think back in Canada I would not go to market on Christmas morning because it would be closed.  We came back to the house and prepared a brunch of a breakfast casserole, fried plantains and fruit. We were not able to eat the fruit because we both full.  I went for a walk and walked back to market to buy some things that we thought we had in the house. For supper the entire church was invited to Ken and Brenda’s house for supper.  Darling and I were asked to bring salad. The most common salad down here is coleslaw. After we were finished eating, we sang Christmas songs. We played games of ping pong, soccer, and Phase 10.

Boxing Day found our house sanding in order to prepare to paint the house.  Thanks to Joel and Jody, Gary, and Julio for helping us out.

The last Sunday we as youth went out passed out La Antorchas in Central Park and San Juan.  After we finished, everyone came back to the church to have supper and games.  It was a great time. I was with the group that went to San Juan.

New Year Eve’s, Gary, Darling, and I went to buy paint for Darling and mine house.  We went to the store where we going to buy paint. Well, the store was closed. I thought earlier that day; it would be fun to go the beach for sometime and watch the sunset.

The last sunset of 2018.  The closing of another year.

Well, after some discussion, we decided to the beach to have fish for supper. It was not the typical New Year Eve’s for me. In the past, I normally attended the youth social that after the church service.  Once, we got back Darling and I played Phase 10 for awhile. We went to bed around 10:00. But I was awake when the New Year came in. When the new year came in, there were many fireworks that went off.

 

Prayer Requests

• Those that are instruction class.
• That I would be able to continue to learn how God wants to be
• That I would be able to continue to learn the language
• That the board would be able to find a replacement for Ken and Brenda’s family
• The members of the church.  Pray they would remain faithful.

Thank you to everyone that sent me Christmas wishes from Canada and the United States.