Here in Nicaragua, it feels like Spring is upon us. We have had an uncharacteristically “cold winter”, though the use of those two words in this tropical climate seems out of place. Just a month ago reports came in of an actual freezing temperature at the highest peak in the northern mountains of Nicaragua! This was big news. The day’s temperature scarcely varies more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit from the average, but we even had one day that was 10 degrees below average! The weather here has definitely been different from what I’ve been accustomed to in my 16 years in Nicaragua. As Easter week approaches, the sun has finally begun to scorch again, though I can’t say we missed it.
Things are shifting. In Nicaragua, that shift has been felt strongly for the past 3 years in particular. With this being an election year here, there continue to be visible signs of the spiritual battles being fought for the hearts and minds of the people. Even watching from afar, that battle is clearly visible in the US as well. To be honest, it has only gotten harder for me to stand. I’ve shared pretty openly about my struggles ever since returning to Nicaragua, and all that we went through last Fall. I can feel myself searching for something new, which I believe is part of what makes it so difficult to stand. Instead of standing peacefully, I have to fight myself from wandering around in search of “new purpose”. Yet He calls me to stand where He has not only placed me, but made promises to me. The Bible is full of the stories of those called to wait on the LORD. Some waited well, others got restless along the way but eventually made it, and still others wandered to lose their way entirely. What will my story be? I pray it’s perseverance.
Amidst the waiting, these children keep growing. I went into Jeruahel’s room last night to check on her before going to sleep, and I was surprised to see how much of the bed her sprawled out body occupied. Bianca is a maturing 14 year-old in ninth grade, and Jeremy is heading towards his 12th birthday in May while navigating sixth grade. Margine continues to grow as well, currently in eighth grade and turning 13 in May. Vanessa is now in third grade and showing greater independence in her school work as well as her social skills. As I mentioned previously, we continue to be most concerned about Margine. Her general attitude has been a little more rebellious as the age-appropriate struggle for independence mixes with her distrusting adults due to early childhood experience. We’re all keeping a close eye on her, and looking for ways to encourage and uplift her whenever possible.
In this regard, I ask specifically for your prayers for the house moms. They need patience and wisdom to continue to love Margine while maintaining a fair and consistent line of discipline. Not only is it difficult to deal with disrespect while helping raise children that aren’t your own, but add to that the recent experiences with Jan and it’s easy to understand the struggle. For them to successfully fulfill their role in the home, they need to continue to grow with the children. Personal growth and maturation is a constant challenge for all adults, and it seems to only get harder with age. If you’re a parent, you know that it’s often hard to allow our children to change, as we have so much past experience we subconsciously tie them to. As the children grow and mature, I pray the house moms, as well as Jessenia and I, intentionally seek out that growth and applaud it, pushing them towards greater responsibility instead of unintentionally holding them to prior behavior.
Now for an overdue update on the wall: it’s nearly finished! We are very pleased with the progress of construction and how the wall is looking. We did encounter an unexpected expense in needing to build a small retaining wall as foundation for the regular wall to be erected upon. The property line along the street has a significant drop off and needs to be shored up to prevent further erosion. This added expense put us $1500 over budget. Also, I had forgotten to add in the expense of paying a guard to make sure materials don’t walk off during the night, which will be another $500 total. That means we are currently $2000 over budget, meaning we still need to raise more funds to finish the wall. If you would like to help us finish the wall, please click here for details.
Once the wall is complete, we will be ready to start our next projects. We already have begun to prepare bougainvillea plants to be sown all along the interior of the wall, which serve as a hedge of protection in addition to adding pretty flowers year round. Our first construction projects will be a water tower to provide us with constant water supply (water is often turned off for hours at a time) , and we’ll dig our septic systems. I’m still working on budgets for these starter projects, but we hope to begin sometime in April, so if you want to donate to these projects, please click the same link above.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14
