From Nicaragua

Hello from Nicaragua! Our family along with much of the Way of the Cross staff travelled to Nicaragua yesterday to begin our 11 day journey to spread the Gospel and give free medical care during an event we call Med-Fest. We will be spending the next few days preparing for that event, and I’m excited to see what God has for us!

This morning I am so blessed by the Lord. Our travels started out at 3 am and I was sure the day was going to be rough (Olivia didn’t want to sleep the night before unless I held her-which she never does-and I only got about 2 hours of sleep). We got to the airport in Brownsville and our family almost missed the flight because they couldn’t figure out how to print Olivia’s boarding pass (she rode free on my lap). The lady checking in the bags kept saying “you have to go or they are going to leave you.” I went over and told her what was going on, that we didn’t have a boarding pass for Olivia yet, and asked her if she could call and have them hold the plane for us (it only seemed fair since it was their fault we couldn’t go yet.) She said no, that it cost $10,000 to hold a plane so that wasn’t an option. Thankfully Brownsville is a very small airport and nobody else was there so we whizzed through security and the security people even helped us take our carry-ons to the gate.

As it turned out, Olivia not sleeping well at night worked wonderfully for us and made the trip go very smoothly. Olivia fell asleep on the flight from Houston to Managua (thanks to her Aunt Theresa)  and I was able to get some rest as well. Both Emma and Paige did very well and had so much fun flying on the airplane.

Travelling with kids can be hard, but I think the hardest part is bed time.

It is hard to have everyone in one small room, especially when the baby falls asleep and everyone else has to be very, very quiet. By the end of the day (at about 7:30) I had Olivia asleep and I just sat and prayed that God would allow her, and all of us, to sleep very well. Phillip and I had talked about what we would do if Olivia didn’t sleep well because unlike at home if Olivia had a bad night it would affect us all. I was worried that I would be up all night with her then have to struggle through the day just to stay awake, let alone be able to serve the Lord with love, joy and patience. I asked the Lord to allow her to sleep until 4:00 and if she did I would then stay up and spend a good amount of time with HIm. Our God is so good, and Olivia slept until just before 4:30! She hasn’t slept that long since before Thanksgiving.

So, I’ve been up this morning reading about the fruit of the Spirit. I love the way Galatians 5 starts out. “Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free…do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” You see, by Christ’s death on the cross we are free from the punishment of sin, but we are still suseptable to the power of sin. We can find ourselves, even as believers, in bondage. Paul continues in Galatians to explain how the flesh and the Spirit work, and encourages us that if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. We have freedom in Christ but we must work for it! We must make an effort daily to overcome our sinful nature with the power of the cross and the power of a relationship with God.

On our first flight from Brownsville to Houston I was sitting next to Emma. I was was tired, Olivia was wired and I just wanted to have a smooth flight. When they brought us our drinks I had a very serious talk with Emma about how I wanted her to be very careful with the drink because I didn’t want to deal with any spills. I reminded her frequently to stop sqirming or she would spill the dirnk. At the very end of the flight I went to grab her drink so I could fold her tray and I ended up spilling the rest of it on Emma’s leg. I felt terrible. I told her I was so sorry, over and over and she very lovingly said “it’s ok Mom, really. It was just an accident.” Would I have responded with such love towards her had she spilled the drink? Um, no. I would have allowed my flesh, which was already rearing its ugly head, to control my actions and I probably would have scolded her for not obeying my commands of carefullness. My little 4 year old showed me so much love, patience and undeserved grace in that moment that it reminded me that I had been failing to walk in the Spirit.

“For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfullness, gentleness and self control.”

During our time in Nicaragua I will be blogging often and giving updates about our trip. If you know anyone interested in missions, please share this page with them. I have a feeling God is up to something big here!

I pray you all have a wonderful day and remember to walk in the Spirit!

 

Check out our other Nicaragua posts here: Getting Ready Day 2