Heros and Holas (Waves)

I've been sitting here for several minutes right now trying to figure out where in the world to try and start to update on what's been going on here. I've been learning so many different things many of which I feel like I've just scratched the surface of and when I get home I'll continue building on what God's been teaching me.

Since I last posted an update Lindsay and her brother Nicky returned home and in the same day my sister Lyndsey came and visted. It's hard to believe that her time here has already come and gone.

It was so great to have her here! She's the first person from my family to come and be apart of my life/heart here in Nicaragua. That means a lot ya know? When you get to share something so special with the people you are close to. While she was here she was able to meet the people I've been telling her about for the last 6 years and they were so excited to meet her.

One of the most memorable things that we did while she was here was take her to Corinto which is a nearby beach. Many of you have heard me talk about Yahira before....she is 24 yrs. old and I've become very close to her and her family over the years. Before Lyndsey got here they told me they wanted to do something special with her and so to the BEACH WE WENT!!

It amazes me how personal God is and how he uses even the little things we do in our day to day lives to explain his Word. I usually refer to myself as a visual learner, so maybe that's one reason he does this for me...to make sure I get it.

Well, all of that to say he used our trip to the beach to illustrate something that he's begun to teach me. One driving force behind the Lord leading me here this summer was with the desire to live life alongside the people here....day by day. In doing so I didn't really think about what all that could entail. Once you start to do that you realize the reality that people live in and how we don't live in an ideal world. It says in Isaiah 45:18 "...He made this world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos..."

The past several days however, there has been several situations that have left me feeling helpless, frustrated and slightly chaotic. It's made me question "God, how can you use me here when some of these problems are so much bigger than I am." I think that's exactly where he wants me to be actually. Because when we run out of ideas of how to "fix" things then we finally learn to depend on him and ask him for wisdom. I started reading James this week and it immediately reminded me of our trip to the beach. In James 1:5-6 is says

"If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind."

I'd like to share a little bit of what I've needed wisdom for.....

Wednesday night I finally got to spend more time with my adoptive family in Bethel. When I got there my "Mom" told me she needed to talk to me . So, we went to the back of the house and she started just breaking down and told me that her husband left her. Sadly enough this is not all that uncommon for her. I've been staying with their family for a number of years now and he's rarely there. He has a history of leaving for a number of days and then come back for 2 or 3 and then leave again. What made it different this time was that he finally admited it was for another woman and took his belongings with him when he left.

I sat there and listened to her share about how her heart has been breaking for herself, her marriage and her 2 children. One of which is having her 21st birthday this weekend. "If you need wisdom...ok God now is most defintely that time...I need it." We had a really great talk but there's so many layers to this situation and my heart just absolutely breaks for this family.

Accompanied with the sadness it also really angered me at the same time at the reminder of how Satan is such a deceiver and how he is lying to this father/husband that there is fufillment outside of the family that God has given him. It's incredible to think how believing his lies can destroy families. So, with this situation alone I'm learning how walking alongside people like Christ did involves both the good and the bad. This is not just a story this is their lives...if it was a story we'd be waiting for the superhero to come in at just the right time and save the day all in 30 minutes including commercials. But ya know...God is that...he is our HERO and it's times like these where we need to call on him! Calling on him in faith...not wavering but knowing that the God we are calling on "his arm is not too weak to save, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call." Isaiah 59:1. Please continue to keep this family in your prayers and I'd love for you to join me in my pray for wisdom in how God may want to use me for this family. Praise God that we do have a HERO in his son Jesus Christ.

This song is one of my favs. right now and it's gaining more significance the longer I'm here. It's by Trip Lee and it's called "Hero" Check in out at www.reachrecords.com/b2w. Hit the play button to hear the song.