Word of God Speak

The retreat this weekend was awesome! Definitely one of thebest retreats we have had. Our speaker, Mindy Calliguire was wonderful and said some things I really needed to hear.
I have been "running laps around the room" way too much, trying to do everything, please everyone, because I know God wants us to serve others. But I was missing the fact that in all my running around and trying to serve, I was neglecting to do the one thing He really wants us to do, to just sit quietly and be with Him. So that is my new resolution, to take more time to sit quietly in His presence. I still want to be able to serve in many ways, and will do so, but just not to the point where I am wearing myself out physically, mentally and emotionally, and I will be able to say "no" without feeling guilty or feeling that I am letting someone down.

I am excited for tomorrow! We're having our Annual Women's Retreat for Spring Branch Community Church. This will be my 4th year going and it's always such an awesome weekend. I am able to just get recharged and reenergized, get a break from all the stresses that are going on in my life. It's a lot of fun, too, to spend the weekend with 150 women from my church, all ages, all walks of life, who are there to grow in their relationship with God, and some just seeking to know Him. We have awesome times of worship, we always have a great speaker, we're going to have fun skits (I get to be in one of the skits), many of us will stay up late playing games and get far too little sleep, and that's okay too, because we have a lot of free time on Saturday and I just may even take a nap :)
And as the perfect start to the weekend, I get to have my Physical Therapy tomorrow, for my back pain. I LOVE going to Physical Therapy. It feels like being at a spa. I get to lie on heating pads for like 30 minutes, then we do the ultrsound treatment (that's not my favorite part, because it kind of tickles at first) and then the best part, the deep tissue massage. Normally I don't like back massages because I am VERY ticklish, but these massages don't tickle at all and they feel SOOOOOOOO good!!! Tomorrow is my last session, but I am going to see if my doctor can prescribe another round, because it is helping with the pain. Not as much as being in Nicaragua helps with the pain, but I am at least taking less of my pain meds than I was before this round of Physical Therapy. When I am in Nicaragua I hardly need my pain pills at all. Maybe like once every 2 weeks. Here, I still take them every day.
And a month from now I will be at Willow Creek for the Promiseland Conference. I am definitely looking forward to that. After wanting to go check out Willow Creek for the past 4 years, it will be like going to the Mother Ship :)

Happy

I found out yesterday my best friend Ivonne has a new job starting tomorrow. I am so happy!
Neither she nor her husband Pancho has had a job since they left the orphanage at the end of September. It's been so stressful for them. They've been living with Ivonne's mom and helping out in the pulperia they have at their house (that's kind of like a corner store that many people in Central America have and run out of their homes, selling soda, cookies, assorted toiletries, etc) but they haven't been able to find a permanent full-time job.
But almost 2 weeks ago, Ivonne interviewed for a job at a bank, in the Human Resources dept, and after going through 2 subsequent interviews, she found out Friday she got the job. I am just so relieved for her, because I know this means a lot. She and Pancho have had to give up so much so that they could get by and care for their daughter Andrea. Now they will be able to breathe a little easier and put more money into savings so they can buy the house they've been looking at.
Also, as part of the new job, Ivonne will get to study English for free! She is very excited about that, and has already asked me to help her practice.
So things are really looking up for my Nicaraguan family and that is such an answer to prayer!
Also, Andrea has her 1st day of school tomorrow. Their school year is from February thru November. She'll be in her 2nd year of preschool. She didn't quite finish a full year of her 1st year, because she started late and then had to leave school when Pancho and Ivonne left the orphanage, but now she can go back, and she's going to be at a really good school. That's exciting because this kid is WAY smart. Scarily smart, and she talks way more than most 3-year-olds I know! :)

Cristina

This is me with Cristina (standing next to me in the back row), a 16-year-old girl who lives in the orphanage, and her family, who lives in Managua in the shack behind us. Her mom (far left in the back row) sells bags of water all day in the market to support Cristina's 7 younger siblings, her older sister and her sister's 2 young kids, her older brother and his wife and their 2 kids as well as 2 other of Cristina's nephews who were abandoned. In all, 16 people live in the shack, 12 of them kids. They live very close to Ivonne and her family and Ivonne has been trying to help get the 7 younger siblings into an orphanage. Their living conditions are just terrible. So heartbreaking. Vinny and I had chipped in some money to buy food and supplies for them, so Ivonne and Pancho bought all the stuff and put it in a plastic tub (there was actually so much that what didn't fit in the tub filled a big sack as well), which I went with them to deliver to the family. We brought about 20 pounds of rice, also beans, pasta, powedered milk, cups, plates, soap, and Andreita even donated a lot of her old toys. The looks on their faces when we brought everything to them was just priceless. The kids all cam up and hugged me and had huge smiles on their faces. I am just praying we can help the kids more. Cristina's mom wants them to be able to live in an orphanage, since they'll be in a safe environment, have enough food, clothes and be able to go to school regularly. Ivonne has been working with Mi Familia, which is like the Nicaraguan equivalent of Social Services, and it's looking hopeful. Now the challenge will be to find one orphanage who can take all 7 kids so they can be together and we won't have to split them up. Ivonne had looked into Casa Bernabe a few months ago and was told no, because there was no room, but that was before the 8 kids got adopted, and 5 or 6 other kids have also left the orphanage (2 older girls who ran away, one of those girls' younger sisters, another girl who returned to live with her grandfather, and a couple older boys who aged out of the orpahanage. Plus, another girl is being adopted. So maybe there will be enough space for them at Casa. I pray for that to happen. It would be so much better for Cristina too if her siblings can be with her. She has been so depressed and wants to leave the orphanage. Two of the girls who are getting adopted and have left the orphanage are her cousins but they are really more like sisters and that is so hard on Cristina to have them leave. She has friends at the orphanage, but Brenda and Ivania were her closest friends. I really don't want her to leave the orphanage too, because she has such a better chance at life if she can stay and finish her education and maybe go on to the University. Her future is much bleaker if she goes back to the environment her siblings are in now.

My family and me in front of their house in Managua