Here is what I am used to :
The view outside my home in Leadville, Colorado
This is what this November looks like :
The view from the bell tower in Granada, Nicaragua
My life obviously looks a lot different right now, doesn't it?!
I definitely miss the seasons, the fall air and the cold snow sounds incredible right now — but I am learning to be thankfulf for where I am at right now. I'm not anywhere else, afterall!
Ok, a typical day.
Usually, I am woken up pretty early by dogs barking and roosters crowing.
And they are loud.
As soon as I am up, it is time for a morning run with my teammates Christin and Moriah. We dodge vehicles, dogs, people, taxi's, trucks, trash — you name it, we dodge it as we run through the streets of Managua. It turns out running is a great time for prayer and reflection with the Lord. I am really beginning to cherish our morning workout routine, even though I return home as a sweaty mess!
The streets we run in Managua
Next is a cold shower, (if you are lucky enough to be one of the eleven that gets one before we leave for ministry!), breakfast, time with the Lord and team time.
I feel like I always get SO much done before the hour of 9:00am on The World Race.
It is quite fabulous.
After the usual morning routine, it is off to ministry for the day.
Ministry can include, painting…
Moriah and Tess painting the Bible Institute… and themselves.
OR building a cement wall…
Jason, Moriah and Noah building the cement wall around a church in Managua
And then the day usually ends with church. Usually at least two of the seven of us on the team will share a testimony at church. I've shared three times in the last 10 days… and yesterday I had ZERO prep time. Eliab decided to tell me he needed me to preach for 15-20 minutes right before the service. Whew.
Eliab preaching in his house church
Then we head home for the night and our new family greets us.
Eliab's wife always has a fantastic Nicaraguan meal ready for us.
We are usually exhausted after a long day working in the heat.
But, sometimes we push through our exhaustion and make s'mores over the stove
And then we have team time.
After team time, it is bed time.
And as we stumble into bed, we may or may not run into new friends like this guy :
We crawl into our bed. Nice and cozy with one another in this small room :
It's off to bed, to do it all over again.
A typical day isn't always easy, but it is good.
And there is always lots of laughter and finding joy in the little things as God continues to show us more of Himself!
