It’s been 10 months on the race, and I have roughly 1 month left on the race. Where has the time gone? Lately, I’ve been thinking about my time on the race. Have I made the most of it? What have I learned? How have I grown. At the same time, I’ve also been thinking a lot about home. What will I do after the race? What will it be like to be home? These thoughts have constantly swarmed my mind this month and I’ve started to make plans in my head of what I will do when I get home.
When I come home, thanksgiving will be here, and Christmas will be right around the corner. Christmas always has been a busy time. Christmas parties with friends and family, Christmas tree lightings, making cookies, and putting up the tree. I’m excited to see my family, celebrate, and simply be home again. It will be strange having a closet again with so many options. It’ll be even weirder being able to flush toilet paper again, and driving a car again. While the thought of being home is thrilling, I know that reflecting my time on the race will be important when I get home.
Since I’ve been thinking a lot about what it will look like to come home, I’ve started missing home this month. The first week in Nicaragua, I struggled to stay present, and I didn’t find much joy being in Nicaragua. This month we were partnered with Brazos de Amor in Hinotepe, Nicaragua. Our ministry this month consisted of getting to know the 25 kids who live here at the orphanage, and working with the 50 kids in their community program they have every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Some of the activities that we did for ministry this month consisted of preparing crafts for the community kids. This month I prepared a crown for the kids to make. Along with this, I prepared a short message for them reminding them how we are all God’s precious treasures (Deut. 7:6) and how he uniquely made each and every one of them. I expressed God’s love. It was probably one of my favorite memories from this past month. I wanted them to create their crowns uniquely like Christ made them.
The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. Deuteronomy 7:6
At the orphanage this month we also worked with the 25 children who lived there. Every Monday-Friday we did devotionals with the girls there. This month, we were also given the task to help the teens write thank you letters to their sponsors in America. This was a big project that required a lot of patience. A majority of the children don’t know English, so we had to help them write their letters through google translate. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed the time I had getting to know the girls.
The most important thing I’ve found being here is that it is important to build relationships with these teenagers if you hope to have a difference in their lives. Once you have built a relationship, they are more willing to listen and the more influence you can have in their lives. I started seeing this towards the end of our time in Nicaragua.
Even in the struggle of missing home, I have found joy here. Each day I woke up I asked God to give me joy for each day that I had in Nicaragua. And I did find joy. I found joy playing with Michel and Rosa in our free time. Their smiles and laughter brought joy to my heart. I found joy in the blessings of getting to know our host and their 8 year old son Teddy. I found joy in trying to learn Spanish. I found joy in getting to know the children who lived at Brazos de Amor.
Moving forward, all I ask is for anyone who reads this blog to pray for me. Pray that God continues to give me motivation, joy, and perseverance for the remainder of the race. Pray that I would continue to seek what he wants to give me in Nicaragua. He has so much to show me still, and He has so many people who he wants us to minister to in our time in El Salvador. I want to be present, devoted, and relentlessly pursing the father. Pray for my 40+ squad mates as well as we head to El Salvador early tomorrow morning.
With love, Shannon
