Real life is…
Spending Saturday morning at the neighbor’s house drinking coffee and eating homemade tortillas.
Real life is…
Sharing my hostel dorm bed with my friend because a stranger kicked her out of hers in the middle of the night.
Real life is…
Being asked to speak in church 5 minutes before the service starts.
Real life is…
Alone time meaning I’m in my tent by myself, pretending there aren’t 5 other occupied tents next to it.
Real life is…
Praying over a baby girl who has been given no chance at life, and feeling God’s peace fill the room despite the sadness.
Real life is…
Sadness at missing the birth of my niece, and joy at knowing I’m in the right place anyway.
Real life is…
Our chicken dinner being killed and plucked on the front steps.
Real life is…
Needing my teammate to check and see if all the bloody chicken remains have been cleaned up so that I can run to the bathroom without seeing anything I don’t want to.
Real life is…
Climbing a mountain to pray over the city, then sliding back down it hoping we make it to the bottom in once piece.
Real life is…
Chasing the cockroaches out of the outhouse with a stick so that it’s safe to use after dark.
Real life is…
Waking up to the rising sun flooding in the open doors of the church.
Real life is…
Having a family picnic at the river with our hosts.
Real life is…
Going to do house visits in my church clothes without realizing that we’ll be trekking through ant infested woods and crossing muddy creeks.
Real life is…
Realizing I’m wearing three wildly different patterns in one outfit.
Real life is…
Chatting, painting nails, and playing baseball with the 25 kids who come over to play every other day.
Real life is…
Bonding with our contact’s sons during mango picking adventures.
Real life is…
Not caring that our plans for the day changed three times by the time breakfast was finished.
Real life is…
Finding that manual labor is the perfect time for deep spiritual discussions with our Nicaraguan family.
Real life is…
Most of my “ministry” highlights – great discussions, powerful prayers, and new connections – happening outside of official ministry time.
Real life is…
Hearing “Hey gringa, I love you!” when we walk down the street.
Real life is…
Waking up nightly to either the dog sneaking through the bars of the church to visit us, itchy ant bites, pigeons walking on the roof, roosters who think it’s dawn at all hours of the night, the donkey braying across the street, giant bees buzzing around my tent, or trucks driving around with speakers blaring announcements at 4 a.m. Or sometimes a combination of all of them.
Real life is…
Deciding that if things don’t work out back in the States, I wouldn’t mind being Nicaraguan after the World Race!
Real life is…
Laid-back and full of surprises and laughter.
