Wednesday, November 16, 2011

I am a bad person!!!

Cause it's been forever since I blogged!

I've been busy, but at the same time I've been doing a lot of the "same stuff different day" stuff.

So there hasnt been much to talk about. I've been sick. I have my typical cough that I normally get for a couple of months every year. Gotta love it. It has to be some kind of allergy. Oh well!

I had a big first for me. I raised the money thanks to some of you wonderful people and I bought the land next to the preschool. I am officially a Nicaraguan land owner! It ended up costing $5,500. Unfortunately that included a little house on it that we are going to tear down. It woulda been a lot cheaper if it was just land! Now Coburn's job is to raise the money to build the walls around it and start building the land up. It is going to be pretty amazing! I think it is going to be a great place to host community things in the future!

The boys and girls are great. 7 of the 8 kids in Robles made the Honor Roll. That's the most they ever had at the same time! Praise God for that!

The girls are doing well. I worry about the older girls personally. Please prey for them. I see them becoming more and more focused on the worldy things and less on God. That causes a couple of problems. 1) its bad for them and their spiritual growth. but 2) I can see some of the younger girls looking up to them and trying to follow in their footsteps. Other than the house mom Kenia, they don't have many options as female role models that are around all the time.

As for the boys.... I have built some pretty amazing relationships. I have been focusing on Marcos (the oldest) a lot. He is the one struggling the most in school. He says he is going to be a professional soccer player. I wish he could follow that dream, but with his life, he doesnt really have the opportunities to chase that dream.
We have been hanging out a little bit here and there. I try to take him out alone when I can. He is 4 years older than the next boy. So he is kind of growing out of that "kid" age and becoming a teen. I think I am the only person in the house that can relate to him right now. He really is a great boy!

I will be moving out of the boys home soon though. Ever since Coburn left, his old roommate and my good friend Michael Folsom is now living by himself in a house with like 6 bedrooms and 4 baths. Not only is he lonely, but it is not very safe to live by yourself down here. It's always good to have someone to hang with. So I will be moving in with him in Dec.

I will still be just as active with the boys. Going over in the afternoon a lot and hanging out with them. Going on activities with them. All of that wonderful stuff. The only difference is I will be sleeping and waking up in a different place. My new house is really close to the boys home too. So it won't be that much of a difference.

I have realized God's will for me down her. I can now say I know it's a relational ministry. I am going to focus on the two houses and the relationships i have there and the big brother/father figure they see me as. I hope I am a good example of what a man should be like. Not like a lot of their fathers who aren't around anymore.

And second, I am focusing on Los Brasiles and the preschool. I have been spending most of my time with the morning preschool children. I love hanging out with them. These are 3-5 yr olds that are just so precious.

I see Los Brasiles as my focus in Nicaragua for a while. Now with Coburn gone, I am going to be taking charge of his mission trips that come down, and a lot of other stuff. I am going to be pretty busy here soon. His first group comes in February!

I am finishing up my "Holiday" newsletter. I figured I'd do one at the end of Nov for Thanksgiving AND Christmas.

For those of you that know me really well, you would know I hate this time of year and the holiday season. It really all revolves around Christmas. And mostly around the music. I can't stand Christmas music for the most part. And here's why:

They will play the same songs EVERY hour! Actually sometimes more. You will hear "White Christmas" 3 times in one hour. But oh wait... it's ok because one was Bing Crosby, one was Amy Grant, and one was Harry Connick Jr! I'm sorry for your Christmas lovers, but I don't care who sings the song, it's still the same freakin song!!!!!

So the music annoys me. It always has back when I was little and the music would start in the beginning of Dec. But wait..... I have seen it start before Thanksgiving through my teen years, and now it starts in Oct!!!!!

Seriously!!!! enough already. But like I said. I love Nicaragua Holiday season so far. Maybe it's because it always feels like Nica is 20 yrs behind the state, but I haven't heard any Christmas music yet!

I won't go on and on, but music is just one reason. I hate how everyone wakes up and thinks "PRESENTS!!!" instead of thinking "Praise God for the gift of Jesus on this day". Christmas isn't about trees, presents, music, lights, and Santa. It's about Jesus Christ. So i struggle on a holiday where we take the focus off of God and bring it to our worldy possessions.

Don't get me wrong. I love the beauty of the trees and lights and such. But we need to remember CHRISTmas is about CHRIST!

Ok.... more about me.

I'm struggling with my faith. I am tempted everywhere I look. Just like all Christians are. But recently I have been giving more attention to possible temptations. Does that make sense? I'll see something at the store and I will want it and crave it, and it is hard for me to have the self control to not buy it. Or when a kid is driving me crazy, it is getting harder to have more patience. Or when I dont want to get up in the morning and do my quiet time, It's harder and harder to get up. Don't get me wrong..... I am keeping the faith and fighting the good fight. It's just harder sometimes than others. I think that once I live with Michael, that will help. Because we will both be able to keep each other accountable. We always have a great time together discussing great Godly things. We've had some great talks. I'm looking forward to it.

Well.... these last couple of days I've been driving kids from the school in the dump to a free health clinic. It's a wonderful opportunity for these children. I had 30 people in my 15 passenger Microbus today!!!! Crazy stuff! That's Nicaragua for you.

Well, right now I am reading "Don't waste your life" by John Piper. Good book! I am off to go read some more. Time to draw closer to God, spend some time in prayer, and praise God!

Love you all and talk to you soon..... no, really!!! :)

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