Be Thankful

I am thankful:


I am forgiven.

My God saved me.

I have three healthy kids.

My husband loves me.

I get to join God on His mission.

...that there was leftover meatloaf for lunch!

That I can feed my kids at least 3 times a day.


That we have a house to live in...that has walls, a floor AND a roof.

 That we are warm.

Thank you God for all of your provision.  Every day.

My greatest desire....

Right now my greatest desire is to just pour my heart out on here about so many things.  It'll have to wait. :) Just a while longer. Right now there are 9 papers waiting for my tutoring input in my inbox. *sigh*
I also need to post photos and info from our family mission trip to Nicaragua.



In all my exhaustion I am trying to remember:


God is good all the time!
All the time, God is good!

Travel Itinerary = Prayer list

The following is where we will be and what we will be doing during our upcoming trip to Nicaragua.  Please join us in God's work by praying with us as we go:

Nicaragua Mission Trip August 2011

Friday

• Arrive in Managua, Nicaragua  12:07pm
• Gather bags in Airport
• Get Car Rental at Budget
• Stop in Chinadega to buy groceries

Saturday

• Go to buy School Uniforms/Book bags
• Sort Items from Container: Clothes & Shoes: Mens, Womens, Girls, Boys, Toys, School Supplies, Etc

Sunday

• Visit village of Nuevo Jicarito – Approx 25 Families and approximately 60 children in village
• Update all children profiles for the school aged children and take pictures of all school children
• Distribute coloring book and crayons to each child, have child color picture for sponsor (name & # on pic)
• Bible Lesson on Ten commandments
• Games
• Distribute Clothes, Shoes, Hygiene Packs and Bible to each family (Photo of Family) Food if possible.
• Cookies, Juice, Candy

• Visit Village of Las Mesitas
• VBS/Bible Lesson with approximately 150 Children

• Games

• Distribute Clothes & Shoes
• Cookies, Juice and Candy

Monday

• Visit Village of Flor de Azalia
• Get Profiles on approximately 110 Children
• Distribute Uniforms/School Supplies and Take Photos
• Distribute Book bags and School Supplies to 4 Teachers
• Cookies, Juice and Candy
• Visit Village of  Becerro - 40 Families and approximately 100 children
• Get Profiles on approximately? School-Aged Children & Take Pictures of Children
• VBS/ Bible Lesson
• Games
• Distribute Clothes & Shoes & Toy Packs
• Possibly Distribute Food, Bibles, Hygiene
• Cookies, Juice and Candy

Tuesday

• Visit Village of San Manglito – Approximately 155 Children in Schools
• Distribute Coloring Books & Crayons
• Have Children Color Pictures for Sponsor/New Photo?
• Take Pictures Village & Land where church will be
• Visit Village of Los Laredos
• Bible Lesson/VBS with approximately 150 Children
• Games
• Distribute Clothes & Shoes
• Cookies, Juice and Candy

Wednesday

• Wedding

Thursday

• Pastors Conference/Training in Somotillo Church with 9 Pastors
• Books, Bags, Notebook/Pens
• Lunch with Pastors/Wives

• Movie night at the Church in Somotillo 5:00pm
• Watch VeggieTales movie
• Quiz on movie with prizes to winners
• Cookies, juice and candy

 Friday

• Visit Village of Cinco Pinos
• 9am meeting with Ladies in Village for Basket program
• Visit church in Cinco Pinos Approximately 150 Children
• Cookies, Juice and Candy
• Bible Story/VBS
• Games

Saturday

• Travel to Managua

• Return truck to Budget
• Flight leaves at 1:07 pm Nicaragua Time

 Very excited kids with new backpacks full of supplies and new uniforms.

 Kids we saw on the side of the road, so we stopped and gave them flipflops and candy. oh, and that's Franklin our translator. :)

 Very sweet little girl who was VERY taken with my camera.

 Kids getting candy.

 Guys riding on the top of the bus with their bags of rice, etc.

 Jennifer and Franklin in a house waiting to meet a girl with pine needle baskets.

I believe her name is Helen.  She is maybe 11 yrs old and makes baskets every afternoon to sell and help her grandmother make money.  She was abandoned by both parents.

More pictures from Nicaragua

 Yes, that's a pig sleeping under the "kitchen counter"

 Kids coming from the school to see us and get uniforms and supplies.

So sweet, so beautiful, so well behaved.

it's getting close!!

Hard to believe we leave so soon for Nicaragua! We are SO excited!  I forgot this is the rainy season...so that's not to exciting :) but it will be fine.  I am a worrier.  I know I'm not supposed to be, and I'm working on that, but....well...as of this morning I still am!   One less worry:  we have all 5 passports. Praise the Lord!

One more worry gone:   We have plane tickets!!! yay! Now I just have to get boarding the dogs straight!  They will not be thrilled...but...hey, they're dogs! :)  

SO here's what I read in my Bible study this morning:

Because God is love, His will is always best.
Because God is all-knowing, His directives are always right.
Because God is all-powerful, he can enable me to do His will.

Thank you God, for all of the above.  He is enabling me.


"We know that we have come to knowhim if we obey his commands. The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a lianr, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete i him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."  1 John 2:3-6


1. Obedience is costly to me and to those around me.
2. I cannot know and do the will of God without paying the price of adjustment and obedience.
3. I must adjust my plans and program to what God is doing.
4.You can trust God with your family.


All of this is from Henry Blackaby's Bible study called "Experiencing God." If you've not done it, I highly recommend it.

More pictures from Nicaragua

As we landed in Managua.

"Downtown" Somotillo

Bike taxi's waiting for a fare

Somotillo's answer to Walmart ;)

The road to a tiny village.

oops...there's cows in the road...but that's normal

Tiny road...big pickup, even bigger cows...with HUGE horns!

Hey Look! More cows!

Kids hanging on the fence at the school. They were so excited to see us!

Little boy eating the Nicaraguan equivalent of a pop-cicle

My favorite trouble maker!!

A sweet little boy rode his horse to school. He MAY have been 6 yrs old.

The backpacks and uniforms we gave out at one town.

Sweet kids waiting patiently for us to start distributing the stuff.