Nicaragua Snapshot

Here’s a snapshot summary of the Fusion Student Ministry trip to Nicaragua.

Lesbia- our translator

Luis- he’s more than a bus driver

Sleeping in hammocks

Spreading the word about VBS in Aduanas Dos

Sickly dogs

Trash everywhere

The Perkins’ Oasis

Planting trees

Sweating in places we didn’t know existed

Playing Celebrity

“Act like you’re making bread.”

“It goes down twice.”

“It’s when you hit someone with swag.”

Kellie- the trip hair stylist

The daily 15 challenge

VBS two afternoons

Seeing old friends, making new ones

Using the local bathroom

Andrew bonding with the kids

Roger and Elijah rocking at translating

Playing hackie-sack

“Use your feet!”

Playing soccer with the kids

Hiking all over the mountain side to invite students to camp

Helping Pastor Bismark move his house

The girls go teal

Happy Birthday Madi!  Cake and fireworks

Beans for breakfast

“For the experience!”

Staying at Campo Alegria for 2 nights

The volcano Ometepe

Bugs in the bed

Kids waking up at 5am

Karina sneaking up on Rebecca

Body Parts

Lisa and Sammy playing Knight-Mount-Chariot

Swimming in Lake Nicaragua

“For real, for real.”

A united church service

Shannon’s challenging message

Praying for the students

Pastors standing arm in arm

Tearful goodbyes

Flat tire?  We don’t need a jack.

Souvenir shopping at the Messiah market

Zip-lining 

“Upside down!  Upside down”

Monkeys in the trees

Lucy- the monkey with no modesty

Mermaids and Sasquatch

Pizza in Granada

Cold drinks

The guy who carved maracas

Haggling and buying hammocks 

Hannah and Jennifer’s “singing”

Sharing awkward moments from the trip

Growth

While on vacation with the Jarrett's several months ago, Kevin made a grocery run and came back with a flower kit for me.

Corey and I aren't plant people.  My grandma gave me a tree as a wedding gift.  It was supposed to be easy maintenance- plant it in the ground and let nature do it's thing.

We killed it.

We planted new grass in the front yard of our house in North Carolina.

I drowned it.

And Kevin comes bounding back to the condo with bulb, soil, and pot in hand.  "What am I going to do with this?" was my first (and really only) reaction.  The flower kit sat around our apartment for months.  During the move to our new home, it was thrown in a box.  After all the unpacking, Corey opened the kit.  The bulb had already started to grow and the growth was completely white.  We feared the flower was dead before we even started.

But as the weeks went by, healthy growth slowly began.  The stem turned green and began to stretch out of the onion looking bulb.  Each morning I noticed the plant getting a little larger.

Then it grew like crazy!  Every day it seemed to grow several inches.  The last few days, green became red and the flowers finally bloomed.

I've found great joy in watching this plant go from a hard ball of earth to a radiant flower.  The growth I witnessed made me want to water it more, to make it grow bigger and faster.  I resisted because the kit gave specific watering instructions.  I knew it needed enough water to grow, but too much water would be counterproductive.

What a beautiful picture of ministry!

1 Corinthians 3:5-7  After all, who is Apollos?  Who is Paul?  We are only God's servants through whom you believer the Good News.  Each of us did the work the Lord gave us.  I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.  It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering.  What's important is that God makes the seed grow.

We can plant the seed and give it what it needs to grow, but only God can cause the growth.  We can't control how fast or how much it grows, but that isn't of our concern anyway.  We are simply to create an environment of growth and get out of the way so God can do His thing.

God, help me to be a better gardener.

Life Awards

I have decided that two Life Awards should be awarded to:

1- Those who regularly have to wake-up before sunrise.  On Sunday mornings when my alarm sounds, I can hear the mid-night critters as they continue with their moon songs.  The darkness envelops me and draws me back into dreamland.  I practically have to use a crowbar to get my body out of bed.  The bathroom light is painful and a shock to my system.  Sunday mornings come too early. 

To those who get up every day before dawn, I raise my glass.  I don't know how you do it.

2 - Those who have ever made deviled eggs.  We are hosting a neighborhood get together and I thought deviled eggs would be a nice, easy addition.  After attempting to peel off a few shells, I about gave up.  What a pain!  The end product is certainly yummy, but I'm not certain if my work is worth the pay off.

To those who make deviled eggs for yearly parties, I salute you.  Never again will I carelessly pop a deviled egg into my mouth; I will savor every taste knowing the effort you put into it.

Out of the Blue

During the month of March, our students at Southern Hills carried their Bibles around with them everywhere they went as part of our "The Book" series.  This simple act had tremendous impact not only on the students themselves, but those around them.  Teachers, friends, parents- great conversations took place because the students were willing to do something radical.

To conclue the 1 Month Bible Challenge, last night the students were challenged to take a New Believer's New Testament to school and give it away.  Sixty-one Bibles were taken!

Isaiah 55:11 says, "It is the same with my word.  I send it out, and it always produces fruit.  It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I sent it."

Please pray for our students as they step out and share their faith.

We serve a faithful God.  I can't wait to hear how he moves!

I was wrong.

Alright, I give.

For years now I have used two words that people have frequently brought to my attention as inappropriate.  At different times these two words used to be a staple of my vocabulary.  I use them both infrequently now, but they still make an appearance from my mouth from time to time.  And if I were honest, I almost always get a look or concerned comment.

To reveal my excuses for what they are- The word I use more frequently is "retarded."  I use this word as a means to express my dislike of something.  I thought I could use this word because I had a down-syndrome relative.  I figured I was among those who had every reason to be offended by the misuse of this word, yet I wasn't.  So I used it freely.

This morning I was convicted.  As I ate my cereal and caught up on blogs, I read this article.  I don't know why this confrontation was different from the rest (especially considering that it was totally impersonal and not even directed at me), but I have a guess.

I just started meeting with a close friend to intentionally discuss our lives, pray for each other, and hold each other accountable.  Before our first meeting she suggested setting goals for ourselves that we can help each other with.  I was wrestling with what goals to set, because I wanted them to be real and realistic.  I decided I would create a list of 10 attainable goals, but I only had a rough idea for a few.  So I began to pray and ask God to reveal to me areas where I need to improve or be more intentional.


So I'm reading this blog and slowly my actions come to light when BAM!  "And it will also cost you the friendships of those who struggle with being gay.  Like me."


I wish I would have seen the folly of my thinking years ago.  Just because I may not be offended doesn't mean it's not offensive (DUH Nicole!  That's what you've been telling students about cursing...).  It's time to clean up my mouth.

K1 P1

I have tried 3 times to learn how to crochet.  I simply can't do it.  I can't keep a constant tension and find my projects getting smaller and smaller as my stitches get tighter and tighter.

Knitting, however, is another story.

Elizabeth Vahey showed me how to knit just once and it stuck.  Video tutorials for special stitches are the same; I view them once and know it.

Knitting just makes sense.

When I first started knitting, I hated it.  Projects take for-ev-er!  My first project was a leg warmer (yes a leg warmer.  I haven't made one to match it yet.)  It took me several days to complete and when I was done, I wasn't sure if I would knit anything again.  My other crafting endeavors are typically start-and-finish projects.  Would you like a custom fit hemp necklace?  Watch this movie and I'll be finished when it's over.  A fancy scrapbook page you can frame?  Give me 45 minutes.  A purse?  I'll have it to you tomorrow.  A knitted scarf?  Give me a few WEEKS.  I'll be halfway through a project and start thinking about 3 other projects I'd like to do, with no end in sight.  Frustrating.

*Disclaimer* I know someone who crochets and can make a hat in an hour.  It takes me MUCH longer.  I don't know why it takes me so much time, but the simple fact is it does.

But knitting has grown on me.  I can knit while watching movies I've never seen before, something I can't do with my other craft mediums.  I can take knitting with me in the car on long road trips.  It's easy to bust out my needles at a coffee shop.  It provides me with time to think about the person I'm knitting for; each stitch is a prayer just for them.  Knitting, for me anyway, really is a labor of love.

Inspiration Strikes!

I have a tendency to see a great idea and think, "I want to do something like that!"  Ideas that surprise people and provide them with a story particularly inspire me.  Like this one...

Here's a old city bus that someone transformed into a public library.  How clever!

Don't you want to visit this place?  I want to browse the "shelves" and find something unique.  I want to sip on my mocha as a I read from the bus seat and observe those who come and go, those who choose to take a peek inside this refurbished, re-purposed, rejuvenated nook and those who choose to pass on the experience.  I want to be apart of this small grand idea.

What ideas have inspired you lately?

(For another bus story, check this out.)