Countless blessings!

Wow, it has been a really long time since I have written and I am completely and honestly so sorry! I am going to give you a run down of the things I have done since my last post. I did a two-day medical brigade at a school located close to the clinic I work at everyday. The doctors were asked to come and see kids and prescribe medicines if needed at no cost to the children (the school paid for it). I was so touched by this experience. One of the small ministries the doctor is involved in is giving away free mini bibles at his clinic. He brought two boxes (each box holding 100) and was giving them away before the short devotion we had each morning before the brigades. The kids loved receiving this small gift. Even if they couldn’t read, these kids loved receiving something they could hold and grasp and call their own. It touched my heart. The children were also obsessed with the fact I could speak English. They asked me to talk in English and I was asking them to speak Spanish! It was such a wonderful trade off and I was so blessed by each child I came into contact with at this mini medical brigade. I loved every second of it! I also got a ticket; yes, for being in a car, but I was not driving, so it was not for speeding!!! Ha. I got a ticket for not wearing my seatbelt (shame on me). But in the end, it was literally a blessing. When you get a ticket here, you get your license taken and have to retrieve it later at the department of transportation and if its anything like in the states, you wait for way to much time than necessary. The doctor didn’t pick his license up for the remainder of that week and I am so blessed because he didn’t. That Friday at the clinic, a patient came in and he was consulting her and went to go look for a medication in the pharmacy and left his wallet in the room with the patient. He came back in the room to find his wallet and the patient who was previously in the room gone as well and a new patient siting in the chair waiting to be consulted. He told me that he had the two checks from the medical brigade in his wallet and if he would have picked up his license and had it, the person who stole his wallet could have easily cashed the checks and been off with the money. It was about $400 total (including a check for the consults and the medicines given at the brigade). I was so thankful to hear this! I thanked God! He is awesome! Another blessing to be thankful for is a little girl at the medical brigade named Diana gave me a bracelet and she seriously had holes in her shoes and clothes on her back and nothing else. She literally gave me everything she had to give! I was so overwhelmed, I will admit, I did tear up. It was so touching and I was so blessed! I thank God everyday for the little things that literally take my breath away. On a Tuesday at the clinic, I saw a febrile seizure take place. I have never seen a child have a seizure and it was hard on me. I tried praying for the mother of the child who ran into the clinic screaming shortly after she left with her sick child. She was terrified and I would imagine anyone who has a child could relate, but I surely can’t. I was so shocked as well, but all I could think to do was pray. Pray for peace, healing, comfort, and love. The things I thought would be the most important at that time for that woman and her child. I looked up two bible verses to send off with the mom as she was headed to the hospital because her child had a really high fever. I wrote down Isaiah 41:10 and Psalms 103:1-5. I was not able to give them to her because she left before I could talk to her and give them to her. This month, my friend from Omaha Nebraska left to go back home after her four months here of teaching and being a blessing! She was so important to me and I really confided in her as a true friend. She was so encouraging to me and gave me hope that there are positive people in this world. We also celebrated thanksgiving. It was different than any Thanksgiving I have ever had. I know it was improved because they normally don't celebrate it here. We had huge tamales that I could not even finish. Then there was dessert. You may think thats small and not enough food, but no one finished the main plate of a single tamale. They were 1.5 times the normal size! I had a great time and I have so much to be thankful for! I also went to the oriental market; the biggest market in Central America! Mom and Dad, get ready, we will be going there! It is a once in a lifetime experience and I won't let you miss out! I was grabbed this way and that being screamed at to buy the things from different vendors. Heard "mi amor", "chelita", "que bonita", "ven aqui", "que buscar". These all have different meanings, but they don;t matter. It was funny and entertaining. I walked in looking for a pair of shoes and left with a Barcelona jersey. It was a great deal and it was Nike! $8.00 for a full nike jersey; who wouldn't buy it?! I love it! My brother and my nephew here and I all have the same jersey! Picture below :) I have also been watching sermons and keeping up with keeping my spiritual cup filled. I know that sometimes after all my giving and doing, I feel drained at the end of the day, but I watch sermons from Highlands, Elevation or Life church to keep rejuvenated. I have been encouraged; I recently understood a whole sermon in Spanish, I have also been showered with blessings from the ultrasound doctor about how good I am getting at locating and identifying certain organs with the ultrasound machine. I have felt so blessed and am relying on God everyday to keep me encouraged and filled to do the work he has called me to do. I love what I am doing and would not change ANY of it for ANYTHING! I have never been more spiritually and mentally satisfied than I am down here. This brings me to my next point. I have recently finished reading the book “Radical” by David Platt; a preacher at a mega church in Birmingham Alabama. I am challenging you guys to read it (if you haven’t already). If you have read it, please join me in the radical experiment. This includes: praying for the entire world, reading the entire bible, sacrificing money for a specific purpose, spending time in another context, and committing yourself to a multiplying community (either a church body, a small group, etc.). This is am awesome adventure I am so excited to have started and loving everyday of it! I recently got moved to the pharmacy at the clinic, because it was re done and it is double the size and hold a lot more medicine. The former pharmacist needs assistance, so I moved over there for a little to help her out. It has not been as fun as triage was because I don’t get the special interaction I used to with some patients. I am still blessed to see the people I do and help with the specific doctors when they come to the clinic, but I hope to get back into triage and seeing and interacting with patients one-on-one. I love the personal relationships and smiles and just rapport that is developed over taking down a persons name, age, and heart rate (sometimes blood pressure depending on age). I feel so much more important when I get that personal interaction, but I know God has a purpose for me whether I work in the pharmacy or in triage. I am going to do another medical brigade with the doctor from the clinic on the 8th of December to the 12th with a team from Georgia. I ask for you to pray for me during this time. I heard this is a colder part of the country (finally!). I am so blessed to be able to be here and forming relationships that will last a lifetime; with the team I work with, the family I live with, and the people I work with. I thank you all for your support and keep a close watch; my next blog post will have a video included. Miss you all!

2 month video!

Living a life of transcendence

Today marks two months since I have been in Nicaragua and my faith has grown tremendously since day one. I have been intrigued to learn more; more about God, His grace, His love, and His word. I have been watching sermons in english to help get my fix of biblical teaching because I still only comprehend about half of a message in spanish. I have come to the realization that I am here because God has granted me the grace to live beyond myself. None of this would be possible with just human dependence, that is why God is in control. One sermon recently touched me because it related to me on more than one level. Many of you know I was studying for my nursing test before I came here; and I eventually took my test three times before passing. I now know that is was all a blessing in disguise, in God's plan. It bought me perseverance, patience, and to lean on his understanding and knowledge. As you prepare to take the NCLEX, you must think about questions based on hierarchal needs. Fellow nurses know the importance of Maslow when it comes to human needs. In nursing school I learned his five levels of needs starting with physical needs and ending in self-actualisation. Chris Hodges (pastor of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham Alabama) added a whole other detention and that is my aim for my life. The last need he added to the pyramid of importance is transcendence needs. Before I came to Nicaragua I wish I could proclaim my life was this unique and radical. As I have lived here, I have learned that without God, none of this would be possible; so therefore I am nothing without God and I need him to be vibrantly present in EVERY aspect of my life (finances, work, relationships, character, etc.). Living a life of transcendence means looking beyond yourself and what you discover about yourself; using it to help others. Dictionary.com defined being transcendent as "going beyond ordinary limits; surpassing; exceeding", "superior or extreme", and the best one yet "transcending the universe, time, etc.". If you don't understand why the last one was the best, your missing my point. Read Proverbs 9:6 (leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding) to comprehend my point. The difference between your life now and the life of many people here is for you tomorrow will be a regular day *you most likely will get up, go to work, eat lunch, walk about politics or whatever occupies your thoughts during most of the day, home come, prepare and eat dinner, go to bed, and perform that routine all over again the next day leading up to the weekend). I am not pointing fingers, I was doing the same thing and I left my certainty for un-certainty. That life is so different to the ones lived here. People here think about what they will have to eat tomorrow or how they will get to work tomorrow. Will they be able to afford the C$2.5 (cordobas) for the bus (5 cents it would cost in American dollars)? Will they be able to purchase lunch for C$60 ($2.54 American dollars)? Getting back to my point; live a life with meaning, beyond yourself and rely on God for everything possible! Walk up a street to a life of meaning. Bring God along! Don't leave him behind because without Him (the creator of the universe, night and day, time, etc.), you cannot live a transcending life. My point, live life intentionally; love God passionately, and serve others selflessly. These things are ONLY possible with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can live a life beyond ourselves if we solely rely on Him. I am so excited how my life is changing because everything I do comes from Him. Try it for yourself at home and see how your life changes! I challenge you; pick up your cross, give it all away, and follow God! These past few weeks,I was was sick with some sort of virus and did not go to work again for a week. I woke up one morning and threw up what I thought was my food from the day before. I then layer down and everything I tried to consume that day came up. The doctor visited my house and told me to stay home that week and rest. I received a shot (in the butt) and oh how I will never complain about getting a shot in the arm again! I got well as the week progressed and my stomach took some time to adjust to a regular intake of food. I was able to spend a lot of time with God that week and this is where my thoughts and ideas generate from. This past week at work, I was able to make a home visit to an older lady with a very infected foot. The skin (or lack thereof) I had to clean was white and I could feel the tendons and bones beneath the white substance acting as skin for the time being. I was able to pray over her and just spend time with the family after. They blessed me with papaya and gave me my very own pineapple! (In Nicaragua it is normal for families to bless you with food) I also got to see a polycystic kidney and lithiasis in the kidney (kidney stones) during ultrasounds this past week. I am so blessed to be here today. I thank God for giving me everything I news as I am here (Philippians 4:19, Luke 6:38, and Deuteronomy 8:18). He has fully resources me with everything I need to further His kingdom and without your prayer and support, I wouldn't be able to keep going. So thank you ALL and keep praying! God is the biggest and most powerful provider. There is so much more here for me to do; and it excites me knowing God is in control! Thank you all for everything you have done and continue to do for me! Love you all!