Month: June 2014

Not of this World
As believers in Jesus, we know we are not of this world. We know that there is something bigger than what we see right in front of us. We have hope that will live eternally with Jesus. What do you do though when you feel that you are not of this world, right in the space God has given you?
This week has had some amazing ups- working alongside doctors in a medical clinic, seeing wide smiles when people responded to my “Buenos Dia” as we got off the bus, leading children into a relationship with Jesus, and being recipients of generosity of caring people.

An iguana on the roof. Really this should not be surprising. I have seen them in other places, but this was my double take for the day in this country of surprises.
Stephen’s phone was stolen. Really this is often only just a matter of time. We have heard of it happening to many other people, but still it is a feeling of violation and life not being fair.
Roof cats are coming in our house. Really this should be no big surprise. Our house is accessible to any smallish creature that can get through the razor wire on the roof, but still we are not appreciating the evidence of nightly cat visits.
God is good regardless of circumstances. Really this is an amazing truth that I do not fully believe. We face challenges each day of discouragement, heat, broken relationships, but still God is the love in me that allows me to show that love to others.
God, let me be thankful for a husband who loves me enough help me trust God. Let me be thankful for our current financial concerns because it gives me opportunity to talk with you more. Let me be thankful for our Solarbag team for their excitement to care for people. Let me be thankful for this week in San Carlos and the opportunity to be Your hands and feet.
Love, Natalie

My two worlds crashed together this week in a joyful way. Sharon and Dave Fisk came for a week of sightseeing, long talks, a view into ministry, and relaxation in this country of sensory overload. We so enjoyed the “Christmas” they brought with them from our friends at West Hills Christian School and our families.  What a blessing it was to get to open two suitcases and see many things that made us smile-chocolate, microscope, a yoga mat, peanut butter, mosquito repellant, etc! We can’t thank you enough for blessing us so generously!

They concurred with the overstimulation to your senses-sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and touches. They found themselves more tired than usual, which I was secretly glad about, because it made me feel like less of a wimp with my own adjustment over the past months. J

We went on a tour of the islands, Mombacho Volcano, and the Villa Esperanza, where Sharon and I had our first experience with Nicaragua. It was amazing being back with our husbands and getting to meet with Kay Moore, the coordinator from Portland.

They tried fritanga, had “tipica” food at Claudia’s, and were introduced to our “Starbucks”. We sweat together, swam together, and celebrated Valentine’s Day together!

But like any crash, there is usually some damage done- even if it is a joyful crash! The damage done is the adjustment back to my life here, and quite frankly, I am not sure I am doing it very well- just ask Stephen! I miss the familiar, the comfortable. I miss being able to go down the hall and thank those who blessed us with stuff this week. I miss having a good friend to just sit in talk with; someone who knows me! I miss familiar food, cool weather, and driving. I miss having more control in my life.

As I write this, I know that God is giving me some of these things here; not all of them, but I think He does that to keep me dependent on Him. And as frustrating as that is sometimes, it is right- so when I am in a good frame of mind, I thank Him for it!

 I thank him for sending friends to visit. I thank Him for the American food that came our way. I thank Him for the opportunity to travel around in a car while Dave and Sharon were here. I thank Him for a good man who is following God’s leading. I thank Him even for the crash, when I am in an especially good place! J

Love, Natalie

 

Hand-Me-Down Society
The other day I found myself sitting on a park bench during my favorite time of the day. It was about 5 PM Sunday evening and the church across from me was getting ready for Mass. The light and the clouds were just right and I was wishing I had my “real” camera with me. I like this time of day wherever I am, but it seems like in this country it is even sweeter. The day has cooled a bit, people are out enjoying each other, smiling and greeting each other.
Across the street at the park, the fire truck pulled up and prepared to douse the open field, which was not being watered effectively with two broken spigots. What struck me was the 1960’s vintage truck from Salt Springs Utah, the mismatched firemen gear, and yet they used it proudly, evening knowing that the firemen don’t get paid for their job.
Right down by the bank we use, is Estrella Boutique. This is one of the many second hand stores in town; many with items that have Goodwill tags on them. What makes Estrella Boutique stand out is that they have a DJ. Everything in this country is loud, and this DJ is no exception. It seems that what they are lacking in “stuff” they are covering with noise.
Almost every day we hear a band with used instruments, we see stores of second hand appliances, and we see people wearing T-shirts that are clearly from the US; Pink shirts saying Save the Tatas, shirts from sporting events that have long passed, Old Navy Fourth of July shirts, and shirts what English phrases like “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow”.
Even food that some people eat is what is tossed out from wealthier homes.
This is a Hand-Me-Down society.
What struck me though is that they do not face relationships as hand-me-down-seeing them as something that is substandard or second rate. As people were walking into the church, they were joyfully greeting each other. The people sitting around in the park were engaging with each other- some were kissing in the bushes, but most of them were not allowing distractions to keep them from conversations and interacting. Even the drunk guys on the church steps were enjoying each other’s company.
Today, the internet was down at our house, and it was kind of a blessing that I did not feel the pressure to have to do the many things that require internet- school, correspondence, mindless checking of Facebook, and other distractions.
There are some things I need to be handed from this Hand-Me-Down culture.
Love, Natalie

My first question is “Do you believe in angels?”
Today, I finally got around to thinking about dinner and the stew meat that I had purchased at La Colonia which was thawing on the counter. Stephen had not slept much because he was up late working on finances, and I decided that if I was going to attempt a stew in Nicaragua that I at least needed to have onions (cebolla). While Stephen napped on the couch, I grabbed some cordobas (money) and my keys and headed to the closest fruit and vegetable stand, a few blocks away. On my way I passed the house of Orlando and Gertrude (pronounced Hairtrudia). All of my previous interactions with Gertrude have led me to believe that she is a feisty woman, full of Latino blood and with a good heart.
In my lame Spanish I told her that I was going to buy some cebolla so I could make dinner. Eventually, it was clear to me that she was going to come with me to help me get the best price, so walking side by side and not saying anything we went to find onions. It was clear when we got there that large, hulky Mario was butter in the hands of this little woman who told him that his onions were really not very fresh. We walked away with 6 onions and 3 heads of garlic for $1.
As we walked home, she asked me what I was going to make. I could not explain it- carnes, papas, sopa… and she asked if she could come and see what I was doing. What else could I say but “yes”. With Stephen snoring in the sala, we headed into the kitchen. I showed her the recipe that she did not follow, and 20 minutes later after cutting and cooking she turned to me and said (in Spanish and mime) my part is done now it just needs to cook. As she walked out the door, she made it clear to me that Stephen does not need to know that she was there, and that she is always happy to come and help out.
As I sit here, I have a tantalizing smell like beef burgundy wafting through the kitchen, and I am thinking that God has given me another Nicaraguan angel to take care of me. Gracios Dios!

I have been absent in the blog world recently, I guess because I have been living life more and doing less writing!
My topic today is GARBAGE! As usual, they do it a bit differently here. Garbage pick-up is three days a week. Pick-up consists of everyone putting out their garbage by 6 AM, but watching it so that the street dogs don’t rip it open before the truck comes. The truck that comes is a large open bed truck with slatted sides. A few guys will walk along tossing the garbage up to the 5 or 6 guys in the back of the truck, who immediately open the garbage and sort it, taking out anything of value. While this truck stinks and it, of course, is literally filled with garbage, it is an organized mess. When the truck fills up, they head off to the dump on the south side of town.
When the truck shows up at the dump, it dumps the refuse in large piles, where a small army of people “attack” the garbage to see if there is anything of value that they can sell or use themselves. This is not a past time, this is a way of making a living for them and for some this is a generational living.
Yesterday, Stephen and I had the opportunity to join a group of Nicaraguans who weekly go to the dump and serve a meal. Today was a special day because we also brought gifts for them for the New Year- rice, beans, sugar, toilet paper, etc…
Mario shared a devotional with the people, and then asked them, “What do you praise God for?” There were not a lot of answers, they seemed a little shy to speak up, but some of the answers were: food to eat, that I can breathe my next breath, that God loves me, I am healthy, that I have made it through another year. Humbling.
When I looked down at the ground during the devotions, I saw the leg of a Barbie doll, a plastic computer part, a needle, torn plastic, the lid to a water bottle, my tennis shoes, and the polished toe nails of the extremely dirty, flip-flopped foot of the woman next to me.
Lunch was served, we had to reuse plates and silverware, they asked us to fill whatever container that had to carry food in- empty formula containers, the bottom of a two liter soda pop bottle. With shy smiles, they took the food and gifts, thankfully returning for more until everything was gone. The poor of the poor.
We packed up everything and headed back to Granada to our food, home, computers, and concerns, and they headed back to the garbage piles wrapped from head to toe to try and escape the heat of the day. Contrast.
Yesterday was filled with Happy New Year (Feliz An~o Nuevo). I’ve seen today that the outlook is different for all of us, but thankfulness to God is a constant!
Love, Natalie

It is December 13, and I am standing in my kitchen having just finished making a recipe in my new slow cooker. As I start to pull ingredients together for cookies for our prayer group this evening, I think about my previous desire to listen to American Christmas music. Earlier today I heard “Little Drummer Boy” in Spanish over the loud speaker in La Colonia, the grocery store. It primed the pump of my need for the familiar in the midst of “becoming familiar”.

After a quick Google search of “Christmas Music”, the song “I’ll be home for Christmas” was coming in loud and clear on my computer; “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams…”. I started to cry. It will only be in my dreams this year, and here I am standing in my kitchen sweating, and listening to the midday piercing boom of fireworks. At this point, Stephen comes into the room, and I try to say in a normal voice,” I am not sure if this Christmas music is such a good idea.”

He makes the logical statement, “Why do you listen to it if it makes you cry?”  Half of you are in agreement, and the other half are women. I am not sure why I have to listen, but I have to. I need that connection with home, familiar. I have my ficus tree with ornaments from home, and lights from Lugo Ferreteria in the open air part of our house. I have my wooden German Nativity Scene from my friend Gail with the reindeer owned by the Jewish owners of the house. We had our picture taken this morning by the grocery clerk between the Christmas tree and the palm tree.

I need the process of my two worlds coming together, so that I can truly be here. It is happy and sad. It is joyfulness in getting to know our neighbors, seeing the most amazing sun rises over the 500 year old church and seeing the sun set over the new 90 year old church, greeting Mario the fruit and vegetable man each day as we pass by, stopping at Maria Elena for the closest thing to Starbucks in this city, learning some of the language, and getting better at communicating.

I miss the usual- the parties, the school and church concerts, carols, the winter weather, the excitement in the air because of the holidays, my family, my friends- all the outward things that I have come to connect with Christmas.

Now as I type, I hear what sounds like a car with a loud speaker playing “Jingle Bells” in English. I am not sure if this is God’s sense of humor, but I have to laugh because the two cultures have been tied together-the American Christmas song being aired in the Nicaraguan way! J

I remember what we are celebrating in both worlds; the story of God sending His son to earth, allowing Him to be fully man and understand the hard stuff of life on earth. That is the reminder I need!

Love, Natalie

I am going to make some generalizations here; I want to just make it clear that my life is different than yours in a few ways. I have been watching the news, reading Facebook posts, and have even talked with a few of you.

YOU	ME
Around town you are seeing Santa and maybe reindeer and elves.	I see statues of Mary in churches, houses, and on floats for the seven day parade called La Purisima.
The weather is keeping most of you indoors	I see my neighbors sitting outside of their houses in the evening, enjoying conversation and elaborate Christmas lights and decorations.
You awake to an alarm sometime between 5-7 AM.	The fireworks start going off at 4 AM to wake us up for the La Purisima celebration. They go most of the day, with the most intensity in the early morning and evening.
Celebrations include warm drinks and Christmas cookies	We followed the sound of fireworks this evening and came across a La Purisima celebration (A lighted statue of Mary and angels). I was graciously given a bright pink fruit drink in a sandwich bag (very common)
You see cars with antlers and wreaths on them.	We saw a 4 foot Papa Smurf piñata being carried on the front of a bike (must be headed to a First Communion celebration today.)
Your Christmas tree is cone shaped; either real or fake.	We swiped a tree from our “garden” and hung our ornaments!
The temperature is somewhere between 10-40 degrees Fahrenheit.	The temperature falls to the upper 70s at night and gets to around 90 during the day. We do have a nice breeze and occasional rain.
Very few of your neighbors chose December to paint their house.	Many of our neighbors paint inside or outside of their house to get it ready for Mary.

 

You are listening to Christmas music.

Small bands playing brass and drums go throughout the town playing Mariachi type music.

 

It is so interesting to be a part of a different culture. Every day Stephen and I wish we had our cameras at the ready. A few days ago it was a rickety cart pulled by an old bony horse, with a man sitting in a large leather recliner “driving” the horse. Today it was a young man riding his bike with his girlfriend sitting on the cross bar holding a large bag of beans and rice, and he was holding a beautiful decorated cake. The ingenuity of the people amaze me!

What we do have in common: Celebrating the birth of Jesus!

Love, Natalie

I really enjoy sharing the interesting events of my day with you. Sometimes I come across things that I just shake my head and think, “Wait until I share this with my friends”.
Today was “Tipica” meaning typical here in Granada. After staying up past midnight, I was awoken at 6 AM to the sound of explosions. This really should not surprise me, but these seemed to be closer than the local Catholic church calling people to Mass. This was followed by a message over a loud speaker (in Spanish of course). I did not understand the words, but I understood the message. Someone had died and this is the way they let people know of the death and impending funeral. They don’t embalm here, so bodies need to be in the ground within 48 hours. More firecrackers were set off as the message was shared throughout town.
At 9 AM I had a hair appointment. I arrived at 9 as a timely American would. I was asked to come back at 3 PM, so change of plans. I am glad I grabbed the shopping list before I left home. Hailing a taxi, I headed to La Colonia ( the nice grocery store); I needed to buy things for our Thanksgiving celebration.
Bacon (English Pea Salad): I found some with the brand name of Fud. This reminded me of a Far Side cartoon where a cat was enticing a dog into a trap by writing “Fud” and arrows pointing in the direction of the trap. I was wondering if I was falling into a trap by bying this product… I found out this afternoon that I was!
Chicken Bar: When I buy chicken here I tell Stephen to look away. He can’t quite handle that raw chicken is in an open freezer case, and you can take out whatever parts you want. This meat looks better than most of the other meat wrapped up or in the butcher case. So far so good and other ex-pats do this, too!
Cranberry Sauce: I was asked if I would bring a “congealed salad” to the celebration tomorrow. It took me a minute, but I realized that was Jello with stuff in it. Of course for the Thanksgiving table this usually entails cranberries. I came across a can of whole cranberries in sauce. I was very excited! It was over $3 for a small can, but hey this is Thanksgiving!
Tomorrow we will be together with about 35 other missionaries to celebrate Thanksgiving. We are so thankful just for this opportunity to get together. It means a lot to celebrate American holidays with other Americans.
We are thankful that Stephen’s surgery is behind us, that we have a nice place to live, that God is revealing some ministry options to us, and that He has graciously sacrificed Himself for us so that we can go out and care for others.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Love, Natalie

The last few days, Stephen and I have had the freedom of driving (we rented a car)! Wow, I loved the freedom. I was a little freaked out at first; let’s just say that the rules of the road are a little different when you are contending with cars, motorcycles, bicycles, horses, carts, herds of cows, busses, large holes in the road, goats, dogs, etc.

 This was my birthday gift from Stephen- I loved it! We went to San Juan del Sur (a coastal tourist town), saw the volcano island of Ometepe, went part way up our local volcano, Mombacho, saw the town of Catarina which overlooks a volcanic lake and Lake Nicaragua, and also drove into Managua. We were so thankful for answered prayers to not be stopped by the police (It is time for the Christmas time bribes) and for safe travels!

Our time in Managua had two purposes. We met with Dr. Montelagre (the surgeon), and surgery is planned for this Monday (November 25). We check in at 10 AM. Please pray for Stephen’s health between now and then, and for the surgery.

The second purpose for our time in Managua was to renew our visa. $120, a very helpful woman that we met, and a very long line later, we have our visas that will be good for 90 more days. We also got to go to the mall (AKA food court) and had Subway. It might not excite you, but it was a great treat for us to have some “American” food.

We were reminded yesterday morning to be thankful for what is before us- driving, an American passport (it means freedom, really), Subway sandwiches, the amazing views in this country, money for our visa, and Stephen’s upcoming surgery. What a blessing!

Love, Natalie