Finally...

Well, we're here...hot, sweaty and with heads spinning, but nevertheless, we're here. We're semi-settled in our house here in Managua...it's going to take some time for it to become our home...home is what we left in Missouri but we trust God will soon make this our home. Jim is currently trying to sew some screening on the iron bars of our outer doors in hopes of slowing down the daily immigration of outdoor insects. I thought I would try to figure out this blog thing...the website will be Jim's project to tackle...AFTER he gets the screening done plus a few other "honey, I-need-it-done-now" type things.

Life has been an unbelievable whirlwind for us since we locked our front door on Chinquapin Woods for the last time. Upon leaving Cassville, MO, we began what our daughter, Mandy, called our "Farewell Tour", visiting special friends, Dick and Wander Sanders in Willard, MO and speaking at their church, Lone Star Baptist Church...one of the sweetest gathering of Christian brothers and sisters we've ever experienced.

From there, we went on to Topeka, KS to visit Jim's family for a few days and then on to the KC area to spend some time with my daughter, Sadie and some special friends, Rex & Sue Pio. While in the area, we also had the opportunity to share about Nicaragua with my former church, First Baptist, in Gardner, KS. There were so many people we wanted to see in our old stomping grounds, but our time went so quickly and we just weren't able to see everyone...that was almost as hard to reconcile ourselves to as the good-byes were that we were able to say.

After that, we headed down to Eureka Springs, AR to stay one more time at our favorite B & B, Roadside Haven, which is operated by a couple we are proud to call our friends, Robert (aka "Wilson") and Nancy Holmes. Of course, this friendship is enhanced by their tremendous gift of hospitality and Nancy's great breakfasts!

The final leg of the "Tour" was spent with our daughter, Mandy, our son-in-law, Jack and the four most dearly loved grandchildren ever, Maddie, Sam, Benjamin and Jeremiah. We ended our time stateside with the most humbling and encouraging send-off from our home church, First Baptist in Cassville, MO. Folks, churches don't come any better than this one and we have been so blessed to have considered it our home and the people there, our family, since 1997. I don't dare write of the difficulty of all these good-byes...and we are returning for a short visit in July...so, I'll just leave this part as it is.

Now, all of that took two weeks. We planned on arriving in Managua and getting right down to setting up housekeeping and getting our communication system set in place. The only problem with that plan is that it was ours and we didn't take in to consideration, we were making these plans to happen in Nicaragua! We arrived to a re-instatement of power outages, service cutbacks, including water rationing, and now, this week, a transportation strike is in process and may soon actually shut down the country as far as "normal" life goes...whatever that is...we haven't quite got that one figured out yet.

I will try to give you a brief summary of the last 12 days. Many of you were joining with us in praying we would get our luggage through customs without a hitch...those prayers were graciously answered in the affirmative...even my beloved red Kitchen Aid mixer made it in and is now sitting majestically on my kitchen counter...of course, I will have to be quite resourceful in my timing of it's use due to the daily power outages...nevertheless, every time I look at it, I think of God's blessing me in allowing it to make it to our house in Managua.

As soon as we landed, Susanna Sheats, the young woman missionary who has "adopted" us as her own mission effort, met us and whisked us off to her place for a week, while we shopped for basic needs...something to sit on, something to sleep in, something for food storage, something for laundry and something to drive. Those needs have been met and as much as we have done in regards to that, we still have so much yet to do. One of these days, we plan on getting a table and chairs so we're not using our living room as our dining room and a dresser so we can quit living out of our action packers...although they are really very versatile pieces...we're currently using them as end tables, night stands and a dresser!

I want to stress how faithful our God has been to us. In the last 12 days, not only have we found what we have needed to set up the basic housekeeping items, we have also purchased a very good and hopefully, reliable, 1999 4WD Toyota 4-Runner at a very good price...at least by Nica standards, that is - $12,000. These cars are considered the best to have in this terrain because they're not only workhorses, but parts are easily accessible whereas American made vehicles and other foreign models are costly to operate and/or repair. We had it checked out by Lester, a mechanic that many of the missionaries here in Managua use. He has a reputation for being a bit more expensive than some of the other mechanics, but he is also reputed to be very honest and trustworthy... that's worth the extra cordobas, believe me. He gave it the thumbs up when we took it to him and that was good enough for us. Before I go on, I have to tell you that Susanna was so impressed that our car was a "Limited Edition" and had a sunroof...let me simply say no one in their right mind would want a sun roof in Nicaragua!!!! Thankfully, it has a sliding cover so that we're protected from that blistering orb while driving!

Besides proving the right vehicle for us, God also has brought us a housekeeper named Margarita who helps me 3 days a week...or rather I should say, who has taken over my kitchen and housekeeping chores 3 days a week. She scolded me for gathering up the lunch dishes the other day! I was resistant to having someone help but was encouraged to do so, not only because of the amount of work the floors require, but also to provide an income. I don't mind helping Margarita a bit...she's the only stable worker in her family, as well, as in her extended family. She is quite industrious and has managed to save enough money in the last year to buy a pig, which has had several little pigs, a horse and is saving for more livestock in order to provide additional income. She is a worker!

We also have on our "payroll", a night guard, newly added yesterday. His name is Roberto and is married with a 4 year old son. He's in his last year of college and is studying to be a psychologist. We think he took us on to study us as cases! He is a very sweet and respectful young man and takes his position quite seriously. He made sure we were securely locked in last night and didn't leave this morning until he knew were up and stirring around. He also gave me a Mother's Day gift this morning of a small throw pillow...and yes, Tommy and Leonard, it did make me cry!

Well, I need to get off of here before the power goes out. I will try to finish catching everyone up possibly tomorrow.

Missing all of you,
Lynne and Jim