This past week is a prime example of what I mean. We had the clinic in Rio Blanco, teaching at Los Cedros and working with a group of kids from Washington there. We had tutoring Miguel on Wednesday and parent/teacher meetings Friday at the school. The other days we had errands to run, meetings to make, laundry to do, lessons to write, plumbing to fix (again) and grades to figure. We had medicines to purchase and deliver to two different people and medical bills to help with for a family. We had one guard leave and a new one begin…both named Felix. We had new kitties to fuss over and older kitties to appease, fire ants and wasps to spray and giant millipedes to stomp. The temperatures are rising along with the humidity. Today it’s 98. The winds have stopped as suddenly as though a switch were flipped. The comfort level in our house is in direct proportion to the speed of the fan blades whirring. They can’t go fast enough. And…I have a blog to write. There are lots of things to write about…just not enough time to do the writing! So, for now, I’ll write about last weekend in Rio Blanco.
Last weekend was our clinic weekend. We were a week late in having it due to some personal problems with Pastor Sergio’s family. But regardless of how our calendars looked, every bit of it was in God’s timing. It was as though God heightened our awareness and Jim and I both seemed to take more note than usual of the things and people around us as we traveled those 4 ½ hours north.
The road to Rio winds and weaves its way up in elevation. This time, it also wound its way through the sobering sights of death. Between Managua and Rio Blanco, we saw five different carcasses of cattle in various stages of decomposition from newly blasted last breaths to bloated bodies to bare bones…all wore the shroud of large ravenous turkey vultures which screeched and fought over their positional claim to their morbid buffet. It was a sobering sight with the intensity of the shock value remaining the same with each new discovery. We wondered if the lack of rain was a factor for seeing so many dead cattle – they were too far off the road to have been hit by a car. Perhaps there was a disease. Perhaps there was malevolence. Regardless, life here is hard – and death is disquieting.
Things are so brown here now in the Pacific lowlands
…that’s the region we live in. But the transition to lush green as we climb in altitude, although subtle, is definitely noticeable…and refreshing. It’s amazing what a little rain can do. The higher we go in to the mountains, the more bromeliads we see peppering the tree limbs. The long tendrils of Spanish moss sway gently back and forth with the slightest breeze. We see fewer oxen and more cattle, fewer cars and more horses, fewer shoes and more bare feet. Life is hard.
Things are so brown here now in the Pacific lowlands
…that’s the region we live in. But the transition to lush green as we climb in altitude, although subtle, is definitely noticeable…and refreshing. It’s amazing what a little rain can do. The higher we go in to the mountains, the more bromeliads we see peppering the tree limbs. The long tendrils of Spanish moss sway gently back and forth with the slightest breeze. We see fewer oxen and more cattle, fewer cars and more horses, fewer shoes and more bare feet. Life is hard.Each month, the changing landscape as we drive up in to the mountains, always quickens my s
pirit. My head turns one way and then another as I try to take it all in, not wanting t
o miss one bit of the beauty. I find it to be breath-taking and it always seems new. It’s as if I somehow become more aware of the majesty of God’s handiwork in the handsomely chiseled features of the rugged mountains and the whimsy the twisted trees project as they reach for the sun. It’s so much easier to see His miracle of creation without looking at it through exhaust fumes, plastic and tin shacks and painted concrete. There seems to be movement in the inanimate…I think it’s God’s touch for He is Life and I prefer to put the images of the vultures acting like vultures, out of my mind and dwell upon the beauty of God’s thoughts manifested.
pirit. My head turns one way and then another as I try to take it all in, not wanting t
o miss one bit of the beauty. I find it to be breath-taking and it always seems new. It’s as if I somehow become more aware of the majesty of God’s handiwork in the handsomely chiseled features of the rugged mountains and the whimsy the twisted trees project as they reach for the sun. It’s so much easier to see His miracle of creation without looking at it through exhaust fumes, plastic and tin shacks and painted concrete. There seems to be movement in the inanimate…I think it’s God’s touch for He is Life and I prefer to put the images of the vultures acting like vultures, out of my mind and dwell upon the beauty of God’s thoughts manifested.We stopped o
n a bridge over one of the rivers to watch the women and children bathing and washing clothes on the rocks. All movement stopped as soon as our car did. I rolled down my window. Smiles and waves appeared from the river at the same time my white face and arm emerged from the car window. We were as much of an attraction as were those in the river. The moment was brief but it was fun and we could hear laughter and shouts of “Adios” as we continued on across the bridge. Another time I wish you could hav
e seen through my eyes.
n a bridge over one of the rivers to watch the women and children bathing and washing clothes on the rocks. All movement stopped as soon as our car did. I rolled down my window. Smiles and waves appeared from the river at the same time my white face and arm emerged from the car window. We were as much of an attraction as were those in the river. The moment was brief but it was fun and we could hear laughter and shouts of “Adios” as we continued on across the bridge. Another time I wish you could hav
e seen through my eyes. There is always activity on the road. Cattle crossing the highway at their own unhurried pace, in spite of the whips dancing across their bony bovine bottoms, is a favorite scene. I love their gentle eyes, their floppy ears and their indifference to impatience. I wonder if God wants me to learn something from those even-tempered creatures.
Along with the cattle, there is no lack of pedestrian traffic. I always wonder where so many p
eople could be walking to or from when there is no evidence of any kind of town nearby. Some carry heavy jugs of water, some carry bags with various provisions balanced on their heads, some carry babies and the ones that receive a good hard stare from me are the ones who are carrying back-breaking loads of wood for their cooking fires. I’ve seen folks carry what we would consider logs that must be tremendously heavy. And it’s more than the weight of their “leña” (firewood), it’s the fact that what we would never consider tackling without a chainsaw and a pick-up truck, they’ve managed to cut down with axes and machetes, carrying it on their backs or in their arms and then walking a good piece further than from the backyard to the fireplace. Life is 
hard and we are soft.
eople could be walking to or from when there is no evidence of any kind of town nearby. Some carry heavy jugs of water, some carry bags with various provisions balanced on their heads, some carry babies and the ones that receive a good hard stare from me are the ones who are carrying back-breaking loads of wood for their cooking fires. I’ve seen folks carry what we would consider logs that must be tremendously heavy. And it’s more than the weight of their “leña” (firewood), it’s the fact that what we would never consider tackling without a chainsaw and a pick-up truck, they’ve managed to cut down with axes and machetes, carrying it on their backs or in their arms and then walking a good piece further than from the backyard to the fireplace. Life is 
hard and we are soft.The clinic was one of the best we’ve had. We saw lots of patients and met many needs and in spite of having less help than usual, things seemed to go very smoothly, all in all. We still battled heat and sporadic losses of electricity, we still had snafus with forgotten supplies and a few miscommunications, but overall, it was good.
We had a different dentist with us this month and she was a joy to meet. Her name was Myra and she was very sweet and very strong in her faith. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with her…but then we weren’t sitting in a plastic chair with her hands in our mouths, either. She was unable to do fillings due to a lack of facilities and supplies, but she did do extractions. Extractions…not exactly what most people wish to have done. The children weren’t the only ones who were screaming.
Extractions are not pleasant even when novacaine has numbed the gums and Musak has numbed the nerves – the battle waged between the dentist pulling and the roots 
resisting is intense and every muscle in the neck, face and head are tensed to the max. I cannot nor do I want to imagine, what it is like to experience having that done with an allotted one shot of novacaine, the cd player blasting away at a deafening volume and the heat making the sweat trickle down the neck while sitting upright in a plastic chair with the head tilted back at a most uncomfortable angle. It’s not exactly a relaxed atmosphere nor is it conducive for soothing and assuaging rapidly mounting fears. I think I understand the screams…I had to bite my own lip a few times even just hearing it. Even so, the adults were very appreciative to have the opportunity to see the dentist and receive their meds for the minimal cost of $1.50 …the children – not so much. Life is hard.
resisting is intense and every muscle in the neck, face and head are tensed to the max. I cannot nor do I want to imagine, what it is like to experience having that done with an allotted one shot of novacaine, the cd player blasting away at a deafening volume and the heat making the sweat trickle down the neck while sitting upright in a plastic chair with the head tilted back at a most uncomfortable angle. It’s not exactly a relaxed atmosphere nor is it conducive for soothing and assuaging rapidly mounting fears. I think I understand the screams…I had to bite my own lip a few times even just hearing it. Even so, the adults were very appreciative to have the opportunity to see the dentist and receive their meds for the minimal cost of $1.50 …the children – not so much. Life is hard. We ended the day a little after 5:00 and began the long drive home. It was a great day…and it was a hard day. We did a lot of talking on the way back to Managua. It’s a longer drive home in the dark but it was just the right amount of time for us for this trip. For some time, Jim and I have felt as though God was telling us we needed to end our part in the clinic in Rio Blanco. We’ve not wanted to do that. That was a clinic we helped start just six short months ago and we weren’t ready to let it go. God spoke clearly to us during this clinic and we feared further disobedience. There are many reasons we believe God has led us to that decision but the reason we feel comfortable in sharing is that by closing this door in our ministry work, another one can open. The clinic will continue in Rio Blanco and we believe it will continue to be a blessing to the community there. We ask that you remember the clinic, the workers and those whom they serve in your prayers.
Although we feel a sense of sadness at the ending of this work, we also feel a sense of excitement at what God has next in store for us. We have learned in the last year that we don’t have to possess great talents or be of extraordinary stock…we just have to be willing and to be obedient to what God puts before us. Easy? Nope. Hard? Often. Life is hard. And it is short. This was a hard decision but it was the right one. We don’t want to miss out on a thing God has for us and we don’t want to settle for anything less than His best. We ask that you would also include us in your prayers and that we will be watching to see what the next opportunity is God has for us and that we would be faithful to step in to it…even though chances are good that we will see that life here continues to be hard.
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