Upon our return, we no longer had a carport of cats. We kept professing how happy we were that God had answered that prayer (at least that’s what we were wanting to believe) but at the same time, I will confess, it was strangely quiet and a bit lonely without the “cat clocks” letting us know when it was mealtime. So, that morning, when I heard Snoopers pitiful meow, I couldn’t get the back door open fast enough. He had been our favorite of the cats and I was missing him more than all the others. But, sure enough, there stood our Snoops! Terribly thin, weak and walking with a limp but still demanding breakfast, just as he had before we left. I began to cry…seems like I’ve been doing a lot of that lately… I bent down and Snoops actually came to me, which was a bit out of character. He had always been somewhat stand-offish. I slowly reached out my hand and he rubbed against it. I began petting him and he acted as though he couldn’t get enough attention.
I set out a dish of water and found a piece of leftover chicken in the fridge. I tore it up in to small pieces and gave it to Snoops. He ate like he was starved and considering his appearance, he just might have been. We brought home cat food that night and have been feeding him twice a day since. He is starting to gain some weight back and beginning to look a bit more like his old self. Needless to say, Snoops has moved back and made himself quite at home on the back deck and we’re all much happier. Thank you, Lord!
Okay…on to the rest of the day. After getting Snoops fed, we packed up the car and got ready to go to Tipitapa to meet with Miguel and Elizabeth. We had to stop to get gas and it was then that we realized the gadget that opens the little door to the gas tank was broken as it was the first time we had to use it since our return. Jim was able to get down and reach up under the dash and pull the spring so that the door finally opened. Thank goodness! The car doesn’t do us much good if we can’t put gas in it! After getting our fuel, we started on our way to Tipitapa. We hadn’t gone too far through the city when we realized the air conditioner wasn’t working. We noticed it wasn’t working its best when we got home but now, it wasn’t cooling at all! At least it was early enough in the day that it wasn’t too uncomfortable with it just blowing in outside air. Car issues! Hate ‘em.
About an hour and a half later, we pulled up in front of Miguel’s house. It was great to see them again, along with other members of the family. We had such a good chat, catching up on how Miguel’s schooling was going. He proudly showed us his certificate of graduation from his cell phone repair school and told us he is now taking an advanced course which will give him government accreditation to do more complicated services. He explained it all to me but I don’t think I would have understood it any better if he would have said it in English!
We also were introduced to their new chickens. While we were gone, Miguel sold their baby pelibuey – (the animal that is a hair-sheep…it doesn’t grow wool). It was the last of three. It seems it had gotten too costly to keep buying feed for it. With part of the proceeds from the sale, he bought 4 chickens and a rooster which came with an attitude. Miguel was very excited as the hens have started laying eggs, which are a lovely pale shade of blue! Blue eggs other than those from a robin or the Easter bunny are a novelty for me. Okay…I know there’s no such thing as the Easter Bunny and please don’t take that as any sort of theological attack…it was just a silly way to express my limited barnyard exposure.
Of course, we had brought back gifts for everyone, including Miguel’s mother. They all seemed genuinely quite pleased that we thought of them. Miguel was really excited over the broken cell phone that Tommy and Nora, friends from Cassville, sent down for him to practice on. It was hard to get him to quit messing with it long enough to look at his other things, but eventually, he shifted his attention to the Bible studies and the new Bibles we had brought for both he and Elizabeth. That’s when we got the best gift…their expressions!
Miguel’s Bible is called a Leadership Bible and seems to have really good study notes in it. He felt like it looked very dignified and he was anxious to start reading…I hope his enthusiasm holds! As excited as Miguel was with his new Bible, his expression couldn’t hold a candle to the child-like look of wonder which slowly spread across Elizabeth’s face as she stood staring at her own Bible. We found a women’s devotional Bible and the cover was a pretty, soft, feminine pink… just the thing to capture Elizabeth’s eye. She gently opened it up and began turning the pages, slowly looking at how very different it was from the Bible she shared with Miguel. I had also found a little Beth Moore month-long devotional and an Elizabeth George study for her - both in Spanish. She had never even seen a devotional or a Bible study before, let alone one designed for women. She was captivated even by the cover of the study and immediately pointed out to me that the author’s name was the same as her own – Elizabeth-obviously, a very good sign that this “study book” was a good thing. I’m hoping she will actually use it…
We took Miguel and Elizabeth to lunch at a local restaurant and while there, Elizabeth asked if we wanted to go visit Abuelita…her beloved grandmother. Of course, we said yes, knowing that it would also give Elizabeth an opportunity to spend a little time with her. Miguel wasn’t quite so keen on the idea, but didn’t want to be left out if we were going, so he climbed in to the car. I think there’s still some tension between the two families but we just pretended to not notice and did not go on in to Abuelita’s house until Miguel had gotten out of the car and joined us. We didn’t stay long but long enough that Elizabeth’s aunt managed to sell me one of the bags she had bought at the market to try to sell. I’m sure I paid too much for it but I’m also sure that she needed the money. She’s now a single mom of several children as her husband left her last year with a new baby. It was a way we could bless her and still keep the boundaries in place we need with her.
After our visit with Abuelita, we then went to visit Danelia (Miguel’s sister), Kenneth and Lindsay. We had a bag full of surprises for this family, some small gifts that we had purchased in the U.S. for them along with another can of Pediasure, which we were able to purchase through the generosity of some of the most amazing VBS kids from Cassville, MO that you would ever have the privilege of meeting. Let me brag on those kids for a minute.
While we were home, we visited with Jeanna Jones, our church’s Children’s Minister. She is amazing with kids and was in the throes of getting ready for VBS. We had shared Kenneth’s story with her and had told her what a special little guy he is. Much to our surprise, Jeanna passed that information on to the VBS kids. Every day of VBS, those remarkable Cassville kids gave their offering to go to Kenneth…to help offset the cost of food and Pediasure, which is very expensive here. I’ve told you before we’ve seen God grow loaves and fishes here…He did it again with those children. Collectively, they gave enough money to make sure that Kenneth has enough Pediasure for a year plus we’re also now able to help the family more often with the necessary fruit and medicines Kenneth requires.
There’s just something special about the heart of a child…and those Cassville kids definitely have special hearts. Not only were they unbelievably generous in their giving for Kenneth, they also made cards and wrote letters to him, assuring him they were praying for him and that his friendship base had grown exponentially. There were purchased cards that had been signed, cards that had stickers on them, cards that had bits and pieces of colored paper glued on them, cards that had drawings of airplanes to cars to rainbows, cards that had been colored, cards with scribbles and cards with really good artwork. All were placed in a large manila envelope, safely sealed shut with God’s stamp of approval.
When we pulled up in front of Danelia’s house, Kenneth and Lindsay were already outside waiting for us. Miguel had thold them that we were coming to Tipitapa that day and they had hoped we would come by to visit. The children had been watching for our car. They were so glad to see us and the hugs were long and tight…those that were given and those we received. We went inside, sat down and began distributing the gifts…some from us and some from other folks back in the States. Danelia smiled gratefully when she saw the Pediasure…once again, God’s timing was perfect. They were finishing up what we had purchased for them before we left for the States. But the gift that brought the biggest smile on Kenneth’s face and softened the expression on Danelia’s face was the manila envelope filled with cards and letters from Kenneth’s new friends from Cassville.
Lindsay, Kenneth and a little neighbor boy, who had come over to the house to check out the curious looking gringos, all climbed up on Kenneth’s bed which sits in the living room, and proceeded to carefully open and look at each piece of mail very carefully. Kenneth would trace the words and pictures with his finger and more often than not, climb down off his be
d and come over to me to ask me to tell him what his card/letter would say. Thankfully, my Spanish is about equal to the children’s writings so I was able to do that for Kenneth. He had kept his mask on the entire time so we couldn’t see his smile but without fail, every single card or letter would result in Kenneth’s eyes crinkling up and twinkling brightly…evidence of a mile-wide grin hidden by his mask. Of course, when Jim got ready to take a picture of the kids, they all had to pose with Kenneth’s removing his mask. They’re cute pictures but not nearly as cute as they would have been if we could have captured the three kiddos huddled together over Kenneth’s coveted stack of mail. It really was a very touching time for all of us.While there, we received a phone call from our friends, Ronnie and Angi, who run a camp there in Tipitapa. We had already scheduled a visit with them for that afternoon and they were just calling us to let us know that they had finished their errands in Managua and were back at the camp and ready for us to come over. We told them we would be there after we dropped Miguel and Elizabeth back off at their house.
We spent about three hours with our friends and enjoyed our visit to the camp. They happened to have a team in while we were visiting and we could see how busy life keeps them there. But regardless, they were wonderful hosts and showed us all around, making us feel very much at home. It was really nice to get to know them better and we hope to be able to continue to stay in touch with them. We finally said our good-byes and began heading back in to Managua…just in time for rush-hour traffic! It was a little more uncomfortable coming home without a/c than it was driving earlier in the day.
The whole a/c thing is frustrating to me. I’m not sure if you remember or not, but we had just had the a/c serviced several months prior…obviously, that was wasted time and money. The mechanic we now use happens to be back home in Canada for a month but we’re hoping to get it repaired by someone else within the week. We’ve managed to get along now without it for the last week and a half, but it’s much nicer to have than not so we’re hoping that when we get it “fixed” this time, it stays fixed! And yet, even as I type that, a scripture is running through my mind…I’ll share that in a sec.
See, I’ve noticed something very unattractive about myself…as much as I love the Lord, I find my human nature does not hesitate to surface and I’m not quick to repress it. Unfortunately, one of those aspects is my readiness to complain. One of the things I was so looking forward to experiencing when we returned to the States was air conditioning. Well, once there, I found I was cold most of the time. We slept under a quilt and 2 blankets while we were at Mandy’s house and my sweater was usually my constant companion wherever we went. I can remember complaining to Jim that it was going to be nice to not be hunched up with cold everywhere we went. Well, God was faithful to give us plenty of heat upon our return to Managua! But was I happy with that heat? Nope. I noticed that without a/c in the car, the heat wasn’t nearly as welcome as several weeks earlier that I had imagined it would be. So, what did I do? I complained. I complained that I was hot. The car’s air conditioning had always been our respite from the Nicaraguan heat. And now without it, I’m complaining that I want to be cool. What’s God saying to me in this constant contradiction of comfort levels? I think He’s saying I have much to learn…
“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Philippians 4:11-12
No comments:
Post a Comment