Our latest answer to some personal prayers came as such a surprise. I am not surprised that God heard these prayers…I think I’m surprised that He said “yes”! Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting that and I have to confess the reason for that is because I kind of felt like those were selfish prayers and I was even hesitant approaching God with those wants. I cannot pretend that these were real needs, they weren't. But they were real wants.
If you remember, I have mentioned several times how much I would love to have a freezer but every time we have looked at them, we have felt like they were just too cost prohibitive. Our desire to have one is very similar to the reasons we had before we were given one in the States…that was an extremely generous Christmas gift to us from my mom. That’s when we still had the kids with us and our refrigerator’s freezer just wasn’t big enough. Well, that’s the same reason we have been wanting a freezer now…except we no longer have our much-loved family living with us.
Since the temperatures have been so hot lately, (today, it’s only 91 but the heat index is above 100 degrees…nasty!) Jim is buying ice about every two days and having to keep the freezer compartment of our fridge filled with an ice bag leaves little room for anything else. Recently, the little meat market where we sometimes go to shop, had a really good cut of beef on sale for about $2.30 a pound. I would have liked to have bought some extra meat to freeze but knew our space limitations and could not.
I also thought that if we ever got a freezer, I could buy some ice trays (assuming I can find some) and make our own ice and bag it. We can refill a 5 gallon bottle of water for even less than what a 10# bag of ice costs us. I don’t know how practical that actually is but I know that when I really want something, I can come up with all kinds of ways to justify getting it!
The benefits of a freezer would be endless…or so I rationalized. Buying extra meat when it’s on sale was just the beginning of my dreaming. I could buy fresh mangos when in season, cut them up and freeze them so I would have plenty for mango bread throughout the year. I would have room for a veggie soup container…I always would save leftover veggies and toss them in a Lock ‘n Lock in the freezer and when I would have more month than money, I would make vegetable soup. I could keep my flour and pancake mix in there so I wouldn’t have to worry about bugs. Or extra bags of milk so I wouldn’t be caught without milk…which rarely happens, by the way but it helped to add it to my list of “why”. Or if someone should bring us bags of nuts or chocolate chips or York Peppermint Patties…I could throw them in the freezer.
I had a long list but I was pretty sure God didn’t really need me to justify yet another of my “wants”. We have managed without a freezer for 2 years now and I know in my heart, I didn’t have to have one…but it sure would be nice if we did.
Well, the other day, we received an e-mail that is sent out to the ICF community (International Christian Fellowship which is the church we attend). It is mainly for people in our church but anyone can sign up to receive it and it is a great way for folks to communicate needs. Items wanted, items being sold, meetings, announcements, etc. are all communicated through this means. We always read these with great interest and the few times we have seen things we have wanted, we are generally too late in responding to get them. Usually, no matter whatever the item is that is being sold, it goes really fast.
I just “happened” to be checking e-mail when this particular e-mail came through Friday morning and I read that a couple was going to be leaving Nicaragua and they were having a sale of their belongings. This type of notification is the one that draws the most interest in the missionary community. We are all looking for items that we would like to have but either cannot obtain here or cannot afford if available.
I immediately recognized the missionaries’ names…I think they are among the last IMB missionaries, if not the last ones, still in Nicaragua...and obviously, they aren’t going to be here that much longer. We found out they are going to be moving to Santiago, Chile in July.
Now I have to tell you that these sales are usually fever pitch events. I quickly scanned the list to see what they might have for sale and lo and behold, I saw the words “freezer”…I saw it twice! They had an old upright and a newer chest freezer to sell. I was so excited and called Jim to look at the ad. He said he thought the prices were good and so I asked Jim if he would call them and get some info. The whole time he was dialing the number, I was preparing myself for the disappointing response of “I’m sorry…they’ve already been sold.” Much to my surprise, they had not!
Long story short, because we were going to be in Tipitapa the next day when Karen and Loren were actually going to be having a garage sale for many of their smaller items and taking reservations for the most of the larger items, they told us we could go ahead and come out to see them to see if we might be interested in them.
We arrived at their home, which is not terribly far from where we live, and found only one other missionary there looking at items. I expected there to be lots of people but Loren said that most people were just calling and reserving the items over the phone. My heart sunk. We happened to know the other missionary that was already there. He and his wife have the orphanage where we use to volunteer when we first came here and it’s always good to see both of them but I figured he would be interested in the same items we were interested in. He wasn’t!!!
I didn’t expect to find the freezers in such good condition. The chest freezer turned out to be only a year old and looked to be as though it were in like new condition. The price was very good, a little over half of what a new one would cost us, and though it was the more expensive of the two, it was the right size for the two of us. The catch was that they wanted to continue to use it until July when they would be moving to Chile. The upright freezer was also a great size for us and although it had a couple of broken pieces on the inside and had suffered some cosmetically, it was definitely functional. It might need a new seal at some point but it is working fine for now. The price was very reasonable for it (at least it’s reasonable for Nicaland) and it could be moved at any time.
Jim and I talked about it. The $100 freezer would be fine…but what if the seal failed and we had trouble finding a new one? We would then be in the same shape that we’re in now but worse…we would have frozen food to store and no freezer to store it in. The brand is a Tappan and is at least 11 years old as they brought it with them. We’ve not seen that brand here at all.
After a lot of discussing, we decided we would go ahead and buy both of them, use the upright until we can get the chest freezer in July, and then, if we decide we want to get rid of it, we can donate it to CINAFE or to someone who needs one. I was so excited…we were going to get a freezer!!!
But wait…there’s more! God must have enjoyed seeing me grin from ear to ear, because He wasn’t through with the surprises. Karen also had a washer and dryer that she was selling! We don’t need a washer but oh, my goodness, wouldn’t a dryer be so nice to have, especially with the rainy season just starting? But, I didn’t have high hopes. Almost all dryers that we have seen for sale have been electric and we would have to have one that ran on propane. I asked her if it was gas or electric and I couldn’t believe my ears when she said it was gas!
Again, it’s an old Maytag dryer…another appliance they brought with them from the States, but they have had very few problems with it and it was running while were there and it seemed to be doing just fine. I think they use it all the time, from what I gathered, but we would use it only when the weather wouldn’t permit us to hang clothes out. Our “solar dryer” works great and when there’s the slightest wind, I don’t even have to iron anything. So, a dryer really would be a luxury. The price was a great price…again, compared to the other used dryers that we’ve seen here, and it was a gas dryer, to boot. Everyone we know who has a dryer has said that it’s the one luxury they wouldn’t want to give up…I’m not so sure about that but I’m willing to find out for myself! Again…a July acquisition item as they have teams coming almost up to the day they are leaving so they will need to keep it until then.
Wow…three appliances…could it get any better? You betcha! They were selling the 100# propane tanks that they had. This is another item that we have talked about getting but couldn’t justify the price as we felt like the 2- 25# tanks that we use (we always keep a spare) worked fine for us. But, with us getting the dryer, it made sense that it would be a good idea to get a big tank and use it for both the dryer and the stove. And the added benefit to that is that it is cheaper to do that than to refill the tanks plus the gas truck would come here and change the tank out for us and Jim wouldn’t have to take the tanks to the store anymore. Jim was extremely happy with that item!
There was one more item that caught our eye on their list of items to sell. I knew we were pushing the edge of our “want” envelope. We hadn’t needed any of the above items but I have to admit that I was so excited that we were going to have a few things that were going to make life a bit easier here. Did we dare even ask about this last item? Why not? It wouldn’t hurt to look, would it? The item in question were bunk beds...they had a total of four to sell.
We asked to see them and Loren took us out back to a combination tool and guest house they had behind their house. He was surprised when we expressed interest in the very plain and narrow set that was in the corner. There was another set that looked much more “American” and he had just assumed that would be the set we would want. We had initially thought we might like to purchase a better set of bunk beds than the one we have, but once we saw what he had, our focus changed. We were no longer interested in a set for us. We saw a set that would be perfect for Kenneth and Lindsay.
The set we chose is a set that Loren had made up in Matagalpa when they lived up there. It is of solid cedar so that termites are not an issue and it is very solid. Most of the bunk bed sets we see here are made of hollow metal tubing and are very prone to bending and rusting. This set obviously wasn’t going to have that problem. And because it was shorter (less than 6’ long) and a little more narrow than a single bed would be, it would fit in Arturo and Danelia’s bedroom.
The other selling point was that the beds could be taken apart so that they could work as two individual beds, so that if they ever had the need, they could separate them. (That’s something that our beds can’t do…when separated, they are too flimsy to act as individual beds). Another bonus with the set for the kids is that the colchones (roll-up mattresses) will come with them! By getting the kids bunk beds, that will enable each of them to have their own bed so they no longer have to share a bed.
So, right now, some of the things we have chosen are on “layaway”! Everything we bought came to less than $900. I don’t think that’s bad for two freezers, a dryer, a 100# gas tank, a set of bunk beds and the colchones. I know that sounds like an awful lot of money…and it is. Believe me, no one knows that better than we do. But, we also believe that God enabled us to find these items in such good condition and at such good prices for here. With the exception of the items we will be donating, we can always sell the others if we should no longer have need of them and although we probably wouldn’t recoup all that we spent, we could certainly get some return.
We gave Loren a $200 down payment to hold the items and as soon as we can find someone who will let us borrow their pickup truck, we can go ahead and get the empty gas tank, the upright freezer and the bunk beds. The other freezer and the dryer will have to wait until July…but I’m not complaining. Are you kidding me? I am not just excited that we will finally have a freezer…and a dryer, but more than that, I am so excited that we were able to see how God worked this out to bless us. As a matter of fact, that was exactly what Loren and I talked about. He was happy that his items were going to be a blessing and I was thrilled that we were going to be blessed in this way!
There were lots of other items that would have been “nice” to have but truthfully, we are trying very hard to live less complicated lives here. And from my own personal perspective, I find that too many times, “stuff” complicates. That probably doesn’t sound that way after I just listed all these things we’re buying but honestly, we don’t live a terribly “high” life here. So many of the things we took for granted two years ago, we have gained a new appreciation for now.
We still have yet to go to a movie or go for a weekend at the beach or out to dinner at a really nice place. We have one very small television and Mandy just sent us a DVD player this year for Christmas for our huge collection of 3 or 4 dvds! We don’t have a swimming pool. We have only one car and it’s almost 12 years old and well-used. We use our action packers as our end tables…I’ve just stacked two to a stack and covered them with towels. We don’t have any dressers…we use stacked storage cubes instead. Our everyday dishes and glasses are plastic. Most of our furniture is hand-made and as a result, has lots of “character”...some folks would call those mistakes. And we don’t have air conditioning.
But we will soon have a freezer and a dryer! And that makes this mama very happy! And it also makes me extremely grateful that God has brought me to the point that I can recognize and appreciate the ability to be thankful for buying an 11 year old freezer and dryer. That’s the real gift in all of this…the gift of being a work in progress…of God changing my heart, my values and moving me towards being a less selfish person. I have a long way to go yet but I just want to say, thank you, God, for changing my perspective as much as you have in the last two years. You are indeed, the God of answered prayers.
If you remember, I have mentioned several times how much I would love to have a freezer but every time we have looked at them, we have felt like they were just too cost prohibitive. Our desire to have one is very similar to the reasons we had before we were given one in the States…that was an extremely generous Christmas gift to us from my mom. That’s when we still had the kids with us and our refrigerator’s freezer just wasn’t big enough. Well, that’s the same reason we have been wanting a freezer now…except we no longer have our much-loved family living with us.
Since the temperatures have been so hot lately, (today, it’s only 91 but the heat index is above 100 degrees…nasty!) Jim is buying ice about every two days and having to keep the freezer compartment of our fridge filled with an ice bag leaves little room for anything else. Recently, the little meat market where we sometimes go to shop, had a really good cut of beef on sale for about $2.30 a pound. I would have liked to have bought some extra meat to freeze but knew our space limitations and could not.
I also thought that if we ever got a freezer, I could buy some ice trays (assuming I can find some) and make our own ice and bag it. We can refill a 5 gallon bottle of water for even less than what a 10# bag of ice costs us. I don’t know how practical that actually is but I know that when I really want something, I can come up with all kinds of ways to justify getting it!
The benefits of a freezer would be endless…or so I rationalized. Buying extra meat when it’s on sale was just the beginning of my dreaming. I could buy fresh mangos when in season, cut them up and freeze them so I would have plenty for mango bread throughout the year. I would have room for a veggie soup container…I always would save leftover veggies and toss them in a Lock ‘n Lock in the freezer and when I would have more month than money, I would make vegetable soup. I could keep my flour and pancake mix in there so I wouldn’t have to worry about bugs. Or extra bags of milk so I wouldn’t be caught without milk…which rarely happens, by the way but it helped to add it to my list of “why”. Or if someone should bring us bags of nuts or chocolate chips or York Peppermint Patties…I could throw them in the freezer.
I had a long list but I was pretty sure God didn’t really need me to justify yet another of my “wants”. We have managed without a freezer for 2 years now and I know in my heart, I didn’t have to have one…but it sure would be nice if we did.
Well, the other day, we received an e-mail that is sent out to the ICF community (International Christian Fellowship which is the church we attend). It is mainly for people in our church but anyone can sign up to receive it and it is a great way for folks to communicate needs. Items wanted, items being sold, meetings, announcements, etc. are all communicated through this means. We always read these with great interest and the few times we have seen things we have wanted, we are generally too late in responding to get them. Usually, no matter whatever the item is that is being sold, it goes really fast.
I just “happened” to be checking e-mail when this particular e-mail came through Friday morning and I read that a couple was going to be leaving Nicaragua and they were having a sale of their belongings. This type of notification is the one that draws the most interest in the missionary community. We are all looking for items that we would like to have but either cannot obtain here or cannot afford if available.
I immediately recognized the missionaries’ names…I think they are among the last IMB missionaries, if not the last ones, still in Nicaragua...and obviously, they aren’t going to be here that much longer. We found out they are going to be moving to Santiago, Chile in July.
Now I have to tell you that these sales are usually fever pitch events. I quickly scanned the list to see what they might have for sale and lo and behold, I saw the words “freezer”…I saw it twice! They had an old upright and a newer chest freezer to sell. I was so excited and called Jim to look at the ad. He said he thought the prices were good and so I asked Jim if he would call them and get some info. The whole time he was dialing the number, I was preparing myself for the disappointing response of “I’m sorry…they’ve already been sold.” Much to my surprise, they had not!
Long story short, because we were going to be in Tipitapa the next day when Karen and Loren were actually going to be having a garage sale for many of their smaller items and taking reservations for the most of the larger items, they told us we could go ahead and come out to see them to see if we might be interested in them.
We arrived at their home, which is not terribly far from where we live, and found only one other missionary there looking at items. I expected there to be lots of people but Loren said that most people were just calling and reserving the items over the phone. My heart sunk. We happened to know the other missionary that was already there. He and his wife have the orphanage where we use to volunteer when we first came here and it’s always good to see both of them but I figured he would be interested in the same items we were interested in. He wasn’t!!!
I didn’t expect to find the freezers in such good condition. The chest freezer turned out to be only a year old and looked to be as though it were in like new condition. The price was very good, a little over half of what a new one would cost us, and though it was the more expensive of the two, it was the right size for the two of us. The catch was that they wanted to continue to use it until July when they would be moving to Chile. The upright freezer was also a great size for us and although it had a couple of broken pieces on the inside and had suffered some cosmetically, it was definitely functional. It might need a new seal at some point but it is working fine for now. The price was very reasonable for it (at least it’s reasonable for Nicaland) and it could be moved at any time.
Jim and I talked about it. The $100 freezer would be fine…but what if the seal failed and we had trouble finding a new one? We would then be in the same shape that we’re in now but worse…we would have frozen food to store and no freezer to store it in. The brand is a Tappan and is at least 11 years old as they brought it with them. We’ve not seen that brand here at all.
After a lot of discussing, we decided we would go ahead and buy both of them, use the upright until we can get the chest freezer in July, and then, if we decide we want to get rid of it, we can donate it to CINAFE or to someone who needs one. I was so excited…we were going to get a freezer!!!
But wait…there’s more! God must have enjoyed seeing me grin from ear to ear, because He wasn’t through with the surprises. Karen also had a washer and dryer that she was selling! We don’t need a washer but oh, my goodness, wouldn’t a dryer be so nice to have, especially with the rainy season just starting? But, I didn’t have high hopes. Almost all dryers that we have seen for sale have been electric and we would have to have one that ran on propane. I asked her if it was gas or electric and I couldn’t believe my ears when she said it was gas!
Again, it’s an old Maytag dryer…another appliance they brought with them from the States, but they have had very few problems with it and it was running while were there and it seemed to be doing just fine. I think they use it all the time, from what I gathered, but we would use it only when the weather wouldn’t permit us to hang clothes out. Our “solar dryer” works great and when there’s the slightest wind, I don’t even have to iron anything. So, a dryer really would be a luxury. The price was a great price…again, compared to the other used dryers that we’ve seen here, and it was a gas dryer, to boot. Everyone we know who has a dryer has said that it’s the one luxury they wouldn’t want to give up…I’m not so sure about that but I’m willing to find out for myself! Again…a July acquisition item as they have teams coming almost up to the day they are leaving so they will need to keep it until then.
Wow…three appliances…could it get any better? You betcha! They were selling the 100# propane tanks that they had. This is another item that we have talked about getting but couldn’t justify the price as we felt like the 2- 25# tanks that we use (we always keep a spare) worked fine for us. But, with us getting the dryer, it made sense that it would be a good idea to get a big tank and use it for both the dryer and the stove. And the added benefit to that is that it is cheaper to do that than to refill the tanks plus the gas truck would come here and change the tank out for us and Jim wouldn’t have to take the tanks to the store anymore. Jim was extremely happy with that item!
There was one more item that caught our eye on their list of items to sell. I knew we were pushing the edge of our “want” envelope. We hadn’t needed any of the above items but I have to admit that I was so excited that we were going to have a few things that were going to make life a bit easier here. Did we dare even ask about this last item? Why not? It wouldn’t hurt to look, would it? The item in question were bunk beds...they had a total of four to sell.
We asked to see them and Loren took us out back to a combination tool and guest house they had behind their house. He was surprised when we expressed interest in the very plain and narrow set that was in the corner. There was another set that looked much more “American” and he had just assumed that would be the set we would want. We had initially thought we might like to purchase a better set of bunk beds than the one we have, but once we saw what he had, our focus changed. We were no longer interested in a set for us. We saw a set that would be perfect for Kenneth and Lindsay.
The set we chose is a set that Loren had made up in Matagalpa when they lived up there. It is of solid cedar so that termites are not an issue and it is very solid. Most of the bunk bed sets we see here are made of hollow metal tubing and are very prone to bending and rusting. This set obviously wasn’t going to have that problem. And because it was shorter (less than 6’ long) and a little more narrow than a single bed would be, it would fit in Arturo and Danelia’s bedroom.
The other selling point was that the beds could be taken apart so that they could work as two individual beds, so that if they ever had the need, they could separate them. (That’s something that our beds can’t do…when separated, they are too flimsy to act as individual beds). Another bonus with the set for the kids is that the colchones (roll-up mattresses) will come with them! By getting the kids bunk beds, that will enable each of them to have their own bed so they no longer have to share a bed.
So, right now, some of the things we have chosen are on “layaway”! Everything we bought came to less than $900. I don’t think that’s bad for two freezers, a dryer, a 100# gas tank, a set of bunk beds and the colchones. I know that sounds like an awful lot of money…and it is. Believe me, no one knows that better than we do. But, we also believe that God enabled us to find these items in such good condition and at such good prices for here. With the exception of the items we will be donating, we can always sell the others if we should no longer have need of them and although we probably wouldn’t recoup all that we spent, we could certainly get some return.
We gave Loren a $200 down payment to hold the items and as soon as we can find someone who will let us borrow their pickup truck, we can go ahead and get the empty gas tank, the upright freezer and the bunk beds. The other freezer and the dryer will have to wait until July…but I’m not complaining. Are you kidding me? I am not just excited that we will finally have a freezer…and a dryer, but more than that, I am so excited that we were able to see how God worked this out to bless us. As a matter of fact, that was exactly what Loren and I talked about. He was happy that his items were going to be a blessing and I was thrilled that we were going to be blessed in this way!
There were lots of other items that would have been “nice” to have but truthfully, we are trying very hard to live less complicated lives here. And from my own personal perspective, I find that too many times, “stuff” complicates. That probably doesn’t sound that way after I just listed all these things we’re buying but honestly, we don’t live a terribly “high” life here. So many of the things we took for granted two years ago, we have gained a new appreciation for now.
We still have yet to go to a movie or go for a weekend at the beach or out to dinner at a really nice place. We have one very small television and Mandy just sent us a DVD player this year for Christmas for our huge collection of 3 or 4 dvds! We don’t have a swimming pool. We have only one car and it’s almost 12 years old and well-used. We use our action packers as our end tables…I’ve just stacked two to a stack and covered them with towels. We don’t have any dressers…we use stacked storage cubes instead. Our everyday dishes and glasses are plastic. Most of our furniture is hand-made and as a result, has lots of “character”...some folks would call those mistakes. And we don’t have air conditioning.
But we will soon have a freezer and a dryer! And that makes this mama very happy! And it also makes me extremely grateful that God has brought me to the point that I can recognize and appreciate the ability to be thankful for buying an 11 year old freezer and dryer. That’s the real gift in all of this…the gift of being a work in progress…of God changing my heart, my values and moving me towards being a less selfish person. I have a long way to go yet but I just want to say, thank you, God, for changing my perspective as much as you have in the last two years. You are indeed, the God of answered prayers.
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