Why we need hammocks ...

The reasons we relax in our hammocks

Not that we NEED reasons (check out our deck) because a hammock is inviting without them. However, there ARE other reasons we need to have a little "hang time" and they include everyday life here ~

• Potholes and seemingly crazy drivers (who are probably just avoiding the potholes). There are NO SUCH THINGS as lanes, and we can't figure out why they've painted lines on the street. It's confusing for us law-abiding citizens!
• Everyone speaking a different language than us.
• Different money, making it necessary to carry a calculator to see if you think you're getting ripped off.
• Carbon paper, used cuz this country really isn't computerized. You can't lose a receipt lest you also lose your warranty.
• Illogical "logic" ... or maybe that is just a USA thing to be logical and efficient. It just could be that this Nica way is more fun and bonding.

And while we hang in the hammocks, we contemplate:

• The wonderful people here - who smile and wave - simply because they're nice enough to return a greeting (instead of doing a number of other things).
• Different ways to be effective here, and help people.
• Beautiful birds, fresh fruit and breezes.
• Friends and family like you - to keep our prayer life full.

Thanks for walking alongside of us.

Six months down ...

As amazing as it sounds, yes ... six months have flown by! We are still adjusting, but all-in-all ... we feel we are getting in a groove and handling life as well as we can without being fluent in Spanish. Thank God for friends here who help us - and they are many!

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In the small community of La Ceiba (outskirts of Leon) live a precious couple named Javier and Lilliam. At the end of May (during their Mother's Day), Lilliam asked me if I would be her mom. I said yes, not knowing much at all why she asked. As it turns out thru further conversation, her father died when she was three months old, at which time her mother gave her away. She doesn't know who or where her real mom is, and she feels like she never had a mother, which is why she asked me. She's 30, has three kids, a wonderful husband, and now she also has a "Mommy" (which is what she calls me). On the day she asked me to be her mom, she gave me a pair of "post" earrings. I had nothing to give her, so on our next visit to La Ceiba (a month later), I gave her a pair in return. This picture was to capture our earrings ... but it really captured her happy heart at having a "mom." Man - life is weird for me - never a mom until Nicaragua, and now I have two teenage boys and Lilliam.

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John is doing really well and LOVING his work with the teams. He just returned from Costa Rica, and will be going back again at the end of this month. He will be facilitating a team from Virginia alongside two other FEI Field Staff members (Aaron and Jenny Gordon, who work in the Gulf Coast). This is Aaron and Jenny's home church - so it will be a great time of joining FEI staff together and it will also be great to have such a large team help a community become further self-sufficient with the microbusiness of growing/selling hydroponic vegetables. Last year, the first team to Costa Rica began working with six churches in the Guapiles area who joined together for "strength in numbers." The women were working the pineapple fields 6 days a week, and were therefore forced to be out of the home and away from their children. One year later, the vegetable business is thriving ... feeding these families AND supplying restaurants with veggies. The next team will further this cause by building more boxes and instructing more "country dwellers" how to use this method to grow vegetables. For all of you who know John ... he's not a construction person, but he does so well leading and working alongside those who like to use tools and build things. He's the cheerleader (and leader) ... and he works with those who come to make life easier for others. He's having fun at it.

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Not much else here (boy, that's a lie!) ... but let me recap and say that:

• We have successfully moved to a new house, and it's MUCH BETTER in every respect.
• After 7 weeks, I finally have my new tooth ... though I can't floss between it and the one next to it ... and am loathe to return to the dentist to tell her that. I'm not up for any more pain right now.
• The boys are visiting their family in the mountains now, bringing medicine to their epileptic sister and also visiting family. They're on a 3+ week "winter" break from school.
• We have had Lucy visit us for one month, and she returned home yesterday.
• We now have John's niece and friend here. They'll be traveling Nica on their own (starting today) and will return July 17th after their adventurous travels.
• We will receive four ladies on this Friday, PRIOR to FEI's women's team which will officially begin July 14th.
• I've almost recovered from my "black eye" (given to me accidentally by a very rambunctious Raisa during a fetch the popped soccer ball session).

And that is enough for now. We covet your prayers ... really we do! When we think of you (often), we stop an say a little prayer for you too. Thank you for your support of every kind on every level. We're eternally grateful.

Abrazos.