Forgiveness and love.

As I walked the beach meditating on God's Majesty and the wonders of Creation, I was reminded of how much our Almighty God loves us.
Psalm 139 : "How precious to me are your thoughts , O God. How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them they would outnumber the grains of sand." I know those words well. I found it comforting to learn Psalm 139 by heart a couple of years ago. I know that His thoughts toward us are as countless as the grains of sand on the shore, but as I dig my feet deeper into the sand, the head knowledge becomes heart knowledge and the realization of the depth of God's love for us washes over me.

As I soak in His love I reflect on His forgiveness. To those who truly repent. The precious blood of Jesus washes us clean from all our sins. As I get older, I am finding it easier to forgive others, but I still struggle to forgive myself. I was going to take a pebble and write one of my sins on each then throw it into the sea, to symbolize freedom from each sin. But my sins are too many. I have made many poor choices in my life and have lived out some awful consequences. And how many times a day do I still let God down? But I thank God for the freedom that comes with confessing our sins, to Him and to others. What is in the light can no longer be used by the enemy to influence us. The enemy has taken enough from me and this day I say NO MORE!!!! I lay my sins and failures at the foot of the cross, to be covered by the precious blood of Jesus. He bore them all. He took them all upon Himself, for me too. So that I could live in freedom.

Psalm 116

¹ I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;

  he heard my cry for mercy.
² Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.

³ The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
⁴ Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“Lord, save me!”

⁵ The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
⁶ The Lord protects the unwary;
when I was brought low, he saved me.

⁷ Return to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.

⁸ For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
⁹ that I may walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.

Precious LORD and Savior, may I live a life that reflects thanks to you for the gift of Salvation, freedom, forgiveness and love.

Dia de la Patria at Covenant Church, Managua.

 My prayer for Education in Nicaragua:
   
Heavenly Father,of all knowledge, wisdom and truth, we thank you for sending your only Son, Jesus, the first teacher, to teach us the way to you.

Father God, we pray for all those who are in authority in this nations' education system. We pray that you will bless them with the gift of your Salvation. May those in leadership positions get to hear Your Word Father God, and by hearing your word, may their hearts be transformed so that they will revere you and make decisions according to your will. 

Father God, we lift up to you today all the institutions of learning here in Nicaragua/the universities, school, pre schools, home schools, church schools and daycares, anywhere that learning is taking place.

We acknowledge that there are schools here with plenty, and there are schools here in need. There are children so hungry they cannot even think about learning to read and write. Many children cannot go to school because they are sent out by their parents to work, beg or perform in the streets. They risk their very lives to bring in a few pesos for food or addictions.

  Father, these are your children. You knew the exact place and time of their birth, you know each one of them by name, and it is your desire for them to prosper and succeed.

 Father, like Moses, I am not eloquent of speech, but I speak from my heart and say shake it all up LORD, bring change, in whatever form it must come. Show us how to provide equal opportunites in education. Remove the obstacles that tell us we don't have the resources to make change, if only I had money I would.... if only I had a degree I could.... Father, help us to realize that those who believe in you have the top resource available in The Universe, we have Your Word, which is The Sword of The Spirit, it beats any other weapons out there made by man. Father, we know that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Help us to be mature and diligent enough to use The Sword of The Spirit, and pray fervently and without ceasing for the children of Nicaragua.

 

Especially those of us who have been appointed as teachers. May we stop asking you to do what you have comissioned and equipped us to do! United in prayer, we can change the atmosphere and have victory in your name!

LORD, we stand firm in our Faith that you have the perfect plan for the children of this Nation. And we pray that it will not stop in the schools Father God, but transformation through Salvation will be carried into the homes and passed on to build up communities who love you LORD and will advance Your Kingdom of justice, love and peace.

Renew us LORD, refresh us, give all teachers a God perspective so they can see each student as you see them. Give teachers a renewed passion for teaching, give them strength, energy and creativity in methods and lesson plans in order to encourage each child to reach their full potential and become who you created them to be.

 

 May the teachers be be filled with Your love and patience to equip the children with spiritual discernment and moral courage as well as academic excellence so they can make moral decisions based on the Truth of your Word that will impact society.

Father God, we praise you for we are fearfully and wonderfully made. You have created us with a wonderful capacity to learn on many levels/practical, social, cultural, intellectual and spiritual, may we continue to learn throughout our lives until we reach the full knowledge of You.

Ephesians 3v20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us, to Him be glory in our schools, the church and in Christ Jesus thoughout all generations, for ever and ever, Amen.

 

I love the beach!

Casares Beach.
I love the beach. I have always felt that it recharges my batteries.

I sense the presence of God all around me in every day life, in a breeze or a butterfly, but here at the beach I am aware of God's presence in a different way.

 I see His Majesty in all of Creation around me. His Mighty strength sends the fierce waves crashing into the cliffs. How does the tide know exactly when to turn, and how do the winds know which direction to blow, and where and when should it rain? It is storming now as I write this. Who can tip over the water jars of heaven, who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, who can count the clouds? Who knows the way to the place where the lightening is dispersed, who knows the path of the thunderstorm? Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? Who can bind the beauty of the mountains around me, who can bring forth the stars at the right time? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God?  

THE LORD Our God is Sovereign God, He Created it all and He rules over it all. Everything is in His hands! He is in control of it all!!!

God of wonders beyond our galaxy, YOU ARE HOLY!!! Thank you LORD!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4056291800277.2163182.1071554244&type=3&l=05257e62c4

Job 38, 39. The LORD speaks.

 

Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tsunamis...

^{Nicaragua has recently experienced earthquakes, volcano eruptions and storms. Hmmm, this scripture comes to mind:}

I Kings 19v11-13

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still small voice. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

LORD, please help me to take time out to hear your voice.

Click on the link below for more info on what's happening here in Nicaragua:


http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/09/10/nicaragua-volcano-eruption/70000057/1?csp=34news.

Beach Outreach.

Do you remember Rosalinda? This is me and Rosalinda a while back when we first met.


Oh the stories behind these beautiful faces...... I will try to write more tomorrow. For now, I hope you enjoy the photos!
Hello there, I took my time getting back to this blog coz the story behind it all makes me sad. The stories of these children and many like it are just heartbreaking. So I have decided not to write all the details as I said I would, but just know that these smiles are a testimony to God's goodness and grace. If it were not for the fact that He is still in the business of doing miracles in this day and age, these smiles would not be possible. These children represent redemption. Praise you LORD!

Rosalinda last Saturday.

Martita last Saturday.

We found a live star fish!

and a live sand dollar.

Click here to view "Beach Outreach! Rosalinda and Martita".

More about the flip flop fellowship!

The children at the Vineyard, Gainesville wanted to connect with the children in Nicaragua so they decorated some flip flops to give to those without. These children are holding a photo of the child in Gainesville who decorated the flip flops.

This was one of the 1st pairs we gave away. Thank you Vineyard Children!

Carrying a baby barefoot

she was embarrassed about her barefeet

before

after, with smiles! Thank you Mary.

Thank you Meaveen!

Thank you Elise.

before

before

after,with smiles. Thank you Billy!

before

after, thank you Gideon!



after with smiles. Thank you Zoe.

after, more smiles

after, and smiling!

Angela, one of the nanny/s I worked with at the orphanage brought some of her extended family with me to help. It was great to see local children reaching out to other locals in need.

before

before

after, with smiles!

after

carrying a baby barefoot

pretty

after., with smiles. Thank you.

This young girl had been sent out to run for some washing powder and soap.

wearing broken flip flops

after, with smiles. Thank you Elijah!

She was so happy to get them that she ran off and left the old ones in the same place!

She ran off into the distance and just left them there!

Angela and I became close friends whilst working at the orphanage together for 3 years. Her son, Angelito just celebrated his 1st birthday

and got his 1st pair of flip flops!!! It was wonderful to see that something so simple could bring so many smiles!

This little guy was so cute! But we did not have any flip flops left.

Wish we had just one more pair for her...

Sorry we had none left. We will come back with more.

Amazing Blessings.

  my Summer... June 14th to July 17th

This was the longest break I have taken since moving to Nicaragua 5 years ago. Almost every minute was packed with amazing blessings beyond anything I could have ever asked for. I experienced the love of Christ through so many people.

 There were friends who gave me the keys to their home and invited me to spend as much time as I needed there, to treat it as my own. All thanks to God, I met them while they were stationed in Nicaragua for a year. I was blessed to find out later that when they returned to the USA, they live less than 5 minutes from my son. Their family blesses me in so many ways I cannot even begin to write them! You make me smile! Thank you!

 Another amazing blessing was to be able to spend time with another friend who I met in Nicaragua. She had been there to adopt a young girl with the same name as me. No coincidence that she also now lives about 5 minutes from my son?! Despite her own heartaches and struggles, she took time out to drive me around town to run errands since I did not have a vehicle at my disposal. How can I thank you enough?

Matt 21v22  “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” As a God of integrity, He even provided someone to help me with my taxes. Someone kind enough to sacrifice a Saturday morning to meet with me, go over all my information then put my mind completely at ease. He took care of all the details for me and would not accept any financial compensation. Amazing!

Oh, and my friend who helped me get a great deal on car rental so I could drive the 600 mile round trip up to Gainesville. Who also offered to let me use his home address for my USA mail to buffer the frustrating communications going to my family about a pending legal issue. Thank you for being willing to act as a go between on that and soften a few blows. Thank you for keeping me connected. Thank you for Outback dinner!!! Thank you for making me laugh!

 Thank you to the lawyer who always listens, sometimes advises, but never charges. I always feel better after speaking with you!

 My list of heroes goes on......

I have to mention the very special lady * see below* who had never met me but was willing to share her home with me for a week so I could be in Gainesville with my home church. What a precious time that was with my Vineyard family and friends. Again, I cannot begin to write thanks for all the ways you touched my life. The times of fellowship and devotions together were a rich treasure that I continue to draw from. Oh and the meals were fantabulous! Thank you thank you for all the delicious meals we shared. I had some super special breakfasts, lunches, dinners and coffee times with you guys n gals. How precious to be with old friends again!

  And new ones too. * Through that woman's willingness to be obedient and faithful to scripture.... Hebrews 13 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to entertain strangers.. well, we became good friends and sisters in Christ and now she is heading up a team to come and visit me here in Nica in a couple of months. This has been one of my prayer requests ever since I came here to Nica back in 2007. Five people will be coming out in Nov and I am so excited about their trip.

As I write, I am seeing a common theme here, with connections from Nicaragua to USA. Interesting to see how many people I met in Nicaragua that God is now connecting me with in USA. All this to say, I had a wonderful week in Iowa with another friend I met in Nica. She shared her whole family with me, and I could write a book about the blessings they were to me. Oh how glorious to have the freedom to just be yourself and share real life with folks. I truly experienced Christ's unconditional love from you. And it was totally unmerited and undeserved, you didn't even know me! I thank you sincerely!

My thanks to all of you who supported me with love, encouragement, finances and prayers! May you be richly blessed in amazing ways in return!!!

I remember when I was a young girl at school, long time ago, we were told not to use the same words or expressions over and over when writing an article. I know that I have broken those rules in this news edition! But then I reflect on the Bible and see how many times words are used over and over. Take Psalm 136 for example, His love endures forever! In case you haven't noticed, the words I have overused here are Blessed and Amazing, and to be truthful, I do not have sufficient words to describe all the amazing blessings I experienced, so I will leave it at that! I was Blessed in Amazing ways!!!!

I never used to understand scriptures about how God could restore what the locusts have stolen, or bring beauty from ashes, but was given a peek into God's storehouses of wealth and treasures this trip! I was blessed with an amazing, extravagant portion of it despite my past sins and failures! And I know the best is yet to come for all those who believe in Him. I send heartfelt thanks to all of you who made it happen, who represented Jesus to me. I know I haven't mentioned everyone here, and I apologize in advance. I lift you all up in the power of prayer, may The LORD bless you and keep you, may He make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you, may He turn His face toward you and give you peace. Numbers 6v24/26
I love you!

Flip Flop Fellowship!

 As you can see from this photo, many of the children who live on the streets of Nicaragua are barefoot.

 The children of The Vineyard of Gainesville did a project to decorate some flip flops. I will deliver them when I return to Nicaragua in a few days.

 

Working to bridge the gap between Gainesville and Managua.

Thank you for being such awesome warriors for God's Kingdom!!

BIG HUGS to all my Vineyard Children!! I love you!!