I was surprised at how exhausted my body was when I made it back to the states. The first few days I slept off and on most of the day. I didn’t even leave the house every other day the first week. As Deanna always says, I must have needed the rest!
I did get a lot of errands taken care of so that I could be ready to return to Nica on the 29th. I took my time in getting things done and paced my business. I also got the chance to have lunch or dinner about once a day (once I left the house) with friends. It’s been great to see people and enjoy time with them. I’m really blessed with lots of Christian friends.
God has continued to speak to me in surprising ways. Sometimes the lessons are hard and sometime the experiences are excitingly happy. I love the way that He is involved in my life. I know He is even more involved that I realize and I’m trying to learn how to be more aware of His hand in every moment.
I had some very difficult things to deal with emotionally in the past few months and it is such a blessing to be in my spot at Deanna’s, which is like a sanctuary to me sometimes. It has been a long time since I have felt this emotionally drained. But God has shown me that before He could fill me up with only Him, He had to empty me of all that is me. No matter what He allows me to go through, as long as it brings Him glory and draws me closer to Him, it’s okay with me.
I have loved getting to visit with friends. I’m way too busy many days to allow the time really enjoy from friends and loved ones. God is showing me how important those healthy relationships are. I’m going to honor them and enjoy them and nurture them.
I have also enjoyed getting to eat at some of my favorite restaurants while back in the states. That’s always fun. I’ve have gotten to cook a bit, too. I enjoy cooking, especially making healthy choices.
FBC Rogers started having services on Saturday evenings and I went to the first one. I absolutely loved it! The feeling was casual and open and I really felt that I could just relax and worship God just like when in Nica. Right after worship service was the time for Life Groups. I enjoyed the lesson and fellowship. I will continue to go to Saturday night church when here!
On Sunday mornings I continue to worship with my faith family at our Spanish church Cuerpo Vivo. It is rare that I don’t shed a tear or two (or many more) when I’m there. I just love the church family I have there. Even though there are many new families every time that I come back from Nica, I feel loved by everyone there. I love getting to hear the message and sing the songs in Spanish. Cuerpo Vivo church just celebrated their 10th anniversary. It was a great time together. I have been blessed to know both Pastors Jaime and Oliver for those 10 years and to also get to work along side them closely for a quite a few of those years. They are encouraging to me about learning Spanish and I love getting to spend time with these special families.
Well, the time came to leave for Nica and I was ready materially, but was just not feeling good physically. More things happened along the emotional problems and I just couldn’t get rid of some of the physical stress on my body. The day before I was supposed to fly out, I told Deanna that I just didn’t feel ‘right’ and needed to get checked out before I went off to Nica where there is not a very good medical system. She was in total agreement and said that she would feel better if I stayed and saw my doctor. So I called and got an appointment for that afternoon. Dr. Bob was wonderful to listen to me. It was hard to describe what ‘not feeling right’ means. He suggested that we check out my heart and also follow up on my liver issues. He doubled my blood pressure meds, which helped a lot by the next day, by the way. I called the airlines and had to change my ticket that day or lose it. I didn’t know when the medical tests would be scheduled, so I just picked the date of October 1. The rep that I spoke to got permission from her supervisor to waive the change fee since I was making the change due to medical issues. I was very thankful for that.
Soooo, I’m staying in Arkansas for a few more weeks for medical tests and relaxing and resting. I’m praying that everything checks out okay and at the least I get more recoup time from the past stress. I’m so thankful that God has allowed me a comfortable and loving place to stay (with Deanna) and many friends who want to love on me and pamper me while I’m here. I do miss my Nica friends and teaching my classes, but I’m blessed to get to keep in touch with them via internet.
More time to just rest in God’s love and teaching and soak up some love from friends. I’m so thankful and blessed!
