June 8-15, 2014

Sunday morning, I was still very sick and decided to stay home from church to rest and hopefully get my body starting to heal with the antibiotics.  Sofia was under the weather and Jasmina was tired from a busy work week and needed to wash clothes.  So we opted to stay home and I made some pancakes for breakfast.  Then I was planning on going right back to bed.  Wil came over to pick up his tools.  We offered him a pancake and while we were eating, he started talking to me about the Trinity and false doctrine and lots of stuff.  He has a very limited and conservative background.  We ended up talking until 1pm and I finally got to go to bed for a nap! 

I had some new requests for info about the ministry, so I got some emails sent out.  We had new students in all classes.  Sewing class began with Enia (Wil’s wife), who is a natural and will be making all kinds of things soon to support her family.  How exciting to see her going at it!

We’ve had some adjustments to the responsibilities of the those living in the house.  I hired a new housekeeper, Regina, who will start next week.  She will come early and get all of the cleaning for the front rooms done by 9am and then finish up the back by noon.  It will be great to have it done quickly and well.  Sofia will be in charge of the gardens and patios and taking out the trash 3 times a week.  This will allow Sofia to attend some of the classes here, as well as study for her Saturday classes at school. 

Jacqueline has been doing a great job teaching the English classes, but now has a temporary job for the next 2 weeks.  So I’ll be teaching the English classes as well.  I imagine that Jacqueline will get offers for more jobs in the future, so I’m not sure what her availability will be to the ministry in the future.  She loves volunteering here and teaching and helping with the ministry.  But sometimes, responsibilities of life interfere with ministry desires.  I’ll be praying for her as she has lots of decisions to make for her future.

I’ve felt a lot better toward the end of the week.  The antibiotics finally kicked in and I actually got a little rest.  I need to make it more of a point to take care of myself.  Especially, since I will be teaching 7 classes in 5 days for each of the next 2 weeks!

We had sweet Annabelle (3 months old) over for Jalisa to babysit on Saturday morning.  Erika had brought baby Ashly (2 months old) over on Friday.  Tamara and I went to visit Fernando (6 weeks old) on Saturday morning.  And baby Ilia (3 months old) is our neighbor who visits on occasion.  Babies everywhere!!!

We have lost power off and on over the last few days.  It’s not fun to lose the fans.  But I’m thankful that they it back up and running sometime the same day.  I hope we don’t lose power on Sewing Class days!

I bought a really nice sewing book from Regina on credit.  (it’s a little business of hers to sell books on credit).  I’ll pay $7 per month.  She was very professional when she wrote up the contract.  The book covers everything about sewing and it is all in Spanish.  Woohoo!  It even has patterns and instructions for making men’s suits and women’s clothing, including wedding dresses!  It will be a good resource in our library here.

Today is Father’s Day in the states.  I’ve enjoyed seeing everyone’s posts on Facebook.  

After church today, Jalisa and I went to Charlie’s BBQ restaurant.  It was really great!  It’s owned by a Cuban guy and they call it typical Texas BBQ.  It was yummy. 

Bad news today…  the used fridge I bought is dyeing after just one month.  The person I bought it from is trying to contact the repair guy who looked it over and adjusted it before I bought it.  Supposedly his work is guaranteed.  But then again, what does that mean exactly here in Nica???  Thankfully, I had not felt God leading me to sell the little fridge yet, so we moved all the food over to it this evening.  I may be having to buy a new large fridge.  If so, I hope the used one is fixed well enough to sell it for a little money and I’ll sell the smaller fridge, too, and hope to not need a lot of extra money for the new big fridge.  God always provides, so I will wait and see how He directs. 

Well, it’s been such a wonderful week of ministry, despite sickness and other problems.  I’m so thankful and humbled to be living here and serving.  I can’t imagine my life doing anything else.  He is worthy!