{ WEEK ONE }

This week has been absolutely amazing.  It’s been nothing I expected but also so much more than I ever expected.  God is amazing.

From working with Tammy to traveling to the worksite/village with the team to helping at Taellor’s House in all kinds of ways, God’s started showing me just why I’m here.

First, let’s talk about how fun the classrooms are at Taellor’s House.  If I had any doubt that God was calling me to teaching, it would have been gone within a few days.  The teachers here are so fun, and the kids are awesome.  Tae’s House is filled with so much joy all the time.  I absolutely love helping Yassira in her classroom with the 6-12 year olds.  SO MUCH FUN.

But here’s what I’m learning about myself: I love serving people who are already serving.  Maybe it’s because growing up, all the mission trips I went on were to serve missionaries and people already serving, and maybe it’s just because I’ve seen the impact encouragement can have in the past.  Whether it’s because of either of those or not, serving those who are already serving is where God is calling me here in Nicaragua.

One day, Alena and I packed almost 300 bags for Mothers’ Day gifts in a hot room with not air circulation, and it was probably one of my favorite days here this past week.  I loved being able to help the Project H.O.P.E. team and serve in a way that would help them out the most at that time.

This week has been so extremely growing for me; I cannot wait to see all the rest that God does over the next two and a half months.  I started the week with quite a bit of homesick feelings, and those haven’t completely gone away, but it’s getting a whole lot better.  The other interns have really welcomed me in, and it already feels like we’re a family.  They’re seriously a blast.  Denise and Tammy have made me feel so at home here, and I love knowing I have to women that I can go to at any time, and they’ll be there for me.

Wednesday was hard this week.  It was day four (which is apparently a hard day for a lot of people).  My introversion really kicked in that day, so not only was I pretty wore out mentally and socially, I was also really starting to come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t leaving at the end of the week.  That was (and is still, even though the week is over) a really weird feeling.  The other two times I’ve come to Nicaragua, I’ve only been here for a week.  Wednesday was filled with “I promised someone I would get a picture of this before I left,” and “Wow, I can’t believe this week is half over; I’m not ready to go home.”  But those were followed by, “Holy cow, I’m not going home at the end of this week.”  Sometimes, thinking about staying for another two and a half months is super scary and makes me a little nauseous.

Then, other times, I seriously can’t imagine leaving.  I’m loving it down here.  Like, how in the world am I supposed to find leche con cacao when I get back to the states in August?  That milk is my morning (and sometimes afternoon and sometimes night) pick-me-up.  It’s delicious.  Anyways, so much more often than not, I absolutely ignore the fact that I have to leave in two and a half months.  A few nights this week (including tonight), it’s absolutely downpoured here.  On this tin roof that we have, it’s seriously the most beautiful sound (even if it is super loud).  I cannot imagine not having these other interns here with me.  They bring me so much joy; they challenge me to find joy and to have fun, even when I may not want to.  Tonight, they convinced me to run out into the thunderstorm with them and play in the freezing cold rain.  And it was seriously some of the most fun I’ve had in a long time.

Sure, it’s not easy being down here, being away from my family, acclimating to the heat, learning to live in Nicaragua, but it’s seriously one of the best experiences I’ve had so far in my life.  I wouldn’t trade this for the world.  God is doing so many amazing things, and I wish I could tell you all about them, but I don’t think I even understand all that’s going on yet.  Keep praying that many lives would be changed and that He would work in amazing ways.  Pray that He moves in me as well as through me.  I cannot wait to see what all He has in store for the rest of the summer!

¡Hasta la próxima semana!