Good News and Bad News

I always like to start with the bad news. Well, the bad news is that I have cancer. Crap, that sucks! But you knew that already.

So here’s the good news:

 I met with Dr. Spira today for the first time since my new diagnosis. When I entered the large waiting room filled with people, the first thing I noticed was the smell. Someone told me that the sense of smell has the strongest ties to memories then any other sense. So when I smelled that familiar scent, a billion little memories came flooding to the forefront of my mind. Wow, this is for real. We are really doing this again. 

I was greeted by Dr. Spira with a hug and a, “Here’s my girlfriend.” It’s true, I am his girlfriend. I am his favorite (I know he’s reading this but I know I’m right :)  He can also correct me the next time I see him if I misinterpreted something he told me today). I even got to see and hug my nurse Peggy. With watery eyes, we spent a moment reminiscing of the “good ole days” then parted ways.

Dr. Spira and me from today's visit

The good news is we have a plan and now have answers to many of our questions.

The good news is there have been a lot of advancements in the treatment of  my type of cancer over the last four to five years (it’s been 6 1/2 yrs since my last diagnosis) and research has shown that lower volumes of the chemotherapy drugs used in this protocol are just as affective. My treatment will, once again, be administered over the course of 42 weeks but instead of chemo every week, I’ll be getting it every three weeks! Yippie!

The good news is I’ll be getting less of the drug Cytoxan which is the main culprit for my plummeting white blood cell counts. This means I am probably not going to have as many emergency room visits and hospital stays as last time because I picked up something my body would have normally fought off on its own.

The good news is that they discovered that the drug Vincristine is not as affective as once thought so I will be getting a lot less of that drug. This was the drug I got EVERY week and what caused the neuropathy in my feet that I still struggle with today. 

The good news is that I can receive my chemotherapy at the Lansdowne office instead of making the drive to Fairfax. I would only have to go to Fairfax when Dr. Spira needed to see me. So that turns an hour drive into a 10 minute drive.

The good news is there is not this incredible rush to get started (like last time) so I get to enjoy Christmas with friends and family.

The good news is that my husband was smart enough to pick the POS plan and not the HMO plan for such a time as this because so far getting the benefits logistics worked out has been smoother than expected. 

The good news is that we know this cancer is treatable.

The good news is that this should be easier then last time. It still won’t be “easy” per se, but we anticipate it to be with less health complications then last time.

I think I got everything. So the way I see it, that’s a lot of good news! I am all about celebrating small victories. In times of trouble you can always find something to be thankful for.

So the plan is: Chemo, surgery, radiation, chemo over the course of 42 weeks all to start on January 4th. Thanks for all the prayers and support. I received so many messages from family, friends, and people I don’t even know. I am going to blog my entire experience here. It’s a great way to get detailed information out to those who care to know. Dustin will also be blogging as well. Here is a link to his blog.

Talk to you later!

God bless!! 

Here we go again

I wasn’t expecting to hear the news so quickly, especially after being told it would take several weeks. So when the phone rang at 7:30 this morning, I thought for sure it wasn’t the doctor. But then again, who else would be calling me that early? The doctor was nice but stumbled on his words as he told me that I had rhabdomyosarcoma, again. It was a short conversation which led to my next step of making an appointment with the oncologist.

When I hung up the phone, I let out a good cry for a few minutes and called Dustin in Nicaragua. We both knew that it was going to turn out this way, but there was still that part of me that said, “what if?”  So it’s time to get in that mode. If you know anyone who has dealt with cancer or is currently going through it, it consumes all that you do. You have to live each day, one at a time, because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. But, like I said in my previous post, I am ready. Dustin is on his way home right now and I can’t wait to have him with me again.

One thing I DEFINITELY do have is an amazing family, friends, and church that will (once again) make this journey doable with a smile. 

Cancer does a funny thing to the people who are around you. What do you say? What don’t you say? My only request for those who are far or near, don’t worry about that when you see me. I am not easily offended and I have no problems talking about it (as you probably figured out already). So if you hesitate to call or to say hi when you see me, please don’t. It’s the people in my life that made me smile and laugh during a time when many people would want to shrivel up on the couch and be angry at the world. And if you’re really nice to me, I’ll let you rub my hairless head - it is good luck you know!

Gotta go for now...my phone has been dinging and ringing all day! I am not complaining, it’s a blessing!!

One of my favs....

Romans 5:3-5 ...we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

The big "C"

This is a longer blog entry then normal but bare with me :-)

When I hear the big “C” I almost always think of the furry blue Cookie Monster from Sesame Street that sings, “C is for Cookie! That’s good enough for me!” If you don’t know what I’m talking about, or need a refresher, here’s the link to that clip in the show - cookie. (Gotta love the internet!).  

Unfortunately, I’m not talking about cookies, or any other fun and innocent word that starts with C. I’m talking about cancer. It’s everywhere these days! Many of you reading this are aware of my own history with cancer. I was 8 months old when I was first diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in the lung. I underwent two years of chemotherapy and went on to have a life just like anyone else, filled with friends, sports, vacations, and family gatherings.

I went on to graduate high school, college, graduate school. I got married, lived in Colorado then back to Virginia; had various jobs then started teaching and getting more involved in my church. Nothing earth shattering or crazy, just a normal life like anyone else. Then in 2005, at the age of 28, after a series of events including a miscarriage, I was once again diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma. This time it was in my bladder and it stumped the doctors as to whether or not it was a stem from the original (despite the 26 year gap) or a new strain (which in of itself is strange because Rhabdo is a childhood cancer). Regardless, they modified the protocol from a child to an adult and I underwent 42 weeks of chemo, 5 weeks of daily radiation, and a surgery. Despite the fact that my surgeon and oncologist couldn’t find a case like mine, they successfully treated me and resected the tumor without me losing my bladder (which was a serious possibility). As difficult as it was, God showed me a lot during this time about myself and my faith in him. So much good came out of something so bad that I can honestly say I don’t regret the experience.

It’s been over five years since my last dose of chemotherapy and life returned to normal. I guess if normal is selling your house, quitting your job, and moving to the second poorest country in the western hemisphere! But, you know what I mean.

That brings us to now, and why I am choosing to write this. I’ve been home from Nicaragua since November 4th. I have had a problem breathing from my left nostril since July. I’ve tried treating it on my own several ways without success. Prior to seeing a doctor I discovered a large growth in my nose and he tried other remedies that ultimately didn’t work and was referred to an ENT. After a CT and MRI to determine the origin of this “enormous polyp” I had it surgically removed the day before Thanksgiving. The initial report did not determine whether or not it was benign. They couldn’t figure out what it was and sent it to Harvard Medical Center to be looked at a world renowned sarcoma expert. After sending a copy of my report to my former oncologist, he called me to give me the heads up that it didn’t look good for me. He said there is a chance it could be a funky benign tumor but with my history and the type of tissue it is made up of, it’s unlikely. So now, I am playing the waiting game once again to find out for sure.  Do I have cancer again? Maybe. Probably. Hopefully not. But if I do, I’m ready.

My relationship with Jesus Christ is what gets me through my life storms (and I’ve had quite a few). Sometimes it’s hard but when I put all my trust in Him, in return I have a peace and sense of joy and thanksgiving that only he could give. He is ultimately taking care of me and knows his plan for me, even if I don’t ever know why things happen the way they do. It’s not always easy to not worry or be anxious about things. I’ll admit when I first thought this could be cancer, I told my sister I was scared and I freaked out a bit. But once I got that out of my system and refocused on God’s truth, I’ve been at peace ever since. 

So right now, we wait to hear the final word. In the meantime, Dustin and I decided to distract ourselves with a little road trip. We were told, just a few days ago, that Dustin’s best friend’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. We both care about this family tremendously and have decided to visit them to fellowship and encourage them. We’ll then drive through Canada, visit Niagara Falls, and end up at my Dad’s house on Long Island for an early Christmas celebration. Dustin leaves for Nicaragua tomorrow for a week to take care of some business the two of us couldn’t get to since we had to leave abruptly. We leave as soon as he gets back!

I’ll update my blog as soon as I hear something but I was told it could take up to another 2-3 weeks to get the final report. If you are the praying type, send a few my way please. :-) You can never receive too much prayer!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

In a nutshell...

From L to R : Nashira, Sheyla, Karla, Mary, Brenda, and Adilia.

Last week was a busy week! Mary and I held the Adult Literacy training conference. We had a small group of five, solid women who embraced the curriculum and are now looking for students to enroll. I had to get Mary up to speed with the curriculum and the vision behind it. Mary is a sharp individual who has a passion for education and she took the information I gave her and ran with it. Her enthusiasm and love of teaching showed the minute she started to interact with the facilitators. Not only was she able to accurately teach the information, she had those teachers participating non-stop in discussion and activities. She has told me countless times that she wants to do this to the best of her ability so to not hesitate to correct her or tell her how she could do better. She has a great attitude.

The students were attentive, enthusiastic, and were good sports when we had them do wacky team-building activities. Every day was filled with serious discussion and a lot of laughter. I enjoyed watching their expressions as I told them that they are the first spanish speaking country to use this adult literacy curriculum - in the whole world. Their reaction actually gave me goosebumps. 

A quick re-cap for those who don’t know: Last year, Erin and I, went to India to be trained on an adult literacy and life skills curriculum that is incredibly successful. It has been translated into 21 different languages native to India but has yet to be taken out of the country. If I remember correctly, there was one other man in the training with us who planned on using it in Pakistan. Kamala Chiranjeevi, the creator of the curriculum, was so excited to hear that we were going to translate and adapt it for use in Nicaragua.

We originally were projecting January (after the holidays) to be the start date for the classes. We don’t want to lose the momentum we have so we are giving the facilitators two weeks to enroll students and plan to start after that. I am looking forward to the day where I can visit these classes in action!

Me and one of the graduates, Brenda!

Yesterday Dustin and I went to Betania so I could meet with the literacy teachers and to visit the farm. Dustin was taking video and I was playing with the kids. After lunch, a bunch of men from the community joined together to play a game of volleyball. Austin was playing, Dustin was shooting film, and I was playing with a different set of kids. There is nothing more entertaining for those kids then watching themselves on a video camera! I love going to Betania. I enjoy seeing the familiar faces and sounds of the village outside of town.

Right now, I am enjoying my Sunday afternoon on my SOFT chair! A good soft couch or chair is hard to come by, it seems. Well, we finally moved into our house this week and we are really enjoying the space after living out of a suitcase in a single room since we’ve been here. Living in a Miskito style house with a lot of windows allows for nice cool breezes throughout the day. It’s nice to finally be settled in. 

Van Halen and Barry Manilow

Panama City in the background (it was breezy that day!)

The last two weeks have flown by and our time spent in Virginia doesn’t feel like it actually happened. I really enjoyed spending time with family and my girlfriends. It was a little bit of a recharge to be around such love and support. My Aussie friend, Noeleen, sent me a forward the other day (I’ll admit I don’t read 99% of the forwards I get) about how the best thing a woman can do for her health is to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends. We share our feelings with our sisters/mothers/friends during our “girl time” which helps us to create more serotonin - a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well-being. Apparently this was studied in Stanford but regardless, I would have to agree with the benefits of spending quality time with my girls. 

After our time in Virginia, Dustin and I flew to Panama for a conference (cue Van Halen’s Panama). We were asked by the senior pastor from Grace Fellowship Church in Snellville, Georgia to attend this conference and report back our findings. We traveled to Israel last summer with our friends Jamie and Donna Winship and a group from Grace Fellowship Church. The conference focused on partnerships between North American and Latin American churches. We met a lot of great kingdom minded church leaders and look forward to seeing some of them again in the near future. 

While we were in Panama, we had enough time to visit the Panama Canal. It was interesting to learn the history of the canal as well as getting to watch several container ships pass through the locks. After reading the vacation guide that was in the hotel, Dustin and I hope to someday come back to see and experience more of the country. Especially now that we have friends we can visit while we are there. I smell a road trip!

So now we are back in Nicaragua, spending a few days in our house in Managua and trying to squeeze in some meetings with people. I had my fastest meeting to date with Pastor Berman about the Adult Literacy curriculum we are trying to implement in Nueva Vida. It might have been a five minute meeting but it was probably the most productive. He has found a group of adults who are interested in facilitating the classes and has also found a local woman who can partner with me in this adventure, who can continue to work on this in Nueva Vida even while I am in Port. This is very exciting to me since there wasn’t much I can do from Port and the Pastor is way too busy to be taking on the tasks I need to get done in order to start this program. Celebrating small victories!!

Today, Dustin and Alvaro are bonding as they tackle the craziness that is our yard! I am working on my Adult Literacy presentations for the upcoming training this week in Port. We have several more teachers who are interested in being facilitators so we decided to hold another training conference. Tomorrow we are waking up crazy early so we can catch the first flight over to Port. Our house is ready and waiting for us so we get to move in as soon as we arrive! 

*If you’re wondering why I referenced Barry Manilow....the trip to Panama was the first time I flew Copa Airlines. Do I need to explain any further.....? 

I READ therefore, I am.

First group of trainees.

Mary is the principal of the VERBO schools in Puerto Cabezas and has agreed to partner with me to launch and manage the adult literacy and life skills classes. Mary will ultimately take full responsibility for the management of these classes once our time in Nicaragua is complete. I had the opportunity to meet with Mary this past Monday to get to know her and to plan out the next steps.

Mary shared with me that she has a Masters in Education and that she spent 10 years in Guatemala as a school teacher but did not like it in the beginning. As time passed she became more comfortable with teaching and developed a love for the profession. Last year Mary became the principal of the VERBO schools in Port. When Mary described her passion for teaching and how excited she was to be a part of this program, her eyes would well up with tears.  I am so excited to be working with Mary as she shares the vision of the program and is determined to do her best to make it a success.

Last Tuesday, Dustin and I held a short meeting with Mary and a handful of the literacy facilitators that participated in the training this time last year. Some time has passed since the training and we wanted to remind them of the vision and to motivate and encourage them as well as letting them know what to expect over the next few months. There are four new people who want to become facilitators and Mary would like to find a few more. We are going to hold another training session at the end of October. We will also be holding a refresher meeting for the currently trained facilitators to review how to teach the curriculum and to discuss the next step of gathering students from the community.

Mary and I met again today so I could get her up to speed on the training materials and how to use the curriculum. The next step is to see if we can get a few more people interested in facilitating classes and to get ready for our 4-day training session in October!

Below are a few pictures from the previous training.

Let's get this party started!

Dustin and I have been in Port for a few days now and trying to get settled in. Dustin, Austin, Johnny, and I drove roughly 250 miles from Managua to Puerto Cabezas with one overnight stop in Rosita. Most of the road was unpaved and either a mixture of dirt and rocks, gravel, or dirt riddled with holes of various sizes. This was my first time traveling to Port by car and I new it would be a rough road but was hopeful that maybe it was recently grated. That wasn’t the case. The constant bouncing around from side to side wasn’t a match for the Dramamine but my neck was a different story. I did enjoy the beautiful landscape throughout the trip. Since it’s the rainy season, everything was lush and green. 

Now that we are here, we are trying to get as much accomplished before we return to the US in October for week. Earl is back in Port and we are ready to get things rocking again! Mary is the principal of the VERBO school and will the be person responsible for overseeing the literacy classes once they are up and running. She is very passionate about the program and is extremely eager to start. We’ll be getting together with the teachers in the coming week and setting up our plans to get the ball rolling. I’m looking forward to working with her and getting to know her more.  

Dustin recently visited the farm in Batania that is being managed by college student Austin Fricker. Here is a link to video clip from his visit to the farm and a link to Austin’s blog. we drove past Betania on our way to Port and it’s exciting to see the visual changes in the community since the first time I was there several years ago and after Hurricane Felix in 2007. All the new houses that were built after the Hurricane by CFC and other partners, are painted and looking good. 

It’s been a year since I’ve been here because I did not go on the usual Spring Break trip. One of the first kids from the orphanage that I saw was Chanoi. Chanoi and his sister Seraina are some of the first children who quickly found a secure spot in my heart. I’ve watched them grow over the last five years. As I was walking over to the guest house, I spotted Chanoi in the distance but had to take my glasses off because I wasn’t sure if it was really him. He’s taller, his face has matured and he greeted me very politely. Long gone are the days of him hanging from my neck and drawing me multiple pictures. But it made me happy to see him and know that he’s been a part of my life for this long and that I don’t plan on that changing any time soon.

Chanoi and me in 2009

House near river bank in Wawa Boom

Austin and Dustin waiting to board the river barge.

Here we go!

View from our place in Granada after a storm.

Dustin and I will be driving to Puerto Cabezas this Thursday once Pastor Earl and Austin Fricker return from their long drive from Virginia. (They are driving back two vehicles that were donated to Pastor Earl.) The drive from coast to coast is about 14 hours across with some rough terrain. It’ll be my first time making the drive but I’m glad I’ll probably only have to do it once. I am looking forward to getting to Puerto Cabezas so I can get to work on starting up the Literacy and Life Skills program with the school principal, Mary. The classes will be held in Port and the nearby village of Betania. I also can’t wait to see the kids in the orphanage. Since I did not go on the spring break trip this year, it has been over a year since I’ve seen them. 

The plans for starting the Literacy program in Nueva Vida (as an ONET initiative)  is underway. I met with Pastor Berman to discuss specifics about the people interested in being the teachers as well as planning the future training sessions.  So far, we have a small handful of people interested but I was told that eight other churches are definitely interested in starting this program so the potential is high. Training is targeted for late November/early December with classes to start in January. 

Another ONET initiative that I’ve been tasked with is to meet with the volunteer teachers in Nueva Vida who teach English to the teens in the youth groups. I will be coaching them on teaching strategies and practices but will mostly focus on creating benchmarks and assessments to accurately track the progress of the students so they will be ready to take the English proficiency test at the university which will open up opportunities for future employment.

After six weeks of language school, my mind is a soupy mix of spanish words that need to get themselves in order. I have not had a huge amount of practice since school let out except for small talk and placing food orders. I have also been practicing listening to other natives speak. If everyone spoke as clear as my teacher, then I’d be set. But, they don’t so I need to practice listening as well as speaking.

I really enjoyed our time in Granada while we were in school. We took advantage of our surroundings on the weekends since Granada is a tourist town. My friend Jen came to visit over a long weekend and we had a lot of fun roaming around Granada and seeing what else it had to offer. One outing was driving up Mombacho Volcano which has a cloud forest at the top. The drive up was an adventure in of itself. We had to drive up a very steep one way road with sharp switchbacks but the road was surrounded by beautiful foliage. At the top we took a walking tour to one of the two craters and we were fortunate enough to arrive when the clouds broke so we could see the town and the islands in the lake below. Just the day before, we took a small boat around the islands in the lake which were formed when the volcano blew it’s top many years ago. There are 365 islands in lake that vary in size and are occupied by mostly personal homes (and one small island with just a few monkeys).

One of the monkeys we saw on Monkey Island.

We took a short vacation to San Juan del Sur before heading to Managua. We relaxed at several different beaches and Dustin took surfing lessons. Dustin was bit by the surfing bug so I’m sure there will be some future weekend trips when we are working on the west coast. 

Sunset in San Juan del Sur

Nica Times

It’s the hottest month of the year in Nicaragua and we have not completely melted yet. Actually, I think we are quickly becoming climatized. Some days I break down and turn the AC on because my arms are sticking to the table while I do my homework and it can become a bit overwhelming. But other times, once I’ve cooled down, the AC is too much. 

Class update: Dustin is doing great at fine tuning his spanish. His teacher likes to bust his chops incessantly about what he does and does not know. Although, there seems to be quite a bit of chop busting going on from him too. I’m getting better at conversing with my teacher. It has made the class more fun and makes the four hours go by quicker. I’m getting hammered with verb conjugations and while I can’t possibly remember ALL the verbs she’s been giving me all the time, I am getting more comfortable using the more common ones correctly. We have 2 1/2 more weeks left and I intend on soaking up as much as I can. I’m looking forward to getting to Port to engage with the kids in the orphanage on a whole new level - without a translator!

This weekend we are in Managua for several reasons. We are trying to locate a suitable place to stay when we are working on the west coast for OrphaNetwork. Our friend Alvaro is going to accompany us. Later, we’ll be shopping for items we’ll be needing in Port and could use now in Granada - nothing crazy, just things to make life a little bit easier here. I love Granada but it’s a very noisy town so it’s nice to wake up to silence and a dark room!

Last week, our good friend Nicole came to visit us for a few days. It was great to see a familiar face in our context. It was fun to hang out and relax and also show her a part of Nicaragua since it was her first time here. This week, I have another friend, Jen, coming to visit. Jen has been to Puerto Cabezas before with us and I’m looking forward to showing her some of the west coast. 

Dustin has been really busy with school, working for ONET, and doing his regular job! I try to help out as I can but there’s not much for me to help with at this point. He’s been a real trooper getting through it all while going to school. 

I’m mainly focused on my spanish. I still have one last online TESOL certification course that I’ve been neglecting but I’m hoping to start that this weekend. If not, I’ll definitely crank it out once my spanish classes are over. Next week I am meeting with a Pastor from Nueva Vida to discuss starting the adult literacy training over there. I’m so excited to see some classes get started. Right now, we are just going to discuss potential teachers and near future training of those teachers.

That about sums it up for now. I hope to write more frequently once school is over when we really get into what we are doing here.

Breathe

View of Old City Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

Dustin and I are back in Nicaragua (this time for a while) and our whirlwind visit to the U.S., Israel/Palestine, Jordan, and the U.S. again is now over. Knowing that we’ll be here for an extended time makes it easier to rest (a little) and get settled into our surroundings.

Our trip to Israel/Palestine can’t be summarized in one adjective like awesome or great. While it was those things, it was many other things on many different levels.  I’m still processing it so I can articulate what I observed and experience without either A. talking for hours on end or B. losing my audience. It’s never easy to fully talk about and do a place justice to someone who wasn’t there with you experiencing the same thing. So for now, all I’m going to say this that there is a lot that is not shown or discussed on the news - about both sides. It was an invaluable experience to be able to talk with and be among both Palestinians and Israelis on the same trip and listening to what they have to say about their histories and the current conflict. More on that at another time.

I think one of my favorite places we visited was the Sea of Galilee. Not only is it beautiful, it’s the place where Jesus carried out most of his ministry. There are several places we visited that were “believed” to be certain spots where Jesus did this or Jesus  did that. But the sea is the sea and it was fun to imagine some of the events that went on there. We had time to sit along the banks, alone, to pray to and to listen to what God might be saying. Later on, many of us decided to get baptized in the sea. Not a bad place to have it done if you ask me! I’ve already been baptized but did it again and had Dustin do it. It was an awesome experience. 

Dustin and me at the Monastery, Petra

After the trip, a small group of us jumped over to Jordan for a few days to meet with some people that we know. My brother, who was on a trip from Prague and Budapest, flew over to Amman to join us. We first went to Petra and hiked all the way to the top to the Monastery. On the way down we decided to ride donkeys to give our feet a rest and to make it out quickly. We laughed the entire way down as our donkeys would randomly start running and would clump together so our legs were wedged between other donkeys and knees were in places they shouldn’t be. 

Mike in a Roman amphitheater in downtown Amman

In Amman, Mike and I had the opportunity to break away from the group and spend some quality time together while roaming around the city eating amazing food and shopping. Thanks to Dori who was our guide that afternoon! Mike stayed in Amman for two extra days and had a great time with our friends. 

One of the great things about this trip were the friendships that were made. Some friendships were brand new while others were strengthened and went to a deeper level. It’s great to be around likeminded individuals who have similar passions. 

Kind of a vague and general blog about our trip but I don’t want to write a novel in one blog.  Now, I am focused on language school and getting started on my work for ONET and continuing my work on the literacy component of the PEACE plan. 

Salaam and Shalom!

Well, I’ve been home for five days and I squeezed in as much as I could between visits with people and preparing for our next venture. I wish I had a day or two more to see people since the next time I’ll be home will be in October. Lucky for us we have several people coming to visit us in Nicaragua later this summer so that will be a lot of fun.

This afternoon we are embarking on another adventure but this time to Israel and Jordan with a great group of people. Our friends from GCC Indiana (Jeanna Tripp and Jack Magruder), along with my former principal Rob Duckworth and his wife Charlene, Leigh Anne Hickey and Wes from CFC are joining a group from Grace in Atlanta, GA. Our good friends Jamie and Donna Winship are leading the way and I am more than excited for it to begin. 

A couple of years ago, during a five week stay with Jamie and Donna while they were living in Jordan, we made a quick 4 day visit to Israel and let’s just say it was a whirlwind. So I am excited to be able to spend more time there, listening to great teaching, and really absorb my surroundings. Some of the places we’ll be headed are Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea, and Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

At the end of the trip, a small group of us are traveling over to Jordan to visit with some friends. My world-traveler brother, Michael, who recently returned from a three week adventure trip to Peru and is now in Prague and then going to Budapest, will be joining us in Jordan as we head to Petra and then to the capital of Amman. 

I will be posting updates to Twitter/Facebook along the way. We’ll return to the states for three days before returning to Nicaragua to go to language school for four more weeks.

Pictured above is Dustin and I in the Old City eating lunch and Donna and I at the Red Sea. This was during our 2008 visit.

Comprende?

Well, its the end of our first week in Granada, Nicaragua and I can definitely see an improvement in my spanish. I have a great teacher who is funny and patient with me. It’s exciting to be able to understand almost 100% of what she is saying. Speaking the language, however, it a different story. When I’m practicing on my own or with Dustin, I get it. When it comes time to speak it in class, my brain freezes. But, I’m confident that will change quickly as we continue and my confidence builds.

I don’t think Dustin and I truly realized how much time school would take up between sitting in class, practicing, and the homework. Phew... do they like giving homework! Now that we are settled in and have a good grasp of the town, we’ll be doing more exploring in the weeks ahead. 

Today we are meeting up with the CFC youth team that spent the last week in Puerto Cabezas.  All 42+ people are on there way from Managua, to Masaya Market, then to Granada to eat some lunch and see the town before heading back to catch their early evening flight home. You can see what they did last week on Will Cravens blog. 

Tomorrow Dustin and I will continue to explore the town and study our spanish. We have one more week before I head home on July 9th to get ready for our EPIC trip to Israel/Palestine. Dustin will be staying behind a few extra days to meet up with the Granger/CFC team to take them over to Puerto Cabezas. He’ll be with them a few days before heading back to Virginia for 24 hours before jumping on the plane with me to Tel Aviv!

Have a fun and safe 4th of July weekend!

Gongs and Goose Bumps

On the eve of Dustin and I leaving for Nicaragua, we were a part of something huge at Christian Fellowship Church. In fact, Dustin was the one that God gave this vision to(He’s my husband, I’m allowed to brag :) ) Essentially what happened this morning was that the congregation at CFC walked through the doors and, instead of sitting in a service, got to be part of the largest Stop Hunger Now (SHN) food packing event to be organized out of the Richmond SHN branch. A total of 2,800 people were involved from start to finish. In just three and a half hours over 285,000 meals were scooped, bagged, boxed, and palletized!! That’s crazy!

There were four separate rooms within the church doing the packing. As one of the quality control volunteers I got to see the looks on peoples faces as I assigned them to their stations and watch their joy and satisfaction throughout the event. Each time 1000 meals were bagged and boxed, a SHN employee would bang a gong to let the room know they have reached another milestone. Whenever I heard the gong I got goose bumps (and that gong was going about every 5-10 minutes!).

Sure, packing food for hungry kids in other countries is amazing in of itself. However, the reason I got goosebumps is because I know exactly where these meals are going. All 285,000+ meals are going to Puerto Cabazas, Nicaragua so that Pastor Earl Bowie can open a feeding center. The amount of meals packed today can feed over 700 children for one year! Dustin and I will be at this feeding center when it opens and will be helping serve the children who will benefit from the hard work that was witnessed today. Read Isaiah 58 and you’ll know why we did what we did.

Now I am home but I don’t have much time to rest. I have to finish packing so I can leave at 3:45 AM to Dulles and catch a plane to Nica. so I can start language school!!

(Pictured here is one of the many amazing families that rolled up their sleeves and gave it all they got. Michelle is a friend and former co-worker who I invited to come without even telling her what we were doing. You all rocked it!! Thanks for coming!!)

Come, follow me

When we graduate from college, many of us have our minds set as to what career we want, where we want to live, and how we want our life to unfold. I’ll be honest, when I graduated, all I really wanted to be was a mother. I’m so thankful to have a mother who was able to be home for us when we came home from school each day. That’s who I wanted to be. It’s funny that no matter how hard you try for some things, God has a way of taking you down a completely different road - if you listen to Him.  I don’t want to rehash the last 5 years right now but you can hear our whole story at www.cfellowshipc.org - click sermon archives --> Answer the Call --> The Call). 

Our experiences have taught me (and continue to teach me) so much about myself, my marriage, and God’s unending love, grace, and mercy. If you would have told me on my graduation day that by the age of 34 I would have been to Ghana, India, Sri Lanka, and Nicaragua to help and minister to some of the world’s poorest human beings, I would have thought you were nuts. At that time in my life, I couldn’t see outside what I wanted, what I had planned, and what I desired. But through some crazy life storms, God has showed me what HE wants for my life, what HE has planned, and what HE desires for me. 

So here I am. This Monday we leave for Granada, Nicaragua to start language school for the summer. In September, we will head to Puerto Cabezas to work with Pastor Earl Bowie and Verbo. I will be creating and teaching an after school English program for the kids living in the orphanage. I will also be overseeing the adult literacy and life skills program we have adapted from India to use in the surrounding communities and eventually up the Rio Coco. At the same time, I have been contracted out by ORPHANetwork to start the same adult literacy program on the west coast from the ground up and to start an English program in the feeding centers. Finally, I have also been tasked with educating school teachers on teaching strategies, assessment, and so on as there is no formal training for teachers. There’s a lot on my plate but I am so excited to start this new adventurous chapter in my life.

The picture above is of one of my dearest friends, Jen, on graduation day at Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!). I had the pleasure of traveling to Nicaragua with her in 2010. We are currently praying for the possibility of her coming to Nicaragua in January for six months and using her skills and gifts to work alongside Dustin on the business development component of the P.E.A.C.E plan and helping me teach English. Pray that God reveals his plans to her and that she answers the call.