So the title of this blog is how I felt about a week and two days ago exactly. I thought last Wednesday night, "my cup runneth over, I should write a blog about that." And I would have sooner except for the fact that Nicaragua swallowed the camera cord to load my pics, and I couldn't possibly write about my cup running over without the shot of the Kayes and me at La Gran Francia.

 

To celebrate the closing of this particular chapter in our lives, the Kayes took me out to dinner and we discussed all the ways we've seen each other grow over the past three years.  (Remember I lived with them in 2007 for three months...) It was a bittersweet moment for me that I will always treasure, but the best part was when Sarah presented me with the first-ever paper-beaded necklace as a gift. It was significant not only because of the involvement I've had with her in the jicaro and bead projects, but because she made it especially for me! I could have cried. And I did very much so in the couple of days that followed.

 

  

                 

                   The best picture I have of the Kayes: Sarah and Willa show their teeth.

 

As if my moments with the Kayes weren't sweet enough, I returned to El Puente where Young Life's Bible Study was just ending and they presented me with a wooden plaque with all of the leaders' names on it. I'm not sure what I'll do with that. Someone suggested serving cheese on it. Whatever the case though, I will always look at it with warmness in my heart!

 

                 

                    Young Life girls presenting me with a plaque of the leaders' names.

 

The night after that was my last. I took the redeye, so I was able to have a final dinner with the Novas team (who left a few days after I did) and have many tearful goodbyes right before I left for the airport.  It was completely surreal. (And yet now so real as I am sitting here at my parents' house looking at the mess I have to pack up in order to leave for Israel on SUNDAY.)

 

The Kayes plus Baker and Seth dropped me off of the airport. They all stood in the check-in line with me; it was like the freakin' Brady Bunch...but I felt oh so blessed to have them there.

 

Charles was so distraught with my leaving I had to wheel him to security. 

 

 

                

 

Haha, just kidding, but he was still a bit distraught. :)

 

               

                                 The final goodbye before going through security. :(

 

So here I am. At the end and the beginning. The end of two incredible years of growth, testing, and building relationships with people I will always love. The beginning of the unknown, the new and exciting adventures to come. Thank you for being a part of this adventure with me. I am blessed beyond measure to have had so many people behind me praying and supporting me financially. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!

I don't plan on keeping up this blog, but I do want to keep updating you all on my life, so I am starting a new blog at http://www.heathspeaks.blogspot.com I have a small obsession with changing the background on it. I will try to let it be though, especially once I know people are reading it. :)

 

Love you all! 

 

Heather

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the kitchen yesterday morning a cockroach in the sink startled me.  When Trevor tried to take it out by the antenna to dispose of it, he "accidentally" lost his grip and the roach jumped on my hand. My natural reaction was a blood-curdling scream.

 

Jessica sautéed some onions and potatoes, and we sat around the table drinking coffee, wondering why Amber's tasted like a skunk.

 

We talked about those pesky pigeons that used to always poop on the table during meals and how some friends of ours who will remain nameless once tried to beat them to death in the rafters with a duster. 

 

I said I would miss them (not the pigeons but the Novas team) because it's this kind of thing that I have come to love about living at El Puente - sitting together and laughing at our stories, sharing a common disdain for the grosser sides of El Puente but being able to have a sense of humor about it, starting off our morning bumping into one another in the kitchen as we wait for water to trickle out of the faucet so we can make coffee. 

 

                

                                                        me and the Novas chicas

 

For the past four months these guys have been more to me than participants on an AIM trip. They've been roommates, friends, and encouragers. They've challenged me in the way they seek to serve and pour themselves out in the community of Granada and within their own as well.

 

I guess this is the kind of thing that starts happening with me when I only have two and a half weeks left – the nostalgia starts kicking in and I realize what a gift the people around me are and how much I will miss them when we go our separate ways. I'd rather it be that way than counting down the days though. If I do count them down, its only because I'm sorry to see them go by.

 

So here we go...17 days left of listening to each other sing in the shower, riding bikes Nica-style and sweating a liter of water in the process, talking quite openly about virtually all bodily functions, eating together, laughing together, mourning together, growing together. 

 

Last Saturday we held our Second Annual 5K Fun Run for Vida Joven.  It seems like the past two and a half months have been building to this point, and it finally culminated to a successful event!

 

Over two hundred kids and adults participated in the race, and a few dozen Vida Joven volunteers from Granada, Managua and Matagalpa helped make everything run as smooth as Nicaly possible.  The first, second and third place runners in each category were rewarded the cutest hand-made medallions ever, and as a grand prize our friend Baker's bike rental shop, Bicimaximo, donated a Bici bike.

 

On Friday, we held a rally in the park to promote the race and help generate funds for Vida Joven through food sales and donations.  Little did we know a huge band stage would be set up right next to our location, and when we arrived to set-up, the music was absolutely blaring. Maybe it helped us draw a crowd though because by the time the band finished playing, it seemed like a few hundred people were gathered around to watch the Vida Joven kids put on club. It was fantastic!

 

Despite bumps in the road (maybe literally and figuratively both) as we gringos were constantly reminded of the Nica twilight zone that tends to happen around here, a good time was had by all.  I'm so thankful for how smooth it went in comparison to last year. Thank you for all your prayers!

 

                 

 

               

2.5K runners ready to start!

 

We started Vida Joven (Young Life) in Granada almost two years ago.  This program is drawing kids from all over Granada and giving them the opportunity to choose life instead of drugs and alcohol and other addictions that are prevalent here. We've had a lot of success making a difference in kids' lives by building relationships with them and showing them that there is more to life than what they see around them, and we want to be able to do this with kids in other parts of town as well.  

Last year we raised about $4000 through the 5K Fun Run, and this year we hope to raise double that amount so that we can bring Vida Joven to another barrio and invest in even more lives.

Help us keep Vida Joven alive and thriving in Granada!  If you'd like to donate, we suggest the

following sponsorship levels:

 

Ten Youngsters:        $50   (any amount is welcome)  

 

Checks may be mailed to:

Attention:                                                                               2009 Fun Run for Vida Joven

Nicaragua Kids Camp Fun Run  (don't forget this!)

3.    Follow the simple donation process.

 

Here are some recent pictures from Vida Joven club and camp. We took 11 kids plus 3 Novas participants to camp last weekend. It was a blast! It was my ninth and last visit before I leave Nicaragua in May. I couldn't have hoped for a better experience, and it was really meaningful spending that time with girls I've been getting to know over the course of a couple of years.

 

 

                   

                  some gal leaders before club

 

                 

                  Jimmy and Jairo breakin it down as usual

 

                   

                 Pita and Carol waiting for the fun to start

 

 

                 

                  Novas guys getting ready for cooler weather

 

                 

                  Sometimes there are particularly bad smells in Niaragua.

 

                

                 Granada gals about to enter the Labyrinth

 

               

                Granadinos represent!

 

                 

                Boys being boys...

 

               

                ...and girls being girls!

 

                 

               Scrumptious meals provided by the rockstars on work crew!

 

Stay tuned for information on our SECOND ANNUAL 5K FUN RUN to raise money for Vida Joven! This program has made such a difference in kids lives here in Granada, and we want to keep it afloat!  Our goal is to open a new club on the other side of town, and we're hoping the money generated from this race will help jumpstart that effort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another great idea from the mind of Sarah Kaye: The art of bracelet making as a trade.

 

We are beginning training sessions at El Puente and will equip people to make the bracelets in their own homes as a way of earning some income.  Profits made from selling the bracelets will be donated to Vida Joven. 

 

Here are a few pictures of this project and if your eye is piqued for more, there are a couple of links to my photo albums at the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://heatherelibeth.jalbum.net/Bracelet-Making-at-El-Puente/ 

 

http://heatherelibeth.jalbum.net/Little-Kitty/ 

So Sarah Kaye asked me this week if I had written any new songs lately. I said no. They seem to come in waves, I'm not really sure why. I was reading some verses in Luke though, specifically about the prodigal son, and I had some instant inspiration for a new tune. In my mind it was kind of a blend between being welcomed home by the Father and receiving the ring, the robe, and the shoes while at the same time being romanced by the one who knows me better than I know my self.   Hmm...the Christian story seems a little incestuous at times doesn't it? Yet the image of the Father's love and the image of a Husband's love are just mere glimpses into the depth of what his affections are for us, his relentless pursuit of us and his constant faithfulness to us.

 

Anyway, below is a video of a few of us at El Puente singing the new song, "Follow You Some More."   The improptu version was so much better, and funnier, but we still decided to reenact our musical antics for your viewing pleasure.

 

Clothe me with a robe of splendor / Place your ring on my finger / So all can see that I belong to you / My heart is at your door / Bring me to your house / Sweep me up and gently set me down / Before a meal like I have never known / Your love is now my home / Walk with me a while / Lead me down the paths I never found / When I was on my own / Now I'm yours / I'll follow you some more / And when I find I'm wandering away / I will look down remember how you placed upon my feet / Shoes that I may walk right back to you / And I'll follow you some more....

Well I've been back in Granada since January 4th, and it's just been a roller coaster ride since then – in a good way, but definitely constant movement.  The Novas Project Team is in full swing, and I've had a lot of fun getting to know the seven of them. They are all involved in different ministries here; so on that level my life mainly intersects those of the team who are involved with Young life. In general, this is how my time is spent right now: being available for the girls on the Novas team, spending one-on-one time with them, etc. etc., leading Young Life, and a plethora of other activities essentially related to that.  Basically all things relational...

 

Speaking of Young Life, the area director and his wife (Yener and Oneyda) just had a baby.  When I came back after Christmas he asked me if I would take charge of everything for a couple of weeks while he and Oneyda got used to being parents.  I said yes, knowing it was an opportunity for me to step up for a short while and serve not only the kids I know in Young Life, but especially Yener and Oneyda.  By the way, you can pray for Oneyda.  The wound from her cesarean got infected, and she's been in the hospital for a week.  She's doing better but is still on the road to recovery. 

 

Last week was our first week of Young Life stuff after a month-long break for the holidays.  While teaching John 17 in the Bible Study on Wednesday was fine (oh how I admire the one who can keep a teenager's attention), club on Thursday was awesome.  Not necessarily at first glance because the mp3 player froze, we were scrambling at the last minute to finish overlooked details, and a good deal of the games just flopped.  Nevertheless, kids laughed and enjoyed themselves.  And when I stood up to give the talk I was excited, not terrified, the kids were dead silent at just the moments when you would hope they'd be, and when they looked me in the eye it felt like I was actually talking to them, not at them.  For me it felt like the best part of club in the sense that it went exactly the way you'd want it to go.  I never thought I'd see the day when standing in front of all those guys would be a joy and not a dread.  That's gotta be some sort of a miracle. 

 

In other news, the Lord is deepening friendships in my life here, both with gringos and Nicas alike, and it's been a blessing to have people around like my friend Bekah (on AIM staff here with her husband Frank).  It's the Lord's mercy to have another gal who I can bare my heart and soul to.  There is another missionary family (the Todds) who I am getting to know as well.  They have two young girls, and I'm actually on call in the next week or so to take care of them when Rachael gives birth to her third!  I'm at their house this moment, and I prayed with their three year-old before she went to sleep. She said, "thank you for Jesus, and my Heather and my mommy and daddy."  That is just so sweet. 

 

 

               

                                                                 Real Life Team Debrief: Kimonos Included

 

The month of December seems to be filled with moving parts. The three-month long Real Life trip I was leading ended on December 8th, and after a three-day leader debrief in Stone Mountain, I am back in Granada for another short spurt.  Actually, I leave tomorrow for Young Life camp for five days. I'll have a role there as 'jefa de consejeria' (that literally translates to 'boss of counselors'), so I'll essentially be stepping into new territory as I focus primarily on the female leaders as opposed to the Young Life kids.  I hope it will be refreshing to step back into the Young Life sector since I took such a giant step away from it during the Real Life trip.

 

After I return from Young Life camp I will only be in Granada for one day before going home for Christmas on the 21st.  I'm excited about spending a couple of weeks with my family and friends in Georgia, and especially for my sister Erin's wedding which will be during that time as well.

 

When I return to Granada in January, I'll have the privilege of spending the next four months or so with a new team through AIM called the Novas Project.  This group of seven (with one more team member on the way) is already settled at El Puente and jumping into ministry. Seth Barnes Jr. has been guiding this team as they get to know the lay of the land, and I'll jump on the bandwagon along with them after Christmas.

 

I cannot yet believe it, but it seems I'm entering the home stretch of my time here in Granada.  January to May...it's like spring semester of senior year, except I hope my willingness to dig into things here is a hundred fold what it was as a senior. El Puente has undergone grand changes in the past few months with some staff leaving and new members entering the scene, and it's all been for good. I feel as if we're sitting on the cusp of momentous progress in ministry and relationships, and I want to be as much a part of it as I can before I leave.

 

For me transition can be at times awkward, emotional, confusing, frustrating and yet refreshing. In the blur of the past few weeks I've felt all of the above and will probably continue to oscillate between those things as I keep processing the Real Life trip while moving forward at the same time. I have so much to learn and so much to grow in. Realizing that is easy. Being willing to grow up out of it is another story entirely.

 

 

Last week when I got sick and my friend "Beloved" prayed for me, she told me she sensed there was an oppressive spirit involved.  My stomach was bothering me a lot, and as she prayed for me she sensed the pain I felt as well.

 

She continued praying for me that night, and the following day she told me of a vision that had come to her mind.  In the vision, she saw me walking down the road towards El Puente, and there was a dark spirit on either side of me. They were anchored to my stomach by a stone, and she sensed that I had a choice whether or not the stone was there.  As long as the stone was there, the spirits were allowed to be there.  (Maybe some of you are thinking "what is all this crazy talk?" That's fine. It is pretty darn crazy).

 

Naturally I wanted to know what the stone could be.  I thought about it for a couple of hours, and my friend and I identified different possibilities. What I came up with seemed like a lot of stones though, especially things rooted and tied to my childhood.  We named and prayed through a number of different things that actually seemed related at some core root.  Much of it seemed generational in nature, and as we prayed we broke the binds of these behaviors and attitudes passed down through the generations. 

 

That night I got sick again.  I remembered what my friend said about the oppressive spirit, but I also remembered the verse in Zephaniah that said the Lord would deal with all who oppressed me.  I asked him to deal with my oppressors.

 

At 3:30 am, a verse came to my mind - Jeremiah 3:16.  I didn't want to open my Bible. I figured I just made up the reference in my head and didn't want to bother seeing what it said.  When I gave in and read it, the Lord began revealing things right and left.  I read through the passage, and the scripture talked about "shameful gods" consuming the Israelites and the Lord pleading with his chosen people to return to him.  I realized that I needed to take responsibility for the idols in my family, the things that we have held more dear to us than the Lord.  He was asking me to repent of the wrongdoing in my family line because it has become my own personal wrongdoing against him.

 

Next, Joshua 3:16 came to mind.  I wasn't going to read it.  I figured I only thought of if because I read Jeremiah 3:16.  Maybe I did, but I think the Lord still used it.  (Keep in mind I've been running back and forth to the toilet at this point).  When I came back to bed and decided to read the verse, I found it actually starts in the middle of a sentence.  It says, "the water from upstream stopped flowing." I took that literally.  Oh really Lord? Are you being clever? Well he must have been, because it did.  I haven't been sick since that day.

 

That was just the beginning though. The passage talked about Israel crossing over the Jordon into the promised land after being in the desert forty years. Once they had crossed the river, they circumcised themselves, reinstating the covenant they had with the Lord their God.  They also celebrated the Passover for the first time in forty years, remembering how the Lord had rescued them from Egypt. It was what the Lord said to them there that was the kicker for me.  The Israelites named that spot Gilgal.  Why?  Because it sounds like the Hebrew word for "roll," and it was here that the Lord said he had "rolled away the reproach of Egypt" from them (Josh. 5:10). 

 

The Lord rolled away the shame of their past.  The bondage of slavery no longer had a grip on them, and as they turned to him to be fully his, he permanently lifted the burden of their old identity from their backs.

 

                        

 

So many dots were being connected.  It seemed as if the Lord was saying "there's a stone in your life, Heather, that has covered you with shame.  But come to me, let me make you mine, and I will roll it away. I have rolled it away."  He has rolled away the shame of my past and made me fully his.