Hello everyone! First I would like to apologize for not updating my blog lately. I’ve been super busy! We got back from Nicaragua on January 10th. It was an amazing trip, God showed us sooooo much through the people there. They have such hospitality even though we are so much more blessed than so many of them. They have time for conversations. They don’t just go go go. They take time and invite you in and sit you down. You share and talk with them over coffee and bread. You actually form a relationship with them. They don’t settle for just “Hey how are you? Good, you? Good.” They open their hearts to you. Some of them don’t even have doors on their homes and their floors are just packed down dirt. We ask them if there’s anything they would like for us to pray for them and they say no thank you we are so blessed we have everything we need. I just stand there baffled by their response, which is like a smack in my face because of how much I have that I don’t need. I feel that God has really opened my eyes to joy that is unseen. So many around me have so many things and claim to be happy, yet these people in Nicaragua all have a twinkle in their eye that I don’t see in the others. It’s like they understand something that we all miss over and over again everyday. I don’t know if I’ll ever fully understand it, as at the moment, I’m so blessed that I don’t think I’ll know the joy that a glass of clean water can bring to me. But through this, God has definitely taught me about the things that I take for granted everyday, that I overlook in the hustle and bustle of life, things that I treat as if they will never run out, and things that my attitude says “I deserve.” God promises to take care of us and He does. We think that we are struggling when we are only getting paid minimum wage. Which will pay for food, shelter, and drink, we just upset because we can’t afford to buy a new pair of name brand shoes. What is wrong with us? We complain far too much and say thanks to be polite. But how about a real thanks. A thanks to God for keeping His promises even when we are cheating on Him with the world. I hope and pray that God will open all of our eyes to this unseen joy that He has for us. This joy that can only be found in Him by living backwards to everything the world has taught us so far. I pray that He will break us until we listen and thank Him for never giving up on us and fighting for us even though we don’t deserve it. Wow, He is so amazing and through these people He has changed my life even more. I pray that I will never forget what I’ve learned on this trip to Nicaragua.
Anyhow, my camera quit working while we there so I didn’t get to take any pictures. But my good friend Shannon took plenty of pictures and as soon as she emails them to me I will upload them for you. Thanks for reading and I pray that God will bless your heart today. 
