Happy May!
This
spring has been a bit crazy with Holy Week, Easter, my dad visitng, anniversary
celebration and wonderful college friends visiting. So today I will update on
two months in one. Get ready!
April…
Easter in the home was quite
wonderful. Since we are a catholic home in a Catholic country we took off Holy
Week from classes and work. All week the volunteers led religiously themed
workshops, the same group of kids each day. I was given the youngest kids so we
made Easter related arts and crafts each day. This included toilet paper chicks
and bunnies, salt dough Easter eggs and shapes and coloring in the Stations of
the Cross.
We
also had all of the Easter week masses and much to my surprise the kids behaved
(more or less) in all of them!
I
was also lucky to be visited by my amazing father who came full of energy, love
and of course a few jars of peanut butter for me. While he was here we had a
great time making kites with the kids for a kite flying contest, exploring an
active volcano and making breakfast crepes for my house.
May…
This year NPH celebrated it’s 21st
Anniversary here in Nicaragua. The anniversary is perhaps the craziest part of
the year as the ENTIRE home (kids, volunteers, directors, office staff,
maintenance etc.) gets split up into 11 teams for a week long “color war”. Each
team is responsible for preparing two candidates who will compete for “Queen of
NPH”, making a fantasy dress from recycled materials for each one, painting a
team flag, preparing a ten minute presentation that involves every single team
member and participating in field games all day on Saturday. This years theme
was birds so my group chose Guacamayo (aka macaw). Needless to say, we thought
of little else for the two weeks beforehand, when teams were assigned.
We
had a blast in all of the field games on Saturday, which in the end I decided were
a Nica version of a Tough Mudder. There were 11 different challenges we had to
complete, all on 15-minute intervals and according to a strict schedule. A few
of them consisted of going down a 100 yard slide dug into the side of a hill,
covered with a tarp and made slippery with water and detergent, while holding a
glass full of water. Or sprinting through a maze dug three feet into the
ground, down a hill, jumping straight into a huge mud pit and throwing a ball
into a hoop. Needless to say, everyone was covered in mud and smiles all day!
Last week I was also blessed by a
visit of great friends from college, some of whom I had not seen in over a
year. After the craziness of Easter, school exams and the anniversary I took a
much-needed break and we went up north to a Natural Reserve to hike, relax and
catch up. I had forgotten how great it is to spend time with good friends,
whether it is playing cards, cooking dinner or simply hanging around.
Refreshed, re-energized and full of their love, I am now back to work and so
happy to see my boys!
Now that I have more or less
updated you on life here, I want to share something I have been thinking about
a lot recently. Very often when I talk to people from home I am told how
amazing, good or special I am for serving with NPH. I do love compliments as
much as the next person but I think it is important to mention that what I am
doing is merely answering a call I heard. This is simply the way God wants me
to spread His love, at least for this period of my life.
It is not special to be called by
God to love. Rather, each and every one of us is called to love in our own way,
whether that is in corporate America, at local hospitals or in our local communities.
Everyday we are presented with opportunities to answer the call and it is up to
each one of us to open our ears and answer them.
I was visited by some friends this
past week and shown just what this looks like. It looks like a recent college grad
leading her company’s initiative to increase service among employees. It looks
like a graduate student working as a full time nanny finding time to spend
quality time with her mother. It looks like a captain checking in on a teammate
who has been going through a rough time.
