Nicaragua April 16th..a week with Ryan and Daniel..and some adventures

Hey everyone! The trip has been fast and wonderful so far. We wanted to share a little about what's been going on so far and some photos of our journey. We have been able to spend some time in La Chureca (the dump in Managua where kids, families live), have had some art classes, mural projects, and most importantly have had time loving on these people, the people of Nicaragua.
From the moment I stepped off the airplane on Wednesday, April 8th, a quick tear filled my eyes along with the familiar scents of a country I had grown to call my home. I hurried to try to get to my luggage not remembering that the motto of Nicaragua is "Hurry up and Wait", yes this is the place where God instills patience. The smiling faces that greeted me continue to do the same as every morning our team, Ryan Ziegler, Daniel Pullen, and I spread out among these Nica territories. You have no idea what it was like for me to return to church on Easter Sunday and for the first time in 6 months see the people, the children whom I spent the past two years with. I was bomb rushed with tears and felt silly as they all hugged and embraced me and the tears fell of Joy. I realized at this point how hard it was going to be to leave. As I am praying daily not to think about this, I have grown sad thinking of having to balance my two homes..my kids here..my Nica family...my wonderful horse...and my home on the OuterBanks which has my family, friends, work, and amazing church. I know God will lead and I will follow and I am so thankful that for this time he has blessed me with the ability to Love a people, a Country this much. Thank you all for your prayers. We will be traveling to Managua today to visit a orphanage and do a lil' art with the kids. Saturday we have lined up a big competition of soccer with some local Asterroles kids verses the Gringos, I will definitely be posting pictures..so stay tuned.