Hannah's Prayer

I recently rediscovered this passage from the Bible and was reminded of the beauty of prayer. Hannah's prayer is so pure and exalting and I wanted to share it

1 Samuel 2: 1-10

Then Hannah prayed and said:
       "My heart rejoices in the LORD;
       in the LORD my horn is lifted high.
       My mouth boasts over my enemies,
       for I delight in your deliverance. "There is no one holy like the LORD;
       there is no one besides you;
       there is no Rock like our God.
 "Do not keep talking so proudly
       or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
       for the LORD is a God who knows,
       and by him deeds are weighed.
 "The bows of the warriors are broken,
       but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
 Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
       but those who were hungry hunger no more.
       She who was barren has borne seven children,
       but she who has had many sons pines away.
 "The LORD brings death and makes alive;
       he brings down to the grave and raises up.
 The LORD sends poverty and wealth;
       he humbles and he exalts.
 He raises the poor from the dust
       and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
       he seats them with princes
       and has them inherit a throne of honor.
       "For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's;
       upon them he has set the world.
 He will guard the feet of his saints,
       but the wicked will be silenced in darkness.
       "It is not by strength that one prevails;
 those who oppose the LORD will be shattered.
       He will thunder against them from heaven;
       the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.
       "He will give strength to his king
       and exalt the horn of his anointed."

Alacrán

Alacrán: the spanish word meaning scorpion.

So in case you were wondering, scorpions do live in El Crucero, Nicaragua. Even though they are not normally seen, they do make it a habit to pop up every once and a while, such as this last Sunday night. Since the girl who was taking care of the babies quit, I have found myself in the fortunate position of sleeping with the babies! Sunday night, I jumped when I heard one the babies scream. I grabbed her out of the crib and walked into the family room, not knowing what had woken her up so suddenly. That was when I felt it, the surge of pain/shock/burning flowing though my hand. I jerked it back, seeing the black object on the little girls back. It flung to the floor and I killed it as I realized what it was; a nice little scorpion.

A short time later we arrived at the emergency room. Fortunately, it appears as though the little baby did not actually get stung, although she got a shot just to make sure. I had most certainly gotten stung, and in case my burning hand didn't remind me, then the numbess in my tongue and lips did. The doctor decided to give me a couple types of medicine through a temporary iv. So the nurse came in to put the iv tube in my elbow crease. After digging around in my vein for a while, she decided to try the back of my hand instead. After that try was also unsuccessful, she decided to call someone else to try it out. Luckily the second nurse hit the vein on the back of my other hand the first time! So the meds were injected and I was free to leave.

My hand continued to burn most of the next day, but today, any pain seems to have subsided and all I have left are a couple bruises where the iv was unsuccessful, and an eventful Sunday night :)
And just so you know, I have no intention on ever seeing another scorpion in my entire life.

Life's Blessings

First of all today is beautiful. The last couple days the sun has decided to come back and today it is in full force! There is a slight breeze and a crystal clear blue sky. Plus to make it even better, the internet was fixed. We have been without internet here at the house for nearly a month, but now its back!

You know how sometimes it feels like God puts little unexpected things/events in your life, just to spark some joy, I feel like I have had a lot lately and I just wanted to share.

1. Pasta salad. Who knew something so simple could make you feel like you were on the terrace of a Georgia mansion.
2. Realizing the magnitude of stars for the first time in a new place.
3. Playing Connect 4 with a nearly blind 6 year old. I couldn't stop laughing, especially when she almost beat me :)
4. Kisses from 2 and 3 year olds. I feel like God sends me his love through the hugs and kisses of these babies sometimes.
5. Expecting a messy diaper, and it only being wet. I never knew this could bring such unexpected joy!
6. The song with the line: "You make everything glorious, and I am Yours."
7. Cheaky leaky wans- meaning "tickle me!" in miskito :)

Rain Day

In Indiana we have snow days, in El Crucero, Nicaragua, we have rain days. Waking up Wednesday, the kids were all delighted to here that there would be no school due to the rain! School was also preemptively closed Thursday as well, and today was already scheduled to be off :) So you may ask, what does one do on a rain day? Let me tell you.
To start the day, the two oldest girls and I made breakfast for everyone. We made gallo pinto, eggs, tortillas and maduras. After breakfast we put together a 200 piece puzzle, did hair, and played cards. We played old maid, go fish, stone soup (a child appropriate name for BS) and spoons. Then we saw El ultimo maestro del aire (The Last Airbender) and went to Pizza Hut for dinner, where they have BINGO every Wednesday night and if you win your check is free!
So it was a pretty exciting day, as was yesterday and today, and we still have the weekend to look forward too! And in even more exciting news, the sun came out today!!! It was only out for a little while between showers, but still an event to be excited about :)