not in the brochure

It might be the question I dread the most: “What did you do today?” or its cousin “So, what do you do when there are no groups staying here?” Wait, maybe the question I dread the most is “Can I have a brighter light bulb?” No…on second thought, it’s definitely the first ones. 

It seems lately that when somebody asks me that (in a voice filled with love and interest) the snarky voice in my head wants to snap, (in a voice most devoid of love) “Well, nothing that would make the brochure!”

And the more and more I think on it—that voice is dead right.

And that’s a good thing.

Ya see, sometimes my grouchy self, instead of hearing “What did you do today?” hears, “Did you do anything today?” And it is in my nature to want to give a report about my productivity, as though my worth is tied up in how many valuable items got scratched off a to-do list. I want to tell about projects I accomplished—because hard work feels good, and accomplishing things feels good, and it makes me feel important and needed and, well, good.  But most days I can’t sum up my day with bullet points of progress.  More days start like this: 

• 5:30 get up and go check on breakfast upstairs 
• Make several pots of coffee.
• Run up and down the stairs and in and out of locked cabinets getting various items such as: a pen, some glue, hand sanitizer, a better knife, napkins, some different glue, a box, a smaller box, make and bring some photocopies, some rubber bands, toilet paper, a hammer, another blanket, a different pillow, a scale, the first box we started with
•  8:00 go to devotional

And while all this bustling around can leave me feeling self important and valuable—it’s nothing that would make the brochure. It’s nothing that you can sum up as an accomplishment. 

There are other times when the pace is quite different. The mission building is empty and quiet, and nobody is asking me what the guy on the loudspeaker is saying, or why there are ants on the wall. Sometimes those days go like this:

 (and I confess, this is an actual whiny letter I wrote my mommy, which she convinced me to share)

• ·         Since nothing was going on we invited a family from church over for dinner
• ·         9:30 I went to the markets--which were packed so I didn't get back till after 11
• ·         Then I cleaned the kitchen
• ·         I started cooking the chicken and mixing up the cake 
• ·         Then the refrigerator started making a terrible noise--so Jonathan pulled it out and I researched on the internet what might be wrong--and we emptied it, and unplugged, and defrosted with a blow drier.
• ·         And since it was empty I cleaned it, and since it was pulled out I cleaned behind it. 
• ·         Then it started working again, (yay!) so I put everything back. 
• ·         Then I started chopping onions, and cut my hand. So I stopped to put ice on it, but then the hall was full of smoke so I started trying to figure out why. Then Jonathan checked it out after I kept bugging him about it and discovered it was our landlord burning something in front of the baby Jesus statue in the hallway--so I went back to work.
• ·         Of course, since I had bled all over counter, I had to clean the kitchen again.
• ·         Back to chopping onions---cut my other finger. 
• ·         More cleaning kitchen counters. More bandaging.
• ·         Reheat leftovers for lunch. It's about 1:30
• ·         Wash lunch dishes.
• ·         Chicken done and shredded, Macaroni cooked and drained, 
• ·         Washed all those dishes so I could make the cheese sauce. 
• ·         Grate cheese, make sauce, mix everything together, put in fridge.
• ·         Make jamaica tea.
• ·         Go upstairs, put rugs in washing machine--get pans from kitchen. Realize bugs are everywhere--spray down kitchen.
• ·         Wash vegetables, cut cucumbers and carrots, make pickle liquid put all in fridge
• ·         Set out butter to soften, go clean bathroom
• ·         Container arrives (yay!) along with about 10 guys to unload two truck-loads of stuff. Go watch some of the commotion, take guys water and snacks.
• ·         Wash pans and bowls so I can make frosting.
• ·         Make frosting, frost cake. 
• ·         Do all dishes--realize not enough plates for company.
• ·         Go upstairs to get more plates/knives/forks/cups. Put rugs in dryer. 
• ·         Realize bug spray all over these dishes from upstairs. Wash them.
• ·         Start sweeping living room, move chair and find almost dead mouse. 
• ·         Run into hallway and wait for help--but everyone is busy and that is dumb.
• ·         Go back and smush mouse with long handled dust pan. Be very grossed out. It squirts. 
• ·         Throw away dead mouse and rest of trash while I'm at it. 
• ·         Dump out all the baskets in the house checking for more mice. 
• ·         Finish sweeping.
• ·         Mop up mouse goo.
• ·         Get different mop and mop kitchen and living room. 
• ·         Wash out gross mop. And proceed to bleach my hands about a million times which really burns my cuts. 
• ·         Guys arrive dripping wet (it started pouring) who need keys because a truck ran into power lines and the repair men need to turn on lights to see if they fixed it right. (yes, in the rain) Give them towels and keys.
• ·         Rearrange tables with chairs from upstairs, put on tablecloth realize haven't put food in oven yet--
• ·         Turn oven to "temperature of the sun" and put food in. 
• ·         guests arrive. 

Yep, that’s even more bustling around, and still nothing more exciting and glamorous than “made dinner and cleaned up”. 

And then there are other days where I have no tasks to complete at all. Seriously. I can just sit in my house and write ridiculously long blog posts, and chat with people who mill about in the hallway outside. That is certainly not making any brochure.

Don’t misunderstand: I am not mocking the work or the workers that do “brochure worthy” works. Praise God for the soldiers in the vanguard who scale mountains, and build cathedrals, and beat back evil in powerful, memorable, laudable ways! Praise God for the encouragement, inspiration and celebration of God’s power that can come from hearing about the accomplishments of faithful champions.

Maybe you, like me, are more often left sweeping up after the soldiers tromp through. 

Maybe you, like me, forget that can be God’s work too. 

Ya see, so often the reason I want to do good works is to glorify me. And so often the real work that needs to be done, the work that will glorify HIM, just isn’t that much fun.

Are you a worker who will never make the brochure? Are you faithfully visiting the nursing home week after week and can’t find anyone to go with you? Are you writing to some prisoner who still doesn’t seem to be getting it? Are you wiping snotty noses and explaining why biting your sister isn’t acceptable and feeling completely alone? Are you working your phone tree once again, realizing it’s another quarter when nobody will teach that class? Are you modeling a Godly response to a spouse who doesn’t seem to be making an effort? Are you coming early to set up chairs and staying late to turn out lights, even though someone else promised they would? Are you listening compassionately, patiently, once again to that friend who is stuck in the same old trap again?

Are you doing work that will never make the brochures?

 Matthew 6:1-4 “Take care! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, for then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give a gift to a beggar, don’t shout about it as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you in all earnestness, they have received all the reward they will ever get. ³ But when you do a kindness to someone, do it secretly—don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. ⁴ And your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.

January Update

Hello all:

January was a bear. We were presented with new challenges and, although they may not have been handled in the way they best could have, they were handled the best we could manage.

The year began with a large group from Texas Tech University Health Science Center, TTU Allied Health program and doctors from a variety of kinds of fields. They descended upon us for medical brigades. We often have medical brigades. In theory, because of the excellence in staff we have here, they almost run themselves...or so I thought. Normally when there is a medical brigade there is also a group of general short-term missionaries working here at the same time. The "non-medical" portion of guests are my responsibility as far as projects, translators, transportation and associated logistics. I have not had the pleasure of working closely with a medical brigade in a leadership role.

Cut to Jinotega's Victoria Motta Hospital. Sitting in a chair awaiting a visit with a cardiologist is our fearless leader, Benny Baker. Turns out Benny had trouble breathing in the middle of the night and it was no small matter. Thank God he is doing well now after cardiac valve repair and triple bi-pass surgery in Dallas. So while he is being repaired and recuperating Sheila and I are trying to hold down the fort in Jinotega. Remember, we have never been involved in a medical brigade here before.

God blessed us with able-bodied, seasoned medical missionaries on whom to cut our medical brigade teeth. I am not sure if He could have sent any better crew for this experience. Kudos to the Red Raider leadership.

Benny continues to recover in the DFW area and we expect his return to Nicaragua in late February/early March. We will be very excited for he and Donna to return and we will welcome them with a little different viewpoint of what they do. 

Other than that, we continue to line up for a busy spring.

On the residency front, all our paperwork has been accepted and we are officially in line to become residents. On 03 March we will return to Immigration for our interview. At that time they will tell us what is next. All adoption proceedings are pending a green light (or would that be a green card?) from Immigration here. Thank you for prayerfully helping us with this.

We have been having some fun in Managua. A few months back we took some children from the local church to swim at the Las Mercedes/Best Western hotel in Managua. We use the opportunity to show the kids a good time, let them eat at a real restaurant, be exposed to a bit broader world and teach them that God has given them the ability to change their circumstances. We have probably done this six or seven times in the past year. We now plan a trip for the boys and a trip for the girls. That is the easiest way to divide the crowd. In the groups this time there were 9 who had never been to Managua before. One girl, who lives in nearby Apanas, said she had never been to Managua but had been to Jinotega many times. I asked her where else she had been she replied, "Only Jinotega and Apanas." These trips are always a blessing and always a reminder that I'm not as young as I used to be.

This time we had a hidden surprise. I always send Roberto, the manager of the hotel a "thank you" email along with a photo of the children. (See attached photo.) We have a great relationship with him and his staff. This the hotel where Mision Para Cristo puts people up the first and last nights of their trips - so we do pretty well by him. He sent me an email that In part says, "The happiness expressed on the children's faces today was priceless. You have a friend in me, and I will always look after you and the children (when you can visit). The children are beautiful and God is the greatest. You are doing a wonderful thing, that is a blessing for all of us. You are showing these Children what Christ is all about as you say, 'grace, peace and mercy.' I am always very happy to see you. You have a very soothing affect on me, I feel reassured whenever I see you. You are among my favorite guests, I would never jeopardize that friendship. Thank you for being very important to us and for your kindness." 

I was unaware that Roberto knew what an impact he was having and this past trip was the first time I knew he even saw us while we were there. The point of this is to remind us that we don't always know when and who we are impacting with what we do.  I hope Roberto understands how much he allows us to impact others positively. I am sure he knows for Whom we are working.  

Specific Prayer Requests:

• Sale of our 2006 GMC pick-up truck (now available for only $9,000). We need to sell it as we have had to have some major work done on the house in Georgetown.
• Good, affordable answers to house issues in Georgetown.
• Smooth process as we complete the residency interview.
• Thanks for how far we have come in the process to date.
• The next big step - initiating the adoption process.
• Benny's recovery.
• Physical strength and much needed wisdom.
• Thanks for good health.
• Thanks for continued support: spiritual first and financial second

Grace, peace and Mercy...but mostly Mercy,

"Coach" Jonathan L. Holland,

Executive Director, Sight For Sore Eyes Foundation, Inc.

Deputy Director, Mision Para Cristo, Jinotega, Nicaragua