I’ve got to be honest, I gave a message to a group of high schoolers last night and I think I missed a pretty big part of it. We were looking at Psalm 139 and when you get to verse 14 it says, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” This has to be one of the most quotable verses in the Bible. It answers so many problems and it allows me to tell you that I am wonderful. In case you didn’t know.

The wonderfully part is simple to understand. “God did a wonderful job when he created you!” Cute right? I have to say though, God is all powerful, omniscient, and omnipresent, along with a barrage of other christianese words that we can tag along. The fact that he did a wonderful job making you and me is less than earth shaking. God is perfect he should get it right… Right?

Stick with me for a second. Don’t get me wrong. The fact that God took the time to do a wonderful job creating me IS earth shaking. But let’s dog a little deeper, I am fearfully made also. What does that even mean? God was scared to make me? In my case that would make perfect sense, but I daresay that’s not what was going on here.

Here comes the digging. The word fearfully comes from a Hebrew word, yaré, which means, To stand in awe of. Imagine this scene playing out in heaven. God finishes creating you, sprays on the final coat of paint, steps back, breathes life in to your being, and then… Nothing. He just stands there staring… Amazed at what he has done. Let that sink in for a second.

God made the earth, the heavens, planets, stars, galaxies, Jesus, and…you. In order of level of awe inspired where would you rank yourself in this list? If it’s not near the top, you’ve missed it. You are fearfully made and you inspire awe in your creator. Now, go and strive to live a life worthy of that.

Today I want to continue telling the story of this family that took me in. Meet my older younger brother Harold. Harold is 15 and goes to school in Los Cedros where he is currently learning English.

Harold’s English was helpful for about 5 minutes when we found out that he had only been studying English for about as long. Harold loved having older brothers for the week and spent as much time with us as he could. It was so awesome to learn from him as he tried to teach us Spanish and various games often unsuccessfully. But what Harold was successful at was becoming a brother to me.

Harold is part of my family and that will never change. And when I say he’s part of my family I mean it. In those five days with Harold we experienced joy, disappointment, frustration, happiness, sadness, and the full spectrum of emotions in between.

I grew up with sisters my whole life so I never really had much “younger brother” experience. It was so awesome to get a chance to share the love of Christ and what it means to be a man with another guy. Experiencing life with Harold challenged me on so many levels and I will miss him everyday.

Join me in praying that Harold will continue to grow in his relationship with the Lord. That he would be able to be an example to his younger brother and to the other guys in his town. He has a great amount of potential and I can’t wait to see what be does with it.

(I will post a photo of both brothers tomorrow)

Today’s picture is of my family in Los Cedros. These were the people who opened their home to two random Americans and allowed us to become part of their family. They fed us, gave us a place to sleep, spent time with us, played Uno with us, and our mom even did our laundry… by hand… all of it.

The experience was nothing short of amazing. I would love for their story to be heard so it may take a few days to do that. Let’s start with the woman in the picture, Sayda or as I knew her for a week… Mom.

There were several things that impacted me about Sayda. One was how awesome she was at being a mom. From sun up to sun down that was her job, and she was great at it. Her cooking was amazing, the way she cared for her children and her husband was inspiring and somehow she still found the time to treat these two Americans like her own sons.

The thing that impacted me the most about Syada however, was her love for the Lord. She walked with him daily. I can still hear her singing and worshipping every morning. It was amazing to me that it didn’t matter if she was in a church service with a hundred people or in her own living room by herself she praised him just the same. She is an amazing woman and an example to me of what a true Christ Follower looks like.

A prayer for this family would be appreciated as they try to stay strong in a culture that doesn’t have a high success rate in that area. Also pray that the love that Sayda displays would be contagious in her community.

Today’s photo is of St. James Cathedral in downtown Managua. It is a beautiful cathedral that was built in 1920. The building still stands but stands empty due to damage done during an earthquake that shook the capital city of Managua in 1972. This earthquake killed 5,000, injured 20,000 and left 250,000 homeless. The earthquake also destroyed most of the fire fighting equipment and all 4 hospitals leaving them unserviceable.

As foregin aid came in the corruption in the government became more and more obvious. The dictator Somoza plundered donated items taking what he wanted for his self and his officials leaving his people hungry and in need. This was one of the main contributing factors of the Sandinista Revolution in 1979.

The effects of this earthquake are still seen today in the city of Managua. This city is no longer clearly defined as many of the old damaged buildings still stand abandoned and empty. New buildings have been built miles away from the original city as destruction still characterizes the old section.

In a place filled with such beauty signs of this nearly 40 year old disaster are everywhere. Prayer needs in light of this truth are for unity in the country. That government would commit to rebuilding for the good of its people and for protection from further disasters.

I have decided to do a series on my recent trip to Nicaragua. I plan on telling the story of my time there this year through photos and the stories behind them. I hope you enjoy this journey. For today’s post let’s start with some history.

Nicaragua is tied with Honduras as the second poorest country in the western hemisphere, the poorest being Haiti. There are several causes of this truth in their history. One of them is a history of civil war and revolutions. This photo is a statue of Sandino that stands in downtown Managua. Sandino was a leader of a Nicaraguan rebellion in the ninteen thirties. He wasn’t able to successfully revolt however and president Jaun Bautista Sacasa came into office. Sandino was shorlty after captured and killed by General Anastasio Somoza García who would lead his own succesful rebellion just 2 years later.

The Somoza Dynasty as they would be called ruled Nicaragua for over 40 years from 1936 – 1979. In 1979 a political party rose up and began to rebel under the name, Sandinistas. They were able to overthrow the Somoza dynasty becoming the third major revolution to happen in Nicaragua in less than 60 years.

To this day the country still shows signs of war. Abandoned building and politcal propaganda are every where. Statues of Sandino are to Nicaragua as Starbucks is to the United States. This country possesses so much beauty but is constantly being reminded of its violent history.

A major prayer need for this country in light of it’s history is stability. The U.S. has one major “Revolution” in it’s nearly 400 year history where Nicaragua has three in the last century alone. Pray that the government and those seeking politcal power can find a way to peacefully make progress.

Tomorrow’s Preview: Managua, a city divided…