Bendito Sea Tu Nombre

                                          Beach day with my girls :)  We like palm trees.

                                                 We like tires on the beach too!!! :)

 The Smith kids, Mulliax kids, Melissa, and me.  A prime example of the affects of too much Salvadorean sun. :)

 Felice and I with our "freezing in the pool" face. 

Richard, Jen, and the kids at our last Sunday at church.

  Words somehow don't even seem good enough, or even seem to begin to come tonight, as this is my last blog in El Salvador.  Tomorrow is our last full day here, then leave bright and early Wednesday morning for our flight.  My heart seems bursting with so many different things right now.  Sadness. Memories. Excitement. Somewhat a sense of loss.  But most of all tonight, it is bursting with gratitude to my Lover, Jesus Christ, for how he leads me, loves me, and the amazing opportunity He gave me to come and get to know this family, whom I have come to love dearly. For each of the many sweet times I have spent with each and every one of them.  For the "new family members" I have found here.  For the "new big brother" I have found in Richard. For the sweet, gentle, amazing, answer to prayer, friend I have found in Jen,  and for the four awesome little people that have so easily stolen their way into my heart.  For the new sisters in Christ I have found.  For the amazing staff at Wired I have had the honor to know.  Not to mention the countless other people I have met, the children that will forever be etched in my heart and memory, and the lessons that My Jesus has so patiently taught me.  What it is to be truly broken before Him every moment of the day.  What it means to be grateful when you truly have nothing on this earth. I can hardly see the screen now for the tears that are welling up in my eyes, but I will keep going, so hopefully you can read it.  Hopefully my spelling is still correct. haha.  Thank you, Jesus.  Even when I didn't know it, Your leading was so accurate, so precise, so RIGHT, and I bless your name.

  Friday was the big day of moving out of the house, or at least getting a good start.  Then Saturday was finishing up... to the last box, the last shoe, the last purse, the last water bottle. :)  We are now staying in a hotel the last couple of nights here, so that everything was all finished up and taken care of at the house when we leave.  Seeing the empty house, freshly painted, completely clean, was when it hit me that in just a few days my life that I have had for the last three months would be over in a few days.  I went out on my balcony one last time (yes, the same balcony I climbed onto from the roof... in a dress... one dark night :)  and cried a few tears.  Then since then there have been a few goodbyes here and there.  Tomorrow will be the big gully washer, as there is a farewell party at Wired.  Then the dam breaks on Wednesday at the Dallas airport, as that is where we part ways.  But these are definitely people that you know you will keep in touch with.  And Lord willing, this will only be "see you later", rather than a goodbye.  We'll see what He has in store.

  I'm excited to see what God has in store for me when I get home,  as I know that He will lead me one step at a time.  Look how I ended up here??? :)  I'm so thankful for the plans that He has for us, although it takes some breading and pain sometimes on our part to actually give in to the ones He has.  But, Jesus, I bless your name tonight.  You are so worthy.  It is an honor to serve You.

  So, besides continuing to have a bursting heart, there really seem to be no more words.  Again, I thank each and every one of you have lifted me up to the Father in prayer.  Please continue to pray for the Mullinaxes, as well, as the Wired Ministry, as God is doing great things here.  I have so enjoyed keeping you all updated, and being able to write and process some thoughts.  Who knows, maybe I'll keep up the blog even when I get home.  We'll see. :)  In any chapter, any season of life, it is a joy to say, "Blessed Be Your Name".   "Bendito Sea Tu Nombre."  Thank you, My Jesus.

  So, for the last time writing in El Salvador, this is your Mission Nanny, Laura, signing off. ;)

 

 

One Last Time...

All changes are more or less tinged with melancholy, for what we are leaving behind is part of ourselves.
Amelia Barr                                                                                                                                                               

To all my faithful readers and prayer warriors out there who have been so incredibly encouraging and uplifting, I say, thank you. It seems impossible that I only have a grand total of nine days left in this country and with these people I have grown to love so dearly, and yet, sadly, it is true. There has been so much learning, growing, happiness, and joy in this house that is nearly packed up and ready to move.
This week is what I call my week of "One last times". One last time helping with a scavenger hunt. One last time going to Tia Anna's (saying goodbye there was hard). One last time going to Union Church. One last time eating lunch with Whitney. One last time at the beach. One last time at the market. One last time to "The Farm". One last time at Broken. (Maybe I'll be back there some day... God knows!!) Soon there will be even more difficult "one last times". Such as sleeping in this house, seeing each of my amazing friends at Wired, hearing certain phrases and words from "my" kids. One last time ordering food in Spanish. All of these things are things I never even thought about missing... until it is the last time.

                                                         Sweet Marcos, one of the boys at Tia Anna's.

                                                      Beautiful little Carly.

                                                 Whitney and I.  She made me feel so at home :)


Today was the day when I think everyone felt like we are "officially" leaving in a few days.  Some members of the current team came to help pack and paint.  Seeing things get moved around and left there, ready to take out the door, seems to make it real.  They did an amazing job, and I still can't believe how much they got done in the amount of time that they were here.
Despite the sadness of leaving, it is so encouraging to know that God knows what He's doing, as always.  In spite of all the "one last times" that are going on, that also means that myriads of "first times" are getting ready to come. Whatever shape or form that takes is in my Savior's hands, but is exciting none the less.  I have fallen in love with so many different things and people in El Salvador, which means part of me is definitely staying here.  I would love to come back, if God has that in His plans... we'll see. ;)

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who have taken the time to contact me.  You can't know how much that makes my day when I get a letter, e mail, message on FB, or a phone call on Skype.  I so appreciate you taking time out of your day for that purpose.  It may not seem like much, but you'd be surprised how many people don't, and how much it means when you do.  From the bottom of my heart, I say... Thank you!!!
And tomorrow... it's off to the beach with some of the greatest girls in the world!!!!!! :) :)