Your Generosity

First, I want to thank each of you for your voices of encouragement over these past four weeks. We have appreciated all of the ways that you have reached out to us and affirmed that we are where we are supposed to be. We can feel the power of your positive thoughts, messages and prayers!

Many of you have asked us what we are missing most. It sounds cliché, but you are what we have been missing. I am missing my daily phone calls with “my girls” and family. I am missing seeing each of you face to face, going out for coffee/boba tea or having you over for dinner. It has only been one month and I anticipate that this will only get more difficult in many ways.

In regards to “material things,” I don’t feel like I am wishing that I would have brought a lot of different things. I guess that is a shout out to the effectiveness of my post-it notes (although many of you get annoyed by them) and planning ahead. I foresee that once we move into our final home, there will be a lot of things we wish that we had (for the kitchen, decoration items, etc.). But I guess that will be a good test of “simple living.”

A few of you have asked for our mailing address for sending packages. I don’t want to suggest that this is necessary, although because of the mailing system here I thought it would be important to let you know how it works. Fortunately it seems like the postal system is pretty reliable for delivering from the U.S. and Canada (we love our Canadian friends) to Nicaragua. However, there seems to be some unreliability within the post office here in Managua. Yes, there is only one post office for a population of over 2 million people.

Other MCCers have had packages sent and they have sat in the back of the post office until they were each requested specifically. Thus, if you plan on sending a package, please let us know in advance. I know it ruins the fun of giving a gift or sending a surprise, but we most likely won’t get it unless we ask for it. And again, don’t feel like you need to send anything! We just thought we would let people know so that your lovely packages aren’t sitting unopened.

And if you insist on sending “material things” that we cannot purchase here, we put together a little list: Sour Patch Kids, Boba Tea Bubbles (Asian grocery store for $1), Dove Dark Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and Ginger Combination and Reese's Pieces (but they may melt in the mail), Sunflower Seeds (request from Kevin for the local baseball games), Haribo Gummy Berries and good flavored Kettle Chips.  The cost to mail items is a little pricey, so beware!

Oh, and one more thing with Christmas on it's way.  You all know my love for real Christmas cards through the postal service.  I am hoping to receive them here and will for sure put them up on our fridge (as soon as we get one).