Giving thanks

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Days like Thanksgiving can be hard for us living in another country, far away from our families and without all of the resources to make the traditional Thanksgiving meal we grew up with.  It helps me to remind myself of some of the unique blessings I have because of the life of ministry we are living here in Costa Rica.  Here are my top ten:

1. Surrounded by natural beauty

Seriously, I so often look around and think, "I can't believe I live here!"  While we live real life here (and not the resort life some may associate with Costa Rica), we are blessed with daily views of God's amazing creation.  Whether it's in the breathtaking views of mountains and volcanoes I see just driving around town, or in the intricate details of the tropical flowers and birds in my garden, the natural beauty I witness here is awe-striking.

one of our favorite views in our Costa Rican hometown

2.   Good coffee and fresh produce

I was not a coffee drinker before moving to Costa Rica.  But, we live in a coffee town now; the coffee we drink is grown, harvested, dried and roasted here in our little town.  It's really, really good... and has converted me into a coffee lover.  We are also spoiled year-round with wonderful fresh fruit and vegetables from our farmer's market.  We might not have easy access to cranberries or pecans for today's Thanksgiving dinner, but the local fruit here always tastes so much more real (does that make sense?).  One time after taking a bite of pineapple in the States, Timmy scrunched up his face and said, "That is NOT piña!" (piña = pineapple)

our kids watching a local farmer dry his coffee beans

3.  Small town living

While it took some adjusting, I love living in a small, Costa Rican town.  I love that whenever I'm out running errands, I almost always run into someone I know.  I love that our kids (along with pretty much every other school kid in the whole town!) are in the Independence Day parade and that our son has been part of the town's yearly musical festival.  I love being able to walk to the stores, and I love sitting in our central park and people watching.  Life in a big city appeals to me, too, but I am thankful for our little town during this stage in our lives.

Tabitha in our town's Independence Day parade

4.   Worshipping in a second language

One of my dreams when we moved here was that my Spanish would improve to a point where I could truly worship and commune with God in Spanish.  It's been a long process that included a lot of Sundays of standing outside the church building in the intense tropical sun, bouncing my crying baby in a sling (can you mamas relate?), or arriving home from church completely exhausted from the mental work of staying engaged in Spanish during the worship, sermon, and conversations.  But, now I feel that I can truly worship God in Spanish, and it gives such a precious glimpse of eternity worshipping Him with people from every nation and language.

worshipping with our church here

5.  Women's ministry

I love working together with some other women from our church to build up our women's ministry and to reach out to other women in our community.  I am blessed and challenged each week as I facilitate a women's Bible study and work to encourage and strengthen other women.  This ministry strongly pulls at my heart, and sharing my heart and life with these women is one of my main highlights of our life here in Costa Rica.

this year's women's conference - an outreach event to our community

6.  Life of adventure

Choosing to live in another country has opened us up to a life of adventure.  Whether it's going after a snake with a machete, or maintaining the constant battle with the ants, or tackling the red tape adventures of the immigration department, life is never without a new adventure here.  We also get to enjoy the adventure of exploring new places, learning a new language, and meeting new people. 

one of our favorite Costa Rican adventures - a hike to this turquoise river

7.  Kid-loving culture

One of my first impressions when we moved here with a baby was that Costa Ricans absolutely adore children!  Babies and children are usually the recipient of admiration and love wherever they go.  Especially during this stage of parenting little children, it is such a blessing to live in a culture where kids are so highly valued and loved.  Our kids are growing up far away from our families, but they have many Costa Rican "grandparents," "aunts," and "uncles."



 having fun with our pastor - one of their Costa Rican "uncles"

8.  Closeness as a family

Sharing in this adventure (with both its highs and lows!) together has made us grow closer as a couple and as a family.  Building a new life in a new country has strengthened us in ways that I don't think we would have experienced elsewhere.  Our kids have a very close relationship, maybe because, as third culture kids, there are few other kids their age that understand them as fully as their sibling does.

our little family in front of our home sweet Costa Rican home

9.  Changed perspective

My perspective has changed throughout our years living here.  I find myself being thankful more often for things that I used to take for granted.  Hearing the pelting rain on our metal roof six months of the year has led me to thank God for simply the roof over our heads more than I ever did before (even if there are several persistent leaks!).  The reality of frequent power outages and having water coming into our house from the street only certain hours of the day makes me so thankful when the light does turn on with the flip of a switch, or when water pours out of the faucet in more than a trickle.  Additionally, living in a more event-focused culture, rather than my native time-oriented culture, has taught me to slow down and invest more in what is truly important: relationships.

10.  New home

Something clicked after about two years living in Costa Rica, pretty soon after our daughter was born here.  This started to feel like home.  Now, four years later, this definitely feels like home... to the extent that I feel a little strange and out of place when we are visiting the States.  I don't quite "fit" there any more, but, at the same time, I don't completely "fit" here either.  I'm kind of a foreigner in either place!  This has led me to a greater understanding that my true home is in Christ, with the hope and promise of an eternal home with Him.

with the flag of our adopted earthly home

This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving a couple of days early because today needs to be a normal day.  Timmy has school and art class, Dan teaches class tonight, and I have Bible study to prepare for, so we'll be having a meal of black bean soup, corn bread, and roasted zucchini... and we'll be counting our blessings.  

piñatas and cakes

We celebrated Tabitha's 4th birthday a couple of weeks ago.  This is her first year in preschool, so it was her first time to celebrate at school.  As I prepared for her birthday, I remembered our experience celebrating Timmy's birthday at school last year.  I had come prepared with my idea of what a good, little school celebration should look like - short and simple.  Timmy's birthday is at the beginning of the school year, so I only had my childhood experience of cupcakes for a school celebration to go on.  Timmy was enjoying soccer, so we had homemade cupcakes (because cupcakes are what you have at school for birthdays, right?) arranged to look like a soccer ball (and that's culturally appropriate, right?  Everyone loves fútbol here!). 

 

We arrived at the school, and I quickly realized that my cupcake soccer ball was not so easily recognizable by the kids.  They swarmed the table to look at it, scaring Tabitha, who started to cry, and, overwhelming Timmy as he was bombarded with questions of "what is THAT!?" in Spanish.  (And, I got overwhelmed by the little girl whose curiosity about the cupcakes led her to start poking her finger deep into every.single.one while we were singing "feliz cumpleaños.")

 

As the kids were finishing up their cupcakes (which, thanks to my moist cake and melting frosting, produced a GIANT mess), I started hearing murmurings in Spanish, "¿Dónde está la piñata?"  I froze. A piñata for a school celebration!?  The teacher explained that usually if a kid celebrates their birthday at school, the parents bring a piñata.  Oops!  While we'd had a piñata for him at a party with friends, it had never occurred to me to bring one to school! 

 

As the school year went on, Timmy frequently came home with bags of candy from his friends' piñatas.  There is so much candy coming home from school that we have started giving it away!  I was also surprised by the invitations sent out for the celebrations that would be at school, and the party favors that were sent home in addition to the piñata candy.  Once Timmy even brought home a washcloth embroidered with his name! 

 

A couple of weeks before her birthday, Tabitha started practicing swinging a broom stick to prepare for her piñata!  And, since I'm a nutritionist's daughter who didn't know what candy was until I was five, I struggled with sending even more candy home to these kids, but we decided to go ahead with a piñata... and the store-bought decorated, dry cake with dulce de leche filling that seems to be the standard for birthday cakes here.  Tabitha was thrilled when Dan came home with her Tinkerbell piñata.  And, the party was a success... even if the kids had way too much sugar.  No messy cupcakes, lots of fun swinging at the piñata.



 

 

We still had our family celebration and homemade cake at home, but we had so much fun celebrating with Tabitha's friends and teachers at school.  So, from now on, I guess I'll be the mom that brings a piñata, rather than cupcakes, to school... I'll draw the line at the embroidered washclothes, though!  

 

My whole experience as a mom has been here in Costa Rica.  So, I'm curious -- what is normal these days for school birthday celebrations in the States?  What about for those of you living in other countries?  I'd love to hear from you!