I think it is a very good thing when life is too full to actually blog about it. However, we do want those who pray for and support our life and ministry in Costa Rica to know more about what our days look like, so over the next few months, I'll be sharing this year's events by month. There are so many things that I would love to write whole posts about, but these monthly lists will have to suffice!
Here is January 2015 in the life of our family:
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| moving Costa Rica style |
At the end of 2014, we made a much needed move to a safer and healthier house. The first weeks of January were busy with trying to get unpacked and getting the house ready to live in (a bigger job in a rental here than what is typical in the States), in hopes of being completely settled in by the end of the month. We hit some pretty major roadblocks in this process. One was discovering that our new house had some really bad mold and mildew issues. It took us weeks to get this cleared out; thankfully, now our new home seems to be mold-free!
Another major roadblock was a week without running water. Those were just stinky days (literally). And, then, there was the day the owner of our house told us that we would need to move out ASAP because someone wanted to buy the house (after telling us that she would not sell). We had only lived in the house three weeks, had just finished most of the unpacking, and, since it had taken us over six months of searching to find this house, we couldn't imagine moving again! We started a frantic search for a new place. We, and many of our friends, were praying hard... and, the sale fell through! Praise God!
The other huge roadblock was finding out that we had lost a very significant amount of monthly financial support. It's taken us a while to process this emotionally, and we are still in need of raising more money to be able to continue working here long-term. The task is daunting, but we have seen God provide for us over and over again for the past seven years, and we trust Him.
In the midst of all of this craziness, God had a special plan: January was a month of so many visitors! Two of the families from our EMI team came back to visit Costa Rica, and, during their trips, spent time with us. It was so great to connect with them. A couple that had been in our newlyweds small group ten years ago came to Costa Rica to celebrate their anniversary, and took a day out of their trip to spend with us. These visits provided such encouragement during an otherwise difficult month!
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| exploring San Jose's children's museum with our life-long friends and former teammates |
January is a month off of school and our church's and ministry's regular Bible classes and studies, so the main ministry focus of the month is planning and carrying out
la escuelita del verano (VBS). Many new kids from our church's neighborhood came, and, as every year, I loved seeing the young people of our church serve out of love for Jesus. This year's program focused on missions, and the kids learned about godly people from the Bible and faithful missionaries of the past. It was a great week!
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| I was the official snack lady most days |
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| craft area |
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| Bible teaching area |
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| lots of songs |
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| acting out a skit about the life of John Patton |
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| water games |
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| Timmy loved all the games |
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| Tabitha completely surprised me by answering a question... in Spanish! |
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| 2015 VBS team |
To end, I have to share a funny story. The
jovenes (youth) from our church had done the skits, dances, songs and teaching all week, while us
señoras handled things like snacks, crafts, and general crowd control. At church on Sunday, they made a surprise announcement that they would choose a couple of adults to do one of the dances with them. They chose one of the dads and...
me. Being pulled into an impromptu dance routine is pretty much the stuff of bad dreams for me. I tried to hide in the back and pray no one noticed, while the dad (in the green shirt in the photo below) played his part perfectly.
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| trying to hide in the back! |
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| Can you tell I was blushing? |
January 2015 was definitely a month of highs and lows for us, but looking back now, it's the fun highs that stand out!
