Did you see THIS today?

I'm thinking that most likely anyone reading this blog from the States did NOT see what I saw today... 

Let's check.

Any of you see a man carrying a butchered pig, completely uncovered and slung over his shoulder, across the street and into a grocery store???

No?

Well, this is what I saw as Tabitha and I were walking through the main shopping street of our little town today.  I was just a little grossed out. 

front porch frolic

Not much makes me happier than seeing our two little ones love being together. Timmy and Tabitha are thrilled to be together after he gets home from school and they always have a good time running back and forth on our front porch. It's so cute!

running from one end...

... to the other...

... again...

... and again.

She absolutely adores her big brother!

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!  Psalm 133:1

That verse often comes to mind during these times of happy frolicking.  I'm thankful for these moments; they truly are the balm I need when there disputes over toys or a clamoring for mommy's attention.  I'm excited to see their friendship grow as they get older!

first day of school

Before we left for our furlough last year, we decided that when we came back, we'd have Timmy go to a local bilingual preschool.  Even though he's lived in Costa Rica his whole life, his Spanish is still very limited and we were realizing that the older he gets, the harder it will be for him to develop friendships here and really be able to participate in the life of our church if he doesn't know Spanish better.  So, we're sending him to school this year!  We chose this particular school since it was bilingual (Spanish and English), so Timmy will be able to learn Spanish but not be totally overwhelmed by it.  The school year starts in February here so we got back just in time for him to be there on the first day.

He was pretty nervous at first, but now he loves it!  I'm so proud of him being so brave.  He's the only foreigner in the class and so the only kid who doesn't speak Spanish well.  He's doing great and I'm so thankful!


Some photos of his first day:

Tabitha posing with her big brother before school

Timmy's classroom

the "hallway" - I love that so much school time is spent outside here!

happy after his first day of pre-kinder



Isn't it cute to see all of those preschoolers in their little uniforms?  So far, we've been impressed by the school.  It is very well-organized and they do a good job of keeping the parents informed.  Please pray for him to learn Spanish through this time at school.  And, pray for his mama who misses him while he's there!

catching up

I shouldn't have made a grand announcement that I was going to be blogging again... a month later, and no new posts!  But, it's been a busy month for us as we continue to settle back into life here.  So, I'm going to try to catch up here on the main events of the last month.  We'll see if it actually happens!

home again

We're back!

Back to blogging and back to Costa Rica!  Two weeks ago, we returned to what really feels like home now, our little town of Atenas, after a 4 and a half month home leave (our ministry's term for what others' may call furlough) in the States.  There is so much to say about the past several months - the joys of reconnecting with family and friends, the lessons learned through various struggles and difficulties, the reverse culture shock of living in our North American culture again, and the varying emotions of once again leaving much behind to come to Costa Rica.  This time, though, we knew how much we were coming back to. 

As we packed our suitcases and said our good-byes to our loved ones in the States, I did feel some similarities to when we first moved to Costa Rica in 2008.  I won't deny that it is very hard to say good-bye to our parents and our closest friends and to not know when we will see them again.  Taking my little girl out of the arms of her grandma, my mom, just before walking into airport security felt like ripping a piece of heart out and leaving it in Kansas.  But, at the same time, we wanted so, so badly to be back in Costa Rica!  We missed our church family here so much and truly felt like we were coming home as we boarded that plane, in spite of the sadness in leaving the States. 

Getting off the plane in Costa Rica and finding our friend Marvin who works at the airport there to escort us through passport control was so welcoming!  Driving the winding mountain roads towards Atenas seemed so familiar.  We arrived at our house after midnight and found it sparkling clean with a breakfast laid out for us on the kitchen counter, thanks to the kind arrangments of friends.  Even though we had been on "home" leave, I felt truly at home for the first time in months... home in Costa Rica... so, so very different from our first arrival here in 2008!

I have really enjoyed reconnecting with the other EMI wives here, and with our dear friends from our church.  Visiting with them again has been a blessing, and I am excited to share life with them again.  We are now mostly settled into our house and Dan has been working in the EMI office again for the past week and a half.  We're starting to get back into the various ministries of the church that we helped with before we left.  There is a new group of interns that we're getting to know and Dan's project trip to Ecuador is just two weeks away.  Life is back to normal and we're very happy to be home!

Well done, good and faithful servant

Yesterday, we received very sad news.  Jim Hall, the CEO of our ministry organization passed away yesterday.  He was diagnosed with melanoma cancer in 2010, but after surgery, he seemed completely free of cancer.  He remained active, visiting the international offices of EMI and leading the overall ministry of EMI with excellence, patience, and wisdom.  We just saw him in August, and he was fine.  In late October, he began to feel unwell, and the doctors found that his cancer had come back very aggressively and that it was so widespread that it was inoperable.  In spite of this news, no one expected such a rapid decline. 

Please pray for his dear wife, Nancy, their children and grandchildren, and for the families of EMI.  While we know and rejoice with confidence that he is now in the presence of Jesus in his glorious, eternal home, we are grieving because he will be greatly missed.  He has led the ministry of EMI for as long as we have been on staff.  He provided us with great encouragement and wisdom as we struggled through the adjustment of our new life in Costa Rica.  We loved having him in our home and learning so much from him just by listening to the experiences he had throughout his years with EMI and serving in Central Asia.  He was someone who displayed a quiet hope and joy in his faith.  He lived his life in wholehearted service to God.  I am sure that as he was ushered into heaven that he heard the wonderful words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Jim visiting us in Atenas earlier this year

To read more about Jim, visit http://www.emiworld.org/staffbio_jhall.php.