Fiesta navideña de las mujeres

Christmas starts early here.  With no Thanksgiving here to signal the end of fall and beginning of the Christmas season, Christmas events start as early as the beginning of November... and they keep going until mid to late January!  I love it.

In mid-November, we had our ladies' Christmas party for the women of our church.  Everyone was supposed to bring traditional Christmas food for a cafecito (tea party, except with coffee), so we had a good selection of Costa Rican and Nicaraguan dishes... with some American cookies. 

We had a great time of visiting, enjoying each others' recipes, and sharing special Christmas memories from our childhoods.  We ended the time with making Christmas centerpieces for our homes. 

with our delicious spread of food

working on our centerpieces

my friend Liliana with her creation

sweet sisters in Christ
from L to R: Iveth (our pastor's wife), Johanna, me, Leticia, Fanny, Dina, Kathya, Liliana

 

Tomorrow night, we will do our kids' Christmas program.  We are excited about what this program is going to be like this year.  Instead of having it at our church, we are doing it in the central park of Atenas where so many people will see and hear it as they walk through town!  Our adult choir will sing, our pastor will share from God's Word, and our kids will act out the Christmas story.  Now, I just need to figure out a sheep costume for Timmy before tomorrow night...

Please pray that many people will hear the message of the true reason for celebrating Christmas tomorrow and that God would use it to draw people to Himself!

"Fall" in the tropics

Fall is my favorite season.  I have always loved the cooler weather, the breezes, the colorful leaves, and eating soups and anything made out of pumpkin.  But, we never have fall living here in Costa Rica.  One of the biggest blessings of our 4 month home leave last year was being back in the USA for fall.  We loved spending lots of time outside while being bundled up -- swinging at the park, crunching in the leaves, visiting the pumpkin farm.  It felt wonderful to be cool! 

I think because we experienced fall last year, I felt a little homesick during October and November this year.  Timmy, too, was missing fall and kept asking when we could play in the leaves.  So, finally, just a couple of days before Thanksgiving, we had a "fall" day in the tropics.  It was a cool, cloudy day with a breeze that made it feel like fall.

We got out the cloth leaves a friend had sent us years ago when we were missing fall and played with them in the living room:

 

We went down to the mango grove at the end of our street and crunched in the fallen leaves:

 

We came back home and made a paper turkey and drew some pictures of pilgrims:

 

And, we had chicken made over a wood fire, roasted zucchini and carrots, and cornbread for dinner:

 

 

 

It was a perfect fall day, even here in the tropics! 

Two!!

one day old

Two years ago a week from yesterday, it was a month before my due date.  Costa Rica was in a state of national emergency because of flooding throughout the country.  That morning, a landslide had blocked the main road to the hospital, which was normally at least an hour drive away from our small town in the mountains.  The family that was going to watch Timmy for us when it was time to go to the hospital was out of the country.  We still hadn't chosen our baby girl's name.  And, I went into labor.  It is a pretty crazy story, but, suffice it to say, we had quite the adventurous evening, and by the time we got to the hospital, it was time for Tabitha to enter the world (and we had decided on her name)!  I found out later that as he was speeding around the curves of the mountain pass, Dan was considering how he might need to deliver the baby on the side of the road.  We are so, so very thankful for God's amazing protection and care, and for the precious blessing that our little daughter has been to our family the past two years. 

 

The night before Tabitha's birthday this year, I could not fall asleep, but lay awake reliving that night and all that happened.  I was overwhelmed by God's care for me and our baby.  I had had a high risk pregnancy and a really difficult delivery.  Looking back, it was a scary night, but at the time, I was filled with God's peace.  I had prayed specifically that I would be able to be calm when the time came, and God answered that prayer.  It wasn't until a couple of days later, when I was staying in the hospital alone with Tabitha in the NICU, that it hit me as I looked out over the metal roofs of the sprawling capital... "I just had a baby in Costa Rica!  I could have had her in the car!  She came a month early!  I am taking care of her in a hospital where everyone only speaks Spanish!"  My reaction?  Worship.  For His power was made perfect in my weakness and His peace that transcends all understanding filled me.  I thank Him for little Tabitha and the answer to so many prayers that she is.  We love you, sweet girlie! 

 

3 months old

6 months old

9 months old

one year old

18 months old

TWO years old!

 

the "new" interns

Our current interns are already more than halfway through their internship!  We have really loved getting to know this great group.  It is the largest group we have ever had and they are a lot of fun.  They arrived at the end of the August, spent two weeks in language school, are investing in their host families, working in the office, and have traveled to Honduras and Panama on project trips.  All seven of them, plus another young woman serving here in Atenas, join us for Bible study every Wednesday night.  We are doing character studies on people of faith in the Bible and are developing a working definition of faith based on the examples of the people listed in Hebrews 11.  It's been a great study so far!

During their orientation week, we had an encouraging night of fellowship when we got to hear all of their testimonies.  Some photos of that night will help you "meet" our interns:

L to R: Andrew, Aaron, me, Cindy (EMI staff), and Julietta

 

Interns Camia and Lena are the two girls on the right

 

L to R: Interns Matt, Cheri and Andrew with EMI staff

 

Something that has really struck me about this group of interns is their excitement and willingness to serve.  Last week, we had them over for dinner before Bible study and they were all quick to jump in and help me finish up the preparation for the meal.  They were very appreciative of a break from rice and beans for a good all-American meal of grilled hamburgers, chips and guacamole, green beans, and pumpkin cake.  I'm not sure my food has ever been so complimented! 

 

We really love sharing life with our interns and are so thankful that one of Dan's roles here is to coordinate the intern program.  It is always exciting to see God working in the hearts of the interns, drawing them closer to Himself and using their time in a cross-cultural setting to teach them in new ways.  It's going to be hard to say good-bye to this group in December!



Good-bye, interns!

(This post is about two months too late, but I feel like I can't move on with the blog without acknowledging last term's interns!)

At the end of July, we said good-bye to the interns who had been with us since mid-January.  Brad, Esther, Kevin, and Allison worked in the office with Dan, traveled to Ecuador and Honduras on project trips, lived with Costa Rican host families, worshiped in local, Spanish-speaking churches, and shared life with us here in Atenas.  We got to know them pretty well as they were in our home every Wednesday night for an inductive Bible study on the book of Hebrews.  Dan and I always learn so much from our times of leading this study with the interns!



Dan and I got to know Brad and Esther the best because they attended our church here and we mentored them during their time with us.  Mentoring involves meeting together weekly for accountability, prayer, and studying a specific topic together.  Brad and Dan focused on evangelism, while Esther and I studied Biblical womanhood.

Pastor Yeremy saying good-bye to Esther and Brad on their last Sunday at our church

 

After spending so much time with a group of interns, it is always sad to say good-bye.  We pray for them as they return to "normal" life in the States, where Esther has started grad school and the others are finding jobs in their fields.  It is always exciting to hear about what kinds of ministries interns get involved with in the States, and we are looking forward to staying in touch with these four special people!

the interns with some EMI staff families and tico friends

 

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy

because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,

being confident in this,

that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion,

until the day of Christ Jesus.

 

Philippians 1:4-6

We're alive... really!

Whenever things are quiet here on the blog, it's a good guess that life for us here in Costa Rica is anything BUT quiet!  The past couple of months since our last posts have been busy, full ones... filled with really good things, some hard things, and some much-needed lessons.  We took a whirlwind trip to the States to see our families, said good-bye to last term's group of interns, welcomed a new group of interns, and experienced the biggest earthquake Costa Rica has had in the last fifty years.  Dan and I have both been continuing to serve in the men's and women's ministries of our church, and I have had some neat new opportunities open up to share life and God's love with women in our neighborhood.  Our car was in the shop for over two months and, through that, we got to experience what is normal life for many Costa Ricans as we walked, rode buses and took taxis every day.  We celebrated our eighth anniversary, and have continued to be amazed at God's blessings to us through our children.  Dan is in Panama this week leading a project team, and the kids and I are holding down the fort here in Atenas! 

Just wanted to write a quick post to acknowledge that we really are alive and well here in Costa Rica!  As always, we so appreciate prayers for our life and ministry supporting God's people in Latin America.  Thank you!

our little family at my cousin's wedding in Florida