tonight's dinner conversation

Timmy: "Where's Daddy?"

Me: "He's outside.  Our neighbor thought he saw a snake in our yard and they are trying to find it."

Timmy: "Oooooh, maybe it's a JUMPING PIT PIPER!!!!" (he meant "pit viper")

Me: "I hope not!"

Timmy: "You know, if one of those bites you,... (dramatic pause), you die."

Me: "Oh, wow.  Yes, uh, thanks" (praying "Dear Lord, please don't let my husband die.")

A few minutes later, Dan returns:

Dan:  "We found the snake and killed it with a machete." 

Timmy: (excitedly) "Was it a JUMPING PIT PIPER!!!???"

We look up the Spanish word our neighbor used and realize... it was a baby venomous pit viper... not a jumping one though (as if that makes it any better). 

Me: "I think I want my own machete."

This missionary life changes us in so many ways.  Never before would have I dreamed the words "I want my own machete" would come out of my mouth!! 



my husband, my hero

 

*While being the snake hunter tonight did once again make my husband my hero, the above photo was from his project trip to Ecuador, where, in his words, he learned to "hack up the jungle" with a machete... another skill to add to his resume, I guess!

the other blog

Well, it's no secret (or surprise) that I haven't been doing well keeping this blog updated.  I thought I should let you all in a little secret... I do have another blog, and I update it more often.  It's supposed to be for our far away family who miss their grandkids, so it's full of kiddo pics, quotes and mommy memories.  Eventually, my hope is that our schedule will allow us to update this space more often.  In the meantime, you can find something from us at www.psalm67kid.blogspot.com.

Happy Easter!

 

Happy Easter from Costa Rica!

 

Today we rejoice in the hope and promise of our risen Lord!



about us

Our home church asked me to write an article about life here as a woman on the mission field.  It was so hard to do for some reason; there was so much I could write and it was hard to know what would be best to include, especially as I needed to limit it to 500 words.  But, it's done and I thought I'd include it here!  For the blog post, I included a couple of pictures of us exploring the Orosi Valley, a beautiful area of Costa Rica that we took a day trip to a couple of months ago.

We have been serving with Engineering Ministries International (EMI) in Costa Rica for almost 5 years. My husband, a structural engineer, leads teams of engineers and architects to provide professional designs for Christian ministries who bring spiritual and physical hope to the poor in Latin America. We coordinate the intern program for EMI’s Latin America office and serve in our local church.

In spite of living in a small, coffee town in the mountains of Costa Rica, my life here as a wife and stay-at-home mom probably looks like a lot like yours. I take care of my kids and our home, cook and clean, visit with friends, plan play dates, talk to my neighbor over the fence, take my oldest kid to preschool and soccer club, and go to weekly Bible study. But, there are also many differences and, while these differences bring challenges, they also bring new joys. Managing a home here has taught me to be thankful for things that I took for granted before; frequent power and running water outages make me so thankful for those conveniences. Hearing the pelting tropical rain on our metal roof reminds to thank God for a roof over our heads, especially as we interact with friends here who never take that for granted. Although trying to learn another language as a mom with little kids has been a big challenge for me, I have been blessed to be able to share lives with other women in our community… in Spanish. I absolutely love hearing my four year old talk excitedly to his friends in Spanish during a play date. My kids are growing up with Costa Rica as home, and although there are times when I struggle with knowing that their childhood is so different than mine was and what I can relate to, I am so thankful for the opportunity they have to grow up in this beautiful culture.

Our church here looks very different from what we experience at Grace EPC. We meet in a one room, concrete block, metal-roofed building. Our kids have Sunday school on a patio behind the building while we mamas of little ones bounce our babies on our laps in the sanctuary. Our youth group meets under a tree in a nearby park. Everything is in Spanish; we are the only foreigners there. And, yet, this little church family has become our home here. Our hearts have learned to truly worship in Spanish. By far the biggest challenge in living here has been missing family and close friends in the States, but we have found such richness in sharing life closely with these Latino brothers and sisters in Christ. As I sing with them each Sunday, I feel like God is broadening my perspective, giving me more and more of a vision of His kingdom. God is doing exciting things among His people throughout Latin America, and we get to be part of it! Thank you for remembering our family and for praying for us!

Christmas Music Festival

I mentioned in this post that we would be doing our church's Christmas program in the central park of Atenas the weekend before Christmas.  It was part of our town's first ever Christmas Music Festival and there were a lot of people there! The festival took place downtown in our central park.  I was surprised to see a huge stage set up there as we were running some errands in the morning.  I realized then that it was a going to be a bigger event than I had been expecting! 

Timmy made his acting debut as a sheep.  Unfortunately, I waited until the day of the festival to gather materials to make his costume, and after visits to many pharmacies and grocery stores, I realized that you can't find cotton balls in Atenas.  I had to get creative and actually sew (definitely not a strength of mine) and finally finished his costume right before dinner time!  Whew!  In the end, though, he was the cutest little sheep I've ever seen.

 

 

When we first got there at 6pm, we had the kids get in their costumes and practice a little, and then we waited... and waited... and waited.  Many different groups, all from Atenas, presented some sort of song or dance or instrumental piece. 

 



practicing

 

our adult choir

 

our pastor Yeremy (far left) and other men in the choir

 

Timmy on stage!

 

 

 

It was finally our turn close to 9pm!  Our adult choir sang a few songs, Yeremy shared about the significance of what we celebrate on Christmas, and the kids acted out the Christmas story with songs.  As our choir sang some Spanish praise songs about Christ's birth that I hadn't heard before, tears filled my eyes as I thought about how much I love these people and this place. 

 

We arrived home around 10pm, tired and thankful.  Thankful for the hard work of our brothers and sisters from our church who planned this and practiced for months, and for our pastor and his wife who even learned how to knit and made beautiful scarves for everyone in the choir!  Thankful for God's grace over us as our tired kids played their parts and sang their songs perfectly.  Thankful for praises to God going up on a public stage in the middle of town!  Thankful for the people in the park who heard the truth of the gospel presented.  Thankful for the amazing joy of Christ, the Promised Messiah, come to earth.

Happy New Year!

Feliz Año Nuevo from Costa Rica!