Thursday, May 27, 2010

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Sunday we celebrated Daniel's Birthday. Lauren (a friend from The States) has been visiting us for a few weeks and she babysat while Daniel and I got away on our own. It was wonderful!!! The boys had a great time baking a cake for Daddy, making cards and singing "Happy Birthday" (in Spanish, of course!).

Happy Birthday Daniel!!
At church on Daniel's birthday

Friday, May 21, 2010

Happy Birthday Madelyn!

Last Saturday we had the privilege of hosting a birthday party for little Madelyn, Veronica's daughter. (Many of you will remember Veronica as we have been ministering to her since we arrived here in Jacó.) Veronica has had a rough life, to say the least, and comes from a very poor family. She mentioned to me really wanting to have a special party for Madelyn this year and asked if she could use our house/pool. Her family from Orotina (a town about 1 1/2 away by bus) came and we had a great time! I think it was a blessing for them as well to get out of Orotina to enjoy the festivities. The Lord used this to again show me how the things that we think are so small and insignificant in our world could mean the world to someone else. This is ministry. Veronica would have never been able to give her daughter a party the way she was able to here and all we did was make ourselves AVAILABLE. All I did was make the cake and love on the people as they came. How easy was that??? She was teary as she thanked me and I know this was an opportunity to serve and minister to her family--none of whom know Jesus. God is so good....He even cares about the little things like making birthdays special for little four year olds. Here are a few pictures from the party.


Sunday, May 9, 2010

Marriage Retreat

We have an awesome opportunity this coming week to attend a Calvary Chapel Marriage Conference for all the CC missionaries serving in Costa Rica. Pastor Rob and his wife from CC Vista, California are coming to speak/share and they are bringing a group to entertain our kids while we are in the conference. The conference is being held near La Fortuna and Volcano Arenal. We are really excited about a spending few days out of Jacó getting fed and recharged spiritually. We will share pictures when we return. Please pray for safe travel as it is definitely a rugged, mountainous road to get there. Also, pray that the Lord speaks to our hearts and challenges us in ways He sees fit!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Park Feedings and Prayer

Gabe and Daniel have begun helping another Christian brother in town (named Kendall) feed the homeless on Friday nights and pray with them. They meet at the park on Friday at 9:00PM and the guys (and girls) come for a bite to eat and Daniel, Gabe and Kendall are able to pray over them. It has been a really neat time for them and we are praying about where this will lead. A few of the guys that they have helped get into rehab they have met from these Friday night feedings and a few of them who are clean and growing in the Lord went with them this past Friday night to feed the guys. It was exciting to see these guys serving as well. Again, we don't know what will develop as a result and we are just waiting on the Lord to open doors--whatever they may be. In the meantime, they are loving on these guys and sharing the love of Christ with them with the hopes that the Holy Spirit gets a hold of their lives and they are forever changed! A verse that really spoke to Daniel this past week is Deuteronomy 15:11 which says, "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." We are called by God to love God and love others---if these are the first steps in pouring God's love over these men who so desperately need Jesus then so be it!!! Here are a few pictures of this past Friday night in the park...