Learning Daily

It seems that every day we learn something new while here in Costa Rica.  The interesting facts that we have learned this week are as follows:

*Spanking your children is illegal and is considered corporal punishment. (Thomas and Jacob love this one!)  :):)

*Blowing your nose with a tissue in public or around any "Tico" is considered very bad manners.  You are to either leave the room and blow your nose in private or sniffle your way through the day.  

*We discovered last week that the "sand" or "dirt" on the playground that our children play at on a regular basis is manure.  No wonder they are so filthy dirty when they come home from the park!

*Stop signs don't serve any purpose--they don't even mean "yield."

*All of the man hole covers and tops of gutter drains are missing everywhere.  People steal them to sell as scrap metal.  We had a "Tico" friend here tell us they are "gringo traps." (Gringo is a slang term for Americans)

In all seriousness, thank you for your prayers as we are adjusting more and more every day. Please pray for our language study.  It is tough and we both desire to speak it perfectly now....please pray for patience and perseverance.  Please pray against discouragement and frustration.  We know that the Lord has called us to His service and will equip us for every good work.  He who has called us is faithful!!!

A Very "Special" Birthday

For those who don't know, my birthday is today and I have to say it has been the most unusual birthday I have ever had!  There is never a dull moment living here in Costa Rica.  When I arrived to spanish class this morning, my favorite profesora (teacher) had a gift and card for me.  It was a beautiful bracelet and a very sweet card.  She also had the class sing "Happy Birthday" to me in Spanish.  It was very thoughtful and she really blessed me!  School was fine, but we came home to no power.  We spoke to our landlord and found out that the people who lived here before us did not pay 2 months of power and they were behind 6 months on water so the power company came by this morning and cut our power off.  The water company was on their way to cut our water off as well.  Well, the first thing we needed to do was to get the bills paid, however, here in Costa Rica it is a process to pay any kind of bill.  Our bills are left in between the bars in the gate in front of our home so sometimes you get them and sometimes you don't.  Then you take the bills to any bank or grocery store to pay them.  We left the kids with a Tica friend and walked to the bank to withdraw money to pay the bills and the ATM was broken so we walked to another bank.  We got the money, paid the bills and then had to call the power company and BEG them to come back out today to cut the power back on.  After an hour of trying to get through, I finally spoke with someone who said we would have someone at our house by 5:00PM.  For the first time since we have been here, the electrician arrived ON TIME and we have power again--Praise the Lord!!!  (We also have wet laundry hanging on ropes all over our back yard because we were unable to finish washing or drying anything...we just had to laugh!)  So, we did go out to a little restaurant for my birthday since there was no time or power to cook.  Daniel and the boys made me the worst tasting brownie cake (we all agreed it was terrible!) we have ever had!  Everything tastes different here and the brownie mix here is no comparison to Duncan Hines or Hersheys!!!  But we had fun nonetheless and the boys enjoyed singing to me and blowing out the candles.  We have definitely had enough excitement for one day and this is definitely a birthday I will never forget!  And yet God is still so faithful to us and continues to make Himself known to us on a daily basis!  What an honor it is to serve the King of Kings!!!

Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment...

Here are the boys reading together in our den

   Here is Jacob in his favorite hiding place in the kitchen  Jacob in our makeshift bathtub--they don't have bathtubs in Costa Rica!!  Daniel and Thomas baking the brownie cake...My birthday party...           

We Finally Have Internet!!

Well, today we got internet service installed and we are so excited!  It has been difficult with such limited communication with everyone, but now we are connected!  There is so much to write about since we have been here for a full 2 weeks.  It seems as if we have been here a lot longer because we are adjusting well.  We finished our first full week of language school this week and we are exhausted!  Being in school 5 hours a day with no english spoken is challenging, but we are learning a lot!  Thomas and Jacob are adjusting well and enjoying their school, Reyitos del Sol (Little Rays of Sunshine).  Their teachers are wonderful and they only speak Spanish as well so the boys are learning quickly.  Our school is about 15 minutes from our house by foot so we enjoy walking to and from school each day.  The sun is up here by 5:30AM so we get going early and our days are a lot longer.  By 9:00PM we are falling asleep because of each day's activities.  Tomorrow (Saturday) we are going to La Feria (Farmer's Market).  Local farmers come to the park each Saturday morning and and sell fresh fruit and vegetables for very good prices.  This has been a lot of fun and a good way to practice Spanish.  The park also has a great playground and has quickly become a favorite outing for the kids!  We have made many other missionary friends here in school with us who are going all over Latin America to serve when school is done.  It has definitely been an easier adjustment for us coming to language school first because we are with others who are exactly "where we are."  Last week we experienced a "first"...we had an earthquake here in Costa Rica that registered 6.2 on the Richter Scale.  The epicenter was 20 minutes from where we are, but we sure got a lot of movement and shaking.  It was really scary and it scared the boys as well but we are all okay.  Many died or are still missing so we are blessed to have been protected.  Please pray for all of those families who have lost loved ones.  I am going to post some pictures and I will continue to blog regularly now that we have internet.  Thanks for your continued prayers--we know this is the primary reason why the transition has been so smooth.  God is so faithful! This is a picture of us with all of our bags on our front porch right when we were dropped off at our new house by the taxi.  

             This is our new home..  This is our kitchen...                                                      This is the view from our porch... Daniel and the boys in the hammock in the back yard....Daniel's favorite pastime...  

This is our shower head...it is called a widow maker and the exposed electrical wires provide the only warm water in the house                                                               This is "La Feria" (the farmer's market)          Here are the boys playing at the playground...and Jacob is snacking on a green bean that we bought at La Feria

 This is Thomas and his buddy Cohen...they are in school together and live about 6 houses down from us...

We are here!!!

We have finally arrived in Costa Rica!  Our transition has been very smooth, but we don't have internet service in our home yet so we are borrowing a computer until our service is connected.  I will post pictures of our home and our life here so far as soon as we get service.  Thank you so much for your prayers--we feel them daily and God has been so faithful to take care of us!  Sorry this is so short but I am limited due to lack of service.  I will begin updating very soon!!  Thanks and we love you!!!

Hasta Luego

Well, the next time we write we will be in Costa Rica!  We leave tomorrow morning at 6:10AM from Columbia.  The Lord is so amazing---every detail He has orchestrated and the ways He has provided for us in such a short time.  He has made it so clear to us over and over that we are doing what He desires for our family at this time in our lives!  Thanks to all of you who have been fervently praying for us!   For those who have been asking about Daniel's medical bills, all of the bills but 1 were written off (PRAISE THE LORD!!) and we paid the last bill off about 2 weeks ago!  What joy we have had in seeing the Lord's hand at work with all of this!  It has definitely all been for His glory!  We are truly humbled at all of the love we have felt over these past few months as we have prepared to go.  God has used each of you in a mighty way to share His love with us and we are forever grateful for it.  We look forward to sharing with you weekly what the Lord is doing in Costa Rica so check our blog often.  Until then, Dios les bendiga y Feliz Ano Nuevo!  (God bless you and Happy New Year)   

Christmas

Christmas was extra special this year with our departure date constantly on our minds. The kids had a great time visiting family and friends and of course we were blessed as well. Two weeks before Christmas my mom treated my sister and I to a trip to New York City to visit my sister, Becca. We had a wonderful girl's weekend--definitely much needed before I go.  The following are a few pictures of the boys over Christmas.  

Packing and Moving

Well, this week has been very busy for us as we have been packing and moving in order to be out of our home by the morning of December 15th.  We will stay with friends for the rest of the week before moving in with my mom in Sumter.  We will live there (or have our home base there while we travel over Christmas :) ) before flying out on January 2nd.  I have to admit it has been a crazy week scheduling people to come by and pick up furniture they are getting from us and packing up box after box to go to different people.   We have piles all over the house that are going 10 different directions but in my mind it is "organized" chaos!!!  But God showed me something so clearly this morning and it was so beautiful....this morning I was dropping Thomas off at his school and I had to walk him in because we were a little late.  I was talking with another parent and she asked how things were going and when we were leaving.  I shared with her a bit and told her about us needing to be out of the house by next Tuesday.  She said over and over how she did not envy me a bit and how overwhelming it must be, etc.  And at that very moment the Lord spoke to my heart so clearly about what a BLESSING it is that we have to be out of our house next Tuesday and how clearly it was His timing...He wants us to have all of the moving done so that we can enjoy our last 2 1/2 weeks here with family and friends over the holidays!!!  He doesn't want us to be stressed out about moving during Christmas so He chose to bless us by providing us with renters that have to be in by the 17th.  I was so blown away and yet so humbled at our precious Lord and His desire to orchestrate every little detail of our lives.  EVERYTHING matters to Him and as we let Him lead in EVERYTHING He will bless and direct it all!!  I feel so honored that He chose to reveal Himself to me this way this morning and I truly have no burden about packing and moving because I know it will all get done since He's in control of it all!!  Again, He gave me 2 Cor. 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  When I feel weak, He is strong....My God is so amazing!!!

Here are a few pictures of the boys "helping" us pack :)....