God is so good!

This is somewhat of a long story but I hope you are as blessed by it as I was on Thursday when it happened.

Thursday before lunch a friend, Karina, from INVU (the neighborhood where we do the women's Bible Study, Kids Club, etc) came by to visit and to see if we were interested in buying any men's cologne. She comes by quite often to say hello and we helped her move a few weeks ago. She is out of work now and walks the streets daily strolling her 2 little boys (ages 2 1/2 and 6 months) and looking for work. (She has a 12 yr old daughter who is in school) She shared w/ me that her landlord had come by that morning asking for at least half of the rent she owed by that day because it was originally due on the 11th. She had no money but told the lady she would get it to her. (Karina even mentioned that she felt bad lying to the lady and telling her she would have it that day for her not knowing how she would get it.) She then asked a friend who sells cologne if she could try and sell some for her and she could earn 6 to 8 dollars per bottle. So here she sat and we chatted and I prayed for her. Rewind to an hour earlier--- I had received a phone call from my friend Leslie that there was a group of 3 people who are with a Christian organization in Jaco for a few days filming a documentary on prostitution, sex trafficking, etc. She was wondering if I personally knew any prostitutes personally that are no longer in the "business" and who might be willing to share their story. I began praying and I called 3 different girls I knew to see if they would. One said no and two were unavailable and I was going to call them back later. Leslie called me back as Karina was at my house and I shared w/ her the news of what I knew thus far. I also shared with her that Karina was there and all of a sudden I felt like God told me to ask her if she knew anyone that would be willing to share. I told Leslie I would call her back and she said, "Oh, by the way, they are paying whoever agrees to interview $50-100. I talked with Karina and asked her if she knew anyone and she immediately said "yes, I am that girl." I was totally unaware that this was her past, and she was totally willing to share. I told her, "And, by the way, they are going to pay you a little to do it." Well, the crew immediately came over and they filmed Karina and her interview in our back yard. The interviewer was in tears as Karina revealed that she was tricked into coming here years ago, paid $300, and was sex trafficked in and they worked her like crazy to "repay" the money that she would never be able to repay. Horrible situation!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, as everyone left and Karina and I were there she began to tear up as I asked her how she felt about it. She showed me the money==they had given her $100--the exact amount she needed to pay rent for that day---what a miracle from the Lord!! But more than that, she shared w/ me how FREE she felt because she had never shared her full story with anyone before. She was FREE!!!! She has accepted the Lord as Savior and is involved in our women's Bible Study and another Bible Study as well. She is really trying to grow and she was just speechless at how the Lord not only provided for their financial needs that day, but also freed her in a way that she had never been freed before. It was just beautiful!! She then asked if she could come over next week to share her full story with me over coffee--she felt she wanted to tell me all that has happened to her. What a day this was for all of us---such a perfect example of how we never know what a new day is going to bring here in Jaco--God definitely gets all the glory for His love, goodness and faithfulness that He lavishes on those who are seeking Him. If the Lord sets you free, you are free indeed! Praise the Lord!!!!

Feliz DIa de Independencia Costa Rica!! Happy Independence Day, Costa Rica!

Thursday was Independence Day here in Costa Rica. We had a parade in town and all of Jaco was decorated with red, white and blue flags. We had a fun day as a family since Thomas had the day off of school. Thomas volunteered to participate in a cultural/typical Costa Rican dance with a few kids from his class. He performed at 2 different assemblies at the school and absolutely loved it!! He definitely had dancing in his blood!! Here are a few pictures of Thomas dancing..

A few pictures of the boys

We are just so in love with our little Micah--all four of us! Here are a few pictures from this last week. On Monday, the boys and Daniel built a tree house in our front yard. They are loving it and so are all the kids in the neighborhood. Here are a few pictures of the tree house as well.

watching cartoons with big brother

treehouse fun

Micah is here!

Well, our sweet baby boy, Micah Carlton Barrett, has arrived!! He was 7lbs 6oz and 19 1/2 inches long. He is just perfect and we are all in love with him! The boys are doing so great with him--always wanting to hold him or help me with him. It has been so much fun to see them with their new baby brother! I am feeling well--still pretty sore but this is to be expected with a c-section. We arrived back in Jaco last night and are trying to get back in to aroutine. Thanks so much for all of your prayers for us--we felt so covered the morning of and it was so evident that we had many praying. Here are a few pictures of our sweet boy...

Jacob sharing his favorite blanket and doggie with his brother...

Thursday is the day!!!

So we have now arrived at the week of Micah's birth!!! We are so excited as we prepare for Thursday. I have a scheduled c-section for Thursday at 9:30AM our time (11:30 EST) and we would really appreciate all of your prayers. Daniel's parents are flying in the night before the birth to help us with the boys during our stay in San Jose. We will be having baby in San Jose at a private hospital (about 1 1/2 hours from where we currently live). We will stay in San Jose by the hospital until Monday. PLEASE pray for us--for the c-section, for Micah's health, for the doctors and nurses, for Daniel's parents safe arrival, and that we would be a witness to all we meet in the hospital this week. We love you and thank you for all of your support!! Here are a few pictures of the boys with the big belly....

Happy Boy

There is a family in INVU that we work with and the mom, Carmen, has helped us with kids club for a couple of years. They are very special friends to us and we love them dearly. While the mission team was here, we were identifying needs in the community to help with and one was a new bed for her son, Segundo. The four of them live in a cabina (one room), which is pretty common, but they all sleep together because they don't have another bed nor the space for one. The team didn't have time to build a bed for them so Daniel decided to build him a trundle bed last week. It was such a fun project and God provided materials/money to purchase a mattress at a VERY discounted price all in one day. It was amazing to see His provision and even more special to see the excitement on Segundo and his family's faces when Daniel was putting it in place. Carmen, his mom, said he didn't want to get up the next morning because he loved his little bed so much! Such a little thing that blessed in such a big way...here are pictures of the finished project...

Southside Church Mission Trip

We hosted a team from Virginia last weekfrom Southside Church. They were a group of 39 teenagers and adults and came to do construction projects, kids club and family movie night. They did some amazing work and we are so blessed to havehosted them! They worked on building a house for an elderly lady who attends our church. Theybuilt a cinderblock wall on a home in INVU (the neighborhood we work in). They built new picnic tables and benches for the park and brought new swings to replace the broken ones we have. They re-roofed the public school in Hermosa. They built soccer goals for a school in a little pueblo of 100 people about 1 1/2 hours from Jaco up in the mountains. Allin all, it was a blessing to have themand we will continue where they left off to finish Alyssia's house as well as other projects that we had planned to do. Thanks Southside for all of your hard work!!! The following are a few pictures from the week...

cleaning up the park

building new picnic tables and benchesfinished productIn line for beans and rice

building a wall in the back of a home in INVU

Building a house for a member of our church, Alyssia (pictured)A picture of the house thus far...