¡Qué feo!

I have to post this hilarious story about our Audrey :)

Most of you have heard us talk about the two teams the youth groups have - Los Bufalos (the buffalos) and Las Águilas (the eagles). Every week, the two teams compete in games and activities to try and earn points and after each youth group a winner for the day is declared. The kids love the competition and it has really been great fun watching how loyal everyone is to their team.


Un bufalo (blue) and una águila (red)

Our entire family has been buffalos since we arrived. However, lately Audrey has decided that she wants to be an aguila. So, some days she is an águila and some days she is a bufalo.

Yesterday (Saturday) we were all at La Finca for the last day of Vacation Bible School. We were riding home with Melinda and as we were walking up to her car she asked Audrey if she was an águila (Melinda is an aguila and often tries to persuade others to be one with her... :) )So, anyway, out of nowhere, in answer to the question, Audrey says to Melinda, "¡Qué feo!" Which means basically "How ugly!" or "That's bad!" It was so funny! One because she responded in Spanish so quickly without any prodding and two because it was an accurately funny thing to come back with! All three kids are learning the language so quickly!

Last week to end Vacation Bible school in Tejarcillos, we gave away team t-shirts.

Today, at church we awarded a prize to everyone who wore their team colors to church. It was great to see all the red and blue in church this morning. Here are pictures of the winners.


Los bufalos


Las águilas

And finally,


A family divided...four bufalos and one águila...

Audrey decided she was an aguila this morning. So as we all dressed in our blue, she picked out everything she had that was red to wear. She was so proud this morning wearing all red and telling everyone she was an águila!

I was just happy that the Lord has blessed her with a personality strong enough to make her own choices, even when they may be different than those around her and that she was willing to be different. My prayer is that will be a piece of her character that she will choose to use in pursuit of the Lord and for his glory.

Yo tengo mucha tarea!

I thought I'd post a brief update explaining the lack of recent posts and let you know I haven't had time to repost the Dominical pictures...because...I have so much homework!!!

This tri is much much better in so many ways, but at the same time so much harder! We have homework that is very different in nature, but much more practical- and that is such a plus! However, ever so practical as it is, it is also in depth- which translates into "IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO COMPLETE!!!!"

I have been feeling the pressure the past few days. Not proud to say it has gotten me down...but it has.

Every week, our homework for our conversation class is the same, so we at least know what to expect. Every Tuesday is estudio biblico (Bible Study) day. We have to prepare and present to the class a Bible Study of differeing topics each week based on the theme for the week. It is quite interesting, exciting to be actually aprehending the Bible in Spanish, and learning to teach the Word of God in another language! We have completed two now and both have taken me well over 4 hours each to prepare and several days of working on each.

So, if my blogs become sparse...at least you know why... :)

Sidenote: FYI- We do have a webcam and would LOVE to talk with anyone who also has one. Skype is free online and it is such great encouragement for us to "see" you all back there! Praise the Lord we have been able to "see" Mimi and Pappy many times and Ging-ging a couple times now...and tonight we got to "see" Courtney and Trina (Praise the Lord!)- oh and Callie, too :) So, email me and we can give you our skype address or whatever it is (Matt takes care of all that stuff ;] ) We'd love to hear from you!

Also, I have a very smart friend who recently added a video to her blog using her webcam and I thought- "that is a great idea!"
So, hopefully we can get one together and add one to our blog soon! :)


Here is a picture of Ethan and Isabelle's Sunday school class in Tejarcillos I thought you'd enjoy.



This is from a couple weeks ago. We had two girls from Tejarcillos come and spend the night with us on a Saturday. Matt and Ethan left for youth group in the morning around 9:30. They stayed for the leadership meeting because both girls are on the leadership team, ate lunch in the home of one of the girls and then afterwards rode the bus home with the girls and Pastor Rogelio. There is no direct bus so they had to ride to San Jose first, get on a second bus then get off around 10 blocks from our house and walk from there. Quite an adventure for Matt and Ethan, but for the girls and Rogelio, such is life. Ellie and Jessica are very special friends and we had so much fun with them that night. It is our desire to be able to continue to have more young people come to our home and share in our lives as we share in theirs. Our girls had so much fun with Jessica and Ellie. It is amazing to Matt and I how much Spanish our kids really know. They communicated so well with each other- God is so good! It is quite a process to be able to bring kids home with us like that, but one well worth it for the time we are able to spend with them. We praise God for allowing us to be able to share in the lives of these youth.

No pictures???

For some reason the pictures from my last post have disappeared. They were there once, but they are not now...and I cannot figure out why.

Any ideas?

Fuimos a la playa

Last month, we had the opportunity to spend a few days in the southern part of the country near about 15 minutes from Dominical Beach. Some friends asked us if we might want to house sit while they were away and we were quick to answer "YES!"

So, we asked Pastor Rogelio and his family if they would like to go with us and Bill and Joanie and the girls as well. We packed the Price's van full of the luggage and half of us and the other half rode a bus down. Bill planned to follow the bus so we would not get separated. The trip was supposed to take about 3 1/2 hours- and it would have been very close, had we not had a 2 hour detour! It seems there was a bicycle race scheduled to go through that part of the country that day, so local authorities were stopping traffic until the racers were past a certain section of road. There is no redirecting traffic because there is only one road through major cities like this. Mind you, we were only one hour away from the bus station and about another 30 minutes from the house...but we sat parked, with a couple hundred other vehicles for about 2 hours waiting for about 50 bicyclists to come by. What a third-world country moment!

By the time we finally got there, it was too late to try and find the beach, so we made dinner and hung out. The next day the guys were up early to scout out the beaches. They came back and we left for the beach!

It was such and amazing day! We spent the whole day at the beach and had so much fun! A few of us got a little burnt, but the memories we made will last forever!

Here are several pictures of our time together.

This was the first time our kids had ever been to the beach and the first time Rogelio's whole family had ever been. Everyone enjoyed the waves, the sand and just being near the water!

We thank the Lord for this time and the memories we made.


Me and the girls on the beach


Neris and Daniel on the beach


Daddy and his girl


The McClain Family


The gang


This is a picture of our little cabana we used while we were on the beach. It was already constructed and just sitting there- it was a great place to keep our stuff and be able to sit out of the shade.


The Diaz family


Alex, Paige and Roger enjoying the waves


Donde esta Ethan? :) [Where is Ethan?]


Isabelle buried in the sand :)


One of many of God's creations that always brings tears to my eyes!


WOW! Beautiful! It started raining just as we were leaving, so we kinda missed the best part of the sunset, but we could at least get this picture. It was a great ending to a wonderful day!

"he's so much better than me!"

I have many blogs floating around in my head right now that I need to find time to post...someday...but I had to write about our dinner conversation last night...

Ethan has been playing soccer at school about 4 months. He really enjoys it. It is not competetive in nature, however the coach does split them up into two teams for the last 20 minutes of every practice to "play" against each other. This is the part they all seem to enjoy the best because they always scream when the whistle signals it is time for the game!

Ethan has been dragging his feet to go to practice since school started last week. Usually by the end of the day, he is ready to go, however. But yesterday he didn't want to go, so I said "OK!" and that we'd talk about it that night at supper. Matt and I taked during the day about the possible reasons why Ethan may not be wanting to go and also came to an agreement that we thought he should continue going for many reasons, unless of course there was a serious reason that he was not wanting to go.

So, at supper, I asked Ethan to explain to us why he no longer wanted to play soccer. He explained that there were two other boys who were "so much better" than him and because of that he felt like he shouldn't play anymore. He also didn't like being on the opposite team as another boy because that boy's team always won- and Ethan really wanted to win! For those of you who know the sweet spirit our son has, you may be able to picture the defeated little look on his face as he was telling us this. I sat beside him and Matt and I both explained several different things to our son. One of which was that winning, while very fun, is not everything. And that there is much to be learned from those who always win, and those who never seem to. We also reminded Ethan how very little he knew about soccer when he first started playing a few months ago compared to how much he knows now. I explained to Ethan that even though he may not be as fast as other players or score as many goals, he is able to score and I told him how much I enjoy watching him as he is able to dribble the bal straight down the court, turn in a full circle and then accurately kick the ball past the much older kids who serve as goalies in the younger kids pracitce, and score a goal. Something he could not do when he first started. This made him smile at the recollection of being able to do this! We also talked about how he is so good at seeing ways he can assist another player score a goal, which he has done many times. We talked about how important it is for other players to be able to do that in order for goals to be scored.

Then, came a sweet, sweet moment between our two oldest children. Isabelle asked me if she could tell Ethan something, to which I asked her if it was goign to be nice, and then she proceeded to tell me what she was going to say and I said, "yes, please tell your brother that."

She said Ethan, "I just want to tell you that I think that you are the best soccer player on your team!" with her signature adorable smile on her face! I was holding back tears, knowing the effect this would probably have on Ethan. He looked at her, started crying, and said "Isabelle, that makes me feel so good!" So, of course I started crying...It was a sweet moment- the poor kid he is just like me! :)

Later, Audrey asked Isabelle why Bubby was crying and I heard her say, "Well, I said something nice to him and it made him happy and sometimes people cry when things make them happy- Mommy does it and so does Mimi- Mimi does it alot- that's what Pappy says anyway!" And on they went!

As I thought about this more I am struck by how many times in my life I have plead with the Lord about how I am just not good enough or that there is someone else who is so much better than me. I know how imperfect I am, and so does the Lord, so "isn't there a better choice for this job?"

Well, just as was with Moses, Jonah and so many others in the Bible as is with me. It is in our weaknesses, that Christ is made strong. Later I took the time to explain to Ethan that God has allowed him to be in this school for a specific purpose. Maybe his purpose is to be Jesus to others on his soccer team.

So many times we have people say to us "I could never do what you are doing." Well, maybe. This is what God has designed specifically for our family. So maybe if you tried and it was not that which God has called you to, you probably couldn't. But what you CAN do is be obedient to that which he HAS called you to- whatever it may be. There is nothing spectacular about me or anyone in my family (well, my kids are pretty amazing!!) or about anything we have done. We have just been obedient. But what is spectacular is what the Lord is doing with two willing and greatly imperfect servants.

We praise him for the plans he has for us. We serve such a mighty God. I see him working and weaving lives together in amazing ways. Oh the ways in which he thinks to work! He looks at us so often with a sweet smile on his face and says to us, "I think you are the best person for this spot on my team!" How often do we listen to the other voice that says we are not.

So, the question for today is: Are you willing to be obedient. That is really all the Lord asks of us. Will you stop the thoughts of not being good enough, of having too much sin in your past, of there being someone else who is so much better than you...

Will you choose today to seek, listen and then DO what it is the Lord has planned for you?

By the way, Ethan has decided that he wants to keep playing soccer! :)

VBS in Tejarcillos

Please pray for the week-long VBS that starts in Tejarcillos tomorrow. It will be in the mornings, so neither of us will be able to be a part of it until Saturday, but please pray for this major event and the help that is needed to make things run smoothly. Please pray for a boldness in each of thoses serving to share Christ and that the Lord prepare the hearts of those who will attend and hear the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. Pray for Pastor Rogelio and Neris and stamina for the week. We've been spending more and more time with them lately and they have such passion for the Lord.

I'm getting the hang of this!

Today was a good day in la casa de McClain! We all came home after church and rested- which was much needed. Matt and I and Audrey have 5 extra hours of school this trimester (1 of those hours is an extra break for Matt and I) and so our day ends at 1 instead of 12 like last trimester. It really wore on us this week. Audrey has not been sleeping well, therfore I have not either. So, we all relaxed after church- and I even took a nap! I can count on one hand the number of times I have done that since we've lived here! When we all got up and moving in the afternoon, I started some little clean up detail around the house. To my surprise Ethan jumped up, wondering what he could do to help. Matt started on the dishes (We have the tiniest sink ever made in our house, so after a few cups and one or two plates are in it - it is full...I had made pancakes for breakfast- so the morning dishes were straggling over to the stove still since I hadn't had time to do them before we left for church...)Anyway, so the boys were busy doing jobs, Isabelle grabbed the broom and stated how much she LOVED to clean! I was busy working on some things in the kids room and Audrey, well Audrey was busy taking care of the cat...or soemthing like that :) For a good hour we all worked on different things and I am telling you what- it was great. Ethan kept asking what he could do to help. Isabelle swept the entire living room/dining room area. It was some great McClain family teamwork! After Ethan had changed the cat litter, taken the garbage out and replaced the bag, and made his bed and his sisters beds and picked up his toys, he said "Mom, I'm getting the hang of this cleaning thing! Can I keep helping you?" Can you guess what my answer was?

For all they have been through the past year, our kids are amazingly well adjusted and for the most part, happy in our new life. They pray with real sensitivity every day for things that blow me away. Ethan prays that the whole world would know Jesus. Isabelle has been asking questions about baptism and communion. And Audrey asks often about where God is and what he looks like and how can she know about God? When I ask her where she thinks God is she places her hand on her heart and says "right here!" And then, usually she proceeds with a list of people she knows have Jesus in their heart, too...

We ended our evening by reading Ramona Quimby (we are on our second book Ramona book) and writing in our prayer journal we have started to keep as a family. Then we prayed before bed.

I think often about the business of life in the states. I think about how busy our last 6 months were before we moved. And I seek the Lord daily, because honestly, it would be so easy to become that busy here. Just being in school keeps us so busy. This trimester it already seems our homework level will be much more intense. We have set homework every day for one class, but it is detailed things and presentations for the class. Then, we add the little we are able to serve in the ministry and it feels like so much sometimes; for our kids we can sense it is way too much at times. Matt and I were used to at least seeing each other for a few minutes between classes last tri, this tri our classes are spread out so much that we see each other from afar, but by the time I get to the bathroom and back our five minute break is done and class starts again...We do still have chapel break together- praise the Lord, but our other breaks are at different times. That is a big adjustment for me.

And then the Lord blesses us with a day like today. Slow paced, filled with glimpses of him at every turn. A day where we were able to take it slow enough to listen to each other and enjoy each other. A day where we were able to remember what is most important in our lives- the Lord and each other- and how every thing else in life comes after those two things.

Thank you Lord for this day. Thank you for the questions that were asked, the answers you provided. Thank you for the gift of family you have blessed me with. Thank you for the moments like today. I pray Lord that they would not be so few and far between.

I've been TAGGED!

I was TAGGED by my sweet friend, Jessica. I figured if I didn't take the time tonight when I have NO homework, I'd never do it...so here is my list (I like the questions, too) :)

{OK, this actually took me about three days to finish- and I have plenty of homework this weekend- just taking a break!}

8 Things I'm Passionate About:
1. Being a daughter of the King
2. Being a wife and a mother of three
3. Sharing the TRUTH found only in Christ
4. (ahora) Learning Spanish
5. My friends
6. Reading
7. coffee...and...
8. uhh...CHOCOLATE!!!! :)

8 Things I say Often :
1. Como se dice? (How do you say.....)
2. I so much love you...(to Audrey)
3. Have I told you lately that you're cute...(to Isabelle)
4. Do you know who made you so smart? (To Ethan)
5. Otra Vez, porfavor (once again, please)
6. To Mateo- Te amo!
7. To my kids.....have I told you today how much I love you?
8. Hola! Como estas?

8 Things I've Read Recently:
1. The Bible (not the whole thing, but sections daily- and both in English and
Spanish)
2. a map of Costa Rica (the question does say "things")
3. A few pages of The End of The Spear
4. My Grammar book- verde
5. My grammar book- amarillo
6. My phonetics book (OK- I barely have time to do anything else but school related
stuff- so I haven't read much lately!)
7. The Barbarian Way- Edwin McManneus (I think is his name???)
8. Believing God - Beth Moore


8 Things I want to do before I die:
1. Fluently speak Spanish
2. See each child walking with Christ intimately
3. See my lost loved ones intimately know Christ
4. To fulfill my God-given passion of sharing the gospel in Costa Rica
5. See Tejarcillos and Los Guido transformed with the Gospel
6. To skydive (ahhh! tengo mucho miedo!!!)
7. Go to Africa
8. See my parents and in-laws in Costa Rica

8 Songs I can listen to over and over (and I probably have):
1. Todopoderoso
2. Open the Eyes of My Heart / Abre Mis Ojos
3. All I Need- Shawn McDonald
4. Give it All Away- Aaron Shust
5. Give Us Clean Hands- Chris Tomlin
6. This Ship was Made to Sail- The Disciples Quartet
7. Made to Love- TobyMac
8. You are my All in All / Eres mi todo

8 Things that Attract Me to My Friends:
1. Transparency
2. Fun to be with
3. Loyal
4. Dependable
5. Devoted to Christ
6. Accepting of me
7. Easy to talk to
8. Not afraid to cry

8 Things I have learned in the last year:
1. God is faithful, before, now and forever
2. God has always loved me - and always will- his grace is never-ending but ever-
sufficient
3. That no matter where I am in the world and no matter how alone I feel- I am never alone - Christ is always with me!
4. Language learning is hard.
5. God wants me dependent on Him and NO ONE / NOTHING else
6. There is a part of me that actually considers homeschooling with joy
(this one is a big one for me!)
7. That Matt is really my best friend in the whole world <3
8. That it's okay to cry and to cry often! And that people will still like me if I
do.

People I have decided to tag for this: (this means you have to do one and put it on your blog, time permitting - of course)
1. Erin :)
2. Courtney J. :)
3. whoever else would like to do this too ;)

School starts this week!

Well, the time has come for vacation to end... and school to start...

Ethan and Isabelle started school Monday with a few changes. Ethan has a new teacher and Isabelle's schedule has changed somewhat due to the influx of new kids in her class. They were a little tired this morning, but ready to go back to school. I was ready for them to go, too. The walls were beginning to feeler smaller and smaller as the vacation got longer and longer :) Seriously, we had a great time with each other these past few weeks. We spent some much needed family time doing what we love- being together and playing games. We went to the park with each of them and both Matt and I were able to spend some one-on-one time with each of them. We are thankful to have had this time with them.

Audrey went back to school today, so I had a day to myself to get caught up on some things. She started a new class so we'll see how that goes. She was excited about starting before the break, but now she wants to be with her teachers and old friends. One of her friends moved and she cannot understand why Abby won't be there anymore...so goes the life of a missionary kid.

Matt and I start classes Wednesday and we are excited to be back and in our routine again. There will be changes for us as well. Our day will be 5 hours long instead of four. We, too said good-bye to some friends at the end of last trimester, so things will be a little different without some of the familiar faces. However- we are excited to have Bill and Joanie here as well as fellow CLF-ers Rick and Mary Wake and some new students we have met. It will be good to get back. I am looking forward to my weekly ladies prayer meeting- these women have grown to be my source of support these past few months and I miss that time with them.

Matt has taken on ministry responsibilities, and that will add some changes to our routine as well. Specifically, he is meeting with Pastor Rogelio every Wednesday afternoon and staying for the evening prayer service. He would like for me to be a part of this time as well, so we are praying for the Lord to help us know how to do this. It becomes a very late night for our kids and we feel it is best to allow them to keep their routine. So that would mean finding a babysitter for them every week. Please join us in prayer about how to keep our relationship with the Lord first, mainatain our marriage and family second and third- serve in the ministry- with school being the main ministry priority.

We thank the Lord for everyone who reads this blog and prays for us and all who have partnered in this ministry!

this is only a test...

Hi...one more attempt to post in the new year...having some frustration with why this isn't working...maybe it will this time...this is only a test...

Posting problems

Hi!
For some reason I'm having some problems posting in the new year. I've posted a New Year's message and slideshow dated 1/2/2008, but it is not appearing for some reason- you can get to it by going to 2008 posts...I hope this post will keep the other one up...we'll see...

Anywat, happy new year again :) and check out the slideshow- it is great!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all!

We spent a quiet night at home with each other playing games and watching movies...well, one movie. I fell asleep aroud 9:00, before the movie was over and the kids went to bed around 9:30. Matt was the only one who was able to stay up to ring in the new year...but most of the country was up with him- launching fireworks- LOUD fireworks! It was a good night, but we missed our tradition of being with the McCarty family on New Year's!

I thought I'd recap the year with a slideshow of some highlights. I'll admit, it was hard to go through the last year of photos. We've been here close to five months and I am really missing family and friends. What I wouldn't give for a hug from my mom and a good laugh that makes you cry with KJ- the kind where you almost can't breathe it is just so funny. I miss my "Tator-tot" (our niece Samantha). I miss Milky Way with my little sis...

The Lord has been so good to us this past year and bringing us here is the most amazing thing he has done for our family. But it gets tough to be away from all we've ever known.

We're looking forward to this next year. We look forward to the work the Lord has for us in Tejarcillos with eager anticipation. We are blessed beyond belief and so very thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ.

I had a conversation with one of Ethan's friends today at the park. He asked me what I wanted to do better this year. He wants to read his Bible more and eat healthy. He is praying for ways he can do this in the next year.

That is such a good question for all of us to ponder each year.

I told him that was a good question. One I need to really ponder myself...

We've got a few days left before the kids start school on Monday. We start back Wednesday. We are looking forward to getting back into our routine and learning more Spanish!

Enjoy the pictures and Feliz Ano Nuevo!