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1 Corinthians 3:4-9

"For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building."

1 Corinthians 3:4-9


Thursday, June 26, 2008

La Carpio and an "Only in Costa Rica" moment...

Today was an absolute beautiful day!

We traveled as a team to La Carpio to visit with the family that Mark and Coco, as well as the team on some occasions, have visited. The family consists of one grandmother named Doña Maria and more than 15 children. One of the boys today told me there are around 20 people living in there home. Doña Maria said the same and described her home, which we have been in one time. Granted it is large by La Carpio standards, it is still a tin and sheet metal structure with a dirt floor. In the part of the home I was in there was no bed to be seen. Doña Maria has been receptive to Mark and Coco's visits. Recently, a donation was made to the ministry that permitted our team to treat the whole family lunch and new shoes. This afternoon, Mark and Meg, Mairana and Valeria and Dayan, as well as Jessica, Chelsie, Heather, Cherilynn and Melinda H. (a college student helping out in the ministry for the summer), and our whole family began the adventure. We were blessed to be able to be a part of the day.

After picking up 14 of the kids and Doña Maria, we headed to Plaza Americana for fried chicken. Mark drove his vehicle, Meg drove hers and we drove the third ministry vehicle- all of our cars were full! While driving, we got to know the kids in our car. Maria is 14 and the daughter of Doña Maria. Olympia is 12 and Maria's sister. Evelyn is 10 and the cousin to Maria and Olympia. Carlos is 12 and his brother is Francisco, who is 9. Walter is 12 and the brother to Evelyn and a cousin to the rest of the bunch. I was asking them all kinds of crazy questions just to break the ice. Carlos and Francisco said the craziest thing about their life is their brother (silly boys...) and Maria said she is "tranquila" all the time...then she said, "Well not all the time, sometimes I'm a little crazy!" Olympia just kept smiling at me :) Some of you might remember the picture of Hazel we showed while we were in the states. She is the sister of Maria and the rest...daughter of Doña Maria. How could we have known that God would so closely unite us with her exact family in such a beautiful way? I enjoyed this time today so much. I had tears in my eyes as we dropped them off today. The hugs from them all were precious especially when little Hazel and Virginia (Beer-hen-ia) came running up, plus others whose names I can't remember...I really enjoyed the minutes I had talking with Doña Maria. She is only 43 years old, but wow, how those years have aged her. Yet her smile lights up the room. Oh the conversations my mind is thinking of to have with her...May God bless this day and our time with them in mighty ways. She told Mark today that she is ready to be discipled- her and her whole family- as well as several others- she told Mark there'd be over 20 people- "If that would be ok..." WOW! What a mighty and powerful God we serve!

The whole group

Please pray specifically these next few days or whenever you think about it. The East Hill team from Pensacola, FL arrive tomorrow. Monday through Thursday of next week, their team, our team, Pastor Rogelio, as well as teams from Los Guido including women and youth will be spending the mornings in La Carpio basically walking the streets handing out tracks and sharing the gospel with any willing ear the Lord brings our way. Please pray also for how our family can be involved. My heart aches to be back and to spend time with Doña Maria, specifically, but with Maria, Walter and others, too. At the same time, we have three little ones and it is our responsibility to care and protect them. That being said, we have seen the hand and protection of the Lord every step of the way, and La Carpio is no exception. If we allow the fear of what might be to rule us, the devil has already won. So, please pray for our wisdom as we head into this next week and for God to show us where and when is His timing to serve. Also pray that God might grant me the opportunity to witness and share time with Doña Maria.

On a different...much more humorous note:
As I mentioned, we were driving the black van today...well, Matt was driving and we were riding...Here in Costa Rica, they have these insane crazy traffic circles. They seem to serve the purpose, but "tengo miedo!" they really scare me! So, anyway, after dropping the family off, we were heading back to our house and the one thing we would really have liked to never happen, happened- we were pulled over by the Costa Rican police! So, the guy walks up with all his macho self and starts rattling off jibberish at warp speed that I am assuming was supposed to be Spanish. Matt is nodding his head as if in agreement, while I am sitting there thinking, "What is this guy talking about and what is Matt agreeing to?" He asks for Matt's license and begins to scribble on his little pad. I asked Matt if he understood everything what was being said to which the expression on his face told me everything I needed to know...we were both basically clueless at this point. This is where Meg calls and says, "Is this just a routine traffic stop or do you guys need help?" She had been behind us and saw us being pulled over. Have I said before that she is like the sweetest person in the world? As I am telling her that I have no idea what is going on other than the cop has Matt's license and I know the ticket is costing 5 mil (about $10), the cop walks back and starts talking warp-speed jibberish again. I ask Meg to hold on and ask the cop to explain to me what this is all about. He then explains in much more understandable words that this is a new traffic law just starting today to try to decrease the amount of cars on the main roads (which most have roundabouts) and in downtown San Jose (the capital city) during rush hours. Cars traveling through these areas (all roundabouts as well as San Jose) during the hours of 6-8 am and 4:30-7 pm every day will be fined. Here is the kicker...you will only be fined on one day each week. Today, Thursday, happens to be our lucky day! The license plate on the black van ends in 7 and Thursday is the day that all cars ending in 7 or 8 will be fined, if caught traveling in these areas. The rest of the week we'll be fine BUT just not on Thursdays.


"la placa" the license plate...ending in 7

I have to steal Melinda's line on this one- that only in Costa Rica could something like this happen. They fine people for using the very roads the created to make traffic flow better. So, I preceded to ask how are people supposed to know this if it just started today? To which he responded not so kindly that it was "reported." This whole time Meg is listening on the phone and laughing in disbelief at what this guy is saying and I can hear the girls in her car repeating everything she says - it was really hilarious on my end to hear her end...but I was trying to focus on exactly to say all the things i really wanted to say...Like "Are you serious? Is this for real? Do you realize why we are in this country?" All things that Matt kindly pointed out would probably make no difference to him, but...maybe just maybe...It really didn't matter anyway in the end...before I had the chance to say anything else, he handed the ticket to Matt and his license, jeered at us and walked away! I thought better of getting out of the vehicle and asking him all the questions that I finally had the words to say...and we drove off...laughing at how ridiculously funny life can be living in a foreign country.

Matt with his first ever Costa Rican traffic ticket


We have eight days to pay this ticket...where? I have no idea!!! The officer walked away before we could ask him any of those details!!!

In the grand scheme of the day, it is minuscule what happened. Ten dollars is $10. It could be pretty costly if we were to be out travelling every Thursday during those times. It is something we now have to consider. Later we found out that apparently it was reported on the news last night and there is a list of what days affect different plate numbers. So, it could possibly affect Mark and Meg or Melinda as well, it is falls on a day when they are travelling during those times. Ethan said, "Does that mean we can't go to La Carpio again?" I don't know what it means really, maybe it means we include "traffic tickets" as a line item budget...heeheehee....that is a joke (I think???) but when my 8 year old asks me if something like a traffic ticket means we can't go back to someplace like La Carpio - there is no way I am gonna say no! I will not give the enemy ground over something silly like that...So join us in prayer over scheduling and timing and really that God would find favor to blind the officers of our plates if we do happen to be out during those times. The roundabouts are virtually unavoidable...to our knowledge at this point. Pray we might find an alternative route to bypass them, which will of course add time. Whatever the solution God already has it thought of and planned out...we can be sure of that.

We have since found out that we can go to one of the local banks and pay the ticket if we go in the next three days. If we can do that, it will be much less hassle and hopefully only standing in one line...

Oh- the other thing that was quite humorous about this whole experience was that at the exact moment that the officer pulled us over this reporter and camera guy came running over and stood at the driver's side window, camera running and asked us if they could ask us a few questions about this new traffic law...without waiting for our answer he began spouting off questions with the camera aimed right at Matt...we quickly put up our arms and waved them off...who knows? We could have made the nightly Costa Rican news...

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

My friend Ale


Brooke and Ale
Sometimes in life we encounter things that were not exactly what we had planned. Sometimes it starts to rain and we find we have fogotten our umbrella. Sometimes we realize we have a flat tire on the car we are driving and realize we do not have a spare. Sometimes everything seems to be going just as planned and then something in the road that causes a detour...

Ever experienced anything like that?

Our friend, Ale, is experiencing something like that right now...details are simply that what she thought God's was plan for her now seems to have totally done a dar vuelta - a 180 degree turn...

Please pray today for her to reside in the knowledge of the wisdom and soundness of our God. Pray for the strength of the Holy Spirit to fill her. Pray that in this time right now, she might be a messenger of the gospel to those around her, especially her immediate family. Pray that in all things she will rejoice in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Pray for her to trust solely in Him and that even now, he is sovereign and knowledgeable beyond all her human comprehension.

Gracias, Dios, por la amistad entre Ale y yo. Gracias porque tu eres todopoderoso, generoso, rico en misericordia. Gracias porque tu tienes la vida de ella en sus manos. Gracias por la vida hermosa de Ale y gracias por su familia. Te pido por la oportunidad para compartir el evangelio con su familia entre este tiempo aunque dificil, es un tiempo para alabarte porque tu sabes la plan que tu tengas para todos nosotros, y para Ale. Te alabo, Dios, por tu sabiduria, tu amor y la esperanza podemos tener en ti. Te pido que tu des a ella la paz que es perfectamente encontrada en ti. Te pido que ella confie solomente en ti. Te pido para que ella te diera gozo y alabo. Te amo, Señor, mi Dios. En el nombre de tu Hijo, Jesucristo, Amen.

¡Feliz Cumpleaños Mateo!

¡Por fin!
Finally! The pictures of Matt's birthday!

¡Pobrecito, Mateo! El recibio juevos dos veces en dos lugares!!! Aye! YAY! YAY!

Poor Matt! He received eggs two times to celebrate his birthday! We actually celebrated his birthday several times with lunch and dinner on his birthday with the team and the family that was visiting that week.

Enjoy the pictures!


Before the egging!!!


Isabelle used to be fairly shy of the whole egg thing. Apparently she has moved past the shyness of it all because she thouroughly enjoyed herself this time with her Dad! She made sure the eggs were rubbed in nice and good all over and that the shells were on top! :) That's my girl!!!


After the eggs!!! Poor Mateo! And check out this picture below from the website that Mark took- quite possibly the best egging picture yet!!!




We also celebrated in the Monday afternoon discipleship group in the Pines. These kids had a blast and I think the line of kids stretched from one end of the open area to the other! Gordo (Daniel- Pastor Rogelio's son) really enjoyed getting Mateo!


We sure got some funny looks doing this in the middle of the Pines, but it was so much fun! For those of us watching and doing the eggin! Not so sure about poor Mateo!



After the egging!
Since we were in the Pines, Matt had to "shower" himself off with a bottle of water, then drive back down to Pastor Rogelio's house, where he finally took a shower! (A cold one at that! While Matt was in the shower, Rogelio told me through his laughter that he had disconnected the widow-maker (the device that heats the water as it comes out of the shower head) in an effort to save some on the electricity bill! He laughed and said everyone takes much shorter showers now!!!) Poor Matt!

It was a fun day!

pictures...pictures...pictures... :)

Here are some random pictures that I have needed to post for some time :)


The spray-painted flowers from the previous blog about our nature day! Tell me they don't look spray-painted!!!


These kids are the CUTEST!, huh? :)
This is the girl room in our new house! :)


We took off walking one day about a month ago to a local park we had not yet visited called Parque La Paz. There is this huge hill we see as we pass the park on our way to Tejarcillos. We climbed to the top and this is the view we saw. How beautiful!


These are the four girls that helped us move! We could not have done the move without their help...well, OK...we COULD have, but not nearly as efficiently nor as quickly nor smoothly! They are BLESSINGS!!!
THANK YOU!!! Cherilynn, Chelsie, Jessica and Heather!!!!



Matt and I found all three kids reading to each other on Sis's bed the other night. Ethan has began (on his own!!!) to read to the girls! What an amazing moment to see him taking the time to read to his sisters! He is a great kid!

I've got many more to post but it almost 11 and I have to go to bed!!!

PS: Check out the video on the left-hand side of the blog! A HUGE thanks to our friend, Mike Pettengill, for making this video for us! (If I was really computer literate, I'd be able to insert their web link...but I'm not sooooo...you'll have to copy and paste this link and check them out: www.pettengillmissionaries.org )

Thursday, June 19, 2008

La Casa Nueva

We have been busy this week settling into a new home here in Costa Rica. Through multiple blessings from God recently, we made the decision to move from our two bedroom apartment to a three bedroom house. We have loved our little apartment for the past 10 months. It was a blessing from God and we LOVED living next to Mark and Meg and Valeria and Mariana. But, we now have a large patio area in the front of the house and along the side of the house and a separate area in the back that the kids can play in and we have had nothing but a 5 ft. by 3 ft. concrete slab at the apartment. Out neighbors would laugh at the monkeys (our kids) that they would see climbing on the bars for lack of anything else to do...that is a joke, but really they did climb the bars...Ethan finally has his own room and does not have to share with his sisters anymore, which he is really happy about. :)

The house came open because our team mate Melinda has moved into the new house CLF Costa Rica is renting to use as a mission house. It is an unbelievablly beautiful house - ENORMOUS!!!!! - but so wonderful for the teams. So, Melinda is the caretaker, hospitality person and the perk to that position is getting to live there!!! WOHOO! So, she told us about her house and we came to look at it and thought it would work for us. The jump in rent is not too bad and we decided to take it! We have been here three days and I LOVE it! It is three minutes away from the mission house- which is SO nice for us! Our new neighborhood is a little more busy, but it is clean and nice and the people seem very friendly. It is so close to everything. Many of the places we usually go are just down the road from us now, which is nice for me!

We were VERY blessed to have the help of the four teenage girls staying with us (CLF Costa Rica) for the summer. Chelsea, Heather, Jessica and Cherilyn were such a HUGE helo to us the past few days. I do not know how we could have moved without their help. We definitely could not have gotten it done it two days, for sure! They helped clean, pack, move furniture, unpack at the house, organize, help with the kids and basically anything we needed - they did! It was great time spent getting to know them and Heather and Chelsea even took their first taxi ride with me!!! WOW! That was a trip! :) They are fantastic and we a relooking forward to spending the summer with them. It was neat to hear their stories.

I have pictures to come very soon!

We have our phone and internet up and going now and are getting things in order!

Please pray for me tomorrow. I begin my very first discipleship group ever- in Spanish! I will begin discipling one of my former teachers, Marinela. I believe God brought us together for a purpose and I am praying that He change her heart and she gives her life to him. Please pray that God might see fit to use me in her life. She is dealing with a very serious health issue right now and it has caused this first meeting to be delayed for several weeks now. Please pray that she remain healthy and that we are able to meet on a regular basis.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day!

Today is Father's Day. Costa Rica actually celebrates dads today as well. At church today, the Sunday school classes made special crafts for dads and Neris ("Netty"), the pastor's wife, had even bought cake to celebrate.

It has been a joy to watch my husband grow as a father over the past 8 years. He loves his kids and has ways of doing things that sometimes are very different than my own, however sometimes much more effective. We make a great team and I have always believed that God brought us together because he knew we would make such a great team.

Christmas a few years ago

We usually eat lunch with Pastor Rogelio and his family, but today's schedule was a little different so we didn't stay to eat with them...So, after we left church today we told Matt he could pick anywhere he wanted to eat. He chose Pizza Hut, which is considered one of the nicest restaurants in Costa Rica and is quite a bit pricier than the states...but we all said YEAH!!! So, we had a wonderful lunch today of super yummy pizza! Then we headed to a birthday party for one of Isabelle's friends, Carmella. Later, we went to a local mall to pick up some things for a project that I am working on. When we fiinally got home, we called our dads to wish them Happy Father's Day.

We are very thankful for both of our dads. We appreciate the love they've given us and are thankful for them both. Happy Father's Day Roger and Doug!!! Thank you for the families you have given us. We love you both!


My dad


McClain Family July 4th, 2007

Thursday, June 12, 2008

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Mateo!



Today is Matt's 33rd birthday! Today, however, he is feeling under the weather...please pray for him today- that the illness will pass soon.

I am so very thankful that the Lord allowed Matt and I to meet almost twelve years ago. I have always considered him a gift from God and still do today. He is my best friend, my husband and the father of my children. I thank God for him.

We celebrated yesterday with lunch with the families that here serving in the ministry. We'll be celebrating with lunch with our friends Ale, Alex and Sonia today as well. (Hopefully he'll feel well enough to eat...)

So far, no eggs...but they are coming!! :) Pictures will be posted soon.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Do you realize we just had school?

I have to share about our day Tuesday. Homeschooling is so much fun!!!

We started out the day with devotions and discipleship. Then we headed out to one of the parks near us called Parque Bosque (Forest Park). We really love this park because there are great HUGE trees, wide open spaces, a soccer field, walking paths, benches and playground equipment as well. There is even this one spot that Isabelle and her friend Megan call "Bean World" because there are tons of little beans that fall from the tree...

So, off we went to the park, each child armed with with their nature notebook, a pencil and a few instructions. Each child was to find one item that was special and unique (a discussion followed about the meaning of the word "unique" as well as how and for what purpose to use it). The object could not have been made by man, it MUST have been created by God, which then led to another discussion about how God does give man the ability to create the playground equipment and a host of other things we saw on the 3 minute walk there...Once the "unique" item was found, each of my babies were supposed to sit and reflect about why they chose the item, draw a picture of it in their notebook and, if possible, write about it and/or why they chose it. (Obviously Audrey's entry is much more simplistic than Ethan's, but her experience was just as exciting as his- amazingly!)

Nature Notebooks

So, Ethan found this HUGE brown leaf. There were tons of them around on the ground. A discussion followed about how the seasons here are so different than in the states. It is considered winter here now, because we are in rainy season. Obviously, for most of you back there, it is heat wave time...you are all sweating it out while we are...uhhh...well...enjoying the beautiful, breezy, clear mornings with beautiful views of the mountains...but...I digress...Back to Ethan's leaf...He recognized that the leaves and plant life are changing now because the season is changing and some things are dying off and other things are starting to grow again. After we were back home, he made a rubbing of the leaf in his notebook and we taped it on a separate page. He wrote: This is a special leaf I found in Costa Rica Bosque Park. He also drew a picture of it.

Ethan's special leaf


Ethan's journal page and leaf rubbing

Isabelle's discovery was this beautiful, dainty yellow flower. For those of you who now her well, she loves to pick flowers, and today was no exception. She drew it in her notebook with a picture of the sun (with sunglasses on) next to it and wrote: Special Flower. When we got home we taped the flowers onto her journal page.

Isabelle's entry and flowers

Audrey probably had the most trouble deciding which discovery she liked the most, because there were so many. She finally decided on this tiny little green leaf and a bean, from Bean World, of course...Unfortunately, the bean got lost somewhere along the way and the leaf shriveled up before we had a chance to tape it into her notebook...but not before she had traced it onto her paper and discovered that when she rubbed the leaf across the paper, it made green marks. However, Audrey made another discovery a few minutes after we had put away the notebooks and were trying to decide where to play. She came across a huge patch of small green and purpleish plants that I have to say are some of the most interesting I have EVER seen in my 30 years! They react to the touch of something by curling up into themselves- so much that they take on a totally different appearance in their curled up state. Apparently the kids had discovered these earlier in Tejarcillos with our friend Doug. I must have missed the discovery somehow. Nonetheless, we had a great time watching them react and then uncurl themselves after sometime. Afterwards, I googled "plants that react to touch" and found information and photos of the exact plant that I now know is called, Mimosa pudica. I could not figure out how to get the pictures linked to this post, but google it - it is amazing!

I have often thought longingly of our libraries back in Frankfort and Rossville and how fortunate we were to have such fantastic libraries for such small towns. I have thought we will be at somewhat of a disadvantage to be homeschooling without access to a local library. Praise Jesus for the internet and the ability to find information at the click of the mouse!

We also found these amazingly cool flowers (?- I am not sure what exactly to call them yet...) that appear to be a grass of some sort. The really cool thing is that they look as if they have been spray painted with a small white flower in the center of each cluster of grassy leaves. For a moment I really thought that someone had come through and spray painted in that area (yes, I have always been somewhat naive, huh?...). Then we began looking around and realized these flowers were all over the park. And they were all exactly alike- which killed my spray-painting artist idea...I did not take my camera with me that day so I do not yet have a picture of these and had no luck with the google entry of "grass plant with white flower in center" (hmmm...wonder why that didn't pop right up???) So, I have no answer to what it is called or anything yet...but it was pretty cool.

So, we spent over an hour there that day and the funny thing is, we forgot to play we were having so much fun looking and studying the world God gave us to live in. The interesting thing to me was that we have been in that park many, many times and not once noticed any of the these things- the curling plants, the special yellow flowers, the gigantic leaves or the grassy spray-painted flowers.

This, for me, is what makes homeschooling so absolutely COOL! As we were walking out of the park all three of them said, "Mom, this was so much fun! And we didn't even play!" Ethan said, "We better get back and finish school!" I smiled and said, "Buddy we just had school- and you didn't even know it!!"

How much time do we spend running around this world, wherever you are in it right now, going about our daily routines, never stopping to notice the amazing creations our Mighty God had given us to enjoy and worship him for? Just like we'd been in that park a dozen times or more...never once noticed these beautiful creations.

Father, may we pause from our daily routines and rush and business to stop and relish the beauty of the world you created for your pleasure and enjoyment, but gave to us also to enjoy. May we stop to notice the seemingly unimportant things like the plants on the ground and the leaves that fall from the trees and the beans that cover the ground that can take us into an imaginary world called Bean World. Father, forgive me for not delighting in your creation each and every day you have given me and may I go forth with new admiration for the beauty that is all around me. Thank you for the opportunity and privilege to teach my children about the world, your creation and to glorify and praise you for these wonderful discoveries like amazing curling plants and interesting spray-painted flowers. Thank you for revealing to me how teachable a morning in the park can be. I love you Lord. Amen

Thursday, June 5, 2008

picture post

I've been meaning to post pictures for quite some time...so here are a ton to browse through :) These are all from our trip to the states...

ENJOY!!!


The first placed we traveled after landing in IL and staying with the Fine's was to Michigan to see our friends Doug and Karen Vaughn. We all ended up staying in a hotel with a swimming pool and it was so great for the kids to have a pool to swim in! The little kids and the big kids enjoyed it!!! :)


We ate lunch with the Vaughn's before saying goodbye at TGIFriday's! YUMMY!


Here is Uncle Sam and Isabelle :)


The kids...


Brooke and Sam


Our visit with with our friend, Katie in Kentucky. We ate some great pie and ice cream and had fun catching up with her :)



We celebrated Ethan's 8th birthday in the states and our long time friends, Craig and Jenny, treated Ethan to a party at Chuckee Cheese. We had a great time. Both sets of our parents were there as well as my brother and his fiancee and both of our nieces. All Ethan wanted for his birthday was to spend it with Rob and were are glad he was able to do this!


One of the best parts of the trip was by far being with our parents. My mom was off basically the whole trip and it was GREAT!!! to be with her so much! It was time well spent for all the grandparents with the grandkids!


On our way back from our trip to TN, we stopped at the lincoln Museum with Ethan. He really wanted to do this and it was a fun afternoon for us. The girls were with my parents on this trip because they were not feeling well, so it was really great quality time with just Ethan. He loves history and especially Abe Lincoln and George Washington, so this was something he really enjoyed!


What a blessing to be able to meet Sam's fiancee Laura and her daughter- our new niece (!) Kaya! We had so much fun with her and she is so sweet! Matt got in some QT with her and Ethan!


The kids absolutely LOVED being able to play outside so much! We do not have a yard here so it was such a treat for them to have wide open spaces to play in! Audrey LOVED the tire swing at Uncle Sam's!


Ethan climbed WAAAY up in this tree at Uncle Sam's house!


Aunt Brooke and Kaya (after eating a cupcake from Ethan's birthday party!


Aunt Brooke and Samantha

What a great trip!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Peace of God

Tonight I felt the peace of God. Sitting in Los Guido in a makeshift circle of benches some 50 brothers and sisters in Christ offered praise and worship to the Lord, our God, Jesus Christ in the form of prayers and song, and for me personally, a laying down of things that were keeping me from a more personal communion with my Creator.

Tonight I felt my face warmed by the presence of the Creator. You know how when the sun is really warm and you lean your head back to get the full benefit of its warmth...how great that feels? Tonight I felt that same warmth, but I know it was the presence of the Holy God himself because we were sitting at the Finca, it was a chilly night and it was dark.

Why would God allow me to feel his presence? The only answer I have is that I was offering him all I am, all that I had and asking him to fill me with things only from him. I was offering my gratitude for all he has given me down to the very bed I sleep in, the walls that keep me dry, the clothes that cover me, the food that sustains me, the husband that loves me and cares for me, the children he has given me to protect, nurture and train, my family in the states as well as the family here in Costa Rica. I pray that this was pleasing to him and he allowed me to feel his presence because of that.

My heart felt a tinge of homesickness tonight for the church family we have back in Frankfort. Our church grew from simple, but intimate evenings devoted to prayer like this Tuesday night was. Our Sunday mornings always held an element of intimacy like I felt tonight. How thankful that God would grant me the privilege to experience worship like this with my fellow brothers and sisters of the New Life in Christ Church here in Costa Rica.

Thank you Father for this evening that really was "tan linda"- so beautiful. Thank you for your Spirit which was with us tonight. Thank you for the team you've given us here Father. We are all so very different come from very different backgrounds, but God you have united us with a passion for serving you. Even united us so far as to call us separately and individually to sacrifice and deny ourselves in order to follow you, serve you and to seek you. Thank you for guiding us to the point of finding you. Thank you for hearing our prayers. Thank you for loving us while we were still yet sinners. Thank you for your grace through which we are saved through faith in you. Thank you Father that I am not saved by the things I do rather by the grace you have freely given me that I do not deserve. Thank you that you called me by my name and have written my name in the Book of Life. Father I pray for those walking in the darkness tonight that do not know you. I pray for those tonight that are blinded by addictions, temptations, and that are bonded by the strongholds of the enemy. I pray God that you might see fit to use sinners like those you've brought here to share your Word in it's holiness to spread the aroma of life to those who are dead in their sins. Thank you for your Son Jesus Christ. May I die to the sinful desires of my flesh and be filled with the fruits of your Spirit. Amen.