Multitudes On Monday

I pray your Easter Sunday was blessed! We were so blessed yesterday and are in awe at God's provision thorughout our day. We enjoyed a beautiful sunrise service yesterday morning on Tamarindo Beach and left around 8 am for Nicaragua. (We continue to have to leave the country every three months for to renew our tourist visas, and this week our visas expire. We had planned to leave Sunday morning to be back for Thursday Bible Club).
We praised the Lord after a bus came towards us in our lane as he was passing another car. Matt was able to pull over the car onto the shoulder. We were thankful we were where we were because there are many areas of that stretch of road that have absoultely no shoulder. We had an uneventful trip after that until we were about 30 minutes from the Costa Rican/ Nicaraguan border. Matt saw the temperature gauge rise on the car and pulled over immediately. We then praised God again for being in a sopt where there was an extraordinarily wide shoulder to pull over as well as adequate shade and many trees. As soon as Matt pulled over the car spouted loudly and steam came rolling out from under the hood. He then realized that a hose had burst. I found the insurance paperwork in the glove box and used our cell phone to call the insurance office. We are so thankful that we have insurance on our car, as many here do not because it is not required by law. We are also very thankful for our old cell phone that we hardly ever use, but have "just in case." When I called I found out that included in our premium is a FREE tow truck/taxi service. YES, I said FREE! So after about 15 minutes, the gal in the office called, me back to let me know that a tow truck and taxi were on their way, but it would be at least an hour and a half before they could get there.



Generally when we travel, I only pack snacks for the trip and we eat when we get to Nicaragua. Saturday, I decided to pack the cooler with lunch for our trip so we would not be rushed when we got there to eat. I again am so thankful for listening to the Spirit's nudge to make lunch. As we waited, we ate lunch.



After we were done, Matt got to looking around and realized he could probably fix the hose because of where it broke. He actually got the hose fixed and we got the car running again and everything appeared to be fine. We continued to wait for the tow truck, but were actually thinking we might be able to go on, as things looked promising. We continued to run the car where we were, as we waited. However about 20 minutes of running the car, it got hot again and the hose almost burst again. So, we waited.



The tow truck and taxi arrived shortly and the kids enjoyed watching the car being loaded onto the flat bed. We rode home in the air conditioned taxi and Matt rode in the tow truck with the driver. We got home safe and sound and Matt has been working on the car until dark. Our neighbors met us at our gate as we arrived, because they saw the car being brought in and were concerned something had happened. Ronny was over all afternoon working on the car with Matt as well as Alvaro off and on and they called over another neighbor who is a mechanic who was here for over an hour workong on the car. It appears that they know the problem and the neighbor who is a mechanic will come back today to help Matt fix it. The Lord is so good!

We have several days before our time actually expires, so we have time to get things figured out. We may leave on a bus or try and rent a car from Tamarindo and take it to the border, which we have done one other time.


All of this to ask for prayer for the car to be fixed, cheaply and quickly if possible. And also for our trip to come together and we be able to leave before our visa expires.


Please also pray for Isabelle as she has developed a cough today and doesn't feel very good.

Thank you for carrying us in prayer. We will keep you posted.
 
I'm so thankful for the ways the Lord provided and protected us yesterday. I can see His hand upon the entire day, even to the point of our attitudes. All 5 of us were calm and made the best of the situation. We were on the road side about three hours and then it took another 2 1/2 hours or so to get back home. Every turn, we continued to see God's hand and the gifts He was giving, despite the inconvienance and irritation of the actual situation. I can see the blessing of a content family no matter the situation, and I am a woman blessed today as I thank God for His great, never-ending, never-changing love He has for us.
 

 
Today, I continue counting...living out Easter on Monday...Tuesday....and every day.
 
#'s 514 - 530
-Good Friday communion service on the beach at sunset
-car insurance in a country where it is not required
-free towing/taxi service included in insurance
-lunch on the side of the road
- a quiet shady spot to wait
- a working cell phone and a good signal
-good friends/neighbors living out the second greatest commandment
-father-in-laws just a phone cxall away to give advice
-understanding hotel owners who don't charge even though we don't arrive as schedule
-friends who call and offer to help in any way they can
-Your provision, time after time, Lord, in a day that could be perceived as terrible...You Lord, made it quite enjoyable
-calm children
-calm husband
- calm Mommy
-safety- Your protection, Lord
-a new mechanic friend
-air-conditioned taxi
 
Ponder this today from Ann's blog:
 

Sun’s rising after Resurrection Sunday on a Monday world where everything’s changed…

Easter Monday faith believes that in impossible darks, impossible light sparks.

Easter Monday faith believes that the tombs places of our life, are but womb places for new life.

Easter Monday faith believes that Christ tenderly takes our doubts — and says touch my scars…

This faith believes in stones that roll, in grave clothes that fall, in an Easter people who sing hard hallelujahs … because we believe in resurrections always coming.

 

First rain

Costa Rica has two main seasons...rainy (which is hot) and dry (which is even hotter). Dry season lasts from about mid-November through mid-May, generally. Rainy season lasts through the months of May through November. Last year, it stopped raining early and things got really dry really fast. Just last week, we received the first rain of the year. It was only abut a 20-minute shower, but it was enough to cool things off a bit and soak the ground enough to noticeably lessen the dust.

Our kids took off outside as soon as they heard the drops on the roof and stayed out until the last drop fell! Everyone here thinks you'll get sick if you go out and play in the rain like that...but my kiddos didn't seem to mind...and they are all still healthy as ever!

Here are a few pictures of their fun!

Water from the side drain spout

Ethan running around the house

It's raining!!!!!

Ethan loving the rain!!

Let it rain!!!

After the shower...WOW! That was fun!

YEAH!!!!!!

Running around the house!

Multitudes on Monday

Today, I am basking in the loyalty, love, and generosity of our Great and Righteous God.

Today's blessings:
#'s 473 - 489
- gallo pinto quesadillas
- hammock swings and little handmade tables (a gift for me from hubby/son)
-acts of love
- my special sopt to meet with You
- RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!! in the beginning of April
- seeing your beautiful Creation from a different view
- Audrey eating mangos, right down to the seed
- gooey, orange mango juice-stained hands and face
- praying for Gabriela
- Gabriela asking for prayer for her mother's salvation
- Your love and righteousness, O God
- Isabelle wanting to help her big brother
- "newborn grass" - Audrey finds new patch of grass that sprouted after 20-minute rain the other day
- the morning song- brids, roosters, horses, bicycles; together with a calmness so sweet it is only from You, Lord
- praying as a church family...small groups gathering- calling on Your name for the loved ones still lost
-horses roaming freely- in our backyard
- new faces at  church
- dogs :)
- broter/sister teamwork



Check out Ann for a glimpse at why I count. She expresses accurately today, my heart about homeschooling and all things Mommy...and really what began my journey to joy months ago...

Bible Club awards day

We've been establishing our foundation the past month in Bible Club studying how we all have one our foundation in one man- Jesus, one perspective- that based in the Bible, and we all have one beginning- the same one in fact.

All of this to lead into a study of Genesis chapters 1-11. We have worked to format the weekly Bible Club around something simliar to an AWANA program in that children are separated into classes by age and study through a lesson, have a few homework questions and scripture verses to memorize. Also, we have included an award system for those who complete their books and memorize their verses. We were blessed with a great AWANA experience when our kids were little. Ethan was 6 and Isabelle was 4 and they learned alot during that year or so. We know and saw the value of taking the time to teach scripture to young ones and also to train them in how to study scripture for themselves. And it is because of this we feel God has laid this ministry upon our hearts. It surely is not because of our "skills" with leading 40-50 kids...because we see every week how very much we have to learn about working in a ministry like Bible Club...

But last night was the first Awards day and it was a huge blessing to see 22 some kids have all three verses and all their books completed! Some kids had lost or forgotten their books, so we gave them a new one and they started working to fill them in right away. One boy in my group had somehow lost his on the way to Bible Club, btu when I gave him his, he immediately went to work, showing me he really had done it in his house. The absolute best was little Maria Fernanda, who several weeks ago had told me that it was boring to study the Bible, breaking my heart that a little 8 year old say that. Last night she came with all her book done and two of the verses. She learned the third by the end of the night and received her award.

In AWANA, our kids had these little vests and received patches as they completed their different lessons. We don't have access to that here and it is a little too complex to maneuver in the ministry here, but we were able to purchase t-shirts with an offering given to us last year as the first award for Bible Club. So, needless to say, we were excited to be able to give these out!

the group

the first recipients of new t-shirts

 We've got some kinks to work out and improvements to be made, but it was great to see the kids working hard and coming with their work completed!

All Praise be to Jesus!!!

Blessed

I was just thinking tonight how completely blessed I am. I am so quick to complain and gripe, but truly I have no reason nor need to complain- I am BLESSED!

- The Lord has allowed for me and my family to live in a beautiful country, serve amazing people, and share His abundant life with other awesome believers here...
-all my life I desired to be able to travel- and the Lord has answered that dream of mine, as we still have to travel outside of the country every three months...I'm gonna have to get more pages for my passport soon because they are almost used up :) God is so good!
-Since the moment we began feeling the call to missions, I began really trying to put into practice the whole "Love Your Neighbor"thing...for real, not just give it lip service...and since we moved here, I have the opportunity every single day. Tonight, I was blessed to see that reciprocated in my life as I arrived home to a freshly raked, cleaned, and neat and tidy yard...and the yard had been a mess of dead leaves, fallen mangos and one sad, tired and dying palm tree that I just hadn't had time to tend to...and out of the kindess of their hearts (or out of the growing desire to see our yard cleaned up) my sweet friends Elvita and Ana came over while we were gone for PFK and cleaned, raked and tidied up our yard and pulled out the dead tree...

"and they'll know we are Christians by our love..."
- we've had a dripping faucet in the kitchen for quite some time now and Matt has tried to fix it before but to no avail. Today he finally realized what he could do and fixed it! After the kids and I got home (Matt stayed at church for Bible Study) they got showers and I washed up the dishes from the day that I had not yet gotten to. The kids asked to watch a Little House video and got it ready and started while I cleaned up the kitchen and then shortly after, sat down to watch with them. After we were done watching the video, Ethan took something to the sink and he came across a rather large puddle and asked what all the water was...Well, long story short- the metal bolt on the tube from the sink to the water pipe had somehow cracked today and all day long it had been emitting a small light spray, which eventually filled the flat storage pan I have the trash bags, sponges, rags, etc. in under the sink and then eventually ran out onto the shelves and onto to the floor and then began seeping out. In about 40 minutes there was a good size puddle...The point of all of this is that our three kids jumped in and started cleaning up and helping and it was fantastic joy that filled my heart at seeing them pitch in and work together to clean up what could have been a disatrous mess had we not caught it when we did. Praise God for such proud parenting moments...and for a husband who knows a little bit about everything and fixed it enough to hold and stop leaking  until the real fix can be made tomorrow :)
-also- a friend whom we'd loaned money to several months ago (without ever expecting to get it back- we gave it not so much as a loan, but as a gift...) paid us back a portion tonight...such a hard thing it must have been for her to give $20...but such a testament to her faith in the Lord's provision...
-the blessing is real to me tonight as I see God's hand in my life with who He chooses to weave into my life...a new younger friend, being able to share with me her past chains in order to be able to see clearer to help an even younger friend here who is bonded in what may be the same chains...God is so good!

Thank You Jesus, for Your many. many blessings!

Multitudes on Monday (on Tuesday)

Still counting...

#443-458
- that we are living in the age of God's grace
-for Your great unfailing love, O Lord
- for the amazing and completely unexpected ways you answer prayer and provide for our needs
- for former youth ministry students obediently responding to Your call to give...and to our family- Lord you are amazing!
-for the way exercise rejuvenates the body
-mangos- so plentiful we can't eat them all
-the blessing of having something to give
-the security Your word gives us, the firm foundation we have in it
-the  "scent of water" You put into our lives (Job 14:7-9)
- smoothies with Audrey
-little ones planning their gifts to You, Lord
-two nights of a strong, cool breeze in the midst of the oppressing heat of April
- the great news of Micaela returning!!!!!! Your hand in her life, O Lord
- sibling love
- that you never leave us or forsake us
- that you are our constant hope, never can I be without it because You are my God!

April 2011 Prayer Letter

The following is the text of our April prayer letter.

 Join us this month in giving thanks to God, who is good and whose love endures forever!

Potter’s Field Kids (Las Manos del Alfarero)


“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever!”

We are to give thanks to the Lord, for He is good and His love does endure forever! Amen? Amen! This month we give thanks for the many, many ways we see how good God is. Multiple places in scripture we find these exact words from 1 Chronicles (16:34), several times in various places throughout Psalms (106:1,;107:1; 118:1; 118:29; 136:1), to Jeremiah (33:11). We give thanks this month for Potter’s Field Ministries, which allows us to minister to the children of Villarreal each week through discipleship, English classes, fun games, and healthy, satisfying food. We are thankful for PFK interns Sarah and Michaela, who selflessly served the people of Villarreal for two months and left evidence of their love and, more so, Christ’s love in this little town. We are thankful for Calvary Chapel Church Villarreal, with whom we serve; who provides a place for us to grow and be spiritually fed and prepared for ministry. We are thankful for Pastor Phil and Rebecca who minister to the people here with love and grace, salt and light. We are thankful for our home church, FEPC, who minister to us from afar, but with great love and thoughtfulness. We are thankful for those who come to Guanacaste each year to encourage our family and to serve side-by-side us in the ministry. We are thankful for the FEPC congregation as well as all those families, churches, and individuals that give generously so we can serve the Lord here. We are thankful for our friends and ministry partners, Victor Vargas and his wife Sylvia, who serve the Lord joyfully and sacrificially each and every day. We are thankful for our families, who sacrifice having us there so we can serve here. We are thankful for each and every child the Lord has brought to PFK and Bible Club and for the privilege of making disciples. We are thankful for Mark and Meg Kuzdas, who gave us such great insight on what it looks like to make disciples and for their continued perseverance in making disciples in tough places here in Costa Rica. We are thankful the Lord first saved us from our sins, united us in marriage and gifted us with our three beautiful children. God is so GOOD!

For more information about Potter’s Field Ministries see www.pottersfield.org. If you’d like to pray for a specific child in the PFK after school ministry, please contact us for more information.

Praise God!!!

Zip-lining

Well, life has been busy lately...and it is just now winding down enough to where I can sit and post about it. And breathe....ahhhhh...  :)

So, a couple of weeks ago, actually the 19th, our family, along with Sarah and Michaela, were gifted with anafternoon out together. We were not told exactly what we were doing, nor where we were going, just that we should wear pants and be at the community center at a certain time to be picked up. It was a last adventure of sorts with the girls before they left to go back to the states.

We all hopped into two vans - air conditioned vans, I might add! - and were driven off...we drove into an area we were not familiar with and enjoyed seeing a new part of the area. We arrived at a large finca and were greeted by friendly staff and told we were going zip-lining...I had mentally prepared myself for this option and honestly was quite excited about it. (I have always been terribly afraid of heights. I had the opportunity to go zip-lining once before but I couldn't do it for fear of falling). So, we arrived and filled out the necessary forms signing our life away...heeheehee...and headed off in this huge flat-bed truck fixed up with benches. it was a beautiful ride out to the zip-lining field- beautiful Guanacaste fields, mama cows nestling their babies, birds, flowers and huge old trees of varying kinds. The wind rustling our hair and the sun on our faces. We met a family on the way on a mini-adventure, the father here visiting from Venezuela. It was fun to get to know them.

As we made it to the first platform...we all got out and began to suit up. Each person had to be fitted with their own harness, two separate lines with hooks, helmet and gloves. It was quite the process to be fitted. Once we were all fitted it was first time for a group photo:

harnessed up and ready to go :)

After several minutes of instructions, it was time to jump :) literally! Our two girls and Victor's daughter, Sofia, were all too tiny to go alone, so the three of them were hooked together and then hooked to the guide each run.They loved it! Ethan and Dennis, Victor's yongest son, were hooked together on some runs and on some, they went alone.

We had to walk up steps to get to the first platform and there were so many of us that several of us were stopped on the steps, waiting. I was standing with the Venezuelan man, who was a rather tall, thick man, and I said, "¡Que miedo!" which means 'this is pretty scary' and he said "¡Claro!" (Of course!) I then asked him if he was scared and he said," I may be big and I may not look scared, but you bettter believe I am!" That made me feel a little better about being scared! Sarah, too was pretty nervous about doing this, but she was a real trooper. Our girls and Sofia went first- I couldn't even see them jump off since I was down on the steps, but I saw them flying through the air as they flew down the first line...that was pretty scary, too! (but only for me...their screams of glee and excitement bounced around through the air for several seconds!)

finally, there was room for me to walk up on the platform and as I stepped up ontop it, I ended up being right next to the guide who was hooking up people, which meant I was next! The guide hooked me up, told me to sit down and relax...then he graciously slid my feet out and away I went! What a rush! It was quite possibly the scariest thing I've ever done, but also the most fascinating, exhilirating and most amazing thing I've ever done! I screamed, then stopped, then screamed some more, then thought I should keep my mouth closed because of bugs...and just relaxed and praised the Lord! It was amazing to see His Creation from that view, to be flying through the air like that.

After the second line, I was hooked. There were still some moments when it was a little scary, like when I got stuck near the end of the line and the guide had to come and get me moving again! :) But it was exhilirating!

I praise the Lord because I believe the experience was a  gift from Him. I still do not know who paid for us to go on this excursion, but I am so very thankful. I believe a fear was conquered that day and my faith and trust in the Lord was strenghtened.

Being on that guideline, hooked to it, was truly a tangible way the Lord showed me our relationship. Sarah summed it up by saying "we trust the guide to keep us safe through his instructions, we trust that the hooks will hold us and not let us fall, and we trust the cable to safely guide us where we need to go."

I look at it as the guide in the beginning gives us his instructions, and along the way he is the one who hooks up to each cable and unhooks us at the next platform. We were told very specifically not to hook ourselves or unhook ourselves ever. That is the guides job! The guide also gave us specific signals that they use to allow us to know what we should do if we should brake, let go, or come faster. We were to respond appropriately if we saw them making any of the three signals. But we were to always follow the instructions of the guide. We had a serious harness on with two separate lines and hooks. The harness attached to both legs up over the hips and strapped tight around the waist. Both lines attached to the waist and one hooked to the cable and the metal pulley that allowed us to glide over the cable. The second hooked us to the cable itself, but below the glider pulley. We had to trust that the guide was hooking us up correctly and that the pulley and lines and hooks were working properly and would keep us connected to the cable as we flew into the air. Lastly, the cable was literally our lifeline. It was what we had to maintain the connection to or we risked falling. There never was a moment where we were not connected to the cable. Now, at this facility, there was not one long continous cable from platform to platform. We had to walk from one platform to another several times, and therefore were not connected to the cable. However, each time we approached a platform, we had to be connected to the cable for safety.

Now, if you are reading this as a believer in Christ and in the Trinity, there are mounds of spiritual applications to this whole process. Some of you may say I over-spiritualize situations in my life. But I might counter that those of you who say that might not be looking for God in the little things...I know the Lord was speaking to me that day and I clearly saw the application for my life through this experience.

One of the lines near the middle (there were 11 total), I realized the magnitude of what we were doing and all the trust that had to be there for a person to do this. And clearly, the Lord spoke to me about my relationship with him.

He is the cable in my life, He  takes me where I need to go. I must stay connected to Him. The only way to get to Him is through Christ. The line that hooked me to the cable and the cable to the glider pulley is like  Christ. Without that glider moving along the cable, I wasn't going to go anywhere. And the guide was essential in this experience. Without the guide there to hook us and unhook us, to give us the necessary signals and our instructions, none of us would have known what to do. The guide is like both the Holy Spirit and the Bible for me in this illustration. Both the Holy Spirit and God's Word guide us in our life. The Holy Spirit lives in us, prompting us, directing us, and leading us. God's Word does the same, as it is alive and active and cuts through us like a double-edge sword. But here's the thing- on a couple of instances, I wasn't able to follow what the guide was saying to do. One time, the guide was telling me to keep coming me, but I used my gloved hand to brake because I felt like I was going to fast- that is when the guide had to come out on the cable and get me going again to make it to the platform. Another time, my guide hand slipped off the cable and all I could do was put both hands on my lines, because I was scared to put my guide hand back up on the cable, even though that was what I needed to do in order to brake, as the guide was instructing me. The guide then had to manually brake for me using a separate line he had to quickly hook up because I was coming in to fast. All of this I realized after the fact, as I was just enjoying the view and trusting that I was going to stop somehow, with his help...

How often I go my own way, or forget the 'sginals' or what I've learned from the guide (God's word). How often I brake out of fear when the Lord is clearly giving me the "go!" How often it occurs that I slip a little and then find that I am too scared to move to get back on track and have to be stopped hard and quick in order to get back on track or to keep me from crashing.

The guides on this excursion have done these lines thousands of times. They are comfortable and know the course well. At one point, one guide went on the cable and actually flipped himself upside down as he flew down the cable!

 Oh might I have that amount of trust with You, Father, to let go and follow you in complete freedom...

It was a wonderful experience. I loved being able to be with Sarah and Michaela and to be with Sarah as she,too, conquered her fear of heights that day. It was awesome to watch the wonder and excitement on the faces of Isabelle and Audrey. Audrey loved it, as those of you who know her can imagine! It was crazy seeing them fly off like that without me, but that too, is so like my relationship with my God. These precious children are not mine, but His. They are lent to me to raise and nurture and train in His way. But ultimately, I have to let them go and trust that He knows best and has them under His wings.

Ethan really enjoyed this time with his friend Dennis. Dennis is now in high school and they don't get to see each other as much anymore. It was a great day for all of us. It was a memory I so thankful to have shared with Victor and his family and Sarah and Michaela.

ummm...I'm not to sure about this...

and...off she goes...

I can do this!!

well, here I go!

So excited!

there they go!

way off, high above, in God's beautiful creation- you could see the ocean from this line

about halfway through :)

Michaela still smiling!

My baby getting hooked up, ready to go on his own

there he goes...

coming in to a hard stop after I had let go of the cable

So cute

away they go