9 days...

Only nine more days of these beautiful sunrises...Never fails that each day brings a new sunrise with its own beautiful colors and clouds and special way of waking up the day.

Only nine more days of seeing these same white birds flying over Villarreal towards Avellanas each morning and then back over Villarreal towards Tamarindo each afternoon...Never fails- each day they fly over and then return.

Only nine more days of hearing the congos (howler monkeys) and the roosters shout back and forth as the day just begins to wake  up. The louder the monkeys get, the louder the roosters get.

Only nine more days of the sweet morning song of the birds that live around us and visit each morning. Only nine more days of watching Matt fill the hummingbird feeder each morning and watching as the tiny little hummingbirds buzz him and greet him in the mornings.

 

Only nine more days of brilliant sunsets like these two...Never fails that each day the sky's canvas closes the day in a new, different and brilliant way.

 

 

 

Only nine more days of PlayaTama, bathing suits, and days on the beach we'll never forget...Never fails that a day at the beach brings rest, fun, and unforgettable memories.

 

We have only nine more days in Costa Rica. I see today's date. I see the calendar and realize the number of days from today until next Thursday...but my mind will not accept the fact that there are only nine days left. I go about the day making preparations, packing, setting aside this or that for this person or that person...all part of having only nine days left...but not stopping to consider how few the days are.

 

We've enjoyed this:

...and this:

 

 

 

Only nine more days of these faces...



 

 

 

 Only nine more days of working with a fantastic and amazing group of believers. Never fails the way the Lord chooses those who bear His fruit...these are some of His finest fruit-bearers...

(sorry this one is sideways...)

 

 

 

Only nine more days of these precious little ones...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amidst many good-bye dinners with friends from the community and our church and seeing all of 'our kids' one last time...it never fails to remind us of God's perfect plan for our lives. No matter how much pain I feel right now as I say good-bye to true friends, I would never trade opening my heart to them and sharing life with them.

 

 

I have taken much time remembering...and many things are still to be kept between the Lord and I. I'm making the switch this next week. I've remembered. God has blessed me beyond what I can share right now. He has used this tiny little barrio and its dirt roads and its bugs and its strange idiosyncrasies and its culture and its drunks and its drugs and its children and its birds and its beaches and its people...to change me. So now I'm rejoicing. I will rejoice in the Lord. Always. I will rejoice. He is good. He is good. All the time. He is good!

 

We have nine days left.

 

Then a new chapter begins.

 

 I have a lifetime of rejoicing.

 

I have a lifetime of witnessing time after time God continue in His faithfulness. HE never fails. I have seen day after day the sun rise- each day is different. I have seen day after day the sun set- each evening different. I have grown closer and closer to the people here- each one different. I've been on countless beaches- each one different. The same God has allowed me all of these things. When everything else id different, He is not different. When everything else changes, He never changes. When everything else fails me, He is Faithful. When everything around me is bad, He is Good. When everyone around me is hurtful, He is Loving. When I am weak, He is Mighty.

 

He is GOD!

 

Rejoice in HIM!