Well, it has been more than days and more than weeks since my first post on remembering...but well, for the one or two of you that read this little blog...I'm sure you know me well enough by now to know that is just how my life is :)
We are now much closer to the end of the Costa Rican adventure we've been on for the past five years. The house is becoming emptier by the day. The suitcases are lined up along the counter in the living area. The calendar is always by my side and we are constantly checking back with people to arrange the details of the last few weeks here and the first two months of our time in the US. The joy grows in our hearts each day as we think about seeing our family again. We find ourselves once again at a point in which we literally have no control over where God is taking us. We have walked as far as He has shown us and our waiting for the next set of instructions. Our joy is overflowing as we look around us here and see HIS work in the ministry. We see how He has changed the kids we minister to. I see their growth daily! I have learned to LOVE JESUS, HAVE FAITH in Him, LOVE those He brings into our lives, TEACH them to OBEY Him, and LET HIM work in their lives. That is what brings results. We've often been asked if it is all worth it...ripping our kids away from everything they knew, giving up the American Dream- the job, the house, the car(s)...moving to a place so backward in some of their ways that you find yourself constantly shaking your head...
Is it WORTH it?
YES. YES, it is worth it. Everything in our lives that might have been LOSS has been GAIN for Christ. Every time we 'sacrificed' in obedience to Him, it has been worth it! Every single time I am homesick, it is worth it- because my heart is really longing for the home I have waiting for me with HIM. Every single day that I think about leaving these precious kids and their families and our church here and all of our brothers and sisters in the faith...and the pain builds up and the tears well up in my eyes...I REMEMBER that it IS worth it!
Why? Because I am walking in obedience to His call and there is nothing that I can imagine that is better than that for me or for my life!
I remember more from that first year in Costa Rica than just language study. But that for sure stands out. When I look back, I never could have imagined being able to speak at the level at which I can now communicate. I make mistakes ALL the time even now, but the Lord has been so gracious to give me the ability to speak Spanish. If you would have asked me four years ago if I'd ever translate, i would have laughed. I remember the first time I tried and FAILED miserably. Yet, the Lord has clearly placed the desire and ability in my heart to do just that and it has become almost a weekly role for me, as we consistently have English-only speakers in the congregation who need translation. I praise God for ILE, the institute where we studied and for all my teachers. I praise God that HE lead us there and provided for our family to study there. I know that if you asked Matt if He would ever be leading worship or teaching in Spanish, he would have laughed at you. But praise be to God, He has allowed those things to come to pass. Matt has been leading worship for a couple months now during Wednesday night Bible studies and has taught some as well. Being able to disciple the kids and preparing for the lessons each week has been such a wonderful way the Lord has grown our ability to speak Spanish. The Lord has used Spanish to humble us multiple times over. It is never something we feel totally comfortable in, yet He has used it in our lives to bring glory to HIS name, to share the Gospel, and to make disciples. We have been so blessed by His plan for us to learn this language!
I remember so many different people, places, and events during our time in San Jose. It seems so long ago now. I remember our tiny little apartment next to Mark and Meg Kuzdas. And getting our cat, Cereal 'Gatita'. I remember the major slap in the face it was to see the liberties taken in advertising here and how so blatantly pornography has become nothing more than a daily part of life here. There was so much new- culture, driving, learning public transportation, what church looked like here, how the 'nursery' was nothing more than pulling the tote full of toys into the little tiny storage room and hoping that none of the kids got hurt on all the junk that was in the room. I remembering having to learn quick what it meant to be 'street smart' and how nothing I could have ever learned in Rossville or Frankfort was going to prepare me for living in a city of a million people. I remember trying to adjust to the constant traffic and people everywhere. I remember learning the quickest route to the bread store, the grocery store, and to the language school. I also remember that I had to learn the sidewalks well and remember which ones became slippery slides when it rained and which ones were safe to walk on. I remember meeting so many different people and hearing their stories and having the privilege of sharing life with them for a time. I remember being introduced to poverty. I had lived such a sheltered life. I'd never been rich, but I'd never been so desperate as the people I was meeting from the ministry areas.
So much happened in those first two years, it truly is a miracle that we survived and for that reason it is ONLY by the GRACE of God that we did. I remember when we felt so much pressure. I remember when we were so close to giving up...and how God in His faithfulness, took the smidgen of faith- the small mustard-seed sized speck we had left and used it to open up the doors to a whole new life we had never anticipated. He moved us to Guanacaste- pure country!
I remember when we visited a place called Guacimo - dirt roads, outhouses, cooking over and open fire...and a few weeks afterwards Mark K. looked at both of us and said 'You guys loved it there, didn't you?' That was the beginning of many confirmations for us that the Lord was calling us into something new. We began praying for a few different places in Costa Rica...and decided to go to Tamarindo first because we were certain that it was NOT where God was calling us. We thought we'd cross it off our list.
Well, we stayed several days, but came home a day earlier than anticipated because we were absolutely positive of the Lord's will in our lives. Villarreal was to be our new home! Matt went back a few weeks later and spent several days looking for a home for us and finally found one- THE home picked especially by the Lord. We moved a month later!
I remember the very first night in our new home. I remember how the neighbors sat on their porch and stared as we unloaded box after box after box...And how they had cleaned the entire place for us. I remember standing in the kitchen that night after all the boxes were unloaded, sweat dripping off of me...thinking "What have we done?" There were strange noises, bugs, geckos, more bugs, no bars, roosters, did I mention BUGS? and the heat- it was so oppressive! I remember telling the Lord, bitterly honest, that I was pretty sure I was not going to be able to do this! There had been no bugs in San Jose, privacy because of all the bars and walls, and the temperature was just about perfect all year round. Guanacaste was a completely different world! One of the first few nights Matt and I were outside after the kids were in bed and we were just amazed as we stood in the front yard and gazed at the night sky and all the stars. It was beautiful! The Lord reminded us then of His faithfulness, of His provision, and of His sovereignty.
We still had no idea of what was to come, but He did.
Check back later for more of the story...
Guacimo Costa Rica with Rogelio and Neris- and being introduced to cutting the pipa right off the tree!
The very first time we met Cindy, who has been a PFK member for three years!
Part of the Villarreal welcoming committee
another member of the welcoming committe
Oh yeah, this guy wanted to say hello, too! Remember the plagues of locusts- yeah, I thought the Lord had sent another one when I first saw this guy!
New normal- outdoor cooking, chickens and roosters
(not to mention little girls who keep getting cuter and cuter)
