¿Cual es su lucha?

One of my new found past times is helping our staff to be stretched. Well not long ago it was my turn to be stretched. About a month ago I was asked to speak at one of the churches we are partnering with. Actually the pastor had been asking me repeadedly and there was always a reason, or I found a reason, not to be able to do it. It wasn't that I mind sharing/teaching it was that I would be doing it in Spanish.

When the Sunday rolled around I had not had as much time to prepare as I would have liked, so needless to say I was a little nervous. I spoke on passages out of Philippians 3 and Ephesians 1 about seeking to know Jesus with the title being what are you striving for? SO often in life I strive after many things other than simply knowing Jesus. They may be good things, but they still get in the way of simply knowing him.

As I spoke I kept thinking, "Ooh said that wrong, wrong verb tense, put the pronoun in the wrong spot, etc." The challenge was knowing when to just keep going ignoring the grammatical mistake or when to go back and fix it.

After 30 - 40 minutes I wrapped up. Much to my amazement it seemed as if what came out of my mouth connected with the hearts of many. So either my Spanish wasn't horrible or the Holy Spirit corrected it from when it left my lips to when it entered the ears of the congregation. Or a little of both. Let's just say if God can use a donkey to communicate he can use me.

It was a good experience and it helped to further our relationship with the church. Now that the first public speaking in Spanish experience is over the second one will hopefully come a little more naturally.

Residentes

Great News!!!: We are official Costa Rican Residents! We got our CEDULAS (like a SS card) last Friday! This means we have legal rights to live here, can get our own phone line, get discounts at national parks, etc. We are super excited, as you might guess. This process has taken over a year, as well as lots of $$$. BUT, it could have been much worse, and we are so thankful!! We also have to keep really good track of our money exchanges from now on, to make sure we are exchanging the $3000 into colones each month that is required, but otherwise we only have to renew our residency every couple of years, and we can do it at the bank through a fairly simple process! Thank you Jesus, and thanks to all of you that have been praying about this with us!!

From Earrings, teams, tortillas, cedulas, and campesinos

"Jesus in my Belly Button"

This morning the kids and I had the following conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It shows that you never know what you are going to get with a 5 year old and a 3 year old.

Sawyer: "Daddy I have Jesus in my belly button"
Daddy: "What?"
Olivia: "He said, 'I have Jesus in my belly button'" Laughs uncontrollably
Sawyer: "Yeah, I have Jesus in my belly button, and I am going to push him out with a stick."
Daddy: "How are you going to do that?"
Sawyer: (Shoulder shrug) "I don't know."
Olivia: Still laughing
Sawyer: "I have Jesus in my belly button, but the baby doesn't push him out because it is too little. Babies can't eat anything by themselves."
Olivia: "They can eat ice cream."
Sawyer: "Uh no."
Olivia: "They can eat ice cream."
Sawyer: "Uh no."
Olivia: "They can eat ice cream."
Sawyer: "Uh no."
Olivia: "Yeah, they can eat ice cream from Pops (local ice cream chain)!"
Sawyer: (excitedly) "Yeah they can!" (Pensively) "Maybe I should give it to them."

New School

As many of you know, our kids' schooling has been (and will perhaps continue to be) a big concern for us. We are thankful to live where there are some good options around us, but it's still a bit stressful not to have 'perfect' options--at least for a mom who's a teacher! For now, we have found what we feel is a great place for Olivia and Sawyer. It's actually a small kinder (preK, basically) that is within walking distance of our home. It's in it's second year of operation, and run by a wonderful lady, Pilar, who has lots of experience teaching and really knows her stuff. There are only 2 classes, Olivia's and Sawyer's, and the teachers all seem really kind and well-trained. It is about half the cost of their previous school (which we also loved and were impressed with), and we've been attending the church that houses it. The other nice thing about this new school (Kid's Academy) is that they have a daycare option for the afternoons. So our kids get a home-cooked lunch, rest and extra playtime if we want it, and we don't have to rush to pick them up in the afternoon. We are so thankful that God has provided! We'll keep you updated on how it goes--we need to be making another decision for Olivia's kindergarten soon. . .
By the way, they LOVE to wear uniforms. Olivia was asking for a week to be able to wear hers!

From potty, b-days, new school

From potty, b-days, new school

From potty, b-days, new school

Happy Birthday Sawyer and Olivia!

Our kids' birthdays are a week apart and we have, so far, been able to take advantage of that fact by celebrating their birthdays together. I'm not sure how much longer we'll be able to get away with it, though. This year we celebrated each of their birthdays a little on the Real Birthday, as Olivia calls it, and then had a nice party with our teammates, plus Krysta's parents, and friend Josh, the Saturday in between. Here are a few pictures:

"I'm 'free'!!"

From potty, b-days, new school

From potty, b-days, new school

Sawyer wanted an 'umbrella cake'; this is what he meant. He's taking a bite of it--traditional Costa Rican thing.

From potty, b-days, new school

These were the cakes for their party: a Princess and a Dinosaur.

From potty, b-days, new school

From potty, b-days, new school

This is the amazing playground that Jeremy built for the kids for our 'backyard'!!!

From potty, b-days, new school

We even had a piñata. . .

From potty, b-days, new school

Excited to do that bite thing again. . .

From potty, b-days, new school

On Olivia's "Real Birthday" we took her to get her ears pierced! She was super excited, cried just a little, and has been taking very good care of them since!

From potty, b-days, new school

Thanks for making it a fun week for Olivia and Sawyer! They have been enjoying new toys and art supplies, etc. Thank you! We are so blessed by you, our friends and family.