15,000 words more or less

 The view from the porch.  So many shades of green and red!

 The "chicken coop" that currently houses our trash and recycling.  Also doubles as a playhouse.  The gate to the right goes up the mountain to the lookout and bonfire pit.

View through the fence where we are going to plant some veggies.

 Tucker, who we adopted with the house, and Cici.  Thankfully, they get along wonderfully.  I think they got mixed up about their beds, however. . .

 The road that runs in front of the house.  To the left is Desamparados Centro, to the right Patarrá and Los Guido.

 Bathroom #1.  Fun and spacious.  To the left is a HUGE closet.

 Sawyer's room which doubles as a guest room. At such times he is happy to sleep on the floor in the other bedroom.

 Olivia and Lynnea's room.  Check out the perfect bed nook.

 Master bedroom.  Windows, windows, windows!

 Bathroom #2, aka master bathroom.  Shower and toilet are to the left, but I wanted to highlight the storage area!

 The AMAZING kitchen!  It is about 3 or 4 times bigger than each of the other kitchens we've had here, plus tons of cupboards and counter tops.  And WINDOWS!!

 The dining room.

 The living room.  Beautiful wood, and more windows!  The area behind the couch houses books, art supplies, toys, and some boxes that still need to be unpacked.

 From the driveway.  The kids now have room to ride scooters and bikes.  They also love the basketball hoop.

Looking up the left side of the house to the patio/laundry area.

I realized I didn't get a good shot of the actual porch, which is also AWESOME, nor of the mountain or fire pit.  But, in order to get some pictures up here, those will just have to wait for another post. . .  

Thank you to all who have prayed (and prayed and prayed) with us about housing!  Thank you, Jesus, for this over-the-top provision!!  Praise him with us?!!

1 + Months Already!!

Many of you have heard that we moved into the amazing house that I posted about a few months ago.  It's TRUE.  It all happened quickly at the end, but here we are.  God is GOOD.  Praise God with us!  We were in the middle of hosting teams and other guests, so I hadn't had time to do more than post a few random pictures on Facebook.  Entonces, I'm making myself sit down to write a post that will hopefully fill in some of the details.

Essentially what happened is that the missionaries that own this house really want/ed to sell it.  It would have been so much easier for them to return to Canada without a house here in Costa Rica to think about.  They all-but-sold it twice, but backed out of each deal for lack of peace and a conviction that they weren't supposed to sell to either of those couples.  So, after that roller-coaster ride, knowing that we were really interested in it, but without a way to buy it, they asked if we'd rent it while they took some more time to pray and regroup.  So, after a couple of conversations working out the details, we packed our stuff and moved it over.  (At the end it all came together in maybe a week or something!?!)

So here we are.  We keep marvelling at the way God has worked things out.  "We get to live here?  Really?"

This property is truly amazing.  We are still very close to our office, ministry sites, host families, etc.  We are on the main road (our only reminder that we are, in fact, still in the city), but surrounded by fruit trees, grass and flowers.  There is an amazing 'mountain' that rises behind the house to the bonfire pit and a breathtaking view of San Jose.  The house is spacious, has an amazing kitchen, porch, and tons of windows.  I'm serious about the windows.  Somehow washing dishes isn't so bad when you have a great view.

We have already had the privilege of hosting Jeff's parents and our nephew Thomas, as well as Nate and Maggie Slabach, as overnight guests.  And we've been able to host cultural activities/bonfires with 2 different teams, plus a couple of other activities.  Amid the many unpacked boxes and chaos of moving (our guests have all been very gracious!) we have been in awe to see God fulfil this sueño (dream) and allow us to steward such a place as this.  May we steward well.

Olivia, Sawyer, and Lynnea are all thrilled, too.  I was watching Sawyer playing outside yesterday, running and shouting and throwing and other boy-things, and it struck me again how much God cares not only about our ministry, but also about our kids.  I trust that the years that we have lived without a yard and without amazing windows have been for great purposes, too.  But my mommy heart cried out for nature and space for my kids--Sawyer especially--and God has answered in such a big way that my heart spins.  I have no way of knowing how long we will live in this house, but for this time I am thankful beyond words.

God, I was crazy to hope for something like this, to ask you for something so great; you are spoiling us and I don't deserve it, but thank you.

Please pray for the Hilstad family as they transition back to life in Canada, and that God's will would continue to be done with this house.

Pictures to follow soon!!

PS Another great thing that God has worked out of this is that the landlords of the old house were willing to hold that house for our new teammates, the Fasts, who will be arriving this week.  They will be cozy as a family of 6, but the location is perfect for them as they settle in and get to know Desamparados, especially without a car right away.  They'll be walking distance from the language school, groceries, the SI-CR office, preschool and bus lines.  The other advantage is that we can have it set up for them before they get here.  Friends, God is a God of details.