Puntito - The Little Polkadot Car!

We've been in Costa Rica for 6 weeks now.  Each day walking, taking buses, and hailing taxis in the rain.  This experience has been a huge adjustment from our two-car suburban lifestyle in Colorado.  Not bad, but certainly an adjustment.  Trips to grocery stores similar to Costco without a car have proven to be an exercise in strategy and will.  The only cheese we have found that will melt into homemade mac-n-cheese is a 30 minute walk from our house.  I make the walk.  I love mac-n-cheese. We have it figured out and have hit a rhythm.

This past weekend, as a shout out to our past we made the leap and we rented a car!  I kept snapping pictures of the girls buckling their seat belts, Chris navigating roundabouts, paying tolls...not one of them turned out.  The car was so small it was like I shoved the entire family in a closet with a steering wheel and some seat belts and told them to say "cheese!"  We named the car Puntito, or "little dot" in English.

We soaked in every minute of independence; the fact that we could turn on the radio and listen to Costa Rica's favorite genre of music - 80's soft rock and ballads.  It's the soundtrack of our life.

On this trip to the beach (a 1.5 hour drive) Chris also managed to smack his nose of the bottom of the swimming pool.  He broke his nose and we had a nice trip to the public hospital to entertain his need for stitches.  We paid $120 for 3 clear bandaids and a nurse to aggressively manipulate his wounded nose.  Also in the background?  Construction workers removing the wall of the exam room using a grinder to cut a nail in half.  Shards of nail and sparks were flying across the room to create an entertaining scene.  Chris and I praised God that we learned to navigate a public hospital when it was only his nose at stake.  Now whenever we walk, taxi, or bus past any form of construction we giggle and shake our heads.  Pura Vida!

Books and Coffee!!!

We are about month into language school and books have taken over our house.  Things are said in our house that we've never said before.  Things like - - "Georgia and Reese! You need to brush your teeth so we aren't late for school.  Mom and Dad can't get a tardy in Grammar class!"  We always pause and laugh.  I think Georgia and Reese are enjoying the shared pressure of school with their parents.

Our days start around 5:30am and rarely wrap up before 10pm.  Each moment is filled with attending classes, studying, cooking, hanging laundry, washing dishes, washing dishes and washing dishes.  Dishwashers are not a common appliance here. We've learned to record our Spanish vocabulary words and listen to them while washing dishes.  Chris is continuing his chronological Bible-in-a-year reading by listening to each daily reading while washing dishes. Genius!!

Chris and I have greatly valued our Monday-Friday lunches together before we tackle the books.  We make the 2nd pot of coffee for the day and study and sip, study and sip, study and sip.

In the evenings all four members of our family are often found sitting at the kitchen table studying and practicing; very often, erasing and reworking.  Never underestimate the power of caffeine!

Home Sweet Blue-Home

Our long driveway.  The dog isn't ours!!
Rosita, our neighbor's dog, likes to come over and rest on our
porch while his owner is at work.  

We have arrived to our new home in Costa Rica.  Renting a home without ever physically seeing the home was a leap of faith but we have been pleasantly surprised!  Upon arrival Reese pointed out that our house is "Cookie Monster Blue!" We have barbed wire, multiple locks and doors, a long driveway and cement walls.  Our Blue-House is like nothing we've ever lived in before.

Despite their exhaustion from an overnight flight from Denver to San Jose, the girls scurried around the house excitedly opening cabinets and doors.  The top and bottom bunks were quickly chosen and stuffed animals tossed onto pillows.  We got lessons in hot water heaters, bug-management, lock do's and don'ts and more.  We located the breaker.  All the important things.

Now we've lived here for a couple weeks and it's beginning to feel like home.  Both Georgia and Reese were missing having a pet so we sprung for a couple parakeets that we can give away at the end of our year here in Costa Rica.  This was a fun trip!  We rode by taxi to a recommended veterinarian's office to purchase a pet.  After choosing the birds, the cage, the food we hailed a taxi (think Nissan Sentra) and climbed into the taxi bird cage and all.  Those birds had the ride of their life!! Our taxi driver was the craziest driver we've had yet! Knight and Angel are now peacefully living in the corner of our living room and sing to us as we study.

Farewell...For Now

Last night we said "Farewell" to many of our most beloved people.  We leave the U.S. in 14 days and Tina's parents were very gracious to host a going away party for us.  It was a super sweet time of chatting, laughing, hugging and a little bit of crying.  Our hearts were overwhelmed with the unbelievably full life God has given us in CO and we trust He will bring another amazing community around us wherever we go.

Here's our Farewell Party Flier ---
We wrote a little note to our guests and thought you would enjoy reading it again (or for the first time!).

Today we go to The Rock to say farewell to one of the most AMAZING sending churches.  Please pray that we can continue to be a blessing to them as they continue to be a blessing to us.  As Bruce (the Senior Pastor) always says, "We are blessed to be a blessing!" and "The gospel was birthed in sacrifice and so it must be lived out in sacrifice."  We gladly walk in these two truths...together!

Home Sweet Home

Our Costa Rica Home Entrance -- A nice place for the girls to play!!

As of late we have had many discussions as a family about home.  Questions include - "Where is home now?"  "Will Colorado always be our 'real home'?" "What will our home in Ecuador be like....exactly?" Some of these questions can be answered and some cannot.  We've focused on the foundational truths of our lives.  God orchestrates things for our good.  He is Good.  We will get to see God's glory and bring Him glory as we surrender more and more to Him.  Huge concepts that even Georgia and Reese are beginning to grasp and stand on in a practical daily sense.  SOOOOOO AWESOME to see as a parent!

Our entry, living room and dining room

We can answer some of these questions.  Yay!!  We have a rental house in Costa Rica for one year.  It is bright blue (the girls love this!) and walking distance from our language school.  We thought you'd like to see pictures...  The girls get all giggly when we look at the pictures and have visions of playing in the rain and swinging in a hammock on our patio.  I'm looking forward to cooking with local ingredients and washing laundry in my "open-air" laundry room ;)  Chris, will probably most enjoy having three settled (more-settled???) women in his life.  Home is wherever God places us and we are excited to be in this Costa Rican home for a year!

Time to Travel!!!

We are so excited to be heading out to Quito, Ecuador tomorrow.  This will be our first trip without the girls and this has proven to be difficult!  However, we are resting in God's work in and through us as a family -- both in the U.S. with Georgia and Reese and in South America with Chris and I.  It's so fun to serve a God who wants good for us.  We can rest in his character and plan.

This coming weekend is extra exciting! Tina has an opportunity to share with a group of indigenous, national and western women in the pre-conference meetings.  Please pray with us that the Lord is glorified and that the ladies are unified and empowered to live abundant lives in Christ!  Chris will be attending important pre-meetings with many key leaders -- South American nationals, indigenous and foreign.  May God be glorified as the Body of Christ comes together for His purposes!

Additionally, we are so pleased to share that Tina's parents will be joining us on this trip to Ecuador.  They are so excited to meet so many of our ministry partners and to "catch the vision" of what God is doing in the Amazon and Lowland Regions of South America.  We are pleased as punch to be able to share the upcoming 11 days with them.  Yay!

Georgia and Reese have a little to say about our upcoming plans. (Imagine that?!?) If you haven't already done so, check out their blog at http://georgiaandreese.blogspot.com  

Now to finish packing and get some sleep before our 4am wakeup call.  As always, it's a pleasure to journey with so many amazing people by our side.  Truly.

Ignite A Movement In Your Heart!!!

Our family is currently a part of a new church plant launch team at Ignite Church (www.igniteamovement.org).  God has done awesome things in and through the young church.  This past Sunday we "launched" as the first missionaries to be sent by Ignite Church.  In faith, the leadership of Ignite challenged the church body to give sacrificially to create a support fund for our ministry in Ecuador.  God blew our socks off as the full $6000 was raised in one Sunday!  

Come and see what our God has done, 

what awesome miracles he performs for people!!

Psalm 66:5

We spoke about our journey into ministry, the Shamanistic strongholds in the Amazon and Lowland Regions and were able to share our journey of 

DAILY OBEDIENCE leading to CONFIDENCE to step into the unknown.

May God Ignite A Movement In Your Heart as we tell of God's awesome work

in and through surrendered people, church bodies and communities. 

Remember, just as he is working miracles in our lives, He desires to work miracles in your life as you say "YES!" to God daily.  He is worthy and able.

Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. 

Tell everyone about the amazing things he does!

I Chronicles 16:24