Grateful!

Oh the gratefulness that flows through this body!  The other day I was mentally listing out all the wonderful things that have happened these past few months.  I was moved to tears, overwhelmed at the tangible evidence of God’s love and faithfulness!

Last night I was pondering what I was going to write for the ol’ blog – as I’ve been MIA for a wee while and then it hit me!  I would share the list – and include pictures!!!  The perfect combination!
 ENERO/ JANUARY:  New year means a new planner!!!! I LOVE my planner – this one has a monthly and daily part, it’s amazing!

• In December I received a certificate for Biblical Counselling from one of the  local seminaries.  One of my Tica friends came with her dad to cheer for me and remind me that I have family here too!

 

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• This year started off by celebrating with my Tico family (I have a few, but these guys’ called first dibs)  We celebrate Christmas, New Years and then usually some together time the first few days of the year.  I am very grateful for them!  Ciro (the dad) and I used to work together when I was first in Costa Rica in 2014 – back when my Spanish was non-existent and I had no idea of all that God had in store for me and Ticolandia!
  
• Jana (Strider from 2014-2016) came back for a visit!
• I helped translate for a medical caravan – and got some new pens!!! Doctor pens!  They’re amazing!  I also go to see a lot of friends and had a muscle contest with one of the local men (it was a draw, haha unless you ask him – he claims to be stronger, but I’ll let the evidence speak for itself…).

 

• Canadian visitors!!!!  Some family friends came and spoiled me just shy of rotten!  It was so relaxing and fun to not have to be responsible for anything and to just be showered with hugs, food and presents!!!! (which included but was not limited to a dream toaster, cinnamon buns from my mamma, so much tea! aaah I could go on and on!).  I was so overwhelmed and encouraged by their visit, it was so fun to just have the space to be,  to be fully accepted and loved.

• My local church had 2 camps (13-25 and 26+)  I was able to help serve in the kitchen for the younger camp and be a campista/server for the older camp.  It was a really fun to be able to get out of the normal routine and enjoy getting to know people better!

• My temporary roommate moved in on 31st She’s really great and it’s been so fun to have her here!   She’s officially with me until May – but I’m pretty charming so I may be able to woo her to stay longer!

FEBRERO/ FEBRUARY

• Latin Link International Assembly 2018- it happens every 4 years.  For those of you who have been with me for a while you may remember that I tried to go to the Assembly in Ecuador in 2014 and was denied entry at the border and abruptly deported!  This year, assembly was in Guatemala and I was able to make it.  It was a really great experience to see so many Latin Link members (some of whom I’d only ever met via email/Skype!)  there were also a lot of LAM’ers as they were also invited to participate.  It was like a giant family reunion and I fully enjoyed myself, learned a lot,  hosted the talent show (it was so fun!),  and had some very tasty food!

(Latin Link team 2018, reason for the season, LAM team 2018)

(Peru, England and Costa Rica all together!, a little talent show hosting, group of very talented people… and Kayla)

(out with the old and in with the new!  We said “Toodlepip!” to Alan Tower as he has stepped down as International Director and big “Helloooo! to my friend,  Mr. Paul Turner).

• After the Assembly wrapped up we had a few days to have our annual Central America South team conference (Latin Link Nicaragua and Costa Rica).  This was a good opportunity for some team bonding, administrative house keeping and voting in a third member for the leadership team – which as it turned out was me!  I was little shocked at first (as I was only told I had been nominated maybe 10 minutes before the meeting!).  Once digested though, it’s pretty exciting!  I am encouraged and honoured to be able to serve on the team and to have this opportunity to have a greater influence!

Upon returning from Guatemala I was absolutely delighted to receive my Auntie Shana (my youngest, most beautifullest maternal aunty!)  * Yes I know, bold statement! But she brought me homemade honey and the most epic popcorn! *  She’s also probably the only aunty who reads my blog!  Case and point – she’s a babe!   I really loved spending time with her and showing her around! 

After Auntie Shana shipped off I received a pair of Striders from Ireland who are currently serving in Chile – spoiler alert – they’re wonderful and I love them!  I knew that they were coming to CR a few months ago as they emailed me to ask for ideas of where to go, to stay etc. (obviously I said they had to stay with me!)  Then I officially met them in person  at the IA and now that they’re a part of my life I do not even know how I survived without them before!  It was SO fun to have them here with me, to be able to hear about their experiences and goals.  I made it my mission to seduce them to come back and serve long term in Costa Rica, I feel like the odds are in my favour!

 

Also, they’re famous!  They were featured in Latin Link’s magazine – Latin File

Carpio programs have finally started up again! (I’ve been working on my Latin pose – so far I have not been successful

• My latest nephew (not blood related!) Benjamin was born!!! Look how cute he is!  Please pray for him and his family!  Benny’s a babe but there have a been a few complications and he could use some extra prayer!

MARZO/ MARCH

• Met up with the Costa Rican LAM team to spend time with a LAM board member (from Canada) who is here visiting.  It was encouraging to be in a room with over 305 years of mission experience in Costa Rica – LAM has a real history here.  We were even fortunate enough to speak with the President of Costa Rica, who called to thank us for our work and allowing God to use us here to bless the country. 
  

Last week I was able to go spend some time with Nela and Eliza (recap, Nela used to live with me back in 2015).

• I was able to go up to Aguas Claras this past weekend to spend some time with the community- visiting the church, the family I lived with during last year’s Step team and attending a 15th birthday party!!

  

I was able to meet up with a small mission team from a high school in Surrey (Canada) – one of the boys (the bringer of my gifts! I’ve known since he was a baby!), who came bearing presents from the North!  While the trek to meet them was not an easy one, it was totally worth it!  Before we parted ways their teacher/leader suggested they pray for me.  The kids were so sweet and it really encouraged me – there may or may not have been some tears!   


Prayer:

• Two boys with LAM arrive on Sunday to serve here for 3 months.  Please pray for their experience here, spiritual growth, their mentors (both are new ones who I will be training tomorrow).  It’s a bunch of firsts!  My first boys, first time with these new mentors – I’m quite excited about it all!
• My Swiss strider is finishing up her time here with us in CR, please pray for her last few weeks.  That God would really bless her and speak to her.  Give her closure and peace and the ability to fully digest all that has happened while she’s been serving here the past 5 months.
• On February 26, the son (32) of a lady in my Thursday bible study suddenly passed away.  The autopsy revealed that it was a fungus that had infected his entire body.  Had it been discovered two weeks prior it would have been treatable and most likely saved his life.  Please remember the family in prayer – I knew the son and the loss came as a shock and has brought a lot of confusion.  At the end of the day one just has to trust that the Lord is good and that there is purpose in this.  Please pray for peace and comfort for the family, as obviously, this has had a major impact.
• I’ve been making really great improvements with my shoulder/back – physio is going really well!  Please continue to pray that my body would continue to heal and improve!

A rainbow is the perfect reminder of God’s faithfulness and promises.  He who has called you is faithful – He won’t leave you hangingMy rendition of 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Nicalandia!

Hello my friends!  Happy December and Merry Christmas!
As some may have heard, last week I went to Nicaragua to renew my visa and take some time to get to know our newest Strider, Jana.  She’s been with us now for about 2 months.  We went to Granada, Nicaragua.  There are some other Stay members (long term missionaries with Latin Link), who live there so we decided to visit them!

Jana and I on the boardwalk, some local houses, Jana and our Stay member having a chat in Catalina

Local transport, more houses (they’re just so photogenic!), downtown Granada

The trip there was your regular run of the mill journey, with the highlight being that I was able to sleep for about 3 of the 9 hours!  (I usually maybe can manage a half hour!).  We met another volunteer on her way to another city in Nicaragua who will potentially be joining Latin Link in the future.   She’s in Costa Rica studying Spanish and came up to us at the border and asked if we were with Latin Link…I was a bit confused as to how she could so accurately guess, right down the organization (I don’t walk around plastered with insignia).  Turns out our Stay member had told her we were on the same bus!
During our 3 days there we walked around town, admiring the architecture, sitting by the lake, making friends, eating refried beans (as it turns out those are Jana’s most favourite thing!).   Our hostel was very nice and ended up charging us less than I had calculated – which is always wonderful!
After we checked out of the hostel is when things started to get real exciting!  First, we visited a cafe which provides work for the deaf.  They make hammocks and serve what you would expect from any other cafe.  You order in sign language, it was very fun!
Then we made our way to the bus terminal (we had tickets for the 1 pm bus).  Upon arrival we found out that the previous day our bus had been detained the border (as drugs were found onboard).  Which meant that it wasn’t running!  They said there were putting us on the Executive bus (supposedly more spacious, nicer seats, personal TV screen, food..) so the extra hour we were told we’d have to wait seemed worthwhile.  So, that hour turned into 6!  During which time I managed to make us some friends (who are hilarious!).  They’re a married couple and now that I know their entire life stories and how the wife is not deacuerdo with my work (i.e.. working with “dangerous people” in the low income areas when they choose to be there…).  But, after some time I don’t know what happened– perhaps it was the fact that I, like a good missionary, prayed for her while we were talking-  she changed her tune and I am now betrothed to her cousin or son, ladies choice!  I figure, if I cant decide I’ll go Old Testament on it and marry both!

Our trip was lovely, it took about 14 hours in total until I was back, but honestly it was such a fun day.  I was so delighted with it – all the waiting and changing of our plans, none of it phased me at all, it was really exciting - I had a constant joy and peace the entire day.  I genuinely enjoyed the whole excursion, which really gave opportunity for discouragement, frustration, worry..(we were crossing a border after all) and nothing,  I felt amazing and super happy.  I was touched because it was like some verses that I always try to imprint into myself:

 “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”  - Philippians 4:6-7

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?  Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing,  yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.                                                                                                                         - Matthew 6:25-33

Praise: Our trip went great, thank you to everyone who was praying!  It was felt! (and the new backpack my grandma sent me is…AMAZING!!! It’s a game changer people!)
<----I was given a new plant baby yesterday

    I got the first picture of my latest niece/nephew!!! --->


Prayer:I am not really sure how to write this, I've tried a few ways and nothings seems to fit so I’m just going to go for it…I’ve been told of some deaths that have happened in Canada (one an old childhood friend, and the other the son of a friend of mine).  When situations like this arise, I am not the most eloquent I prefer to use my God given gift of hugging, however, I cannot physically be there to hug.  So I am asking that you would lift up the families/friends in prayer, that God would embrace them and that they would be enveloped in a warm and comforting hug.  That there would be peace and they would be able to sleep and know that while there is pain and suffering here on Earth (lots of which we don’t understand) we can trust that God is in control, He is ever present and  He loves us.  He is not just sitting on His throne emotionless, He is in the trenches right beside us.  Pray that the peace and calmness that I had during my many hours at the bus station would be a reality for them too.

“May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

-Ephesians 3:19-20

I don’t want to fear the storm just because I hear it roar…

So the other day I felt called to start reading Ecclesiastes and one of the first things written: “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!” (v2) I must say that I was a little taken aback and as I continued to read , reflected on how bleak the passage seemed to be..the futility of wisdom, the futility of pleasure, the futility of work, of injustice...  the author compares these things to chasing the wind, it’s all meaningless… So I’m reading these uplifting and encouraging verses and finding that actually, the words, the ideas… they are resonating within me.  These things, without God, are meaningless – we came from the dust and to the dust we will return.  Both the wise man and foolish man will meet the same end, so why seek wisdom?
People strive to comprehend the why’s of life:   Why are we here?  Why do bad things happen?  Why aren’t they being healed?  Why is this still a struggle?  What’s the meaning/point?  Is everything meaningless? 
The past month and a bit I’ve had a lot of direct contact with situations that one would look at and wonder…Why? …Why God? 

… Someone struggling with mental illness, who loves the Lord, who genuinely seeks Him and yet is overcome with numbness, pain, struggle, experiencing loss and unable to seemingly gain any traction…

… A family working through the tragedy of losing a baby in a random house fire, grieving and having to pick up the pieces while dealing with the criticism of onlookers…

… Tropical storm/hurricane Nate coming in and causing millions of dollars worth of damage, destroying homes, taking lives…

When faced with these questions I’ve concluded that instead of questioning and trying to puzzle everything together (as I am prone to do) it is better to focus on who God is.  God is all knowing, His ways are greater (Isaiah 55:8-9), His definition of suffering is different than what we here on Earth view it as.  He is for us (Romans 8:28-31), He knows what’s best, and most importantly He is trustworthy.  It doesn’t mean He likes to see us in pain but He is able to use it for our greater good. In other (more eloquent) words: “…eternity has been planted in our heart [Ecclesiastes 3:11].  This refers to our innate human desire for ultimate meaning in life.  Yet in this life, our perspective and understanding are limited.  We can’t always understand why we suffer.  It is like looking at the underside of an Oriental rug.  All we see are knots and loose ends; we can only faintly make out the rug’s pattern.” – NLT Reflections on Ecclesiastes

Prayer/Praise: 
So even though Hurricane Nate paid us a visit and destroyed part of the road I needed to take to get to Nicaragua (in order to renew my visa) I was able to change my bus tickets and instead catch a flight the next day to Guatemala, all the while spending some wonderful quality time with Kate, a Stay member (Latin Link’s way of referencing long term missionaries).

Jana is here!  She is our new Strider (short term missionary) She’s going to be with us until April 2018.  This is a picture of her with her new Tica host mom.

• Along with Jana came a lovely cold for me! Wooo!  I would greatly appreciate prayer for lots of antibodies so that my body can heal and be stronger than ever!

• Today, I went to pay my rent and my landlady’s mother, who hasn’t been well seems to be getting worse.  She is usually waiting for me with a bright smile and we joke about all the boyfriends she has and how she had best be behaving; she gives me about a million kisses and sometimes I stay and watch the news with her or we have a glass of orange juice at the table while I ensure she takes all her medications.  Last month,  she had fallen and couldn’t remember who I was, today I got to see her and while she remembered who I was and flashed a classic smile, she didn’t want to get out of bed or eat, she just wanted to hold my hand.  I took some time after, to talk with my landlady who said that she hasn’t wanted to eat anything for days and things are very difficult in their home.  Please pray that God would bring healing into their home, that they would know and believe in Jesus and that she would be able to enjoy many more years!  Ultimately, His will be done, but I’m selfish and want her to stay a while longer :)

"And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it.  To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life – this is indeed a gift from God.  God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.” - Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

As someone who seems to fall into the brooding category more often than not this passage was a breath of fresh air.  May God keep us so engaged in savouring life that we have no time to dwell or stress!