Deus E Bom Pra Mim!!

Yesterday Matt and I returned to Valle del Sol after having not been for a month for various reasons.  As Steve met us at the school he said a short term mission team from Brazil would be joining us.  We foolishly thought they would arrive at 2 when the Bible School started.  They were not there, but tons of kids were.  At that point Steve put me on the spot and told me to start singing with the kids.  Unfortuneatly, all of the kids songs I know in Spanish, they do not know, and they were in no mood to learn them.  So I just tried to get them to sing for several grueling minutes with all of the kids looking at me like the fool that I was.  Horacio, who has a CD of children's songs and big poster boards with all of the words shows up and rescues me.  A few minutes later, the group from Brazil showed up, and taught the kids some songs in Portuguese.

At one point they had kids go up and sing the song, then the kids said adults should too.  So, first Horacio went to sing it, then I did.  I was in the back with Haley and kind of learned the words, but I didn't even realize there were motions to go with it, so I had to do it again with motions.  The words to the song we sang are:

Deus é bom para mim!
Deus é bom para mim!
Seguro estou, com Ele eu vou!
Deus é bom para mim!”

It means:
God has come for me!
God has come for me!
I am sure with Him I go!
God has come for me!

We left after the Bible lesson because Haley hadn't taken a nap and was getting really grumpy, but they had some activities for the kids to do.  It was neat to be able to worship in even another language, and that God understands all languages.  Fortunately, Portuguese is similar to Spanish and I could understand some of the people.

That girl is going to cost me a fortune

Today after our oral proficiency exam, we decided to go to the mall to celebrate finishing.  We went to a mall with a playground inside of it to eat Taco Bell (Matt) and Pizza Hut (Me and Haley) and to walk around.  After playing, the first store was a shoe store.  Haley would say "shoe, pretty; sandals, pretty; boots; pretty."  Keep in mind these were all women's shoes.  Then she looked at me and said "Mommy, I shoes" (she doesn't use many verbs in her sentances yet).  The next shoestore had sandals, crocs, and converse all in her size.  Quickly "shoe, pretty" transfered to "I hold it" which is her way of asking for it.  She was ok with us saying no, but still in awe of the shoes. 

Later we went to Carrion (Think JC Penney). Matt, when we got there told her he would buy her a shirt.  At the store in the shoes (women and girls) she thought all were pretty, but some were prettier than others.  In the clothes section, she knew exactly what she thought was pretty.  At the end she had a polo and a dress.  Matt told her she could get the shirt because it was cheaper.  The rest of the time at the mall she kept saying "I polo, I hold it." 

I know I will have so much fun with this little girl, going shopping with her, but as much as she likes clothes and shoes, and pretty things, she is going to cost us a fortune.  Oh well.

ECO

The ECO is the oral profficiency test that our school offers.  It is usually about 30 minutes of answering whatever question the teacher wants to ask to us.  We were assigned to teachers that we have never had as our teacher so that they don't really have a clue what level we are on.  It evens the playing field a little bit.  I walked, and Eugenia greeted me with "Oh you're Nicole, the famous one that I have heard so many good things about."  That immediately eased any anxiety I might have had.  Her best friend, Xinia, works in the office, and Xinia and I have become friends during Zumba.  The questions were not difficult, and just gave me the opportunity to talk about things I really care about, my family, my ministry, and my interests.  At the end she turned off the recorder and told me one of the best compliments I have ever heard.  She told me that she has seen that Matt and I both have an obvious passion for the people of Latin America. She said she appreciated how much we love people without discrimination.  She said much more.  This was someone I had never talked to before today, but she had been watching me and my family and how we interact with others.  After she finished all that she had to say, I was deeply touched.

Matt came out of his test, also feeling that he had done well.  Monday we have a 16 page grammar test, and we graduate 2 weeks from today.  We are one step closer.

Beggars

A few times a week, we get beggars asking for things.  Usually they ask for food or money.  Also, many times they are men and seem to be high.  Tonight we heard the typical "UPE!!" Along with the clanging on our gate.  Above the attention getters was a baby crying.  Most of the time we don't answer because the men aren't always trustworthy, and at times they are dangerous.  I asked Matt to look out the window to see if it was a woman.  When it is a woman we are much more likely to help because women always have other mouths to feed.  The woman had already gone down the road a ways, but I called to get her attention and had a little oatmeal some bananas, apples, crackers, peas and some beans.  I asked the lady who all lived with her and she said her, her 5 children, her brother, and her mom.  I imagine that it is only one bed room and made out of scrap material.  As she was again walking off, our neigbor walked down with a loaf of bread. 

I hate that the food she received was not very much, nor was it quality, but I am happy that those 5 kids haves something to fill their bellies tonight.

Hopscotch and church.

Haley received a birthday/ going away gift from her Bible class teacher.  It says Costa Rica Pura Vida and has monkeys on it.

There was two baptisms at church this morning.  A man and his wife have been studying with Jose a leader at the church for about a month.  Everyone went to the front of the church to gather around them and celebrate in the decision to follow Christ.

Believe it or not, right before this picture, Haley was hugging and kissing on Ronald, the preacher of the church.  Just recently, she has started to like him, and now we are leaving.

This is a sweet girl in the youth group that loves Haley so much.

Instead of class today, we just had a time to socialize with everyone.  Haley was being helped on the hopscotch.  All the boys were playing soccer, and most of the little kids were just running around being silly.

It was a great morning at church.

Thinking about buying Harry Potter...

I've never once read a Harry Potter book, but now, I am thinking about buying the set - in Spanish.  In April when we were in Honduras, Pamela and Ana told me that they enjoy reading.  Most of the books at Casa de Esperanza are on a much younger level than that which they read on.  I also would love for them to have Narnia or Lord of the Rings in Spanish.  This will be some collections that it will take a few years to acquire, but I really want to see these kids having a love for reading.  I also think fiction stories are a great way to escape.  Who knows, maybe I will even read them too...

Date Morning

Yesterday, Matt and I felt as if we had hit the wall.  We didn't think there was anyway possible that we would be able to survive the last three weeks.  We both had grammar tests in our first classes so we had to go.  However, we decided that we would leave Haley in her class at daycare till we usually pick her up, and we walked to McDonalds and shared a Coke and a McFlurry.  We were able to spend an extra two hours relax and talk with each other and not be in the house.  The date wasn't big or fancy, but it was great for our marriage and for the survival of our last three weeks in CR.

101 Things about Costa Rica

We are in the final stretch of our year here in CR.  Here are a few things that we have learned while we have been here.  Really we have learned soo much more.

1.  Walking everywhere wares out, rips holes, and break shoes
2.  Just because it is sunny and 85 at noon does not mean that you can go to the park at 3:00 after naptime, because it is frequently rainy.
3.  In one day, it is likely to wear a tank top and shorts in the morning, pants and a jacket in the afternoon, and back to the tank top a little while later.
4.  Wherever you go, you must watch for poop. 
5.  You should never leave home without an umbrella.
6.  Costa Rican babies drink from a bottle until they are at least 4.
7.  If it is below 72 and your small child is not in a jacket and hat, you will be repremanded by other Tica moms.
8.  Taco Bell is real Costa Rican food, or at least you would think that if you ever saw their lines.
9.  There are a surprising amount of Asians.
10.  People don't get offended when referring to people as fat, or "little blacky" (negrito), but if you accidently say stupid, you are in big trouble.
11.  People generally want to prevent a child crying at all cost, so if a child throws a fit in church, instead of taking the child out of church, it is better to give the kid a sucker.
12.  Babies are worshiped here.  If you take a baby to a bank with you, you will immediately be moved to the front of the line.  Supermarkets sometimes even have special lines for handicapped, pregnant, and woman with children.
13.  A cute little blonde girl can get food from all types of people just by smiling.
14.  People don't think it is wierd to give children they do not know food without first asking permission from the parents.  For that reason, Haley has received ice cream, candy, chips, and cookies from complete strangers in the park.
15.  All bills must be paid in the bank or the supermarket. 
16.  Sometimes you don't get the bill till after it is due, but that doesn't matter, and it is not due on the same day of each month.
17.  Costa Rica is much more expensive than Honduras.
18.  Babies might have a bottle till their four (see #6) but if your 18 month old still has a pacifier, they ask why you let your kid have that.
19.  Generally, Ticos really do not like Nicaraguans, but the feeling is mutual.
20.  Most people here don't believe that any crime that happens here is the fault of their own.  Anyone that is poor, robs, or does drugs must actually be from Nicaragua.
21.  If you let your kid play in the rain or splash in puddles, people will think you have gone off the rocker because...
22.  If you let your kid get wet, they surely will be sick. (Then how do we bathe them?)
23.  The cleanliness of the floor is the most important aspect of a Costa Rican home.  Therefore, I could never be a good tica.
24.  Costa Ricans don't trust many people.
25.  Women of all sizes and ages can walk better in heels than in flat shoes.
26.  Just because they speak Spanish does not mean they say many of the same things in Honduras.
27.  When I arrived the ticos said I sounded Honduran, but when I went to Honduras, they said I sounded like a Tica.
28.  Sometimes misplacing the accent of a word can sound like your cussing.
29.  In talking about extreme sports you should not say that you would like to climb mountains without "ropa" you should say without "cuerdas."  Without "ropa" is without clothes, but without cuerdas is without ropes.
30.  It is a common belief that wakling around your house barefoot will make you sick.
31.  Because all sickness comes from the ground.
32.  Ginger tea with honey is the first medicine of choice when one has a cold.
33.  It seems strange to most Costa Ricans that we are not familiar with home remedies and that we do not use them.
34.  Children learn a language much quicker than adult.
35.  Right now Haley knows more Spanish than English.
36.  Being in CR can make you miss things like ribs and good steak.
37.  It is possible still to go a year without cell phones.
38.  Favorite TV shows of ticos are The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men.
39.  Tortillas not Buscuits come with meals at Church's Chicken.
40.  Many English words are made into Spanish ones:  to facebook - facebookear; to skype - skypear; to google something: googlear, and many others.  Also, here they call a playground: el play.
41.  Mother's Day is not celebrated on the second Sunday of May, but on August 15.  Does that mean I get an extra Mother's Day celebration this year??
42.  Being away from friends and family can at times make adults look in their mail boxes like college students hoping for something from home.
43.  The way you pronounce a word actually does make a huge difference in what you are saying, and one letter can make a huge difference.  How would you like to confuse hilo (floss) with hijo (son)??
44.  All young people wear converse.
45.  The skaters at the park don't care if there is a soccer or basketball game happening, when they arrive, they think it is their territory.  And they like to smoke the mota (pot).
46.  On Sunday afternoon Parque Copa becomes Parque Gringo.
47.  The walk to church is literally up hill both ways.
48.  Just because you can understand Spanish well does not mean that you can understand church well.  Somehow a toddler and a room with a really bad echo makes it difficult to pay attention to church.
49.  Cake and donuts here are usually dry, but if you can get them fresh they are good.
50.  Our child is more accostomed to buses and taxes rather than cars.
51.  We haven't used a car seat in a year with the exception of when we visited family at Christmas.
52.  It is common for people to come to our gate asking for food.
53.  Women always receive some of our food when they knock.
54.  People may not ever remember our name, but everyone remembers Haley's or "Lili."  Whereever we are in town someone always comes up and says Hola Lili!
55.  Honduas and Costa Rica are not as close together as they look.  The whole road between San Jose and Tegucigalpa are mountainous.  We were going to visit multiple times until we realized that.
56.  It is a big treat to by goldfish.
57.  Sometimes we make a special trip downtown just to by Dr. Peppers.
58.  Traveling here is not the same as living here.  We have been here a year and not been to the beach.
59.  January and February bring bright orange blooms on trees on the mountains.  It is called "fire on the mountain."
60.  Poisettas are actually trees.
61.  So are Bouganvillas (actually they are vines, but they are as big and wide as trees).
62.  Many other houseplants grow to be 8-12 feet tall.
63.  The most important possessions to a tico are shoes and umbrellas.
64.  We often think of little things from the States that would be nice to have; usually it is certain food things.
65.  Costa Rica now has Wal-Mart.
66.  Wal-Mart is not the cheapest place but one of the most expensive.
67.  Saturdays usually consist of donuts, followed by buying fresh produce at the neighborhood farmer's market.
68.  Many times people think you are rich just because you are an American.
69.  Everyone assumes that you can't speak Spanish.  No matter how bad your Spanish is, it is usually better than their English.
70.  Jesus Adrian Romero is the most popular Christian artist in Central America.
71.  Everyone is jealous of blue eyes.
72.  Many ticos have much fairer skin than most people in Latin America.
73.  Therefore manytimes I have mistaken a Costa Rican for a Gringo.
74.  Generally, Tica moms are much more protective of their children.  Their 6-7 year old children are frequently scared to climb the same things that my 2 year old climbs.
75.  I thought it strange that Haley quit trying to walk on her own when we got here, but when she started back up again at 15.5 months, people here thought it was so early for a child to start walking on their own.
76.   People of all ages wear Sesame Street T-shirts.
77.  Newborn baby girls get their ears pierced in the hospital unless the parents say otherwise.
78.  Parents of newborn baby boys have to aske to have their baby circumcized.  Otherwise it may not even be mentioned to them.
79.  Spanking is highly illegal, but most people still do it.
80.  There are no street times or house numbers.
81.  All city blocks are said to be 100 meters whether they are 20 or 200. 
82.  You give directions from the nearest landmark.
83.  For example, when I call a taxi, my address is:  De parque sauces, 200m west and 50m north, and I live in the white and tourquoise house.  Really it is about 100 meters west and 15 north.
84.  Tourist books say that Cafe Britt is the best, but really it is just a more expensive gimmick for gringos. 
85.  Trash comes Wednesday and Saturday.  You cannnot put it out the night before because people or dogs will dig through it, but many times it comes before 7:00 in the morning.  Othertimes, it doesn't come till Thursday.
86.  Some days we walk under two miles, but that is rare.
87.  ESPN espanol usually only shows soccer or boxing.
88.  Soccer is the only sport people here really care about.
89.  Costa Rica has a female president.
90.  Costa Rica has more teachers than soldiers because CR doesn't have an army.
91.  A woman's outfit is incomplete without a necklace.
92.  Just because you live in apartment #2 does not mean that the water bill that says #2 is the one you should pay.  We learned that the hard way when our neighbors in #1 paid their #1 bill a day late and our water got cut off.
93.  Latin American literature doesn't have much redeeming value to it.
94.  Santa doesn't bring gifts at Christmas,  instead "el nino" (the boy, refers to Jesus) brings them.  At least it has to do with the reason for the celebration.
95.  Fireworks go off at all times of the night.
96.  So do car alarms, but not necessarily because someone is trying to rob them.  It is usually because the wind blew too strongly.
97.  Earthquakes are scary.  Thankfully none of them cause any damage.
98.  Giggle, chuckle, laugh, and snicker all translate to the word reirse. 
99.  There is an on-going border controversy with Nicaragua.
100. You kiss on the cheek when you greet here, but not an actual kiss, just touch cheeks and make a kissing noise.
101.  We do everything in Kilograms not Pounds, Centimeters not Inches, Meters not feet or yards, and Kilometers not miles.

Jambalaya Pasta

I love food (obvious, huh?).  I love cooking it as much as I do eating it.  Generally however, I don't love using recipes.  I just add things that seem good together.  Tonight I made a pasta dish that I call Jambalaya pasta.  Here is how you make it:

16 oz. de penne pasta
Brown 1/2 lb of sausage
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (browned)
Saute' 1/2 large onion or 1 whole small onion, 2 med. bell peppers, and 1/2 large tomato in oil
For the sauce:
1 package McKormick Alfredo mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 stick of butter (put the other half into the noodles after draining them)
Tony's (or other cajun seasoning) to taste

Mix everything together and stir well.  Best with some fresh bread.
Enjoy.

Haley

Its time for you to learn about Haley.  Most people that read this that know Haley know Haley from a year ago.  Since she is turning two I will let you know more about our little girl so that you can get more of an idea of what her personality is like...

Style:
Is 2 years old too young to develop your own fashon style??  I think not.  Haley loves dresses, all dresses.  She loves shoes and cheers and claps for them if we are in a shoe store or if we are looking at them online.  Currently her favorite pair of shoes is a blue canvas pair of maryjanes that have little white flowers on them.  We always give her options of what she wears of a morning, but then she chooses the accessories.  The other day she went to school in plaid shorts, and a tank top.  To go with it, she chose her denim jacket, plastic pearls, and her LSU baseball hat.  Other days she picks a dress and wants to wear her rain boots with it.  She has started to like bows more and really likes ponytails.  In spanish a ponytail is called a cola, but every morning Haley tells us she wants a coka which is also what she calls Coke sometimes.

Animals:
Haley loves butterflies, monkeys, dogs, cats and hippos.  As we are walking, when a dog runs to a gate barking at us Haley laughs and claps.  She thinks God created doggies just for her enjoyement.  She always wants to wear her clothes with butterflies on it, and she giggles when she sees pictures of hippos.

Books:
Every night we read together.  Haley's favorite books are the book of nursery rhymes that Nana reads.  "Myrtle the Turtle", a book that a lady from my grandma's church wrote, and a book with lots of different animals in it.

Toys:
Haley, right now loves blocks.  She always wants to build and tear down her "towshers".  Her other favorite toys are her baby doll, her Minnie Mouse, and her purple doggie that Mrs. Donna got her for her birthday last year.  She also loves balls.

Things to do:
Haley loves to play at the park.  She climbs, slides, swings and runs for a couple hours at a time.  She loves to play in the dirt and rocks, and she thinks she can do anything the older kids can do.  Haley also likes to listen to music and read with Mommy.  She loves to help clean, and pick things up (really don't know where that one came from).  Haley has recently started liking to color.  We bought her some coloring books after we found her trying to draw on the wall (fortunately it was with a pencil not permanent marker).  She loves to spin and circles and play with her mommy and daddy.  And as I mentioned before, she loves to build with her blocks.

Foods:
Haley loves any fruit, especially apples, bananas, watermelon, and pineapple.  She loves pizza, chicken, and baleadas (which are much like quesadillas).  And a girl after my own heart, she loves anything sweet.

Other:
Right now Haley loves Dora.  She watches Dora at school, and has a couple Dora placemats.  She knows all of the characters and always points them out to us.  We are going to find a Dora doll for her when we get to the states.  She also loves all things with princesses and Minnie.
She loves things that go:  cars, motorcycles, buses, planes all facinate her.
Haley loves all babies.  Many times she will stop playing at the park, just to go see a baby. 

Haley is always keeping us laughing, and she fills this world with so much joy.

Prayers Please

Wow!! We only have 4 weeks to go here in CR.  The next couple of weeks we have a lot of big tests and would love your prayers. 

Jul 21 - Matt- language test; Nicole, translation
Jul 22 - Matt and Nicole Grammar Test
Jul 26- Nicole - major project due
Jul 29 - Matt and Nicole - ECO or oral exam to determine our level of speaking
Aug 1 - Matt and Nicole comprehensive grammar test covering the material we have learned this year
Aug 5 - Final Grammar test
Aug 8 - Final Language test for Matt and final translation test for Nicole
Aug 12 - Graduation
Aug 16 - Fly to TX

Thanks for your prayers.

The Road Less Traveled...

My all time favorite poem is Robert Frost's "The Road Less Traveled."  If you do not know it, here are its words:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
 
Even when I read this in middle school or high school, and I was forced to memorize it, I loved it.  I loved it for the imagery.  I have always enjoyed camping, biking, and hiking.  I could picture myself standing at a fork in a trail and needing to decide the way I would go. 
 
I also love it because I desire to travel on the less popular road.  Sometimes the less popular road is the one more difficult, but it also is the one that brings more adventures as well as more rewards.  Like the poem says:  "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, and it has made all the difference."

A Week of Birthdays

When we were in Honduras in April, Cindy reminded me the whole time that almost the whole family had birthdays right together:

Dad7/19
Lili 7/20
Mom7/21
Cindy 7/22

I was talking to my mom tonight, and she said Cindy put all of the family birthdays up on the calandar.  Cindy has a very special realationship with me and Matt that reaches a part of my heart that is inexplicable, especially considering the first summer we met Cindy was anything but enjoyable with her, but nevertheless we love her. 

We are celebrating Haley's birthday on Saturday (more to come later) because we want to make an all day celebration for her, doing all of her favorite things.  I will photo-log the entire day and share that later.  Of course, I am excited to celebrate my sweet girl's special day, but at the same time, I long to be in Honduras with the other special people in my life celebrating their day.  I would love to celebrate Haley's and Cindy's birthdays with all of the children at Casa.

Along with the 4 birthdays mentioned above, another special birthday should happen next week sometime too.  My cousin is going to have her first little baby due on the 22.  So although, I cannot celebrate with everyone, Happy Birthdays to Dad, Mom, Cindy, and baby Esther.  I love you all so much.

Once Upon a Time

• Once upon a time, I had more shoes than I could ever wear.
• Once upon a time, I went shopping just because I had a bad day.
• Once upon a time, I never had to worry about my shoes wearing out because I didn't have to walk every where, and I had so many shoes that my shoes didn't have the chance to wear out.
• Once upon a time, I had jeans without holes.
• The list goes on.

Sometimes, when my only pair of sandals break, my tennis shoes wear a hole or my jeans rip, I feel frustrated.  I sometimes wish I could run to Dillards and buy a pair of cute, new shoes.  However, I am so thankful for the life God has given me.  I'm thankful that, although my only pair of sandals tore up today, that I do have other shoes that I can continue to wear.  I'm thankful that, although my jeans have holes, I do have  other clothes I can wear.  I am thankful that, although sometimes I have to walk in the rain, I have a dry home to come into.  I'm thankful that God constantly reminds me that the souls of people are so much more important and valuable than cute shoes.

Praising God tonight for big reminders in the smallest ways.

Proud of Matt

In many things, Matt and I are ver similar.  We laugh at the same things, enjoy the same shows on TV, have similar interests etc.  However, one way we are very different is how we learn Spanish.  I love language learning, and the process is somewhat easy to me, at least in comparason to others.  Matt, on the other hand, hates learning languages.  It does not come easy to him at all.  In fact, usually after many hours of studying he is happy with and 80.  80 is not bad at all, but he always gets frustrated when he feels like he knows the material very well, and doesn't do as well on a test as he hoped.  Today, however, Matt received his grammar test and received a 23/20.  More than 100%.  Wow!!  Maritza, who has been his teacher for 2 trimesters and his tutor for one was bragging on him because she knows how hard he works.  I thought I would brag on him too.  Good Job, Matt!

You can't give her candy for throwing a fit... well, I guess you can.

Sunday mornings at church continue to be the 3 hardest hours of my week.  Haley does not like anything about worship, except the apple she snacks on for the first 30 minutes.  There is no baby nursery, nor is there a good place we can take her when she is not behaving.  We live in a country where it is highly illegal to give spankings, so while we still ocassionally spank her in the privacy of our own home, we do not feel comfortable spaking her even in the bathroom of church.  Every Sunday we go through the "Haley Don'ts" 

• Haley don't run to the front
• Haley don't stand on the pew
• Haley don't slap
• Haley don't spit on the floor
• Haley don't pull hair
• Haley don't scream

Today, Haley realized that the bubbles were still in her stroller from the other day at the park.  She wanted to play with them, and I said no.  She proceeded to throw a whopper of a fit.  Just as I was going to take her out of the auditorium to settle down, a lady in the pew next to us pulls a sucker out of her purse and insists that we give it to Haley.  This is where the biggest part of the dillema came in: 1) We could refuse it, coming across as rude and as parents who can't control their kids or 2) Humbly taking the sucker, and in a way rewarding Haley for her bad behavior.

I did not want her to have that sucker.  Her behavior this morning did not merrit a treat.  However, I also did not want to hurt the lady's feelings or be seen as rude.  Here people will do whatever they can to make sure that a child does not cry, even if it means bribing them.  This was a small frustration, and not the end of the world, but I really do wish people would let me parent and not get Haley to be quiet by giving her suckers.  Oh well.

But that is dangerous...

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people associate poverty with danger.  The other day I was talking to an American that lives here talking about how it is so difficult to find a place to live because no matter where they choose, there will be poor people near, and she doesn't want to get robbed.  She continued talking and continued associating poverty with crime.  This was like a dagger going into my heart.  I have done a lot of work with poor in my life: in the States, in Honduras, and here in Costa Rica.  Many poor have the biggest, most welcoming hearts, a faith in God deeper than anything I have, and a willingness to help their fellow-man that far surpasses most people with money.  Of course there is danger amongst the poverty, but we have not been called to "GO" only to places where we feel safe and secure.

Fear can be binding, and so many people (including missionaries) live in fear of the people they have gone to work with.  If we live our lives paranoid that we are going to be robbed, hurt or whatever other fear people have, how are we ever going to be effective missionaries.  How is someone going to come to know Christ if they know the person teaching them does not truly consider them a friend? 

My challenge today, is for you to decide to minister unselfishly.  Allowing people into your life is scary, hard, and messy; however, the rewards for allowing people to truly be a part of your life are eternal.

Now go be a blessing to this world.

Proskuneo Ministries and a Time of Spiritual Renewal

Last week at school was Spiritual Emphasis Week.  We had a time of worship twice a day, once in the morning during break time, and once in the afternoon.  In the two previous semesters, each session involved a little singing and about 45 minutes of preaching.  This however was more singing and instead of preaching we had focused breakout groups designed to build us up and encourage us.

Proskuneo is a ministry group that has a huge focus on worship.  They can sing worship songs in many different languages.  Singing worship songs in different languages is a great way to be reminded that Chistians worldwide are all one family in Christ. 

Sometimes with classes it is easy to get bogged down with assignments and tests.  During Spiritual Emphasis Week none of the teachers give homework or tests to allow us the freedom to attend the worship sessions.  Therefore, after last week, we are feeling renewed and encouraged from our week of worship and praise.

Praise God for providing this big encouragement to us.

Fireworks in CR

A few days ago we received an email about a huge 4th of July celebration in the American part of town.  They were going to have hot dogs, hamburgers, a parade, and most importantly fireworks.  I was so excited until I realized that it would cost us a lot of money to ride taxis to the place or a lot of time to ride buses.  We decided that it wasn't worth it to drag Haley across town and be gone for 5 or 6 hours, so instead we planned to make chilli dogs and watch fireworks on TV (not the same I know).

Shortly after we decided not to go to Escazu, we received another email saying that some students at our school were going to be throwing a big party at the school.  Everyone chipped in to bring sides, desserts, drinks, and meat. 

Our school is full of missionaries that are neither in the States where we came from, nor on the field where we are going.  We are all in a constant state of transition.  Therefore, we all were desiring a piece of home.  We all loaded up on burgers and hot dogs from a charcoal grill (something none of us have since we are all here temporarily).  Plus there were baked beans, potato salad, and mac and cheese.  There was a whole spread of desserts including blueberry cobbler and apple pie.  After dinner, we went out side to see a display of fireworks. 

Really and truly, fireworks are not all that uncommon here.  We hear them go off pretty much every night about 1:00; however, it was so nice to have them go off and get to actually watch them.  When at times it seems we are so far from home, it was great to celebrate the independence of our home country.