Goodies from Home

Sometimes it feels as though we're in a time warp here. It's easy to imagine things in the US are as they were when we left them in August and again in early January. We have some friends from Maine who arrived here last April, and they say the same thing. They feel everything in Maine should be the same as it was last April. Living in a different country, it's hard to believe our family and friends have been through seasons changing, children growing, parents aging, jobs working--in general, life lived without us. It's strange.

Yesterday, we got a slip in our post office box that said we had a package to pick up at the post office. Excitement was thick in the air as we waited in anticipation until today when Tully could go pick it up (you have to take your passport and walk to the post office to pick up a package). I was studying during a break when Tully got back to school with the package--we opened it together and oohed and aahed over everything--chocolate chips, Valentine's candy, stickers, and balloons for the kids, magic markers, notebooks (which are really expensive here), and in the bottom were two Greenville News newspapers and a Family Circle magazine--WOW! News from home--it was wonderful to read about all of the happenings in our city firsthand. It's also a good reminder for us that everything there is moving right along without us, as it should, just as things are moving right along here.

In our time here of learning Spanish, one of the biggest encouragements we have experienced is knowing that our journey in missions is shared among the body of Christ. Sometimes that encouragement fits into a box lovingly packed and neatly filled with goodies from home. . .

Our Last Few Days at Home

When I think about everything that happened before we arrived here in Costa Rica, it still leaves me teary and thrilled and humbled to have been a part of something so massive that clearly could not have happened had it not been for the body of Christ coming together. God's presence was all around us as we packed and said our final goodbyes--it could never have happened without our awesome God. To Him be the glory!

I hope you enjoy these pictures from our last few days before leaving for Costa Rica. I don't think they relay very well all of the many hours our friends and family devoted to our getting moved out of our house and packed and ready for Costa Rica: toilets scrubbed, trunks, suitcases, carryons, and backpacks packed and weighed, and re-packed and re-weighed, boxes packed and taken to storage, runs to Miracle Hill, delicious meals cooked for our family, lunches brought over, cars delivered where they need to be, our refrigerator (much neglected as of late) cleaned out, the girls entertained, us to the airport on time. Thank you everyone. You have deeply humbled our family with your servant spirits! : )

A List of Things Sold

You never know how much stuff you have acquired until you get ready to move! Especially internationally--it really comes down to what is essential (and lightweight)! : )

In the last two weeks we have sold:

camper
patio set
entertainment center
my bike
Tully's bike
swingset
bowflex
car dolly
mixer
freezer
Polaris Ranger--Tully's fun hunting vehicle

Still need to sell:
tiller
lawnmowers--riding and push
yard tools? Still debating on that one.
VHS tapes--Andy Griffith, Three Stooges, Sesame Street, etc.
DVD tapes that aren't favorites
TVs?
basketball goal
treadmill
stereo & speakers

The awesome thing is the peace we have in watching all of this stuff leave our possession. God has truly blessed us with that! We are getting closer step by step and stuff by stuff (or lack of!) to what He has called us to do.

Home Sweet Home?

Costa Rican Kitchen


Master Bedroom




Our sweet friend and fellow missionary with BMDMI, Lynda Gregg, is in Costa Rica now at The Language Institute. This house in CR is one the language institute is considering for our family. Although Lynda is very busy with studies of her own, she walked down to the house yesterday and took a bunch of pictures for us to see what it looks like! Thank you, Lynda! : )

This house is only a block away from a park for the children, has more space than most Costa Rican houses, and is about a 10 minute walk from the school. No hot water in the house, which is pretty typical of Costa Rica--although there are widow makers in the showers. Widow makers heat the water really fast where the water comes into the shower. Lovely name, widow maker, huh!