Goodbyes . . .

are definitely one of the hardest things about missionary life. "Oh, you'll get really good at saying goodbye," is something we've been told many times over the last two years. I'll never forget those last few days in SC in August. It was a roller coaster of emotion. So many people stopped by in those last few days to say their goodbyes. We told our mothers and the kids' grandmothers goodbye. Then, the group who came to the airport. . . oh, it was so, so hard saying all of those goodbyes. On the other hand, I was also excited to be going on to this next step in God's plan for our lives.

In the first trimester, we said goodbye to several families we had really enjoyed getting to know, and to our big sister, Lynda Gregg, with whom we will serve in the near future in Honduras.

This trimester, we have had more time to settle in and get to know people. The goodbyes have been much harder I guess because we have had more time here. I have discovered in myself this feeling of wanting to hold back in my relationships here in Costa Rica because I know our time here is short, but I have also been encouraged by friends not to do that, that I need these relationships, and if it hurts when we part, well, that just means we have loved and have been loved. During one goodbye party recently, I overheard two friends saying to one another with smiles on their faces that they would next see each other in heaven. They are serving in two distant countries, thousands of miles apart, and come from far away locations in the US, so they knew they would never see each other again this side of heaven.

In language school, we spend four - six hours a day with four or five people during a trimester. We struggle through the language together day in and day out. We know when our classmates' children are sick, or when they have received news from home, or a package; we know when someone in our classmates' family has a birthday, and generally we are there to help celebrate it. We know when someone has family coming from the States and what they're going to do when they're here.

As we practice our Spanish in class, we are encouraged to share likes and dislikes, and personal stories or "anecdotas" as they call them, so we know many of the funny stories and/or trials from each others' lives. We have shared our testimonies and the call God has given us, also the vision for ministry He has given us.

All of us are going through the same things together here, which is a great thing. We all lean on each other. We also realize that when we leave here and get to our fields of service, there will not be this close network that we have enjoyed this year. I am elated that our friendships here and at home will be able to continue on in this age of Skype and internet and Vonage.



Fellow BMDMI missionaries Kevin and Julie McKenzie, at our Thanksgiving feast. They left before Easter for Honduras, where they will serve at our mission's children's home. I enjoyed Julie standing outside my lenguaje classroom with her cup of coffee doing a little dance most mornings.


Darlynne and Angela (in the orange shirt) saying goodbye. Angie will be beginning studies at Moody Bible Institute in the States in the fall. Darlynne will be here for another trimester.


Saying goodbye to Steve and Diane Wilson, friends now serving a hospital in Ecuador



Saying goodbye to Sierra Ensley, in the green shirt. She is now serving in Argentina. Sierra is from NC and is part Cherokee. She came over the night before she left for Argentina and regaled all of us with information on the Cherokee people.


Lynda Gregg with the kids and me, in the fall at Parque La Paz


Grace & Daniel, friends of Timothy and Luke, whose family are missionaries here in Costa Rica. They left in April to go on furlough to Venezuela, Colombia, and the US.

Looking Towards Mother's Day

Copied from an e-mail I received--don't know the author, but I liked it. . .

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
they don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough
doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what
the vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'
and get their answer when a little
voice says, 'Because I love you best.'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth
is not measured by height or years or grade...
It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother....

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either..

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,
because that is the doorway to her heart,
the place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.
It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she
shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Driver's License

We are off from school between trimesters this week. We decided to rent a car to have some freedom we have not previously had to see some of Costa Rica. Let me describe a typical day in our life now. The day before I was to get the car, I was talking to a fellow student about the car rental when he asked me if I had a Costa Rican drivers license. I told him no that I thought my American license would be OK since we have a student visa. But alas, after living in the country for more than 90days, the United States driver's license is no good. I needed a Costa Rican license. This student had just gotten his license and offered to go with me since he knew the "ropes" and could speed up my process.

We took a bus to San Jose, walked about 12-15 blocks and finally found another bus stop to take a bus to the licensing office. When we arrived we went to an office for a physical exam. I had to give blood, get a brief exam from a doctor and then off to the licensing office. We had left San Jose about 8 am and now it was about 9 am. We were told in the licensing office that the first lady I had to see was in a meeting and would be back at about 12 noon. Soooo, we went back to San Jose by bus, and wandered around for a while trying to find an umbrella store where they actually make and repair umbrellas. Finally we found the store, I had one umbrella fixed that was broken and bought 2 new ones for the girls since they do not have their own. It was about 11 by then so we stopped and got a bite to eat. We each ate a chicken empanada. Next was a return bus trip to the licensing center. Arrived at 12 noon and proceeded to sit and wait until 1:15. Finally got in the building and after 5 different steps I had my license at 2:30pm. Remember, we started at 8am. We retraced our steps, took 2 different buses home and arrived back home at 3 pm, very tired.

While waiting at the licensing center, a Nicaraguan man struck up a conversation. To practice my Spanish, I will usually ask about someone's work, family, and if they are Christian or Catholic. This man proceeded to tell me that he reads his Bible often, prays much, and only fears the Lord. He does not worry or fear robbers in the street. A good lesson for all of us. This man's name is William but he does not speak a word of English.





William, a man of faith that I will see again only in heaven.

Oh Happy Day!!

This week has been pretty crazy. It was the end of the trimester--lots of topics to squeeze in and alot of homework. The boys had their big Spanish tests. We were trying to do various other things as well. It was crazy.

Two days ago, when I was in my grammar class I caught a glimpse of Tully walking into the administration building (okay, okay, it was really hot, and there are alot of windows, and it's the end of the trimester,and at times my mind wanders to the goings on and beautiful surroundings outside) and he was holding a box. A box that looked suspiciously like a package from home. It was very intriguing to me as we weren't expecting anything. Sometimes we get a head's up that a package is on it's way.

When I got home from class, Tully had the box sitting on the kitchen table for me to open. It's always so much fun when we get letters, news, and packages from home! I opened it and it was filled to the brim with Girl Scout cookies! Our dear friends from Columbia (formerly of Greer), Michael and Lucie Bingham and their family had sent it to us along with two cans of tomato soup--in case we ever get in a pinch with our Sunday night tradition of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Margaret, their sweet daughter, is a Girl Scout this year and wanted to send us some cookies. They couldn't decide which ones to send because they knew we would probably have many favorites within our family, so they wound up sending us a box of each!

When the children came home from school, I am SURE our neighbor Claudia heard the whoops of joy that went up when they realized we had received a package of Girl Scout cookies!

Now is the hard part: rationing them out! : )

Thank you, thank you, Margaret!! (And Lucie, Michael, and Joshua, too!)

Claudia

Our sweet neighbor Claudia is 83 years old. She is widowed and lives by herself. She loves to talk to me about the children and always comments on how quiet we are. (I didn't remind her that we both live on a very, very noisy bus route!) : )

She came over last week to ask Tully a medical question and then we visited for a little bit. Tully and I were practically jumping up and down when she left because we could understand almost everything she said. She came over to introduce herself to us the second day we were here and we, of course, had to have someone interpret. It just sounded like rapid gunfire Spanish to us!

Through the months, we could see a little improvement in our understanding each time we talked with her. It's been 6 weeks or so since we had seen her last. Now, what a great feeling!

Last Sunday

A few days before, we had received a little note in our gate announcing that a band was going to be coming to our park on last Sunday. The firemen had organized it, and there would be artisans there and some food, tamales I think.

We went to the early service at church and were home by 11 am. Shortly after that, we began to hear a band practicing, and a few minutes later, they paraded past our house on their way around the block. The band was led by some famous (here) cartoon characters. Of course, their gigantic size is intimidating to small children. We heard that, 20 years ago, these big characters would chase children around with sticks and shovels. YIKES! We're all glad that doesn't happen anymore! These guys were great at dancing in those heavy (and hot, I'm sure) costumes and playing with the children! Elijah wanted to have his picture made with one, and just when it would be his turn, he would back away shyly.





See the boy peaking out from the costume?




Finally, success with the picture! He's so brave--I think it helped that Timothy was there, too!

Las hormigas!

UGH! Ants here are a huge problem--I think I have mentioned that before. I did finally get some pictures to show how teeny tiny they are. If there is the smallest crumb left out, one ant discovers it and, of course, goes back to tell all of his friends where the party is.

About a month ago, we had a terrible problem with ants. In the height of the dry season (I don't know if that had anything to do with anything), they got into a corner cabinet in the kitchen. I took everything out in the cabinet out, wiped it off, cleaned the cabinet, etc. and put everything back in only to find out a whole new band of ants had invaded that same cabinet by the next morning. I repeated that scenario over the next few days--it was a little frustrating. Okay, a lot.

We don't like to use chemicals, but we got desperate. Tully went out and sprayed ant spray all around the house. Then we thought, "Okay, we're glad that's over!" We knew the problem was taken care of. The next morning, they were coming out of the electrical outlets between the kitchen counter and cabinets.

We THINK we finally have gotten them all--but you can now understand the need to constantly mop the floors. Oh, and the mop we use--it's another blog entirely! But it works fantastic on these tile floors!