A Large Part of What Seven Months

of Spanish language school looks like:


Multiply that sheet times five hundred which is an estimate of how many verbs we know. Now we have learned fourteen ways to use them in conversation. Here is where the rubber meets the road--putting the conjugations all together and making sense while talking with someone. Right now it feels like a huge mix of verbs and conjugations is floating around in my head, but I know that with practice, it will become clearer. Actually, it already has in some ways!

Last week, we began the subjunctive mood in grammar. It is how people express their will, suggestions, and ideas, among other things. Very important for people whose desire is to share the gospel with others! There are fifteen rules to the subjunctive, and my class will probably only cover three or four before the end of this trimester.

Gracias a Dios for this work! Now, off to study and practice!


 

Love

I have written twice on love. I wanted to add to my thoughts on some of what God has been showing me. The importance of love is stated over and over in the Bible. For example when Paul wrote to the Philippians, in ch1 vs9 he stated "I pray that your love will grow more and more." He did not pray for their faith, hope, physical health, giving, etc. All of those are, of course, important but what he chose to pray for was their love.

So how do we know if we are loving? We can get a love "check up" by studying First Corinthians ch 13 vs 4-8a. Verse four says "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant." (NASB) This verse is pretty straight forward. I need to be patient in all areas of my life such as being more patient with my children and more patient with Spanish learning. I need to be kind to everyone, even when a beggar comes by for the fourth time this week and it is a really inconvenient time for me but I must remember that hunger is always inconvenient for him/her. I should not be jealous of others or brag to others or feel superior to others. In fact I am to treat others as more important than myself(Philippians 2:3). How often do I truly treat others as more important than myself, especially if it is someone I have conflict with? Not enough is the correct answer.

Verse 5 reads "(Love) does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered." Most versions of the Bible substitute the word "rude" for unbecomingly probably because it is more familiar and easier to wrap your mind around. "Unbecomingly" is far broader. I cannot remember saying that someone acted unbecomingly in all my life. I believe it means I should do nothing that is unattractive in any way, especially to the cause of Christ. I can be "unbecoming" without being rude.

The phrase "it does not seek its own" means I should not be selfish or envious of what others have. The next phrase "is not provoked" means I must not be easily angered or irritated. Again an area of my life that needs work. The final phrase in this verse "does not take not account a wrong suffered" was a major issue early in my life. I could tell Dawn that she had committed an offense 3 years, five months, and 10 days ago, but who is counting? Thanks be to God I am married to an extremely forgiving woman who has taught me not to remember past wrongs but to forgive and not bring up stuff from the past. I have not perfected this concept but I am much better than when I married Dawn.

These verses are a good start for a "love checkup". I will finish verses 6-8 next time.

Breakfast at the Feria

Saturday mornings, there is a small farmer's market, called a "feria," about a mile from our house. I usually go early, around 6:30-7:00 am, to get the best selection. We can buy fruits and vegetables cheaper than in the grocery store. Lettuce, yucca, pineapples, peppers, carrots, bananas, plantains, potatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro, etc. are available. At times, there is a lady selling bread and other vendors who sell juices and homemade baked goods. We've bought honey there before in a secondhand bottle, but we haven't seen that vendor lately.

There is a small outdoor restaurant also. When we first arrived in Costa Rica, I would not have dreamed of eating there. Once we all got settled in to life here, a couple of classmates starting having breakfast there, so I decided to join them. Timothy went with me the second time. We had a great time just visiting and enjoying the beautiful Costa Rican weather. You can get a huge pile of gallo pinto ("rice and beans"), two eggs, and sausage for about $2.50. Believe it or not, rice and beans are great for breakfast. My friends are David Miller of Lancaster, Pennsylvania on the left who is going to Chile, and Jacob Folk on the right from Powdersville, SC who is staying in Costa Rica after language school. We tend to think of people here not in terms of where they're from, but where they're going after language school to serve the Lord. In the foreground, there is a typical layout of carrots, potatos, and onions. Timothy is sitting next to Jacob.

A Wonderful Weekend

Last weekend, we had a great visit with Margaret and Dwight Carr, the president of BMDMI.  This was their first visit to Costa Rica and it was a special time for Tully and me, and for all the missionaries here with BMDMI.  There are currently nine of us with BMDMI in language school, the most at one time in the history of the mission.  We were all encouraged by Margaret and Dwight--in our time with them, we laughed a lot, played games, and ate some great food.  On Monday, before their flight left to return to Honduras, we took them for a quick tour of the school and they got to meet some of the teachers and staff of the school. It was a great time of fellowship!

Tomato Soup

It is said that necessity is the mother of all inventions. For the last 2 years or so before we came to Costa Rica, we had a tradition of eating tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for Sunday night dinners. In Costa Rica we have had a hard time finding tomato soup. There is only one store that carries it and it is very expensive. We have been able to buy Hunts tomato paste at Pricemart which is owned by Sam's Club and carries some familiar brands. The tomato paste is not cheap but it is reasonably priced. I began to think that surely I could make some tomato soup from the tomato paste. I researched allrecipes.com and kind of made up my own recipe after experimenting a time or two. The amounts are large but remember we are cooking for 9 people. So for good tomato soup that sure beats what is in the can, try this:

Ingredients:

3 six ounce cans of tomato paste
1 tsp of dried onion flakes
1 tsp of paprika
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of basil
1 Tbsp of Lawry's seasoning salt
1 Tbsp of regular salt
36 ounces of water
35-50 ounces of milk

Directions:

1. Mix 1 can tomato paste with one can(tomato paste can) of water. Whisk until smooth. I usually put it in a pan on medium heat which makes it smooth easier. Once it is smooth add another can of water and whisk until smooth. This process will make the paste the consistency of tomato sauce. Put aside.
2. Repeat step one for cans 2 and 3 of the tomato paste. It is much easier to get the paste to mix with water if you make one can at a time and then add cans two and three to can one as they are made.
3. Add onion flakes, paprika, garlic, basil, Lawry's Seasoning Salt, table salt to the mixture and stir. Heat on low or put in a crock pot for one to two hours.
4. Ten to fifteen minutes before you are ready to eat, add the milk and stir. For thicker soup add 35 or so ounces of milk. For more volume add up to 50 ounces of milk. Heat to your desired temperature. For extra creamy soup substitute evaporated milk for regular milk. (We added evaporate milk this past Sunday and it was really good).
5. We like to serve the soup with grilled cheese sandwiches and Cheezit crackers. It surely beats what comes in a can and is very quick and easy to make.

Enjoy!!

Introducing Talí y Alba

When we first got here, we quicly realized how difficult our names are to pronounce in Spanish.  Our teachers try very hard to get our names right, but they are just like we are in Spanish, sometimes their mouths can't make the words in English without much effort. And not just the teachers, but we had this problem everywhere we went. Many of the locals think my English name is "Don," which is "Mister" in English. They wondered why I was called "Mister." : )

And Tully. The "u" sound that we say for his name does not exist in Spanish. They would say "Too-ly." The slash over Tully's name is called a "tilde." It is very important as it tells where to put the accent.

So, allow me to introduce our Spanish selves: Alba and Talí. These names work great. One of my maestras gave me the name Alba, because it is the translation for "dawn" in Spanish. Now even some of my English speaking friends call me that. And Talí sounds very close to Tully in rapid Spanish. Our tutor gave him the name and said it's a very old Spanish name.

So it's easy to introduce ourselves now.

Muchos Birthdays!

Within the months of February and March, our family has five birthdays and one anniversary! We celebrated with parties and friends and cake! Hope you enjoy the pictures--we will celebrate Elijah's birthday (6 years old!) this weekend (March 29).



Luke and his buddies



Luke's Birthday Party



Trey's Birthday Party


Elijah carefully putting candles on Tully's birthday cake


Elijah colored a beautiful picture for Tully and Gabriel gave Tully a craft he had made in his art class.