I'm Dreaming of a Wet Christmas

It is 9:42 am, Christmas Day 2007, and I am sitting on our sofa in our house in San Jose, Costa Rica. There is Christmas music playing on the stereo. Our two girls are playing with the presents they opened EARLY this morning. Today is our first Christmas spent outside of the United States.

Although December is technically in the "Drier Season" here in Costa Rica, it is heavily raining right now. There have been very few rainy days in December thus far, mostly just some sprinkles here and there that didn't last very long.

Earlier this morning I was gazing out of our living room window at the plants in our small back yard, wondering if they had been getting enough water during these drier months. God decided to bring out his watering can and give them a drink. We have a small new gardenia plant in our backyard next to the large cactus tree. We are patiently waiting for the sweet white blooms to appear so we can enjoy the lovely fragrance. I was never a big fan of gardenia-scented items when we lived in Kansas City. Keeley used to make candles, and gardenia was a pretty big seller for her, but I never cared for it much. One day at our Language School here we were walking down the main sidewalk that leads to our class rooms when we were captured by the scent of something wonderful. Planted next to the sidewalk is a large gardenia plant with many flowers. It has become part of our morning routine to "stop and smell the flowers" on our way to our classes.

This Christmas is very different than what we are used to. But as I stop to reflect on where we are and what God is doing in our lives, there are so many sweet blossoms to smell and enjoy.

Thanks God for giving us your only Son. Thanks God for giving us so
much to be thankful for. Thanks God for giving us fragrant blessings to
stop and enjoy.

What fragrant blessings has God placed in your life today? Are you slowing down long enough to enjoy them deeply?

Merry Christmas!

Nicarauguan Adventure

When we came into Costa Rica, the immigration office issued us a Tourist Visa that is good for three months. In order to stay in the country longer than that, we have to either get a different type of Visa or leave the country for 72 hours and then come back in to renew the Tourist Visa for another three months.

We are in the process of getting all of our paperwork together to apply for a Student Visa which will be good for six months and can be renewed without leaving the country. There are a lot of hoops to jump through, so it is taking longer than expected.

So we needed to leave the country and then come back in.

Some friends of ours who graduated from the Language Institute this month were moving to a city in Northwestern Costa Rica called La Cruz. We offered to drive the 6 hour trip with them to help unload their moving truck. After looking at a map, I realized that La Cruz is very close to the Nicaraguan border, only about 40 minutes driving. It seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up, so we decided to make a trip accross the border after we finished helping our friends move.

Using the power of the internet, I was able to locate and secure some lodging for us on an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Lake Nicaragua is an enormous lake at the Southern end of Nicaragua. It rivals the Great Lakes in size, we are talking really big. So this island is called Ometepe and consists of two volcanoes with some flat land around and in between. It is roughly the shape of a figure eight with a slight bend in the middle. I spoke to the man at the hotel who spoke English very well and made our reservations.

On Sunday morning, December 17th, our friend in La Cruz drove us to the border and dropped us off. We found ourselves in a sea of people that were crossing the border in one direction or the other. No signs directing us where to begin the process, no information booth to point us in the right direction. So after observing the flow of people for a little while, we got into the line that seemed to be head the direction we wanted to go. The Costa Rican police man at the head of the line examined our passports and informed us that we needed to get our Costa Rican exit stamp before he would let us through. He pointed to the building we needed to go to which was about 300 yards in the direction we had just come from.

The building that houses Costa Rican immigration looks like a bus station due to the number of busses that are parked there. Since the busses are crossing the border too, everyone on the busses must get off and go into the immigration office to get their exit stamp too. Needless to say, this makes the lines VERY long. Eventually we got our exit stamps and led our hot and tired daughters back to the line we waited in at the beginning.

This time the police man let us through and we entered into a kind of "limbo" zone. It was a wierd place that wasn't Costa Rica and wasn't Nicaragua, just this peice of land in between that was loaded with food vendors and people that wanted to "help" us pale skinned tourists. It is not a comfortable thing to stand out in these types of situations. We can be as culturally sensitive as possible, but there is no changing the fact that we are four gringos in a place with very few other gringos. That means we instantly became targets for anyone with something to sell. So in addition to watching our girls, watching our backpacks, protecting our pockets, and trying to figure out where to go next, we also had to fend of the multiple people offering their "services".

After two hours of waiting in long, hot lines, we made it through Nicarauguan immigration. We had secured a taxi already and he was ready for us as soon as we got our entry stamp. He drove us to Rivas, which is a city on the shores of Lake Nicaragua. Here a large ferry boat took us over to the Isla de Ometepe.

We enjoyed the island. There was a nice beach at the hotel where we stayed, and the food was pretty good.

On Wednesday morning at 4:30 am it was time to begin our trip back accross the border and home to San Jose. We took the island taxi back to the port where the ferry would pick us up. Rode the ferry back accross the lake to Rivas. Took a taxi back to the border. Waited in more lines to get out of Nicaragua and back into Costa Rica. Got our entry stamps (and our renewed tourist visas) at the Costa Rican immigration office. Then finally took another taxi back to our friends house in La Cruz where we spent the night.

Wow was it good to be back in Costa Rica!! It is always more comfortable to be in the familiar, and for us Costa Rica has become the familiar.

God took great care of us the entire trip. We never felt in danger or lacked for anything.

This trip removed any hint of procrastination on my part to submit our paperwork to obtain a Student Visa. The next time we leave Costa Rica I want it to be because we want to, not because we have to.

God's Hand Upon Us

I am not much of a shopper. Surely this does not come as much of a surprise since I am a man, and most men are not shoppers by nature. So while I enjoy celebrating Christmas with family and friends, I do not enjoy the craziness this time of year brings to any store bearing the description of "retail".

Here in Costa Rica, I have not been able to escape this end-of-the-year phenomenon that causes me to be extremely fond of online shopping.

This past Saturday Keeley and I and some other friends of ours from the Language Institute traveled down town (by public bus) to the Avenida Central to do some Christmas shopping. This part of San Jose is an enjoyable place to visit. There is an approximately 10 block stretch of Central Avenue that has been converted to a walking mall, so you don't have to be distracted with being run over. (Pedestrians here have the right........the right to be run over). It was extra crowded with Christmas shoppers.

So we were picking up some gifts here and there, enjoying our time downtown, when we ran into some close friends of ours from our church. We stopped and talked for a little while and I introduced them to the other students that were with us. While we were talking, my Tico friend (who has a lot of street smarts) interrupts and says, "There are three guys standing behind you all that are waiting to rob you, I recognize one of them". He then tells us to all turn around and stare at them.

All eleven of us proceed to turn around and stare at these three men who were suspiciously standing behind us. They weren't going around us, and they weren't looking at a store, they were waiting for an opportunity. Needless to say, they were the ones that looked uncomfortable when we demonstrated clearly that we knew they were there and we knew what their intentions were. After staring at them for a long time (I'm sure it was every bit of 30 seconds...), my friend instructed us to keep walking down the avenue while he waited there to make sure they would not follow us.

Down the avenue we went, stopping to look behind us every so often. No one followed us, and we concluded our visit to downtown without incident.

Yesterday at church I was able to find out the rest of the story from my friend. He said that after we started walking again, the three men began to walk after us. He stood in their way and told them they would have to deal with him first. At that point they quickly left in another direction.

While reading this morning in the book of Ezra, I came upon this verse that reminded me clearly of how God's hand was upon us.

Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.
Ezra 8:31

Was it coincidence that we ran into our friends downtown at just that moment of time? Definitely it was not coincidence. It was the hand of our God upon us.

Could God have allowed us to have been robbed and then used that event in our life to draw us closer to Him? Yes, that could have happened too. But I was reminded of how closely God interacts with every detail of our life, big and small. What an awesome God we serve.

The hand of God is upon His children, most of the time we are not intentional enough about seeing it. How do you see the hand of God upon you?

Does a high dollar turkey taste better?

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We did.

This was our first American holiday not shared by those in our new home here in Costa Rica. We decided to celebrate with a traditional meal shared by 14 other people in our home.

Since you can hardly have a "traditional" Thanksgiving meal without a turkey, we searched for one of the fabulous flavorful fowls. There are several stores here that cater to the large gringo population in Costa Rica, and they stock frozen whole turkeys for this special day. For a price that is.

I must confess, it has been a while since I "personally" purchased a turkey from a grocery store in the states, so I can't tell you exactly what a turkey normally costs these days at a typical supermarket in Missouri. But I am quite confident they are much more afordable then the gobblers available here. 32 big ones. No, not 32 thousand. Well, in Colones (Costa Rican currency) it was 16,000, but in US dollars it ran us $32.00 for the medium sized bird.

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I am glad there are turkeys available at all. It was a wonderful treat. Keeley cooked it up wonderfully, moist and juicy. Along with the other usual suspects you find accompanying the turkey, we enjoyed a great meal and great fellowship with some new friends from our Language School, and some new friends from our church here.

To top it all off, our cable company here provides NBC, ABC, and CBS. So we were able to enjoy the traditional American Football games too.

Culture or Bible

The Bible is the authority by which we should live our lives as followers of Jesus Christ.

Culture is what largely determines how we behave as a people group.

But what happens when culture goes against Bible teaching?

Sure, the answer is an easy one. We need to obey the Word of God instead of conforming to culture. The reason I bring up this topic is that I have had to really pay attention to the difference between culture and Bible as I seek to adapt to the new culture I am in here in Costa Rica.

Because I was so familiar with "American Culture" (or at least the culture of Kansas City, MO), it was fairly easy to identify elements of that culture that did not line up with the Bible. But here in Costa Rica, I am learning new elements of culture all of the time. With each new part of the culture I am exposed to I must examine it in light of God's Word.

Most of the culture clearly falls on one side or the other, but there are a few things I have had to take a closer look at. I want to give one example, but please understand that I am not trying to complain about the culture, only to make my point.

Driving a car in San Jose, Costa Rica is an adventure. Part of the culture in regards to driving is that in general it is every driver for themselves. It is defensive driving to the extreme. You have to expect people to do the unexpected becuase they will. (Maybe the unexpected needs to become what I learn to expect?). Anyway, it is uncommon to let anyone into traffic ahead of you, even if they are just trying to get onto the road and not "cut" in line. So I was faced with a question. Surely courtesy, putting others before yourself, and kindness are biblical qualities. So these qualities should affect the way I drive here should they not?

Culture or Bible? In this particular case it seems to be one or the other. I want to choose Bible even if it means I make it to my destination 2 minutes later.

Most elements of a culture do not go against the principles of the Word of God. But for those things that do, I must be careful to not go with the flow.

Only dead fish swim with the current. :-)

Visit From a Friend

Two weekends ago we had the pleasure of enjoying a visit from our dear friend and pastor, Marco Castro. Marco pastors the Spanish Ministry at the Kansas City Baptist Temple in Kansas City, MO.

Marco was in San Jose to preach at a church for their 5th year anniversary.

We had a great time drinking some Costa Rican coffee and catching up on what is going on. It was fun to practice my Spanish with him and be able to speak much more than when we were in Kansas City. It was encouraging to talk more about our church's vision and how we will fit into that vision in the future. Lot's of exciting things on the horizon!

Marco was kind enough to bring us a bundle of things from the States that are difficult or expensive to get here. A bottle of Advil (there are lots of pain killers here, but not much ibuprofen), some quality umbrellas that have already gotten lots of use, a Franklin electronic translator, and a waterproof baseball hat for me.

The fellowship was great. Getting the items we needed was much appreciated. But even more than those things, having a touch from the familiar was a real blessing. Everything here is new. And although we are adjusting to the newness just fine, it sure was nice to visit face to face with a familiar friend.

The Pressure Cooker

Sounds of childhood. Most of us have memories of those don’t we? One of the sounds I remember was the electric mixer my Mom would used to make mashed potatoes. It was really loud and whenever she would use it there would lines of static that would appear across the television. My brother and I always got so bent out of shape when that happened.

Another sound I remember for distinctly is the sound of the pressure cooker. It was sort of a gentle hissing sound that would go on for hours and hours. Anyone else have that sound captured in your head?

Pressure cookers are really pretty amazing. Basically, by increasing the pressure inside the cooker, you are able to cook whatever is inside faster and more efficiently. You can take a really tough cut of meat, cook it in the pressure cooker, and it will come out tender.

Today I want us to look at the Nation of Israel and the pressure cooker they were in for 40 years as they wandered in the wilderness.

Now we all know the stories of what happened to Israel in the wilderness, good and bad. But let’s look at why God said he put Israel through the pressure cooker.

Turn with me to:
Deuteronomy 8:1-2
(1) All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
(2) And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

God tells us here what his purposes were for allowing Israel to wander for those 40 years:
1. To humble them
2. To prove them
3. To know what was in their heart
4. To know whether or not they would keep his commandments


I lined up a special treat for us today so we could learn more about what God was doing in the lives of the Israelites as they wandered.

Please join me in welcoming our first guest. A man named Eliezer who is wandering in the wilderness with the Nation of Israel.


1st Israelite man to interview – Eliezer

Ryan –
Hi Eliezer, thanks for taking time out of your journey to join us here today.

So now that you are half way through with wandering in the wilderness….

Eliezer –
What!! We are only half way through???

Ryan-
Oops, sorry, I don’t think I was supposed to tell you that….

So anyway, I wanted to see if you could tell us about how your journey to the Promised Land is going.


Eliezer –
· This has been a TERRIBLE experience

· The food is so different than what I am used to. We eat rice & beans….I mean manna & quail for EVERY meal

· Moses gives us homework EVERY night and even over the weekend.

· We’re supposed to follow the teacher….I mean the cloud and fire that is leading us where we are supposed to go. But I really doubt they are taking us on the best route.

· One time we came to a new place and we weren’t supposed to drink from the pool of water because it was bitter. Then Moses through a stick into the water and said it was OK to drink now. Come on!! A stick??

· Anyway, this journey has been just awful. Every time we turn around there is some need to be met or challenge to be overcome. Moses is always saying trust God, trust God, blah blah blah. I think this journey is going to kill me!

Ryan –
OK…
Well, thank you Eliezer for coming today to share your perspective. It has been very…enlightening…

Now let’s welcome our second special guest from the Nation of Israel, Caleb.


2nd Israelite man to interview – Caleb

Ryan –
Hello Caleb, thanks for taking time out of your journey to the Promised Land to join us here today.

So now that you are half way through with wandering in the wilderness….

Caleb –
Wooo hooo!! We are half way through already?? That is wonderful news. God has been so faithful to us.

Ryan –
Well fantastic, I am glad to hear that is encouraging news for you. So I brought you here today to see if you would share your perspective on how the journey is going.

Caleb –
Great, thanks for asking me to be here.
· This journey has been an AWESOME time to see the mighty hand of God at work in our lives.

· God has miraculously provided us with all of the food we need to eat each day. Not only that, but God has given us variety in both manna AND quail!

· Sometimes I don’t understand where or why God is leading us by the cloud and the pillar of fire, but I trust that where He leads me is always best. I know that He will use those in authority over me to guide me as well. God has given us great leaders in Moses and Joshua.

· And the things God has done for us!! Don’t get me started!!
- The parting of the Red Sea
- The fresh food every day
- Water to drink when we need it

I could go on and on.

Oh, there was this time that we were really thirsty and we found this pool of water. But the water in the pool was bitter and not safe to drink. God told Moses to throw a stick into the water and voila! The water was made good!!

· So I would have to say that this journey has been awesome so far. Every time we turn around there is some need to be met or challenge to be overcome. And every time, God shows Himself strong on our behalf. What a blessing and privilege to see the hand of God at work right before our very eyes.


Ryan –
Wow. Thanks Caleb for sharing your perspective. It certainly is exciting to hear about what God is doing in your life.


I. One of the major things that will determine “how” we go through the pressure cooker God has us in is Perspective

- Perspective is how you view something. It is the lenses through which you look at the circumstances of your life.

- We always joke about the glass being half full or half empty. Are you an optimist or a pessimist? I meet a lot of people that say, “I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist, I am a realist”. And that’s great, because God is a realist too, and we are supposed to be like Him right?

- The question becomes, are you letting the reality of God’s constant, never wavering, unfailing care for His children govern your perspective?

Do you know what happens to the cooker if too much pressure builds up inside? That’s right; you will have the Big Bang in your kitchen. Let me share with you one of the critical design elements of a pressure cooker.

On top of the lid is a little valve with a very important function. This little valve is designed in such a way to allow the right amount of pressure to build inside the cooker in order for effective cooking to take place, but it allows the pressure to escape when there is too much. This is what makes that lovely hissing noise I talked about.

Look with me in:
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
(1) Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
(2) And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
(3) And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
(4) And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
(5) But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
(6) Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
(7) Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
(8) Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
(9) Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
(10) Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
(11) Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
(12) Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

(13) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.


II. The second thing that is critical to being in God’s pressure cooker is the relief valve of a right relationship with Him.

- God promises to never put more pressure than we can bear…..IF we use the way of escape.

- When we are walking with God in intimate fellowship, there is nothing He will allow in our lives that will cause us to blow up.

- Instead it will end up doing in our lives the very same things he intended for the Nation of Israel.

1. To humble us
2. To prove us
3. To know what is in our hearts
4. To know whether or not we will keep His commandments

The pressure cooker of Language School.

The pressure cooker of the mission field.


1. What is your perspective like today? Murmuring and complaining, or rejoicing at the hand of God in your life?

2. What is the condition of your pressure relief valve? Is your intimate relationship with God open and functioning?

First Semester Spanish Spanish Love Song

Waiter, there's a gecko in my shower...

Does anyone remember that little skit on Sesame Street? Where the muppet with the bald blue head orders some soup and then explains to the waiter (Grover) that there is a fly in his soup?

Anyway....

Tonight I heard some mild screaming coming from our front bathroom. Keeley was about to give our girls a shower (since there are no bathtubs here) and before they got in they noticed a little visitor was already in the shower.

There in the corner of our tile shower was a small gecko, about 3 inches long.

We were able to scoop him up into a little plastic aquarium we have. The girls have had a great time looking at him. Geckos are very common here, but this is the first one we have found in our house. They eat the bugs that we don't want, so he is a welcomed friend.

Dreaming in Spanish

Many people who are fluent in a second or third language have told me about a good indicator of language proficiency.  They say that you really have an excellent command of the language when you begin to dream in it.  Now, I also know some people who say they never remember their dreams, so for those folks this indicator won’t work.

 

Since we started language institute two weeks ago to learn Spanish, I feel like my head is full to the top with sustantivos (nouns), adjetivos (adjectives), articulos (articles), and verbos (verbs).  Our teachers give us homework assignments and many times I am working to complete them before I nod off for the night.

 

Several nights ago I sat up in bed and started to speak (this happens on a fairly regular basis and Keeley has had a variety of reactions ranging from amused to annoyed).  Usually whenever I sit up in bed it wakes Keeley up and she asks me what is wrong.  On this particular occasion my reply was something like this, “I can’t find el verbo” (which happens to be a fine example of Spanglish). 

 

Upon realizing that once again I was talking gibberish, Keeley sighed and went back to sleep.

 

Now for those of you that talk in your sleep or try to talk about your dreams first thing in the morning before you are “really” awake, you can relate to me when I say that at the time you are saying whatever you are saying, it makes complete and perfect sense.  Because of this I am always bewildered at why my wife is looking at me like I am crazy when I say these things.  Fortunately we are able to have a good laugh about it in the morning after she reminds me of my dream-induced statements of nonsense.

 

So although I can’t yet say that I am dreaming “in” Spanish, I can with full confidence say that I am dreaming “about” Spanish.

First Time on the Roads

Today I had the opportunity to experience another first. Driving in a Latin American country.

We went out to lunch with some Tico friends, and as we were about to leave for the restaurant my friend asked me to drive his car. I resisted, he insisted, so off we went.

Just about all of the cars here are stick shifts. Fortunately I have owned several in the past and can get in one and have it all come back to me (I learned to drive a stick by going around and around the Independence Center shopping mall).

Today is a national holiday here in Costa Rica, it is Independence Day. Because of this, traffic was lighter than usual, so it was probably a good day for my first outing behind the wheel. Unlike the States, most businesses were still open today even though it is a holiday. This made selecting a restaurant fairly easy. At the recommendation of our friends, we went to a seafood place called El Balcon del Marisco. Goooood stuff!! I had some ceviche that was out of this world.

After lunch we went shopping at a store called "Pequeño Mundo". They sell a little bit of everything at cheap prices. I bought a cool Costa Rica shirt for $2.00 US.

Upon leaving this store it started to rain. So it was time for another first, driving in Costa in the Costa Rican rain. And although we passed a bad accident, we made it home without being a part of one.

It was fun to drive again. It has been almost one month since I drove last in Kansas City. It seems strange to have gone that long without driving. We did find a car for sale that we are interested in, so maybe we will have some wheels of our own soon. Then it will be time to stay off the sidewalks. No, really. I'm serious. The sidewalks are just for walking here. :-)

Potty Mouth

In our language school we have three classes each day.

- Language - 1 hour

- Phonetics - 1 hour

- Grammar - 2 hours

In phonetics class we are focusing on learning to make the right sounds in order to correctly pronounce Spanish words.

One of the exercises that our teacher has us do is to recite a list of sounds that help us learn to put the sounds of different letters together. These are not real words mind you, just combinations of sounds based on the vowels.

Some of the sounds end up being pretty funny sounding. This past Thursday we were going through and reciting the sounds that go with the vowel "u". Upon reaching a certain part of the list of sounds, it was all I could do to contain myself.

Listening to a room of 5 grown men and a serious Tica Spanish teacher say "upu pu" (Sounds like "ooh poo poo") struck me as incredibly funny. Some other choice sounds were "upi pi" and "udu du".

Now I know what you are saying, how juvenile of me. And I have to say I agree, it is juvenile.

Maybe my 4 and 2 year old girls are rubbing off on me. Maybe I cracked under the pressure of learning. Maybe I never grew out of thinking that innocent bathroom language (or sounds) were funny.

Whatever the reason, I am going to have to exercise self-control in my phonics class in order to not disrupt our learning. :-)

Driver's License Adventure

We all have stories about going to the DMV, waiting in long lines, and then finding out you are missing one of the documents you need. Well, this past Wednesday, Keeley and I added an experience to our list of stories.

A Tico friend of ours (Costa Ricans refer to themselves as Ticos) offered to help us get our Costa Rican driver's licenses. There is a one month window of time after you arrive in the country when you can get a license without taking the test (in Spanish). So needless to say, we wanted to take advantage of this window and get it taken care of the "easy" way.

Copy of our Missouri driver's licenses, front and back.......check.
Copy of our entire passports, including the blank pages....check.
Money for the license fee ...................................check.

Everything we need to complete the process. Or so we thought.

So off to the license department we go with our Tico friend driving the four of us. Then it starts to rain as we are driving through downtown. No big deal, it rains all of the time here.

Then it starts to hail. That does NOT happen all of the time here. Most Ticos don't use ice in their drinks, much less have it falling from the sky.

After experiencing our first tropical hail storm, we made it to our destination. Inside our friend asked the nice man at the information booth where we needed to conduct our transaction. He directed us to a waiting area in front of some teller windows. After waiting for about ten minutes and moving from seat to seat (it was a sitting line, not a standing one..), our friend asks one of the tellers if we are in the right place. "No", was the answer, we needed to go to another building further back in the complex. So off we go, our girls in tow, to the building in the back.

The next building had an armed guard at the door that would check your documents to see if you had everything before he would allow you to enter. He checked our documents and directed us to a booth containing one of 5 clerks. The woman in our booth looked at our documents and asked, "Medico examin?". Ummm.....yeah......ummm.....didn't know about the medical examination. Our friend had called to see what we would need, and apparently this little piece of information had not been communicated.

OK, so now in order to make this whole adventure something other than an large investment of time with little to show for it, we needed to quickly get medical examinations and return to this building and get our licenses.

We all loaded into the car and tried to find somewhere close to get this medico examin that we needed. Our Tico friend knows someone just about everywhere we have gone with him, and this situation was no different. After consulting with one of his "friends", we drove around the corner to a couple of small buildings. The change in neighborhood "atmosphere" that occurred in just one block of driving was quite drastic. We went from a downtown business district not unlike many cities in the US, to a back alley location like you see in the movies and say, "Oh my, what are they doing in a place like that?". While Keeley waited in the car with our girls (doors locked), I went with my friend into a small building (around 10' x 15') to get my medico examin. Here is how it went:
- I handed my passport to a lady sitting at a small desk.
- She filled out a form with my information and handed it to a man at a second desk
- I paid her 12,000 Colones (around $24 US) for both Keeley and I

- The man at the second desk asked me if I had any diseases, how much did I weigh, and how tall was I.

- I signed the medico examin certificate.

- Done. I walked out with my official medico examin document.

(Keeley came in after I was done and had a very similar experience, the only difference being she had to read a line of letters on a wall mounted vision chart)

Now it was back to the other building. After showing the same guard our same documents PLUS the medico examins, we went into the booths again to present our documents. This time we had everything we needed and the process continued fine. We took some papers they gave us outside to a mobile bank (a large van with two teller windows in the side of it) and paid for our two licenses. Upon receiving our official receipts, we went back inside the building, presented our papers in the booths again. Next it was time to get our pictures taken, so across the room we went to wait in line for our pictures. We smiled for the camera, put our fingerprints into the system with an electronic scanner, and then sat to down to wait for our completed licenses to be ready. A few minutes later they called our names and it was official.

We have our Costa Rican drivers licenses!! Exhausted, but pleased, we returned home thanking God for allowing us to get this done in one day. Some hassles are universal.

New Fruit - Manzana de Agua

One of the many things I love about Latin America is all of the fruits that are available that you can't find (or easily find) in the US.

Last night after church we went to the house of a family that lives near us in our bario, San Francisco de dos rios. They are wonderful people and extremely helpful as we learn to become Ticos.

While we were visiting their home, they introduced us to a fruit none of us had tried before, Manzana de agua. In English it would be "water apple". Wow. Delicious. It is roughly the shape of a small pear with a one large seed inside. My wife described the taste as like eating a sweet smelling flower. Our kids loved them too.

We will be hunting for these when we go to the feria (local farmers market) next weekend!!

Better Than Bars

If you have ever vistited a Latin American country (or downtown Kansas City), than you are very familiar with the bars and gates on every door and window of every house.

Our house is no exception. We have a front gate, a gate at the front door, and several locks on the wooden front door. I feel like I have moved into Fort Knox.

Last night while we slept, there was a loud clanging on one of the many locked gates around our house. Keeley woke me up because it sounded like someone was trying to get in.

OK. Adrenaline is pumping. Now I need a weapon....OK found a metal flashlight. Then it dawned on me that I don't even know what to yell at an intruder in a language they will understand. Some choice Clint Eastwood or Arnold Swartzenager lines should do, everyone knows those. So around our dark house I crept.

After a thorough checking of all the gates and doors, I was satisfied that our home was still secure and no breach had taken place.

Now I need to go back to sleep. Right. While I waited for the adreneline to be absorbed back into my body, I prayed with Keeley and pondered what had just happened. Here are some thoughts.

Here we are in a new place where there is so much to learn about and adjust to. Satan would love to have us be consumed by fear and worried about our safety at every turn. It would be easy to be so preoccupied with fear that we are unable to minister the way God would have us to. As we prayed, we asked God to give us a spirit of power, and of love, and a sound mind.

Because after all, God is exceedingly better protection for my family and I than some steel bars on our doors and windows. The same God that stopped the mouths of lions from eating Daniel is the same God that brought us here to Costa Rica. The same God that protected Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the firey furnace is the same God that brought the sun up on our new home today. God wants to build our faith, and last night He used to rattling bars to draw us closer to himself.

By the way, after talking to the neighbors behind us today we found out that there are some cats that fight each other at night and they scamper up the gates causing them to rattle. They also run on the roofs making a racket too. God is good, all of the time.

Jones'n For Some Internet

Yes, I'll admit it. When I have to go for more than a day or two without checking my e-mail, I start to get symtoms. Hands get shaky, my mind wanders, I even start to crave SPAM.

Just kidding about the SPAM, that stuff is nasty. Anyway, when we arrived in Costa Rica early last Sunday morning (about 2am), I began an involuntary Internet fast that lasted until Monday evening at 6pm. Can you believe that?? Over 24 hours without e-mail!!

I am feeling better now though. A couple who lives behind us has internet and a wireless router, so we are using their wireless internet (with permission...).

Seriously though. The Internet is a great tool, but I am a little disgusted with myself for missing it so greatly. I need to use it when it is there, but change my grip on it from a white-knuckle to a gentle handshake.

I'll write more later, I need to catch up on my web-surfing. :-)

30 Seconds of Encouragement - 8/18/07

There we were, rushing through one of the largest, busiest airports in the United States.  Atlanta International.  Passing through a corridor on our way to use an elevator (since the large off-road double stroller we brought will not fit on an escalator), I heard someone call out my name.  Not that the name Ryan is all that uncommon, but in general you don’t hear names of any kind being yelled out in the middle of a busy airport.

 

I looked to see who it was that was trying to get my attention (or the attention of someone else with my name), and my eyes fell upon a familiar face.  It was Jim Edwards from the Kansas City Baptist Temple.  Some of you already know why Jim was in the Atlanta airport at that moment and why it was so cool to see him, but for those of you that do not, let me explain.

 

Jim Edwards and 24 other people from our church, the Kansas City Baptist Temple, were on a weeklong trip to San Jose, Costa Rica to help with some construction work at the church of KCBT missionary Greg Kedrovsky.  Our original plan had been to travel with this team for our move to Costa Rica, but the blessing of using Delta Skymiles to purchase all of our tickets required us to travel a week later on the day of their return.  Twelve members of this team had graciously volunteered to help us in our move to Costa Rica by each carrying a suitcase full of our stuff.  This was an huge blessing and allowed us to bring a total of 22 suitcases (12 with them, plus 10 of our own) to our new home in Costa Rica.  Not only did this save us a lot of money, it also provided the manpower to move that many pieces of luggage from one place to another. 

 

Jim and another member of the team were hurrying to catch their flight from Atlanta back to Kansas City, while we were hurrying to catch our flight from Atlanta to San Jose, Costa Rica.

 

So in that enormous airport filled with thousands of people, God saw fit to encourage us by crossing our path with some members of the very team that had been such a blessing to us.  We only had time to say hi and smile, but it was a bright spot in our trip at just the right time. 

 

Coincidence you say?  No, not coincidence, God’s providence.  God is so good to us, and He is always right on time with the way He meets our needs, big or small. 

 

We made it!!

2:00 am and smelling like we had carried more carry-on luggage than technically allowed through two airports and airplanes, we pulled up to the house that will be our home for the next two years in San Jose, Costa Rica.  Whew.

 

Our girls were exhausted.  We were exhausted.  But we made it without any trouble and no worse for wear.

 

The man that picked us up from the airport, Ronnie, is a nice guy and very helpful.  He has a big van and does a lot of driving for students at the school we are going to attend.  He already had the key to our house and helped us get the luggage inside.

 

After locking the outside gate, the inside gate, and the three locks on the front door, we settled into our beds and got some much needed sleep.

 

The next day we started going through the suitcases and trying to put things where they belong.  The house is every bit as good as the pictures, we are very pleased and grateful for it.

 

Thanks again for all of our prayers.  God blessed us with a great trip.  From the extremely friendly Delta ticketing agent that helped us check all of our heavy bags, to the Costa Rican customs that didn’t take even give a second look at the strange household items we were bringing in as tourists, God went before us and prepared the way.

 

Just like the Nation of Israel in Joshua chapter 3, as soon as we obeyed and stepped into the river of God’s plan, He has parted the waters and allowed us to go across on dry ground.  Praise God.

Only 16 Days Left!

Time's fun when your having flies.

 

It is hard for me to believe that in only 16 more days we will be moving to Costa Rica.  It has gone from seeming like it was ages away, to now being right at our feet.

 

God has been so faithful (as He always is) to open doors for us and provide for our every need.  We have our house rented, our van sold, and have gotten rid of most of the stuff we are not going to keep.  I am trying to start a new practice in my life beginning with this move: not keeping junk.

 

We are excited to get into our rented house in Costa Rica and get settled.  We will have a couple of weeks to rest before starting school, so we are grateful for that.  18 Suitcases.  That is what we need to fit our families' possessions into.  Really makes you evaluate what you need.

 

It is a surreal feeling to be at the church these days.  Another missionary told me about the "disconnect" that begins to occur several weeks before you depart.  It is something that is difficult to even describe with words, but very clear to those experiencing it.  It is not like people stop being friendly or talking to you or anything like that, it is just a sense that a separation has begun already.  They are going about their lives here in Kansas City, and they are letting us go to begin our new adventure in Costa Rica.  Not a negative thing, but definitely a thing.  Maybe I will talk more about this concept in my book about being a missionary.  :-)

 

 

Jalapeños, Squirrels, and a Lesson in Honesty

My wife has a green thumb, and mine has shades of green here and there, so we decided to grow some vegetable plants in pots in our backyard. A tomato plant, some cilantro, and one jalapeño pepper plant.

Mmmmm....fresh jalapeño peppers. I like them alot.

The pepper plant was the first to bloom and soon thereafter a small pepper started to form at the top of the plant. Excitedly I would check the pepper plant's progress per passing day. The bigger the pepper grew, the more I could imagine the fiery goodness it would add to some savoury dish. During a pepper progress check, my dream came to a tragic end. The pepper was gone.

Gone!! Who could have taken my precious pre-pubescent pepper? My mind scanned through the usual suspects: birds, squirrels, the next door neighbor. Squirrels. Squirrels. It had to have been the squirrels!! We have 987 of them living in our backyard. My wife agreed with my surmising, so immediately I began to devise a plan to properly protect and preserve my potted peppers.

Pellet gun, check. Wire mesh for protective pepper cage, check. Dogged determination to see the next juvenile jalapeño reach adulthood, check.

Now this whole pepper-stealing-squirrels saga had been played out in living color before my two lovely daughters, 4 and 2 years old. Several days after the crime had occurred, and before any thieving squirrel had lost it's life at my hand, my 4 year old daughter approached my wife immediately after waking from her afternoon nap.

Confession is cleansing to the soul they say, and my daughter did some cleansing. She plead guilty to picking the small pepper and throwing it in the grass. When asked what her motive was for pre-maturely ending the life of the pepper, she said, "It was squishy".

Of course we were very proud of her for admitting what she had done instead of letting the squirrels take the fall, and so she was encouraged accordingly.

We now have clearly established the boundaries for vegetable picking in our mini-garden, squishy or not.

Amends have been made with the representative from the nut-gatherers union and there is a new pepper developing on the pepper plant. Harmony has been restored. :-)

Confessions of a Coffee Snob

It's an aquired taste.

That's what people used to tell me about about coffee before I had ever tried it. Anything that smells as good as roasted coffee beans has to taste just as good right?

My first experience with coffee was a large styrofoam cup full of "silver tanker" coffee. Silver Tankers are the large silver pots that you find in churches filled with Folgers (if you are lucky...) or some other inexpensive grocery store brand. I tried a sip, made a grimmace at the bitter yuck in my mouth, and headed straight for the cream and sugar. Contrary to my efforts, copius amounts of cream and sugar added to the yuck coffee only made it taste like sweet creamy yuck. This memorable event took place sometime in 1994.

After that, I avoided coffee for the most part. Engaging only in the occasional cup socially at get-togethers. That all changed when I met the woman who is now my wife. While we were dating, she opened my eyes to a world of coffee I didn't know existed. Starbucks. Now I am not even talking about going to the cafes and ordering drinks, she just made some drip coffee from purchased starbucks beans. She persuaded me to try a cup. I couldn't believe my mouth! No rancid bitter after taste! No yuck! It tasted like it smelled!

And so began my journey into the world of good coffee. I wonder how many other people there are in the world that say they don't like coffee, whose only experience with the savory beverage is Silver Tanker Folgers?

A friend of mine who is a far bigger coffee snob than I am recently suggested I try drinking my coffee from a French Press. He said this is the way to truly enjoy the full flavor of the coffee bean. Initial reports are: delicious, much better, full bodied flavor.

Try a cup of the good stuff. But be careful, it could change your life... :-)

My Mind is in the Gutter

Here in Kansas City we have been having rain. Lots of rain.

During one of the downpours we experienced recently, I noticed that the gutter on the back of our house was routing the rain water effectively. The problem was it was effectively routing the water up and over the end of the gutter instead of into the down spout.

Yep. Clogged up. When you can't remember when you cleaned the gutters last, that is a sure way to tell it has been WAY too long.

Being up on a ladder is not my favorite thing in the world to begin with. My comfort level in this activity drops dramatically when it is outside in the rain. But like it or not, the clog had to be cleared. So up I went.

The trees that provide wonderful shade to our house in the summer are the same trees that contribute a plethera of leaves, twigs, and seeds to our gutters. It's a love-hate relationship...

So upon reaching the top of the wet, mildly stable ladder, I found that the down spout was completely clogged with a lovely smelling combination of decaying plant matter. Pulled it out, and watched the trapped water quickly escape down the newly opened channel.

This gutter experience got me thinking about how as Christians we are supposed to allow God's love, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to flow through us into the lives of others. But just like the gutter, we can become clogged with things not of God that keep what has been poured into us from flowing into someone else. So what is the answer to keeping our lives free from clogs?

Frequent cleaning. If I had been diligent to empty my gutters of debris on a regular basis (when it was not raining yet), then I would not have experienced the clog during the heavy downpour. In our lives as Christians, we must be diligent to allow the Word of God to cleanse our lives on a regular basis. (Ephesians 5:26) This consistent cleaning by our Lord will allow our channels to be clear, and his goodness to pass through us into other people.

Are your gutters clean?

Intentionally Intentional

Last week we had an awesome Discipleship Conference at our church. On Wednesday night, our Senior Pastor Jeff Adams was talking about the importance of being intentional in our making of disciples of Jesus Christ. I really like that word, intentional, and it got me thinking about how it applies in all areas of our relationship with the Lord.

intentional - characterized by conscious design or purpose

Here is short list of things that came to mind that I need to be intentional about (not exhaustive)

• Spending quality time in the Word of God
• Spending quality time in prayer with God
• Sharing with others what God has shared with me
• Time to really talk with my wife
  
• Time to play with my girls
• Telling the people I love that I love them
• Being the kind of friend to others that I want them to be to me

In our busy lifestyles it isn't enough to just hope things will end up happening on their own. We must be intentional about the things that matter. One of my favorite quotes is, "There is always time for what is important". The question we all have to answer for ourselves is, "What is important?" Our "list" of priorities will determine how we spend our time, because we are almost always intentional about the things at the top of that list.

Far too often one of the top 5 on my unwritten list of priorities is: self. Wouldn't it be great if we could permanently kick self to the bottom of the list, or remove it altogether?

What do you make a priority to be intentional about?

Walking to Work, or Working to Walk

Walking. In 2007 it has a different meaning in the United States than it did 100 years ago. Today, walking is what you do to get from the living room to the garage in order to get in your car. Or what you do from the parking place close to the grocery store you spent 15 minutes circling around to find.

I have started walking to work. It takes me about 20 minutes one-way, up and down two reasonably sized hills. There are several reasons for starting this new activity. Here they are, not necessarily in order of importance:

1. In preparation for leaving the country in 4 months, we are a one car family. If I drive to work, than that would leave Keeley and the girls without a vehicle.

2. I could stand to lose some weight. Having tried the sitting around like a lazy bum method without success, I am going to try to be more physically active.

3. Preparing for Costa Rica. In Costa Rica we are going to walking ALOT more than we do here. Most likely we will be living close enough to the Language School that we can walk to and from there each weekday. I don't want to be doggin it when we get there and have to walk each day. I remember reading about Hudson Taylor as he prepared to leave to minister in China. While still living in England he began eating much less and slept on the floor to prepare himself for the conditions he would encounter in China. Praise the Lord for beds in Costa Rica!

4. Time to meditate and pray. If I drive to work, it takes me about 3 minutes if I get reds at the two stop lights in between. If they are green lights, the trip is even faster. Hard to do any meditating or praying in that short span of time. Walking for 20 minutes however gives me some good time to spend talking with God. Great preparation for a day at the office. Sometimes I even sing or hum quietly (but only when there are no cars driving by, I don't want to look like I am crazy....).

My wife has been to Kenya, Africa several times and told stories of people there walking for hours just to get to a church service that would last less time than it took for them to walk there. Our culture is really spoiled in that sense. Just costs us some gas to get there.

Anyway, the walking is good for me is several ways. I am determined to stick with it.

Swimming with the Fishes

My wife Keeley and oldest daughter Avigail had some excitement yesterday. They were having a Mom's Group activity at one of the prettiest parks in Kansas City, Loose Park. There is a nice lake complete with ducks and turtles, my girls love it. Yesterday Avigail got a little too close to the edge of the lake, lost her balance, and fell in to some water about 4 1/2 feet deep. Since she is not yet 4 feet tall this presents some obvious problems other than just getting wet.

Fortunately, Keeley was right there and heard the splash. Unable to reach her from the side, Keeley jumped in and got her. Although wet, cold, and smelly, everyone was fine (Keeley's cell phone is another story....).

After the incident and all the way home, my daughter repeatedly thanked Keeley for saving her life and told her that she loved her. Keeley and I were discussing the incident last night and she brought up how as Christians we are so grateful for Jesus saving our lives at the time we receive Christ, but then as time passes we stop telling him how thankful we are. The trauma of falling into the lake and then being rescued by mom will fade into my daughters memory. She will stop thanking Keeley for saving her life. That's just how it works. This is human nature isn't it?

When it comes to God pulling me out of the lake of my sin and its consequences, I don't ever want to stop telling Him, "Thank you Father".

(This picture is the lake at Loose Park, I don't know who this lady is.)

What day is this?

I am T-I-R-E-D, tired.  At my job, we are working on a project that has required more man power than usual, so some of the desk jockeys like me have been putting in some manual labor time.

 

The construction site where we are working requires that all work be performed between the hours of 6:00 am and 2:30 pm.  I like the getting off of work at 2:30 part, but the getting up at 4:00 am to be at my office at 5:15 to then be at the jobsite by 6:00 is killing me!  I suppose I would get used to it if this were to become my normal routine, but for now my body is in shock and rebellion.

 

So my soft, keyboard operating hands are now chapped and scraped up from doing real man work.  :-)

 

This too shall pass.  The project will come to an end.  I will end up back at my desk once again thinking that the grass is greener on the side of the fence where guys get to move more and be active in their jobs.

 

If you see me this next week and my eyes look a little more glazed than normal, now you know that it is caused by a cocktail of sleep deprevation and honest hard work.  What doesn't kill you makes you better right?

What's In Your Fruit Basket?

I have been teaching through the book of Philippians at a small mens Bible study close to my home. We recently looked at the passage that contains chapter 1, verse 11 which says:

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:11

Looking at this idea that we are supposed to bear fruit to God's glory, I have been thinking a lot about the process that takes place in a tree in order for it to bear fruit. Take an apple tree for example. In order for an apple to be created, the pollen from the male part of an apple blossom has to reach the female part of another apple blossom. The blossom is then pollenated and that flower will result in an apple soon after.

So that is fine for apple trees, but how to we produce fruit as Christians to the glory of God? Just like the apple tree, there must be a coming together of two parts. The two parts for us are simply the Christian and God. But just knowing about God or crying out to him only when we have a problem is not the fruit producing union that is required. In order to produce fruit in our lives as Christians, we need to have an intimate relationship with our Lord. Intimacy requires desire and time. An intimate, right relationship with God will naturally produce the fruit that brings glory to our Lord.

So what is in your fruit basket?

Another interesting question to answer is, "What exactly is the fruit that brings God glory?". I'll save that one for a different post.

Thanks For the Hail God!

On February 28th, we had a thunderstorm come through Raytown where we live and dropped nickel size or bigger hail.  At the time of the storm, I can remember thinking how cool it was to watch it and how glad I was that our minivan was inside the garage of our borrowed house.

 

Little did I know at the time, but the roof of our house that we are selling before we leave for Costa Rica was taking a beating from the hail.

 

About a week after the storm I had a friend from church who is a roofer look at our roof to give us a bid on fixing some leaks.  He checked out the roof and found the significant hail damage.  At his suggestion I called my insurance company and had then check it out.

 

The claims adjuster found there was enough damage to warrant a total roof replacement!  Wooo hoooo!!!  Praise God!!!  He cut us a check that same day that will pay for the entire roof to be replaced.

 

So instead of just getting the leaking valleys replaced for a significant out-of-pocket amount, we are getting our entire roof replaced for nothing out of pocket.  My God is a great God.

Movie Review - Facing the Giants

Just watched a great movie on Saturday night, Facing the Giants.

This is a great movie with biblical values and a good story line. The actors aren't polished Hollywood types, and it shows sometimes, but it is much better that most of the "Christian" movies we have been exposed to over the years.

Good movie to watch if you like football. Good movie to watch even if you don't like football. It is available to rent from most major rental chains.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars. (I've always wanted to say that....)

Here is an description from Christiancinema.com

http://www.christiancinema.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1621&&s_kwcid=facing%20the%20giants|700241606&gclid=CLimnOH2gIsCFRPdPgodO2nDKA

FACING THE GIANTS is the heart-warming story of a downtrodden Christian high school football coach who turns to God when everything seems to be going against him. Trusting God to do the impossible, Coach Grant Taylor and his Shiloh Christian Eagles soon discover how faith plays out on the field … and off.

This new, action-packed drama from the award-winning producers of FLYWHEEL has had theater audiences laughing, crying, and cheering. The best family-friendly film of the year is now available on DVD!

Spring has Sprung

Spring is finally here!! Woooo Hoooo!!!

I love Spring. Nice moderate temperatures. All the plants coming back to life. Wonderful....

Every year the coming of Spring always reminds me of how God is able to take what has died and to breath new life into it.

We have a beautiful Magnolia tree in our front yard. Every Spring it pops out with wonderful blooms that look and smell awesome. During the Winter, this tree looks as dead as could be, but when the weather starts to turn warmer, little buds begin to form on the branches. Soon after that the buds turn into the beautiful flowers I have come to appreciate each year.

It is a blessing to watch this same process occur in the life of a person. They start off cold and dead without Christ or a relationship with God. Then when they come to Christ or get their life right with God, the warmth of His love causes buds to form on branches that were once lifeless. The process of growth and maturity continues and before you know it, beautiful blooms start to appear in their life.

We all go through "Winters" in our walks with God, but may our Winters be short ones. There are many climates in the world where blooming takes place all year. May our lives be of the spiritual climate that we bloom and bear fruit for our Lord all year as well.

Good Morning by Phone

In various jobs I have had over the years I would hear co-workers receive calls from their children. I would hear them talk in "kid voice" to their children on the other end that were excited to talk to their mom or dad. I can remember thinking to myself, "Isn't that cute.....". As a single young man, it is safe to say that I did not appreciate the value of those calls.

Now that I am a father of two wonderful girls, my appreciation of these calls is alot different.

This morning (which is the first Monday after the change to Daylight Savings Time so my body is in rebellion) our girls were not awake when I left for work since their bodies still thought it was time to sleep too. After I had been at work for a while I received a call from my wife. She had the two girls on speaker phone and they wanted to tell me good morning. What a blessing. Now that is an awesome call.

C-E-D Obedience

I am reading a great book called Shepherding a Child's Heart, by Ted Tripp. One of the concepts he talks about the book is the definition of obedience. The 3 words he uses for his definition of obedience are really good.

Obedience should be without:
Challenge
Excuse
Delay

C-E-D. In my desire for my two girls to learn to obey their parents so they can learn to obey God, we have implemented this definition of obedience. It has really caused me to examine my obedience to God and of what type it is. Do I obey God without challenge, excuse, or delay? Too often the answer to that question is no. I am good at trying to rationalize with God and "discuss" with him what he has told me to do instead of just obeying. Sure God, I'll do that, just not right now....

I want my girls to learn to obey in a biblical way. I want to be an example to them of what that kind of obedience to God looks like.

It's Official!!

Our house is officially up for sale now. The for sale sign went in the yard yesterday around 11:00 am. Now we are praying that the right buyer comes to look at the house and loves it.

Click Here to see the listing

Blessed with a new (borrowed) house

A couple of weeks ago we had the blessing of moving into a new house to live in. As we prepare to move to Costa Rica in August of this year, selling our house is high on the list of things to do. Of course selling the place where we live before we actually leave for Cost Rica presents some obvious problems.

There is a wonderful couple in our church that was going to be house-sitting for his mother while she was visiting family out of state for 8 months or so. God directed this couple to let us stay in their empty house rent-free until we move to Costa Rica in August. What a blessing. The house happens to be almost on the corner of our church's parking lot too.

It is so cool to see God parting the waters and make a way for us to cross into His plan on dry ground. How Great is our God.

Father Daughter Dance with Avigail

On February 11th, our church put on a Father Daughter Dance called Puttin on the Ritz. It was held at a hotel near Royal's stadium. We had a great time. For months ahead of time Avigail was so excited to go to "The Ball" like Cinderella.

We danced to every song on a very crowded dance floor.

It was a huge blessing to be able to spend that time with Avigail (she just turned 4 on the 22nd of February). I am going to make something like this a yearly event.