Home Sweet Home

We arrived safely back in Atlanta last night at about 7 p.m. It was the best thing ever to hear my kids' voices on the phone and to see my sweetie in person and talk his ear off about Costa Rica! I'm off today to see the girls, and I can't wait to hold them in my arms again. I still have a couple of more stories for the blog, and I'll post some pictures also as they come in from the team. So stay tuned! Thanks for your support..... :-) Pura Vida!

Church Ladies and Bus Drivers

We have been privileged to meet some very special people in Costa Rica. One of them was our bus driver, Luis. As with everyone here, he is someone who started out a stranger to me but quickly became a friend. When a mission team comes to Costa Rica, they contract with a bus company to provide transportation for the entire week. The bus driver, who remains the same each day, is basically at the teams disposal throughout the whole trip. Our driver was Luis, a young guy in maybe his mid-twenties, who has been the team's driver for the past 4 or 5 years. Because he has driven for Mt. Bethel before, team members who were returning to Costa Rica were very familiar with him, and they all greeted each other warmly when he fetched us from the hotel the first day.

What I didn't realize, but quickly came to understand, was that Luis was much more than our driver. He was a full and contributing member of the team. On the first day, I noticed him at some point painting alongside me on the exterior of the church. And not just painting, but climbing way up on a rickety ladder (which I had not even considered doing myself) to paint the very top of the church. On the following days, he was working upstairs in the parsonage. Later, he was painting the inside of the church with us. He helped prepare dinner for the fiesta, and he held the pinata for the kids...again, from high up on a rickety ladder! He went to dinner with us at night and to Pops with us for ice cream. He even walked with me and a couple of the guys (I felt like I was in the movie Bodyguard) one morning, leading us to a pharmacy several blocks away when it became apparent that I have contracted a nasty case of poison ivy (which funnily in Spanish is apparently called Mal Mujer, or bad woman!) It took me a couple of days to realize that he speaks quite good, self-taught English, which was a little embarrassing since I had been trying to speak my Gringo Spanish to him since we met. He really won me over, however, the day I heard him discussing one of the nearby areas that is even worse off than the one we are in at present...to the point that the police and Red Cross workers have abandoned it. Luis said he visits the neighborhood to help out sometimes, and someone said...We've been told even the police wont go there, and they have guns! And he said, It's no problem... I go with God. Wow.

Another person who made a big impact on me was a woman named Dona Ana...one of the church ladies I mentioned before. Ana was there the day we first visited Mount of Olives, which was Sunday last. After the church service, she was one of the women who served us lunch, which we had not expected them to provide. Ana is perhaps in her 60s with white hair and a wide, crooked smile. She is your typical grandmotherly type...my mom would say she is a good hugger, which is a high compliment in our family. Ana knows very little English, so it was hard at first to communicate. But each day, Ana was at the church early, and she and perhaps Pastor's wife or another lady from the church would start cooking in the teeny kitchen. At about 9 or 10 in the morning, you would start to smell something delicious wafting down into the sanctuary if you walked by the door to the parsonage. I can only imagine the torture the men upstairs must have endured every day...smelling that lovely food cooking for hours on end as they worked!

The first day, Ana and the ladies made chicken and rice...completely from scratch with tiny chopped vegetables and marinated chicken. They served it with fresh pineapple and salty chips. One day we had a wonderful piece of pork in mushroom gravy, rice, papaya, a potato-apple salad and a smooth, creamy guacamole that was heavenly. We begged her for the recipe, but it may be one of those dishes that just cannot be duplicated ... its creamy goodness probably has everything to do with time and place and the amount of love and care put into the preparation and little to do with the list of ingredients. The food coming out of that kitchen was nothing short of gourmet. And Ana herself was so gracious and warm...it made the food taste even better knowing that she had cooked it. Later Ana would appear at VBS, or maybe afterward to help clean up. She and the ladies would sometimes put a children's Spanish CD on and burst into song and dance. They taught us a song and dance about a frog and one about being loco for God, and I will never forget Ana, Lidiette and Sylvia.... three grown women... falling on the floor at the end of that song in fits of laughter.

After our lunch yesterday, we gave Ana and the pastors a couple of gifts...Ana then spoke just a few quiet sentences that brought me to tears. She had a very difficult life when she was young, and she said that everything she does now...for us, for the church and for the pastors...she does because she wants the people in her former neighborhood, those who are lost and broken like she was, to have the opportunity to know the Lord and to have His peace to comfort them...a privilege that she now fully enjoys. Ana, at that moment, was transformed before my eyes from the happy-go-lucky lady who cooked for us into a deeply spiritual person who is living out her faith with her every word and action. Ana is a true missionary who wants others to receive the greatest blessing she has ever received. The song ...Open the Eyes of my heart, Lord, which we sang often at Mt. Olives... comes to mind when I think about Ana.

Rock Stars for God

Today was our last work day at the Mount of Olives Church in Barrio Mexico. As we were planning our day last night, I will admit to a trace of skepticism. Our list of tasks included: Installing two more drop ceilings in the parsonage, painting the entire sanctuary of the church, presiding over up to 130 kids at VBS and hosting a Fiesta slash American style cookout for the entire neighborhood. With no gas grill. OK, let's be honest here...I was pretty sure there was no way it was all going to happen. But it did! And I'm not even all that tired. Pure adrenaline, peeps. I recommend it.

The neighborhood fiesta was awesome. It was only mentioned yesterday and today at VBS, and once on the VBS invitations we handed out at the school every afternoon...but we had about 250 people come through the church tonight! An amazing number that I think Pastor was very happy with...the majority was most likely made up of unchurched people from the surrounding area. Hopefully they got a taste of the joy and exuberance for the Lord that lives at the Mount of Olives church, and they will want to come again to get sommadat!

The children have really warmed up to us over the past four days, and tonight they were flat out adorable, showering us with kisses and hugs and holding our hands. As a mama dearly missing her own kids right now, it couldn't have been more wonderful for me to hold these children and shower them with compliments and love. Pastor's wife made four huge, beautiful iced cakes for the party (in her tiny kitchen with two stoves and zero countertops...Im going to post some pictures of it when I get back...you cannot believe how cramped and pieced together this thing is, but the food that emerged from there daily was far superior to any restaurant food I've eaten this week...and we've had some great meals!). When the cakes came in, the whole crowd applauded and the kids faces literally lit up! Pastor had the team come up on stage and thanked us for our work, showed the crowd the cross we and the children made for the church and then he announced una sopreza...or a surprise! And at that moment, through the church doors walked a complete Mariachi band! The crowd went wild, to borrow a phrase, and the band sang and played for us...it was unbelievable. Afterward, all the kids started asking us to sign bits of paper or paper plates or even their shirts and arms. All of a sudden, we were feeling like rock stars for God!

As the party began to break up, everyone came over to us to say Adios, Mucho Gusto, Gracias and I Love You. The church ladies, which is what I called them in my mind all week, hugged our necks tightly and wished us blessings and safe travels. My special friend tonight, 5-year-old Paola, came over to hug me and kiss my cheek and put a piece of her own candy in my hand. I showed her very pregnant mama (she is due in one week and was at bible school with her two kids every day!) a picture of my two girls, and a few minutes later Paola brought me a picture of herself with her cousins and aunt. In the picture, she is holding a baby doll and laughing. I looked at it and handed it back to her, but her mama said something like... Paola dice para usted, which means Paola wants you to have it. I choked back my tears and leaned down to tell her...Tu familia es muy linde...I hope she understood my broken Spanish.

As we drove away from the church for the last time, with the neighbors waving and following the bus down the street, the feelings were naturally mixed. A contented happiness that we were able to accomplish many things for them, mixed with a heavy sadness that we would not be seeing their beautiful faces again. At least for a while....

Painting and Hugs

Another awesome day in Costa Rica....

Sorry I missed yesterday, readers...I must say, I WAS WHIPPED. We spent all day setting up for VBS and felt prepared and calm when the first ninos showed up at 2 p.m., but our calm quickly turned to frantic when 130 kids streamed in the door! More than twice what we had expected and planned for. Every 10 minutes or so another table and another 20 chairs would appear, only to be quickly filled by more, very cute kids. I will tell you more about that later.

As for today.... we started out painting. Painting the entire exterior of the church, plus the sanctuary, was added to our growing list of tasks, which also includes VBS and the replacement of the parsonage ceilings. I was skeptical, I will admit. But by the end of the day, two out of four rooms in the parsonage had brand new drop ceilings (replacing wooden ceilings which had recently suffered major water damage and termite damage), the exterior of the church miraculously became a bright, fresh Mt. Bethel yellow and one wall in the sanctuary was also a sunny yellow. And we had a great VBS on top of all that. Many hands make light work! I thought the whole time that Grandpa and Teeny would be appalled by the paint job we were doing... no prep work, no cutting in, paint all over everything. But in the end, it didnt look half bad.... If you look at it from afar, while squinting... But Pastor was very happy with it and said he had dreamed about the new colors the night before, and it turned out just the way he imagined. And you just cannot receive better praise than that.

I saw some of the same kids we saw the first day at VBS, and I was able to finagle enough Spanish to talk to them a little and praise the beautiful little crafts they made. Their faces just lit up at the sound of my clumsy Muy Bonitas and Buenos... and their smiles were priceless to me. One little girl, about 4 years old, named Michelle, pronounced MeChell, came up to me and held my hands and asked Como se Llama...I told her my name and asked hers. Then she said Que Linde...which means you are pretty, and she wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me one of those melt into you hugs that my own little girl gives me. I thought my heart would just split in two, with both happiness for this little girl and a strong aching for home. At the church service tonight, I saw Michelle with her mom and 7-year-old brother, Byron. Mom had brought the kids to church so that Pastor and the congregation could pray for Byron, who has leukemia. And we did. And we will.

Love Song From a Friend

Today I attended my first Costa Rican worship service at the Mount of Olives church in San Jose. We received warm bienvenidos, full of hugs and kisses and wide smiles from strangers who refused to stay strangers for long. The pastors wife, Lidietta, opened the service with prayers and announcements...everything in Spanish. Then we began to sing. Joyfully. We clapped. We swayed. We grinned. We swam in the river of God. All around us, people called out Hallelujah and Gracias Senor (that is, Thank You Lord). As the songs changed, someone would project the words on the wall behind the one-man-band and his three lady singers. I was able to pick out a few words, getting the gist of each song and trying to sing along in my somewhat lame, unmusical way. None of the songs were familiar to me, but it did not matter. We were having FUN and grooving along with these groovy Costa Ricans. Then the tone changed and suddenly, it almost seemed spontaneously, the whole congregation began belting out our own beloved How Great Thou Art. The only words I could pick out were Mi Corazon in the place where my mind was singing Then Sings My Soul, but there was no doubt we were singing one in the same, beautiful song. Although we were uttering different words, the common language was one of pure praise and thanksgiving. It seemed that every person was singing it out loud, from the heart, eyes closed, hands raised. The music, and perhaps the Holy Spirit, surrounded us and filled every corner of the room. I will never be able to adequately describe the moment when I remember it in the future, but it was Big. Throughout the day, I heard snatches of conversation between team members...Didn't you love it when they sang How Great Thou Art... wasn't that awesome....I just wanted to cry...It opened my eyes....It was so beautiful....And it was. Although that song was obviously a gift to every person in attendance, I secretly think it was meant just for me.

Looks Like We Made It

Please forgive my punctuation...the hotel computer keyboard is a bit wacky...

Friends, we made it to Costa Rica! What a day we have had. We took off for the airport at 6:30 a.m. today. After checking about 900 bags, scooting through security and eating a quick breakfast...we boarded the plane and left exactly ON TIME...way to go, Delta! I watched about half of The Bucket List before we ran into some nasty turbulence, which knocked out our movie feed for the duration of the trip. My friend and I are already the subject of rumors that we MAY be slightly overemotional, as the turbulence sent us into teary handholding and sustained hyperventilation. It did not help that we were already teary from watching The Bucket List ....the crazy dipping and diving sent us over the edge, man. It was later pointed out that obviously, everything was in Gods hands, and it turned out fine. Which didn't stop me from wanting to dump a few of those airline bottles of whiskey into the Coke I had with lunch. But I am on a nonalchoholic mission trip, so I settled for killing a bag of peanut M&Ms in the space of about 45 seconds. But ANYWAY....

After some awesome views of the lush, green Costa Rican landscape, we landed safely and with hearts beating regularly once again. After loading the 900 bags on to the top of a tourist bus, we made our first stop at the grocery store, aka the Costa Rican Walmart. Here we picked up the snacks and drinks that we will give to our kids at VBS, plus a few bags of souvenir coffee and specialty candies for ourselves. The next stop was the church where we will be working this week. We met the lively pastor and his wife, who welcomed us in Spanish and told us about their daughter who lives in North Carolina with her husband, who is from Alaska. The world just gets smaller and smaller all the time, doesn't it... Finally, we arrived at our hotel and, after unloading the 900 bags from the bus, we threw ourselves on to our beds and had a chance to breathe for a couple of hours.

Later, we gathered for dinner at a nearby seafood restaurant. We had the place to ourselves, and the service and food were amazing. My first taste of Costa Rica included ceviche, a grilled and buttery sea bass, fresh vegetables and sweet tea, all for the bargain price of around 8 dollars per plate! A highlight of the night was the appearance of a little girl of maybe 3, dressed in a princess gown. It was her birthday, and all the waiters made a big fuss over her, clapping and filling her pockets with colones. Our evening finished up a little while ago with a team meeting and an awesome devotion, which included telling a bit about ourselves and why we are on this trip. The conclusion was that each one of us has been called to be here for a special purpose ....a purpose that we may not know now, but that we will come to understand better as the week goes on. Spirit of the living God, wash over me, mold me, use me....Tomorrow is church day, which we are told includes at least two to three hours on your feet, with plenty of singing, worshipping God and enthusiastic preaching. Can't wait....

And Away We Go!

We met at church tonight to pack the bus and receive communion...AND we are ready to blast off at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning! Yes, I will be stopping for coffee. And complaining. But just a little.

The communion service was a real get-your-mind-right meeting. The pastor read scripture from Corinthians that talks about the comfort we receive from God, and how He desires to fill us to overflowing so that we can, in turn, comfort and love others. This sounds right to me! Especially pastor's assurances that God doesn't expect or want us to "do" anything in our own strength (or lack thereof!), as much as He wants to do and love, through us. Which only requires us to be open-hearted and open-minded to what He has planned. Love that!

And speaking of love, would you look at what my lovely friend gave me to take on the trip? See, the overflowing comfort thing really works!

I am so thankful to everyone who has helped make tomorrow possible. Thanks to you who are praying for us, and those who have asked specifically what you can pray for. For tomorrow...safe travels, of course! And good good-byes for families who are separating. I'm praying that every person on our team can get on the plane tomorrow with easy minds and no worries. Hopefully our next entry will be made from Tico Town...Que Dios los bendiga! (May God bless you!)

Empty Nesting

The girls left yesterday to spend a couple of weeks with their grandparents. This is another huge gift that makes the trip to Costa Rica possible. Knowing that the kids are happy and well cared for frees my mind although my heart hurts a bit! The house is really, really quiet. Which is actually very nice! But I feel like I've left my purse somewhere or forgot to turn off the oven or perhaps forgot to attach my right arm this morning? Something is definitely off... Last night, C. and I swam in the pool (which was strangely quiet and relaxing without all the cannonballs, searches for goggles and loud requests to "Watch this, Mama") and luxuriously ate leftovers in front of the TV and dozed off at 9 p.m....just like the old days. Ha!

Tonight the mission team meets to organize the extra suitcases that everyone is taking to leave in San Jose. We'll be taking tools, clothing donations and materials for Vacation Bible School. We have also received donations of T-shirts and dental kits. Each suitcase can only weigh 50 pounds. Airline regs, plus the donated suitcases are of the 1982 variety... huge and sans wheels. How did we ever manage travel without the genius inventions of handles and wheels? I haven't even started packing for myself yet, but that's typical. It's all in here, she says, tapping her head wisely. Or stupidly. Whatever.

Consecration day

Today, our mission team was consecrated in four services at church. There is no doubt that we are prayed over now, but good! The last consecration took place after the Contemporary Service sermon, which was a great one about Father's Day. I don't usually attend the Contemporary service but I've loved it the couple of times that I have. It features a lot of soulful singing and rousing words, all in the very informal surroundings of our church's gym. The consecration itself was very moving....the pastor had our teams stand in the aisles and the congregation surrounded us, laid hands on us, and prayed for the success and safety of the team. This day was also full of encouraging words from our friends and the church at large, as we passed through the hallways in our mission team T-shirts. I was on the verge of tears for most of the morning! The encouragment was just what I needed today. I know I am about to face all the anxieties that will come this week over getting ready to go and having my kids leave with their grandparents on Tuesday. I'm going to miss them terribly.

After church, the team met for lunch and heard from the permanent missionaries in Costa Rica. They won't be on site during our trip, but they had lots of useful information about the San Jose church and surrounding communities. And they had yet more encouragement for us, which was very welcome! One thing that was said today stuck with me... Maybe these team members are seed planters or maybe they are just going to prepare the soil for the seeds yet to be planted, but whatever their purpose...let it be God's purpose.

The countdown begins...

A Shot in the Arm

I took one day a couple of weeks ago to get my immunizations in preparation for the trip. My sweet neighbor was kind enough to take the girls for me for the whole afternoon. I had already received most of my support money, which was so great, and I wasn't expecting any more donations. I came home a little bummed out because I had to shell out $75 that day for my shots. I knew it would be OK... and I think I'm learning to trust God more than ever through this experience... but I was fretting a bit about the cost of the shots and thinking of all the other unexpected expenses we were looking at this summer. I logged on to email and the first message I opened was from my women's circle. I had appealed to them for donations several weeks prior, and they had decided to clean out their treasury and donate $100 to our trip. And they sent out an email to let everyone know -- THAT DAY. I choked up immediately and remembered the words I have heard so often...You can't outgive God! If we can just trust Him sacrificially, He gives it back to us over and above our expectations. Now why in the world did I waste one moment fretting??

The Power of One

Very shortly after we attended the Costa Rica information session, a man in my Sunday School class, J., returned from a mission trip to Honduras. The day his team was consecrated, J.'s wife brought a card for us all sign that would be given to him during his trip. She mentioned that he was not a person who would like a big production, but she just wanted to do something low-key to encourage him on his trip. I thought that was so sweet, and I looked forward to hearing all about his adventures. His talk was amazing...and for a low-key person, he came back overcome with emotion and eloquently spoke of the blessing that the trip had been! My decision to go to Costa Rica was cemented that day. He and his wife have since been wonderfully supportive, reassuring me that the sacrifices involved in going will be so worth it, and in more ways than I can imagine at this moment. I hope that after this experience, I can be as much of an encouragement to others thinking of going on a mission trip as this couple has been to me.

Ask and You Shall Receive

I hate sales. I once told a friend of mine, who was a fantastic salesperson, "I would rather die than do what you do." A little overdramatic, no doubt, but the thought of it really does give me the heebie-jeebies. And I'm sure I'm not alone, right? Don't they say that as far as human fears go, public speaking ranks just behind death? Public speaking, sales - It's all the same genre to me. So imagine my cold sweats when I decided to try to raise money to help me go to Costa Rica, which despite the bargain basement pricing, was still a good chunk of change for our family this summer. And imagine my further sweating when our team leader put me in charge of securing clothing donations for our team to take to Costa Rica. God sure does have a sense of humor. Lucky for me, He also equips the called rather than calling the equipped. I have been blessed to be surrounded by some very encouraging people in my life and a few of them prayed with me in April for the courage to ask.... and then became my very first supporters! Their initial support gave me greater confidence, and one friend's words repeated themselves whenever I felt cold-sweaty: "Don't deprive others of being part of this blessing that you are about to receive." Initially, I hoped to raise half of my costs, but as of today, I have received an overflowing of generosity that has nearly met my total cost for the trip. In addition, we have received an abundance of children's and women's clothes to take to Costa Rica and share with the communities around San Jose. I'm still collecting, but it looks like we'll have seven very large suitcases, full of donated clothing. Wow!!

Should you choose to accept it....

Check out a Mission Trip at Half Price!Too good to be true? Only if you don't get signed up before they are full. This Tuesday, March 11 at 7 p.m. in the Sanctuary we will give you an opportunity to see and hear about any of the mission trips you might be interested in going on in 2008. This is a great opportunity to see if God might be calling you to be part of a short-term mission team this year.

And that was the email that started it all! I had not been thinking about mission trips this year. For probably the past five years, I have thought about mission trips -- every summer. A love of travel combined with a growing desire to live the words that Jesus spoke drew me to the "mission talks" every spring. I was thrilled to hear the career missionaries talk about their work in Africa or Romania or Estonia. Of course, I found them all to be completely beyond my own realm of possibility, but I thought maybe I could do a short-term trip. When I didn't have a full-time job, with limited vacation days. Maybe next year. When I didn't have a tiny baby that needed me. Maybe next year. When I had more disposable income to spend on a trip. Maybe next year. When it didn't fall during the school year, or over July 4th. Maybe next year. Next year became this year, and God prodded me with the above email from one of our pastors. You've got the whole summer off, the tiny babies are not so tiny anymore, the dates are right, you still don't have much disposable income, but look - half price! A bargain! And I do so love a bargain.

I sent an email to my good friend across town - just a question. Did you attend the missions dinner this year? She didn't answer, but when I saw her the next day she asked me a question. Why did you ask me that? Are you thinking about going on a mission trip? I gulped and timidly answered, ummmm...maybe? And she boldly said, ME TOO! And God prodded further....What do you think of THAT? He asked. So she and I agreed...let's go to the information session and just see what it's all about. No commitments. But that night quickly narrowed our focus to Costa Rica - not too far, not too expensive, the dates were perfect, we had both been to the country before, so we felt comfortable -- and we tentatively decided to go. Yes!! God was working mightily in this thing because really, I've had more trouble trying to plan a coffee date with a friend. And voila....a whole trip just fell into place. I wasn't sure what to think. It's difficult for me to fully believe that God works in my life. Other people's...sure! But mine? OK, definitely during that bringing-babies-into-the-world miracle. But this is something completely different. I am going to go out into the world as Jesus' hands and feet? Me? I can't wait to see what happens next.