Tico Tuesday, December 28th

Ode To Cranberry

Oh Cranberry, thy taste to my tongue brings great delight

Dried, fresh, baked or otherwise prepared

Mixed with orange, apple, rolls or squash

Oh Cranberry, native to my beloved New England thou art

Oh Cranberry, thou bringest joy to my heart!!

Ok, so I’m a real fan of cranberries! On Christmas Day my Ode to Cranberry was even longer and sillier. And I’ll openly admit, I’m not the best off-the-top-of-my-head poet. But, the apple-cranberry pie I helped Mommy make for dessert Christmas Day was good enough to inspire anyone to try to be

Frost or Longfellow for at least a few minutes… jijiji.

It was a wonderful Christmas full of love, fresh Arizona air, Scripture and talking and sharing with those I love most. I hope yours was just as good, if not better! (more about mine on the blog!)

Much love,

Carrie

I had a wonderful week in Arizona! Mommy and I put on the miles as we did the Bisbee stairs route one morning (the new, longer versión, but we still did it faster than we did in August!), hiked almost 14 miles in the Chiricahua Nat’l Monument on

Christmas Eve, biked about 10 miles on Christmas morning, hiked through a gorgeous place called the Narrows, and walked around the Sonoran Desert Museum and swam in our hotel’s pool for a good 30-40min.

Christmas Day was not the most traditional. NO more acting out the Christmas story- it would be a bit difficult as a one man show for me to put on (if you didn’t know, my brothers and I used to always act it out every year as Daddy read it out loud for us on Christmas morning). We still read the Christmas story though. After stockings and breakfast in the morning Mommy and I biked over to a nearby park where they have a collection of Santas –they are all hand painted (on big wooden slabs) and each Santa has a different theme. We saw German, Norwegian, British, Australian, New England, and dwarf-like Santas. It was a very fun, cultural experience. When we got home we finished making and then thoroughly enjoyed our tur

key FEAST!!!! YES it is worth making a turkey for 3 people! Oh it was so delicious! And over the course of the day, I got to talk to, my brother Dan, his wife, and his 3 kids who are old enough to talk, my brother Zach, my Grandma and one of my cousins. Oh yeah, and my boyfriend. J

The next day after Mommy went to hike for church I got to play cribbage for the first time in AGES with Daddy (and then Mommy). He beat me, but then I beat Mommy. It was great fun! Daddy whooped Mommy and me at 10-9-8 (up and down the river) that night too. So mean of him to pick on us girls!!!

Other highlights of the trip were dinner with Marty & Jack, good friends of Mommy and Daddy. We actually had a little birthday party for me and MOMMY MADE ME A CAKE!!!! I am SO SPOILED!!! I LOVE IT!!! The other highlight was lunch with abuelito Jack & Mary Anne, retired missionaries of the LAM and true lovers of God. I want to be like them when I grow up!

Thanks be to God for the wonderful people He places in our lives and the wonderful ways He blesses us and cares for us-from cranberries to family, and of course, the best Gift ever-JESUS!!!

Tico Tuesday, December 21st

Happy Tuesday!
This is the Christmas tree we had at the office. Pretty nice, isn't it? Friday morning we had a birthday/Christmas party/breakfast. It was really nice. We played chubby bunny (which was the most hilarious thing I have seen in ages), had delicious tamales for breakfast, sang Happy Birthday, revealed our Secret Santas and received nice gift baskets from the association. It was great! More pictures will be coming soon, but I'm currently enjoying my favorite Christmas tree in the world at my parents' place in Arizona. I'm more a homemade ornament colored light kind of girl... I'll be sure to post a picture of our tree later, but right now it's late and I need to sleeeeeep!
Have a blessed Christmas week!!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, December 14th

Tuesday greetings to you all!

This weekend I went on an adventure to mountain paradise! Fabián and I hiked the Barva volcano. It is considered extinct, so it isn't quite as exciting as the 3 more famous ones-Arenal, Poás & Irazú. But, it is closer. The morning was sunny and beautifully clear and the views of the Central Valley got better and better as we gained altitude. We had all day, so we took our time, walking along, talking and taking lots of pictures! We took an hour at a picnic table to read the Bible, pray and worship together. It was great! Then we headed into the cloud forest and wandered amongst the poor man's umbrella's (for a picture head to the blog) until we got to the crater. I'll confess, it doesn't look terribly impressive, but it is still really cool to think about the fact that you're standing in (what used to be) a volcano.

So, it was a great adventure with lots of natural beauty and wonderful views... and really good company!

More pictures and the story of my first time to Volcán Barva on the blog!

Blessings on the rest of your week!

Carrie

My first time to Volcán Barva was almost 4 years ago now, when I was a student here. I remember driving up in a little microbus with the 7 other girls in my program, our program director, and our fun chauffeur who was so cool I decided to adopt him as my tico uncle. We drove right up to the park entrance, so we didn't have very far to hike. I much preferred the walk up from where the bus left us! It was even foggier (cloudier) that day, but there were more cool flowers out. I remember it poured and we ate lunch by the park entrance. That experience definitely doesn't compare with this one! Adventures are always more fun with people you know and feel more comfortable around. I never felt that comfortable with or got that close to any of the other girls in my program. But, boy did God have His purpose for having me in Costa Rica then. If it weren't for that I sure wouldn't be here now!

Tico Tuesday, December 7th

This past Sunday I had a special treat. A whole bunch of fellow LAM missionaries and I got together to sing hymns! I loved it! And I got to meet some really wonderful people! There were hundreds of years of missionary experience in that house we met in!! I felt so honored to be there! And I sang until I almost because hoarse. We stopped just in time and it's a good thing we did, though I still wanted to sing at least 3 more that I really like. We sang a few Christmas carols too. That was nice. Anyway, the view in the picture is actually from the Bible Home and where we had the hymn sing is actually high up and so not only can you look down and see the whole valley, you can also see part of Roblealto's Farm, Bible Home and Camp!!! So cool! Pictures of that should be coming, I hope. I was so taken with the people, hymns and loving the beautiful house we were in and its view that I didn't get to pull my camera out. Oh well.

A few more thoughts on the blog! Blessings on the rest of your week!

Carrie

I think this is the year in which I have listened to less Christmas music. I'm not sure how I feel about that. The Christmas music that I have is all quite old and it makes me really nostalgic. A Mannheim Steamroller album brings me back to our living room in New Jersey and me dancing around with my best friend at the time. A more recent Smitty album takes me back to our living room in Auburn, ME next tot he Christmas tree wrapped up in the blue blanket from Aunt Nancy in Daddy's red leather chair, a cup of hot in hand and the Guidepost Christmas Treasury on my lap. I used to read through the whole book every Christmas season. Yes, Christmas is a nostalgic time, and it's kind of hard, because more than anything I wish it could just go back to the way it was, with all 5 of us together, each of us in our robes and on our bean bags on Christmas morning. I'm a sucker for tradition. But I know, Dan has his family now, Zach has his life, and I'm here in Costa Rica living it up and loving it all. I will get to be with my parents for Christmas this year... for the first time since 2007. Wow. Has my life been an adventure!! I'd tell more but I'm falling asleep. I'll do my best to post again before next Tuesday!

Tico Tuesday, November 30th

Happy Tuesday!

Last week was very full! More to come in the soon-to-arrive Chronicle, but for now I'll highlight my birthday. It was a great day at the Bible Home and we had the debriefing of the group of volunteers from Canada. I made my pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and then headed to Albeiro's for a fantastic birthday dinner of shrimp, broccoli, salad, rice and of course, birthday cake! I think this was the first year in my life I haven't had a homemade cake. I didn't have time to make myself one. I was given 2 storebought ones though, so I guess that makes up for something.... sort of. I definitely felt the love on my day and birthday month/season has been great. My birthday package from my parents didn't come until yesterday!

May God bless all of you each day. Each one is a gift from Him and reason enough to celebrate and give Him thanks and praise!

With love,

Carrie

Tico Tuesday, November 23rd

It's Tuesday again!

This week I would like to feature my supervisor at work, Pam. She is such a wonderful leader! she is well-organized, knows what she's doing, relates well with the members of her team, sets a good example, loves what she does and is just an amazing woman of God! I am so blessed to work with her! Last week we were working on writing the printed bulletin together. the last page is SO GREAT!!! It was a total team effort and I lvoe the way we included the gospel in it! God's love is so awesome and powerful! Head to the blog for more!

May we live out the gospel this week and be THANKFUL for EVERYTHING God sends our way!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Carrie Jo

So Pam and I put the last page of the bulletin together. It was really great to bounce ideas off one another and just rejoice in the gift of the life of Jesus Christ. We serve Him, we live because of Him, and Roblealto only exists because of Him. God is so great I jsut love Him so much!!!

Pam put together the page before the last one and it was beyond adorable and heart-melting. It sends chills down my spine every time I re-count or hear what the kids said. It would be worth making a donation to Roblealto just to see this page. Seriously! Pam interviewd 6 kids and asked them what they would give Jesus for Christmas. And oh the blessed innocence and the sweetness of youth! It doesn't occur to them that they might not have to give what they want to give. They just think of how to best express their love and devotion to Him.

Getting to spend time ehre at the Bible Home is so great! I love having volunteers here. I get to have more interaction with the kids and hear and witness some really greta stuff. Ok, sorry, it's Wednesday now and I have to go. More soon, I hope! Thus far it's been a great birthday!!!

Tico Tuesday, November 16th

Happy happy Tuesday!

We are currentling hosting a team of volunteers from Canada here at Roblealto's Bible Home. Can you imagine traveling some 36 hours to go somewhere? And when you arrive they give you a lawn mower and tell you to get to work? Ok, we're a little nicer about it (and we let them sleep some too), but, really... What disposition! What a beautiful willingness to serve! But, of course we don't just make volunteers slave away all day. That would be cruel. THERE ARE CHILDREN HERE TO PLAY WITH!!!! And these kids need a lot of love!! And language barrier shmanguage larrier. Smiles, hugs and gestures go a loooooooong way. Really, they are all you need. But anyway, I am really loving having volunteers here! And I am continuing to learn so much-about Roblealto, about working with people, about lawnmowers and weedwhackers... and of course about God and His transforming love. Friday we took the volunteers to Los Guido and to El Manantial, one of our childcare center. More about that on the blog!

May God bless the work of your hands this week and may it be an act of love for Him!

Carrie

Los Guido is the site of Roblealto's future and 4th childcare center. It is essentially a slum on the southern side of San José- illegal immigrants, not good access to water and electricity, extreme poverty, drugs, alcohol, domestic violence, child labor and abuse, serious exploitation. This is the reality of life there. Not pretty. At Roblealto's new childcare center, 250 children will be cared for each day. The kids' parents will be able to get better jobs and Lord willing, break out of poverty and start a new life. We have the land. We have the architectural plans. All we need is $673.500 to get going on Stage 1. We are writing grants, praying hard, and trying to make friends with rich people. Anybody know anyone that might be interested in helping transform a community in Costa Rica? We are sure excited to see how God is going to provide! We KNOW HE WILL!!!

Next, El Manantial. Our 3rd and "newest" childcare center. It was built a year after I was born (and I'll be 24 a week from tomorrow!!!! :-) ) It serves 235 children from areas like Los Guido (some of them are even from Los Guido. And unfortunately, areas like Los Guido are all too easily found here in Costa Rica). When we went to visit on Friday, we arrived while the children were having lunch. It was SO great!!! The kids were beyond adorable. We walked in and all the kids turned around and stuck their hands out for handshakes and high fives and started shouting "¡Visita! ¡Visita!" (Visitor! Visitor!) Too cute for words! And then you'd approach one and they'd start talking to you with their mouth full of food-like 3 kids at once trying to tell you their names and ask you 3 different questions and tell you 3 different things. Yes, overwhelming, but too fun and wonderful to think anything else. They just starve for love! Oh it was a blast! Can you see now why I'm so enamored with this organization??

Ok, sorry to cut it short, but it's bedtime. Sorry for the lack of pics, but I need to make sure the pics I post are of kids who have permission to have their fotos plastered in public. More to come! The rest of this month is going to be an exciting whirlwind!

Tico Tuesday, November 9th

This past Friday night we had a prayer "vigil" at the BIble Home. We ended around 10pm, so it wasn't that much of a vigil, but I know I wouldn't have made it through the night and it was quite cold up there in San José de la Montaña. Really, my tank top, long sleeved t-shirt, other t-shirt, sweatshirt and scarf were not enough!!!! Anyway, this was the 5th vigil they have done at the Bible Home. The previous 4 were all in newly built or remodeled houses (there are 8 total, originally constructed in the early 1930s. With 10 kids plus a foster family you can imagine the wear and tear these houses get!!!) This year, the school, which was also several decades old, got quite the facelift! So, we had our vigil there. It was very well planned. A lot like a concert of prayer, if you know what that is. If not, it suffices to say it was kind of like an extended worship service with songs, some teaching, prayer, and worship dance by a few ladies. Oh yeah, and tamales and some yummy cakes and breads. It was a beautiful evening or worship and thanksgiving together! I'm looking forward to knowing the staff and kids at the Bible Home better!
Have I mentioned yet how much I love my job and how fascinated I am by the ministry of Roblealto?
Blessings on the rest of your week!
Carrie

A little more about my new job

Ok, so it's Thursday morning and not Wednesday night.... Last night I got home and Josue and a friend of mine were watching Fiddler on the Roof. So, yeah. Not much got done.

So, what am I doing in my new job? I am part of the Int'l Development/Promotions Dept. We are the connection between people outside of Costa Rica and Roblealto. In our office, we get entrance, progress and exit reports on each of the kids and transform them into nice letters for the kids' sponsors to read. The report from the social worker says, “Juan is affectionate, squirmy, and disobedient.” We say, “Juan is affectionate and very active. We are working with him on respecting rules and authority.” Doesn't that sound better? All the kids in Roblealto programs come from really difficult backgrounds and family situations. So, they aren't all little angels. They need a lot of prayer and the support they receive when sponsored really helps transform their lives and the lives of the rest of their family. Progress reports come out once a year around the time of the kid's birthday. So, there are always ones that need to be done. Now that Fabian and I are here though, we have caught up and are now on top of them. We were a couple months behind when he started. We also translate all the correspondence between the sponsors and the kids. That's mostly Nelly's job, but I think they are going to have me help with that some closer to Christmas. Sounds great!!

Next week we are having a group of volunteers come!! I'm excited!!! Tomorrow we'll get our orientation, Monday we are supposed to visit all the childcare centers and meet the staff there and Tuesday night, they arrive to the Bible Home! While they are here we help keep tabs on them as they work and get them anything they need while they work on their various projects. One night we have a “Night of Translation” and they get one of us to be with them at dinner in a house at the Bible Home and translate for them. I think that sounds great! I'm really excited for that!

So, there's a little more of a taste of what happens at work. We also have lots of miscellaneous translations to do, like the grant proposal I'm working on. I think I'm going to finish it today!! Gotta go get ready for work!

Tico Tuesday, November 2nd

Happy Tuesday from Costa Rica!!!

Today I went to work in the Bible Home. The idea is for me to be there about 2 days a week, but leaving things flexible to be where my supervisor needs me to be. I spent most of the day working on a translation of a grant application from English into Spanish. It's great practice for me, and it is definitely cementing a lot about Roblealto into my head! What is the grant proposal for? A new childcare center!! More on that another day. I'm currently on page 12 of 23. We'll see when I actually get to finish. At the central office in San José there are Entrance Reports that need (what I would consider desperate) attention and next week a group of volunteers is coming! Whew!

If you still don't really get what I do in my new job, I'll post more on my blog tomorrow. Right now I need to go to bed!!

May God bless the work of your hands this week!

Carrie

Tico Tuesday, October 26th

I 'm starting to feel like the mall here is a little bit like Wal-Mart in Auburn, ME-- you can't go there without seeing somebody you know! On Sunday, (a particularly busy day at the mall) I ran into the people my friend Albeiro lives with, a man I know from CCI, and …. the man in this picture and his wife!!! I was walking around with my friend Vivi and another friend when all of a sudden this woman took my shoulder and asked me what my name was. I told her and looked at her and the man beside her. The light clicked on – they were my host parents when I was a student here in 2007! I couldn't believe it! I'd always meant to call them and let them know I was here again, but somehow it never got to be a priority. Oops!! I'll be calling them soon so we can catch up!!!
More stories about my time as a student here on the blog!
Have a great rest of the week!
Carrie

I spent the spring semester of my jr year studying here in Costa Rica. Some of you might remember that. It was when I first started all these mass communications to people to let them know about my life. I was the only Grover and only 1 one 8 girls in the program. Most of the rest of my classmates were from the U of Illinois. And there were only 2 guys. That was interesting! I started with one host family and then switched to live with Imelda and Johnny. They were really nice to me and I think they appreciated how much I respected them. They have 2 kids that live nearby and 3 adorable grandkids. Josué was 9 (or was he 7?) while I was there. Oh man, I hope I get to see my little buddy again!! He was so great! I still have a picture we drew together. It was the sweetest thing. It was the best example of together I could think of. I'd draw something, he'd add to it, he'd draw something and have me color it in, I'd draw a tree, he'd draw a bush next to it. So adorable!!! I'll have to find my other pictures of the house. Imelda loves plants and has about 100 hanging plants (mostly orchids) in the covered in back patio. It is absolutely gorgeous. It is like a private garden café with a perfect spot in the corner for somebody to stand and play a guitar. Imelda is an amazing artist-not only does she garden, she does cool stuff with aluminum on wood, decorating candles, amazing beadwork and jewelry, glass-painting, and other things that I can't remember. I always enjoyed talking with her while she worked at some project. She made me a really pretty necklace with a piece of glass as the pendant. It has a heart painted on it and still gets compliments every time I wear it. Ahh, good times. Living with Imelda and Johnny was really nice. But, I'm very happy here with the Viera's. I feel more at-home here and it's nicer to be here because Imelda and Johnny go to bed at about 8pm.... :-) Speaking of bedtime....

Loving Life!!!

I remember when I used to go hiking in Grand Teton Nat'l Park on my days off. I remember loving being in the middle of a canyon, swallowed into majestic beauty and feeling the power of God's presence. I'd set off at a fast-paced frolic for a little ways (not too far because I wanted to soak it all in) and just yell in the middle of the canyon "I LOVE THIS!!!!!" Granted, part of the yelling was because 1. I am just loud 2. One always had to be making lots of noise in order to not surprise a grizzly bear and avoid a life-threatening encounter with one 3.It was true and the joy and absolute pleasure in life and God's creation was incontainable!!!! Well, I had a sort of similar moment last Thursday at work. I don't even remember what exactly was going on at the moment, what we were talking about or anything, but I had an "I LOVE MY JOB!!" moment! I said it three times and at lower volume since I was inside. No frolicking either, but we did have a pretty sweet dance party in the car (in a traffic jam) on the way home Thursday evening. I am so motivated at worknow because I know what I'm doing is really important and contributing to God's Kingdom. I often struggled to justify how I spent my time "working" at CCI. A lot of time was just spent e-mailing close friends and family members. And in many ways it was "doing missions." But, really I was not making the most of my time or gifts. but that's over now. Hence the lower frequency in blog posts and brevity! jaja I bet you're grateful for that!

More to come! I've been learning a lot and will share once it's more well-processed!

Tico Tuesday, October 19th/ CARRIE'S CARTWHEEL!!

This is a very special edition Tico Tuesday! Today I have a very special newsletter with BIG NEWS in it!! So, please open up the attachment and enjoy!

Sorry the Word document is so heavy, but the color got messed up when I converted it to pdf and my technological skills limit me from fixing it. The pdf is there anyway though, if you can’t open the Word doc.

You can find some other reflections on this big change in my life on my blog!

With joy,

Carrie

Hmm, I don't know how to "post" or "attach" the documents here on my blog. I'll have to look into that. In the meantime if you don't get my e-mails and want the newsletter (I sure want you to read it!!!) please send me an e-mail and I'll get it to you asap.

Anyway....

YES!! FINALLY!!! I have been in this process of switching ministries for some time now and have had the hardest time biting my tongue!! Why didn’t I tell you all? Well, I didn’t even know what all was going on and what was going to happen, so I didn’t want to say something and have it end up being a false alarm and I wasn’t sure just how this was all going to work out. Perhaps I’ll post the story piece by piece. Today I don’t have a lot of time though.

I’m definitely still in the transitioning process, and I feel like I’m definitely honeymooning right now. I am on cloud 9! I don’t even remember when was the last time I was this happy. I LOVE MY NEW JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so thrilled, honored, privileged, blessed to be a part of the incredible ministry of Roblealto. It is just great! And God has provided for me! I thought I was going to have to bike the 6 miles UPHILL from home to the Bible Home 4 days a week, but it looks like I’ll be able to get rides both to the Bible Home in San José de la Montaña and the Central Offices in San José. What a huge blessing! Praise the Lord!

I am still living with my dear Honduran family. So, I’m thrilled with life! I’ll post again later this week. I promise!

Tico Tuesday, October 12th

Green Bananas

Yep, we have banana plants in our back yard! Bananas are one of the major exports of Costa Rica, but we do keep some here for ourselves too. I've had multiple people tell me

that the bananas we export are so big they aren't as sweet and tasty. I'm not sure I agree with that. You think green bananas aren't good for anything but sitting around until they become yellow? Not true, my friends!! You can cut them into thin slices and fry them and eat them like chips, you can cut them into fatter chunks, fry them, smush them and then fry them again (they're called patacones), you can put them in soup, and

you can cook them with a little bit of salt to soothe your stomach. I'm not sure if I'd be so adventurous as to try any of this with green bananas in the States since they are so close to being ripe. But, if you give it a try, let me know how it goes!

Have a great rest of the week!

Carrie

Sorry, nothing much new to report here. Well, actually I have news to report, but you'll be getting another e-mail soon about that. I'm been staying busy, getting lots of exercise, and enjoying the last few days with Tia before she heads out. Tio Samuel, Abuelita's brother was here for almost 2 weeks after Abuelita passed away. He was really cool, a really really sweet guy. I have now met 2 of Abuelita's siblings- Tia

Nena came in April to visit. It's really neat seeing the similarities in the family, not only among Abuelita and her siblings, but also seeing the difference between don Jorge (the Dad of the family I live with), Tia Hortencia (the aunt that has been here), and Henoc, Abuelita's oldest son that I met over Skype. I think families are so fascinating! I love seeing my extended family members and being able to tell that we are related! Whether that be by physical traits or family mannerisms. It's great!

Ok, I'd write more but it's late and I need to get up early!

Tico Tuesday, October 5th

Happy Tuesday to you all! Isn't Tuesday a great day of the week? I just finished reading “Tuesdays with Morrie,” and enjoyed it a lot, even though I don't agree with everything Morrie thought. But, I'll admit, I'm a Tuesday girl too: IV always met on Tuesdays, now I have Tico Tuesdays, Tuesday is just a great day! Anyway, next Tuesday is going to be a very sad day for me- Tía is going to leave us! I'm going to miss her dreadfully. She has been a wonderful blessing to me- listening to me, counseling me and I have learned so much from her. And we love singing together! She sings in Spanish most of the time, and if I don't know the song or hymn in Spanish I'll sing it in English and throw in the harmony if I know it. It's so fun! Tía made a huge sacrifice to be here in Costa Rica to take care of Abuelita. Her husband and 4 mostly-grown kids are still in New Jersey and have been without her a whole year now. So, it will be great for her to go back. I'm going to have to visit her when I go to the States!

I'll post on my blog the story of her going away party!

God bless you this Tuesday and every day!

Carrie

Friday night we threw Tía a surprise going away party. At least, I think it was a surprise. She was making dinner, so I don't think she expected anything. We invited everyone we could think of here who had the opportunity to get to know her. A lot of our friends from church came, since they tend to spend a lot of time at our house, but some adults came too. Considering how little Tía had been able to get out, she made a big impression on a lot of people! She is a very admirable woman of God!

I put on my pretty dress that I wore at the family for Tía since she is always telling me to dress up more and show off my legs. Jajaja! She and I have had a lot of fun together.

Most of the time of the party was spent talking. We gave everyone the chance to talk to her and thank her, tell her what we learned from her, what we appreciate about her, etc. Then she responded to each person, also saying what she appreciated and learned from us, etc, etc, etc. It was a really sweet beautiful time. There was a lot of confession and forgiveness going on-- Tía admitted to sometimes being hard on others because she was so concerned about Abuelita. It was a lovely thing to see people be so humble and honest. It was a most edifying time! It reminded me a little bit of the “living funeral” Morrie had for himself before he died (referring back to the book I mentioned above). It's much nicer to talk about things and tell people how much they mean to you and get out of the way anything that stressed, upset or hurt you when they are there to listen to you, instead of only wishing it to their grave after they're gone.

My friend Jorgito knelt when he talked to Tía and then he sang to her. Many tears were shed, especially by yours truly. Other guys tried to be macho and kept themselves from crying. Afterwards we sang and it was just a delightful time. I'll try to get the rest of the pics on facebook soon.

In the meantime, make the most of life and let others know how much they mean to you! Life is a fleeting breath!

Tico Tuesday, September 28th

One life to live

I know that is/was the title of a soap opera, but it's true. We only have one life to live, and this life is passing, fleeting, a breath, and flower that blooms and fades. On Sunday afternoon Abuelita Ruth went home to be with Jesus. I'll admit, I'm jealous. If we claim to follow Christ and be His, then shouldn't we long to be with Him for eternity? God has definitely been showing me lately that there is nothing better than being with Him. But He has us here for the time being: He has a purpose for us and will be faithful to complete it. We are rejoicing that God fulfilled His purpose in Abuelita and that she is now with Him, but of course we do miss her. I'll post some further stories on things and share how God glorified himself in Abuelita's death on my blog.

O Lord give us the grace to be faithful to You in this life on earth!

Carrie

Abuelita was a quiet woman. It wasn't always easy to converse with her because she didn't often have much to say and sometimes I just didn't know what to say. Towards the end as she weakened trying to get her to talk would often send her into a bout of coughing or she just wouldn't have the strength to speak. So, I never got to know her terribly well. But, there are a lot of things I observed and learned from her. She was very diligent. As long as her health allowed she was always doing something productive. She liked things to be neat. I couldn't leave any dishes dirty in the sink from preparing my food before I ate because by the time I finished she'd wash them. Things had to be orderly. Abuelita was generous and thoughtful. She loved embroidering. She sewed and crocheted and sewed and embroidered and embroidered and embroidered I don't know how many placemats, hankies, tea towels and other random rectangles of material. One of her last big projects was making a dust coverlet thingy (that you put under the mattress that hangs down to the floor) for one of her granddaughters. She loved bright, vivid colors and almost everything was flowers and butterflies. But what I most loved, appreciated and admired about Abuelita was that she was a woman of prayer. She kept notebooks full of prayer requests. She would flip through her current one every day, running her finger down the list and moving her lips almost silently, praying. She watched CNN all the time and took note of what to pray for in the news. She prayed for so many things and people. And when someone came to visit she'd ask about a whole bunch of things she prayed for for that person-the salvation of a loved one, their business, somebody's health, etc. Talk about an incredible memory! Abuelita also read the Bible a lot and memorized passage after passage. Don't ever let your age stop you from memorizing! Even in the last few months and weeks of her life Abuelita was still memorizing the Word of God. Wow, may God give me the grace to follow her example!

A few weeks ago my friend Ana Luisa told me her Grandma wanted to visit Abuelita. Finally she was able to come on Sunday afternoon. She was reading Revelation 21 with Abuelita Ruth and felt obliged to kneel. They both acknowledged feeling God's presence very strongly and said she saw Jesus coming to take her away. The family was called into her room (or I think maybe they heard what was going on and went to see) and about a half hour later Abuelita passed away in the arms of her son and daughter. Her other son Henoc tried as hard as he could to come from Colombia but was not able to make it. But, thanks to Skype they were able to see each other and he was able to sing her favorite hymn “ Great is Thy Faithfulness” to her and pray with her. After that she went downhill really fast.

I was SO glad Tía was not home alone when this happened. It was too bad I wasn't there, but I'm not much for wanting to be with or hang around dead people. And I think it's much more important that her immediate family be with her. What a blessing Jorge and Esther hadn't left yet to go back to Guápiles where don Jorge works! I was on the ferry on the way home from Isla Venado (a story for anther post) when Ana told me. I cut it close, but thankfully I was able to catch the last bus back to San José. By the time I got to San Joaquín at about 9pm they were already having the calling hours. Yesterday morning we had a mostly impromptu mini-service that was very nice and then we had the burial. I haven't been to many burials, but I'm pretty sure this was the first one where they actually buried her and were done covering her body back up by the time we left the site. That was a little rough for me, but I know that there's only a body that doesn't work anymore inside the casket under the ground. Abuelita is really alive with the Lord, now, more alive than she ever was here on earth!

So, that was that. Very quick, all of it. But, it was all sweet and simple. Sunday night during the calling hours we sang some hymns and I read Psalms 34 and 103 aloud. Monday morning a whole bunch of don Jorge's coworkers drove all the way up from Guápiles to be there, and they were really touched at the way everything was done, Tia's singing, and don Rolando's words. The wife of don Jorge's boss approached Tía in the cemetery and thank her for returning their family to the faith. God was being glorified and drawing people to Himself, even through Abuelita's death! As Paul says in Philippians, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain,” and we even managed to gain something here too! God's ways are indeed perfect and so much higher and better than ours!!

Oh and another really sweet thing was a comment Samuel made to me. At the close of the little service, don Rolando had the whole Viera family come together and then he blessed them, then he blessed everyone else. Well, later at the cemetery Samu commented to me, “you weren't there when he blessed us.” He really considers me part of the family!! That was really special to me.

This sounds weird, but one of the saddest things for me about Abuelita's passing is that it means Tía is going to leave. She's not gone yet, she's going to stick around a little long, then visit Honduras and then go home. But, having her around has been an absolutely enormous blessing and I am going to miss her A LOT!!! Thank God for Skype!!

Tico Tuesday, September 21st

Happy Tuesday!

This is my tica mom, Ana Victoria. Normally one's “mamatica” is one's host mom, but I don't keep in touch with my former host parents anymore and I live with a Honduran family and this lady is by far the tica who is most motherly to me. She is a very kind, loving, caring, selfless person. She and I have spent a lot of time together and thus have a strong foundation in our friendship. Mami and I often share prayer requests with one another and it means a lot to us that we can confide in one another. She still can never come close to my REAL Mommy, but she is an enormous blessing to me here. We like to splurge once a month and share a big piece of yummy chocolate cake from the restaurant next door to church. I'll have to post a picture of that later this week!

God bless our moms and mother-figured in our lives! As says one of my favorite quotes from the movie Hook, “You need a mommy, very very badly!!”

Carrie

PS. Don't forget to head to my blog for more stories and thoughts!

PPS. My Mom race a race this past weekend with my brother and she WON her category!!! Way to go, Mommy!!!

Last Wednesday was Independence day here and in the rest of Central America. We had a wonderful day off and enjoyed watching the parade go through town, eating helado de sorbetera (a kind of homemade ice cream), and just hanging out. Pictures are on facebook, and will be tagged and commented upon soon. I spent most of the day with Mami (Ana Victoria), Papi (her husband William), their daughters Diana and Veronica, Albeiro and Jorgito. We had a blast! I'd write more but I've come down with a cold and am really tired.

So, perhaps more later.

The other thing I'd like to share though is something that my cousin Christianne shared with me yesterday when we skyped. You know how we talk about our problems and tend to categorize them and say that some are really big and important and some are pretty small and insignificant?

In the sermon she heard Sunday night the pastor explained that to God even mountains, and mountain-sized problems, are TINY to God because everything is tiny to Him!! He is HUGE, the Master and Creator of the Universe and everything!!! To Him everything is little! But, to Him EVERYTHING is significant! Our “little” problems matter just as much to him as our “ginormous” ones!!! How cool is that? WE matter to God! He loves us far more than we could ever imagine and He cares even about the littles details in our lives! How great is that? How great is our GOD!!!

Tico Tuesday, September 14th

There's nothing like playing in the dirt!

Saturday the members of Soporte, the young adult group from CCI and a couple other people got together with the town municipality and planted some 70 trees and picked up a ton of trash! One of the Soporte leaders has been talking for forever about picking up trash in the community and we finally did it! I thought planting the trees would take all day, but the town had the holes dug and the trees next to them, so all we had to do was take the plastic wrapper off the roots, stick the tree in the hole and cover it back up again. The afternoon rains took care of the watering! We weren't on a very busy street, but I still had a passerby stop and ask me who was participating in the marvelous initiative. I think next time we're going to try to get t-shirts to identify us. The other side of the street is still very littered!

More news and stories on the blog!

Thanks be to God who takes care of us, His little trees (Jer 17:7-8) and cleans out all the trash in our hearts!

Carrie

Along with the tree planting and trash-picking this weekend I got to enjoy some excellent tennis, knowing that I was watching it with Mommy (or at least knowing she was wishing she could watch too). And Sunday Vivi, her brother Oscar, Albeiro (their cousin) and a couple other people and I went to Ojo de Agua, a place I hadn't been to since I was a student here 3.5 years ago now! Once we got there I remembered why I hadn't bothered to return... jajaja! No, it's not that bad. The water is a little warmer than the ocean in Maine in August, but still definitely not for the faint of heart. The place has just been around a while and so it looks kind of run down, the sidewalk around the lake is like all the other sidewalks in the country (cracked and uneven), people weren't there to man the boat rentals, etc. But, it was still fun to play in the water a little bit before I got too cold and it started to rain.

People here tend to be really proud of Ojo de Agua (literally means eye of water). It is basically a natural spring, so the water is really clean and the water in the pools supposedly renews itself like 12x a day or something like that. My suit still smelled slightly chlorinated when I got home though. So, if you come visit me and want to swim in a pool, I'll probably take you somewhere else...

Thinking about Jesus

Just thought I'd share some things I've been reading and learning about.

1. Jesus' ancestors

• First of all, he was born of the Virgin Mary, who was pledged to be married to Joseph. Hence, to the world it appeared that Jesus was an "illegitimate" child. Most of us are reminded of this every Christmas.
• Joseph and Mary can both trace their families back to Zerubbabel, a guy that played a pretty neat role in the post-exile time of rebuilding things on Jerusalem.
• Zerubbabel along with other important not as well-known ancestors of Jesus like Boaz, came from the tribe of Judah. Hence Jesus is the Lion of Judah and Micah 5:2 talks about the Messiah coming from th tribe of Judah
• Boaz was the Great-grandpa (or perhaps with a few more greats in front) of the famous King and Psalmist David. He was also the husband of the Moabitess, Ruth. Wait, Jesus didn't come from a pure Israelite family? Nope.
• How's this for scandal? Judah married the daughter of a Canaanite. Their 2 oldest sons died and to make a long story short Judah ended up sleeping with his daughter-in-law (the Bible doesn't specify if she was Canaanite or not, but I think I would lean towards thinking that she was). And actually at the end of the book of Ruth everyone wished for the descendants of Ruth and Boaz to be like those of Judah and Tamar. Pretty crazy, huh?

2. Jesus as a "Man of sorrows"
I'm not a big fan of those stories and people that say that Jesus was in love with so and so and make up all these things about His life that have ridiculously little to no Biblical grounds. There is a lot we don't know about Jesus' life, but I think sometimes we ignore those things that we do know. Isaiah says Jesus was familiar with suffering. So often I think we sugar coat Him and make Him to be this walking, clean little saint who had an easy life. I don't think that's the case. Yes, He was perfect. But I wonder how many people really took Jesus seriously. I wonder what all happened in His life to make Him a "Man of sorrows." Maybe His earthly grandparents died when He was young. He was "despised and rejected by men." There no way that could have been an easy life! Yet He was perfect... I guess He can identify with more of the struggles in our lives than maybe I realize....

Tico Tuesday, September 7th

Being a missionary is not a job title, it's a lifestyle.

Maybe you've heard me say this before, maybe not. But I firmly believe this with all my heart. It is my challenge and encouragement to myself and to you today. One thing in the Perspectives class that really stuck out to me was an article that talked about the “spiritual-vocational hierarchy.” Maybe I even mentioned this in a Chronicle, now that I think about it. But anyway, the article points out how so many of us think that being a missionary, pastor, doctor, or some kind of service professional is more noble and God-honoring than it is to be an engineer, computer guru, or janitor. That is absolute rubbish! God looks at our heart and wants to be honored in all we say and do! Technically I'm here because God called me here to serve at CCI, and I know He has been using me here, but I'm also positive that He has been using me in everyday life here too. There's nothing wrong with being a missionary vocationally, but that doesn't put everyone else off the hook! Let's make ourselves available to God and see how He wants to use us today!

The story behind the picture and other thoughts can be found on my blog! I dare you to read an entry if you never have before!

Your fellow servant for Christ,

Carrie

Saturday was my friend Diana's birthday. We decided to make pancakes at her house for a birthday breakfast. Diana, nor anyone else in her family (which is also my 2^nd family here), had never had chocolate chip pancakes! So, it was fun witnessing the experience. Felipe was amazed at the chocolatey goodness and was just thrilled to bits. My little Verónica ate out all the chocolate chips and consumed very little of her pancakes. Mami (Ana Victoria) and Papi (William) enjoyed them thoroughly too (especially with the New Hampshire maple syrup I gave to Mami). So, that was really fun.

God gave me several other opportunities this weekend to share with friends. I feel like I'm finally establishing a strong enough relationship with some of my friends here that we can confide in each other more. I felt really honored to have one of my girlfriends here tell me that she wanted me to know about something that's going on in her life.

Please keep praying for the youth of CCI. A lot of them are having struggles with family, work, relationships/friendships, and school. May this drive them closer to God and not farther from Him! He is our only hope!

And a slight change of subject.... the sermon at church on Sunday night was REALLY good!! Fernando Montero gave it. He is an elder of the Sunday morning service and General Secretary of ECU, the equivalent of InterVarsity here in Costa Rica. He preached on the Sermon on the Mount, with a lot of his notes taken from a book that John Stott wrote about the Sermon on the Mount. It was great!! He talked about the Beatitudes being like a staircase with each one progressing to the next. I felt like I had never really understood what it meant to be “poor in spirit,” but the way he put it made so much sense! It is a recognition of our sinful condition and need to turn to God. This leads to mourning-lamenting our sinful condition and repenting, which allows us to be humble and accept it when others point our sin out to us. This then leads us to have hunger and thirst for righteousness, etc, etc, etc. It was wonderful! I have heard him preach I think 3x now, and each time he does a great job expositing the Scriptures. I took notes and shared them with Tía and Abuelita yesterday morning. After I finished, Abuelita said that reminded her of such a such a hymn, I think it was “At the Cross/Alas! And did my Savior Bleed.” So, I went and grabbed my hymnal and plunked through it on the piano (I can read music but I don't really know how to play chords and such). Tía LOVES to sing and Abuelita loves to listen, so we had a little bit of music and and that was our Monday morning church service. It was really sweet and I could tell Tía was really touched. She'd had a bit of a difficult morning up till then. And Abuelita was feeling a little better too. She sat up for a little while afterwards, reading/praying through her notebook full of notes/prayer requests. So, that was a special time. Please keep praying for Abuelita and the rest of the family as she continues to get worse. We called emergencies in the middle of the night last night because Abuelita (felt like she) couldn't breathe. She has been significantly weaker and we know her time is coming close (but not how close).

Thanks for reading and thanks even more for praying!

Tico Tuesday, August 31st

It's Tuesday again!
This past Saturday I had the opportunity to serve in the ghetto o La Carpio once more. The youth of CCI will be serving there the last Saturday of the month for the next few months. We bring food for breakfast and lunch and do various games with the kids, have a Bible lesson (this time we acted out and taught about the Good Samaritan), play futbol and overall just have a rollickin' good time. This time I stayed in the kitchen helping serve up some 70 plates of gallo pinto (traditional breakfast food) and 150+ hot dogs for lunch. Praise God for the work He is doing in La Carpio! But please do join me in prayer for the ministry of Renuevos. There are a lot of tough challenges that have to be faced there every day. More pictures can be found on my blog!
Love,
Carrie


We got to la Carpio on Saturday morning around 8 and started off with some activities to help the team from CCI bond with the volunteers that serve in la Carpio. Then we divided up into our teams for the day- some with the younger boys, some with the adolescents, and a few of us in the kitchen. Well, we were supposed to have gallo pinto for breakfast, but we didn't know much more than that. So, we opened the fridge and found a big arrocera (bowl from a rice cooker) that was not very full of rice. And we found a container with some black beans, but there was NO WAY we could ever stretch them out to serve the 70ish boys we were expecting. We decided we would have to pray hard for the rice and beans to multiply, but God took care of things right away: somebody walked in with a huge olla (a pot so big it was kinda like a laundry basin) full of hot gallo pinto. Praise the Lord! I kind of thought that was the plan all along, but we were running a bit late/short on time, so the whole thing was quite an adventure. It all worked out though. We even had leftover pinto, which came in really handy, because we just barely had enough hot dogs for lunch! So those of us from CCI chowed down on that.
I didn't get to see much of the games, but it sounded like they went well. And I did get to see part of a futbol game. That was pretty hilarious. The guys from Carpio definitely put our guys from CCI to shame!
I did get to participate in the drama we did of the Good Samaritan. I was one of the robbers. It's really hard to pretend to hit somebody. I'm used to punching the air (tae bo) or actually hitting (like I did to my brothers when I was little and am not especially proud of). Poor Andres did get a little bruised when he fell on the cement, but he's ok. And the drama was a success-I think it was good, and very relevant for the kids. La Carpio is a TOUGH place with a lot of violence and such.
More about Carpio next month, or sooner if something else exciting happens. They really do need a lot of prayer because one of the directors/guys with a lot of leadership quit the other week and left a big hole that is tough to fill. But God can do it!

The latest epiphany!!

I just had a cool realization/revelation, and the credit definitely goes to God.
I love my parents SO MUCH! (that's not the epiphany, I've known that for my whole life). I love to tell my parents that I love them. Sometimes we end up e-mailing multiple times a day and I still close every one communicating my love for them. I have a few different ways of saying it, but I never get sick of telling my parents I love them. The phrases I use are a bit limited and I don't always have the time to come up with something creative simile like "Love you like ripe red raspberries love dark chocolate" or the more tacky "love you till Niagara runs dry." But, regardless of how I say it, I know my parents NEVER get sick of me telling them (how much) I love them. (and I sure never get sick of their continuous "I love you"s either!!)
and BOOM! Here's the epiphany: God is like that too!!! So often I feel like my little earthly words are not enough, are not worthy of him. It's like that one (and I think only) hit by Ben Glover "26 letters"- it's all we've got to tell God how awesome He is. Now, please, I'm not bashing the English language, or Spanish or any language. It's an amazing thing, but I'm willing to say it is a finite thing that finite people use for the One, True, Infinite GOD. And so often I feel like words can never be enough. Well, they can't. But just as Mommy and Daddy never get sick of hearing me say "I love you so much!" I am convinced that God never gets sick of me telling him "I love You, I praise You, Holy are You, Lord, Glory to Your Name!" Because God is all about being praised, worshiped and glorified! Isn't that great?
Just wanted to share that with you all... :-D

Tico Tuesday, August 24th

Whew! I made it! I'm back home in Costa Rica! But this whole last week was still spent in the States. This picture was taken out the window on the way to the Weds night Bible study my parents go to. They take a monthly offering and many of the people there pray for me multiple ti
mes a day, so it was a huge blessing to get to meet these people who love and support me without even really knowing me. I had several of them come up to me during the break and after the study was over. It was delightful and meet them and get to share with them. More on my week in Arizona and my adventure in LA this weekend on the blog!

Saludos,

Carrie

I really enjoyed my time with my parents, doing the Bisbee Stairs with Mommy (a race route with 9 sets of stairs that includes over 1000 steps up and afterwards we went out for treats and I got a delicious apple, carrot, pineapple, banana, mango, beet smoothie), hiking with Mommy and her friend Marty that is a hoot and really sweet to me, playing backgammon with Daddy, pulling out my clarinet for the 1st time in years, swimming with Mommy and enjoying my hammock. And for the 2nd half of my time in AZ my best friend from college, Bryan came out. We watched my favorite movie (Carefree with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), and went to Tombstone and Bisbee with my parents. I'd never seen the old mine in Bisbee before. Oh, and in Bisbee we found the place that makes THE BEST ROOT BEER EVER. The 4 of us also played 10, 9, 8 (also known as Up and Down the River) and enjoyed some great tennis.

Saturday after Bryan's flight out of town and before mine Mommy and Daddy and I went to a local version of Panera and enjoyed some fantastic food and played Scrabble. I got HORRENDOUS letters, but ended up only losing by 2 points. Daddy had splendiferous letters and clobbered Mommy and me very very badly. Saying good bye to Mommy and Daddy was very difficult and tearful, but I managed to compose myself by the time I found my friend Meg in LA.

Finding Meg. What an adventure! I took a shuttle bus from LAX to La Mirada, the suburb where Meg is living and will be studying (at Biola). The driver that took me was from some South/Southeastern Asian country. His accent was a bit entertaining but a little hard to understand. I thought I was paying for the transportation of me from LAX to La Mirada and that somehow only I would be the only one being transported, even though the picture was of a multi-passenger van. So, after he picked me up we were circling the airport for some time and he was radioing his boss lady and telling her "I onli haf won passengeh, won passengeh! Dis is vedy bad! vedy vedy bad! Dis is discrimation! Won passengeh!" It was all I could do to keep from laughing, except that I was a little confused since I had decided that I was supposed to be the only passenger. Whatever. Then a British lad and two Scottish lads got on. They were entertaining, though I couldn't believe how difficult it was for me to understand them!!! Finally, some 40 minutes after I got in the van and about 2.5 laps around the airport, the van was full and we were on our way to drop me off. It was an adventure to say the least! Meg had had a pretty interesting experience too.

Anyway, Meg and I stayed up late talking Saturday night since I had a lot of spilling and processing to do. I saw her in February when I visited Grove City, but she is one of my closest friends and even though we keep in touch in Skype there is still always tons of stuff to talk about! Sunday morning we did our favorite salsa workout dvd that we used to always do together and then went to do our devotions in the nearby park.

I had never been to California before and wow, the Beach Boys totally have the bragging rights they assumed. Southern California is GORGEOUS!! It reminded me a lot of Costa Rica actually, just a lot cleaner. And they say it is almost always sunny and only rains a couple weeks each year there and here it rains about half the year. But yeah, California is beautiful! After doing our devotions and praying together we started talking to people-it looked like there had just been a church service and they were having a picnic afterwards. Meg was genuinely interested in learning about the church since she will need to find one, so we talked to the people and our alterior desire was met too. We were offered free food!! Unfortunately the tamales were gone (it's a bilingual Spanish/English church with lots of mexicanos and Salvadorians), but we did get rice, beans and yummy grilled chicken. We spent most of the afternoon in the pool (her apt complex has a pretty nice one!) and then dressed ourselves up and went out to dinner. That was really fun. Meg is the perfect person to do that with! Well, actually I can think of other people with whom I'd do that, but it was a blast to do it with her!

Yesterday we slept in, did one of my favorite Tae Bo work outs (and my legs are feeling it today!), had a wonderful devotional time!, explored campus a bit, did some shopping and then headed home so I could shower and get packed up before my red eye flight. My shuttle adventure back to the airport wasn't as interesting, we were only driving around the wrong apartment complex for a really long time trying to find this guy and his girlfriend. This driver was foreign too, but I don't think I heard him talk enough that I could palce his accent, perhaps Eastern Europe? It's so fun being in places with such multiculturality! (I so just made that word up!) Reminds me of the Tetons... (happy sigh). And I really loved my trip to the States because it is light there SO late!! Here all year it gets light at 5ish am and dark at 6ish pm. In the US in the summer it doesn't get dark till like 8 or 8:30! Iremember it being light so late in the Tetons it was unreal!

So anyway, there's the end of my trip. Really really good. I like traveling a lot, but it does get tiring to see so many people and not have a real routine and feel like I don't have much time for me. Correction: I do not get sick of seeing people, I mean it's just hard to have the same brief conversation with people since I don't have time to really get to talk with each one. I would like to though!

Anyway, I'm home. It's good. I'm happy to be here. My trip was a blast, though very tiring and trying and times. I would do it again in a couple months if I could. We'll see what comes up next on the docket. I HAVE TO MEET MY NEW NEPHEW NATHAN!!!

Tico Tuesday, August 17th

Happy Tuesday from Sierra Vista, Arizona!
I'm now 2/3 of the way through my 9 state, 9 airport crazy trip to the States. And thanks be to God, the whole last week has been shared with my best friend in some of our favorite places. Mommy and I had a blast in northern New England, eating red hot dogs, hiking, playing in rivers with frigid water, hanging out on the beach, and listening to Joe Castiglione narrate Red Sox games. I love the people in Pennsylvania, and if I have to consider somewhere in the States home that would be it, but in so many ways I am still such a New England girl! This past weekend we visited our old church in Auburn, ME and I got to share in the services there. Some really great stories and a few more pictures on the blog!
May God bless your family, work and recreation this week!
Carrie

The family reunion ended well and last Wednesday Mommy and I spent the night in the most adorable, quaint hotel ever. I would love to go back there and stay for at least a week! We were in this little cabin with a screened porch, a little living room, bedroom and bathroom. Behind the cabins runs the Pemigewasset River, a small river that runs through New Hampshire's famous White Mountains. Hence the frigidity... I'm used to playing in cold New England rivers though! We slept with the bathroom window and door open and enjoyed the soothing sound of the river flowing over the rocks (even while we slept! ;-) )
Thursday we got up early and did a great hike-a loop that allowed us to summit 3 peaks, Little Haystack, Lincoln and Lafayette. We had gorgeous weather and managed to do it in 6 hours. I LOVE HIKING!!! The way up had some spectacular waterfalls before the tree line!
Then we went to Mommy's hotel and I cleaned up before having a little New England Grover reunion with Brender, Amy, Jackie and Brian (and kids). We stayed up really really late-I was amazed Amy and Brian and Jackie were able to stay awake (they all have little kids)!! but it was really really good to see them and meet their younger kids. My favorite part was getting to talk with them and having Brian lead us in a Eucharist service (he is an Anglican priest). It was wonderful! I hadn't had Holy Communion in a long time!
Friday I was clearly tired, but Mommy and I walked the beach anyway. That evening we visited my parents' friends in Old Orchard Beach. I stayed in at night and crashed from exhaustion from the previous day's activities.
Saturday we had a blast. we went out for breakfast with some really sweet ladies, walked on the beach, candlepin bowled (Mommy beat me by 2 pins the first string then I whooped her 90 to 66 the second string. I almost never bowl 90s, even when we used to bowl more often!), and went to Cole Farms for lunch. It was at Cole Farms that we got our classic Maine red hot dogs, Indian pudding, strawberry-rhubarb pie, and blueberry ice cream. We were pulling out all the stops and making the most of our time in Maine!
Saturday evening I got to share at East Auburn Baptist Church, the church in which I grew up. It is great, but weird to go back. Every time the kids I used to babysit are older and there are tons of new people (which is a really good thing!!!). But there are still so many dear people from church I love so much. One highlight was getting to see Dr. Bob, one of the most amazing men of God I have ever met who has mentored Roger, the senior pastor of EABC. Dr. Bob continues to get along more and more in years but with that his love for God and others has only grown and I just love him! He is one of those people with a deep, booming voice and shows his deep love for you and God by asking you "How's your soul?" and ends every service with "Go give 'em Jesus!" I loved meeting new people too. One lady came up to me after the service, said her name was Linda, hugged me, told me she prayed for me and walked away. That was really sweet. One little girl Sunday morning asked me for my autograph. That felt a little funny, but I was more at peace after I saw lots of other "normal" people's names in the notepad.
And this is a really cool story: I got a e-mail a while ago from Bill, the director of the missions committee telling me a family was "adopting" me as their missionary. A few weeks later the e-mail came from the mom, telling me about herself and her family. She said her daughter was the one that chose me. They were standing in front of the missionary bulletin board at church, looking at the pictures of the missionaries and the daughter kept coming back to my picture and saying, "There's just something about her, Mom!" Well, I got to meet this family. It turns out the mom is a nurse in the medical center where Daddy worked and she and her husband got baptized a week ago because other Christians at her work led her to Christ. Isn't that great!! And they are already leaping in and learning about and participating in missions! That is how it should be!!
I wish I'd gotten to know Bill and his wife Pat better when we actually lived in ME and attended EABC. He is such a dear man! I HATE HATE HATE sitting by myself in church, so Saturday night I sat with him and Pat and he was just so dear-he had his arm around me for much of the service and made little comments and filled me in on various things and it was just a huge blessing to me!
Yikes this is getting long. Well, Sunday Mommy and I headed back to the airport after church and I enjoyed a delicious bottle of Moxie (a Maine-exclusive rootish flavored fantastic soda) on the way, and of course we were listening to the Sox again. We had some wonderful conversation on the plane (and a lot of other really really good conversations over the course of our hike, beach walks, etc) and on the second flight (after making a really tight connection, thanks be to God!) she told me all about the trip she and my brother Zach took in May, biking through much of Austria.
Sunday night we got home in the midst of the craziest lightning storm you could ever imagine. The flashes were constant and from every direction, but thanks be to God we landed safely and I was very happily reunited with my DADDY!!!
So, that is a taste of life. I could tell you more about visiting our old house and seeing some old friends in Auburn and other things, but I think that is enough for now!