Tico Tuesday, July 27th

Here is the project for the rest of this week! Tomorrow (Wednesday) I'll be heading up to México de Upala (a village on the border with Nicaragua) with 25 people from South Carolina and some other folks from CCI. We'll be helping the church we work with there continue the construction of their new church building! Last year when we went the church was stuffed! We talked about expanding the current church, but God provided a wonderful new lot that won't get so flooded. A 16 year old girl inherited it and decided to give it to the church. What an amazing blessing! We'll also be having clothing distribution, activities for the kids on Saturday and Sunday and few doctors there too.

On Monday I leave for a wild 3 week tour of the States! Thanks for praying for all safe travels and everything that happens in the meantime. (I'm going to be seeing some people I haven't seen in a long time and having some pretty big conversations...)

Have a joy-filled rest of the week!

Carrie

oh yikes, I didn't post this past week. I mean to post twice a week, but as you can tell that doesn't always happen. Life is busy, I tend to pack my weekends especially full. Thankfully they are three days long so on Mondays I can do laundry and straighten my room and try to be helpful around the house. Saturday I was overcome by a cleaning urge though. I should clean like that more often. The mold on our shower curtain was really starting to gross me out, and the not so white tile was making me feel like maybe my feet weren't getting so clean. So, I had at it with a scrubby and cleaner. And yesterday I bought shower spray. So, hopefully that won't happen again.

After attacking the bathroom I hit my room too. I decided to sweep my closet floor, and found... moldy shoes!!! :-( it was really gross!!! I should probably throw them out, but the mold did come off with windex and I'm leaving them in the sun to make sure they get nice and dry. Along with the shower spray I also bought a little thingy with flakes to dehumidify my closet some. So hopefully the mold won't return. I should just buy some new shoes. The pairs that got moldy have been around for at least 5 years now.... and I can't find the little box of Costa Rican souvenirs I use when I set up a table for missionary stuff... >:-( I thought I had it with me... but maybe it's in my brother's house?

Yeah, I'm trying to pack for the trip to Upala and pre-pack for the trip to the States! Hopefully more soon/later, but the next few weeks will be pretty wild! Whatever you do, just please keep praying!

Tico Tuesday, July 20th

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Chicken Little made it to Costa Rica... but here he's actually right! Yesterday Samuel said the sky fell and I of course, had no idea what he was talking about. Josué told me to come and see how the sky falls... The foto explains it all. That's what happens during rainy season! It happened on Sunday too. Kind of reminds me of the way the fog would roll right into the laundry room when I worked at the Pisgah Inn the summer of 2005. Take a trip down memory lane with me on my BLOG.

Thanks be to God the sun actually came out today! I hadn't seen a large chunk of blue sky in at least a week!

Thanks for your continued prayers for me here. We leave for México de Upala a week from tomorrow!

Carrie

Wow, my summer at the Pisgah Inn feels like a several lifetimes ago! It was the summer after my freshman year of college. I was serving with A Christian Ministry in the National Parks, a sweet organization that places believers in National Parks. The concessionaire (private company) hires the believers and gives them Sundays off. This allows the believers to lead worship services in the campgrounds and/or conference rooms in the Park. Pretty sweet deal, getting paid to live in a national park and participate in a neat ministry! I'll say this though, it is NOT for the faint of heart!! Some locations are more removed from civilization than others, but even when you're only an hour away, lack of transportation can make getting there quite difficult. That summer there were only 3 of us on our team: a guy my age and another girl who was 2 years older than us. For some reason they made me the “team leader.” That worked out ok, but work schedules always made it really hard for the three of us to have time to hang out together. Plus, we were the only Christians there. That made it really hard. There was technically a support committee and one guy faithfully came almost every week and played his French horn for us (including the same prelude every week). Dear man. He took us to his house sometimes on Sunday afternoons. That was always such a huge blessing! His wife was really sweet. But, for the most part we were on our own. Made for a rather spiritually dry and challenging summer. Did I mention we had to go for a hike or tree-climbing to get cell phone reception? I didn't even have a phone back in those days, but my teammates did, and kindly shared with me on occasion.

Steph, the other girl on our team was my roomie and a hostess at the restaurant. Joe worked in housekeeping. I started as a housekeeper. I thought I would be really fast since I'm related to my Mommy and we say she only has to speeds, fast and faster. But, due to the meticulousness that my brother Daniel also has, I was not so fast. So, once the laundress quit I got to be the Laundry Queen. It was pretty sweet. I got to listen to the radio all day and fold sheets and towels. Pretty brainless, but I was ok with that after finishing my first year at strenuous Grove City College. I'll confess though, it made me an addict to the amazing smell of Bounce dryer sheets. One of our neighbors here in Costa Rica uses their dryer pretty often and I have to stop and take a few deep breaths before moving on...it smells SO GOOD!! Anyway, there were many cloudy afternoons in which the clouds rolled in...even into my warm, cozy laundry room! (PS working housekeeping is really cool because you find all sorts of cool stuff people leave in the rooms. Housekeeping is hard though, because the faster you work, the better, but obviously the less you get paid when the scale is by the hour...)

By the end of the summer Joe and I were the 4^th and 5^th most longstanding members of the housekeeping department. Can anybody say turnover? Pretty much anybody could get hired. There was even a guy who was wanted in 7 states that got hired for an afternoon before the cops found him! Almost all the 60 or so other employees smoked marijuana and/or cigarettes and drank a lot. God protected me there incredibly. And oh man... I was so young... so clueless. But I believe God used me in spite of, or perhaps even because of that.

I was recién llegada (recently arrived) from the first mission trip ever- a life changing experience in Guatemala and it was pretty much all I could talk about. People saw that I was passionate about Spanish and told me that Wolf, one of the cooks spoke Spanish. Wolf and I tried to speak Spanish, but mine was much better than his, so I ended up tutoring him. I think he wasn't too sober sometimes, but I didn't know how to tell that at the time. Thankfully God protected me. Oh was it a crazy adventure of a summer!

But God really used it to draw me closer to Him. On my days off, I was too scared to go hiking by myself because of rattlesnakes (my boss got bit by one-granted, he tried to pick it up and some other brilliant co-worker of mine had already picked it up, so it was already pretty...rattled). So, I spent most of the day on a blanket on a mountainside with God. I'd bring my discman and listen to worship music, examine the amazing creation that surrounded me, pray and read the Word. They were beautiful times with the Lord! I wish I had/made more time to do that more regularly!! Retreat times with God are so important! And those times were so good in such a difficult environment.

The other huge blessing of that summer was a family named the Johnsons. They went camping in Pisgah every summer. They were only around a weekend but they were the highlight of the summer. Joe had already left because he couldn't take it, but Steph and I really were blessed by them. They invited us to eat at their campsite with us, talked with us, and gave us money and told us to treat ourselves to something. I've even stayed in touch with them some. So, there’s a taste of life from Mt. Pisgah. Check it out at mile 408 on the Blue Ridge Parkway sometime! (sorry for the lack of pictures... those days at Pisgah were before I had a digital camera)

Tico Tuesday, July 13th

God showed up
I think this is one of the hardest weeks it has been to choose a picture. Do I choose a picture from the baptisms? One of the speakers? A cute group shot? People spread out reading their letters of encouragement and love? (thankfully you can't tell I'm bawling my eyes out) A picture of the cross with all our sins and burdens nailed to it? There are so many options to choose from!! The CCI youth retreat this weekend was indeed amazing. God met us there and was hard at work! Please join me in praising Him for everything He is doing in and through the youth and praying for their relationships with him to continue to deepen and for their lives to be transformed by the Holy Spirit.
Wait, am I dancing in that picture? Find out why and read more about what God did this weekend on my blog!
May our hearts be open to the work that God wants to do in us today and every day!

Carrie

A dance party at a youth retreat? Yep, we had quite a fiesta Saturday night! There was much to be celebrated! God was there and working in us, reminding us of the powerful work of the cross, our need to submit and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and the freedom we have in Him, the need to forgive, others as God has forgiven us, our identity as His beloved children and chosen people and so much more! God was breaking down barriers and filling us with the Holy Spirit and reminding us of His love and answering our prayers, etc, etc, etc! And so we had bubbles, horns, balloons, music, confetti, a dance battle of the sexes, threw people in the pool, and of course, cake! I almost put a picture of Jorge and me doing the worm, but the one of Jose Pablo and me was fun too, and you can actually see my face. (and I was blown away at how tan I look! Jajaja!!)

One of the most impacting things for me at the retreat was what we did with some slips of paper and a cross....Everyone wrote down our problems, issues, sins, everything that we wanted to get rid of on a piece of paper. Then before supper (we had chances to add to the list all through the day) we all nailed our papers to a cross. This was really moving for me. Jesus took all our our sins, burdens, failures and problems and took them upon Himself. He, God the Son became incarnate-he came to this earth and walking and lived among us... a Perfect Life! He made our crap His very own! As I watched people nail their papers into the cross I imagined Jesus' body being on that cross and being nailed too. What incredible suffering! Not just physically, but emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually!! We had a lot of crap nailed on that cross. And that was just us! 40 youths in Costa Rica! But Jesus took upon Himself not only our sins, but those of everyone who is alive in the world today and everyone who has EVER existed and will exist. WOW!!!!! WOW!!!!! After nailing all our papers on to the cross, we took it outside and burnt the papers off of it. It sounds kind of ritualistic and weird, but it was just to symbolize that Jesus took AWAY our sins, he made them NO MORE. He forgave us and then forgot our sins! That was really powerful. I thought that was that. But, to top it off, the next day there were papers nailed on the cross again. We each took one and unfolded it. But this time they were all blank. It was another symbol of how Jesus offers us new life, a fresh start. We are new creatures through the work of Christ on the cross. And we have eternal life with Him!! Thank You, Jesus!!!!

Ok, one more thing, and I'll tell you more later... Ana (who planned the retreat with her brother Josué) had Ana Victoria (a dear lady from church I adopted as my tica mom) contact the youths' parents and get them and other family members and loved ones to write them letters of encouragement. I wrote a couple letter for some people that weren't going to have many. I wondered if it would occur to Ana to contact my parents somehow. I knew she had their e-mail. but I wasn't going to say anything about it. I didn't want to wreck the surprise or get my hopes up only to have them dashed on the rocks. And I knew that even just with people here writing me that would be really sweet and I could and would be totally content with that. Well, the first letters I pulled out were from Richi (the pastor I adore and have been growing closer to) and his wife Silvia. Silvia said she admired me and gave me a little Costa Rican souvenir. SO sweet!! Richi wrote to me in English. His 3-4 sentences were far from correct grammatically, but I was really really touched by his labor of love. A couple other little things came out, and then I pulled out a folded letter that was clearly a printout. I saw the Gmail logo through the other side of the paper and figured it was the letter from my parents. Well, to my incredible shock and amazement I looked at the sender and it was from MY BROTHER DANIEL!!!!!!!! I just broke down crying. I couldn't believe it. It was really hard to make it through his letter. The first part was so sweet-telling me how the most encouraging thing he could do would be to send me Isaiah (my youngest nephew) and how adorable and wonderful his smile is. Oh man do I wish I could go and visit them!! Then he included a quote/excerpt from a book that was really good-about martyrs and daily sacrificing ourselves and our lives to God. That really hit the spot. I was just so blown away. I also had letters from Aunt Jenny, Christianne, Brenda, Grampa Smith (which was also really hard to read because I couldn't help but think about Grammy and miss her and wish she could still be a part of my life) and of course, Mommy and Daddy. I just couldn't believe it. I don't know how long I cried, but it was for a really long time. I was feeling it in my abs yesterday! I finally tried to get myself together enough to go back into the room and I was getting close, and then Samu came out and hugged me for a really really really long time-I kept crying and he cried some with me and finally we went inside. I was still delicate and cried again a little when I told someone who all wrote me. but it was all just such a huge blessing. I am SO overwhelmed at how loved I am. And it's just even more incredible to know that all this is because of the love of God and what Jesus did on the cross... I am in such awe of God!

Praise the Lord!

My mind and heart have been really full this week. I'd rather not go into detail right now, I'm posting to tell you what God is showing me through this. What happens when we're upset, stressed, frustrated, confused, hurt? Most of the time, we're focused on ourselves and what is going on around us. And when somebody reminds us to praise God for our hard times we know that person is right, but that is about the last thing we'd like to do. God is worthy of all our praise and He alone deserves it No Matter What (NMW). Before that's always been the reason why I've accepted the need to praise God in difficult times. regardless of what happens here on earth, He is still God and He is still worthy. But, this is what God is now showing me: it's ALL about Him. When we're focused on ourselves, we're off base. And so, what does worshiping do? It focuses us back on Him!! And that's where the focus has to be. "In His presence is fullness of joy." (Psalm 16.11) "He himself is our peace" (Ephesians 2.14), and a verse that is special to me and came to my mind earlier today "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace him whose mind is staid on Thee, because he trusts in Thee." (Isaiah 26.3) (yeah I know it's KJV, but when I was little that was the version we used. I think you can still follow it ok.)

Sing your praise to the Lord, come on everybody stand up and sing one more Hallelujah...

Sing your praise to the Lord, I can never tell ya just how much good that it's gonna do you just to sing... (Rich Mullins)

Tico Tuesday, July 6th

Happy 6^th of July! I trust you all had an enjoyable and safe Independence Day weekend!

The 4^th is a bit of a bittersweet day for me since we used to always spend it with my Grandparents Smith and Grammy died almost 9 years ago. But it is full of lots of happy memories and traditions. And I kept in line, even here in Costa Rica, wearing my Red, White and Blue and making an American flag cake! (ok it was actually Rice Krispy treats-with coconut, strawberries, and the stars are apple chunks since the marshmallow pieces got WAY too sticky). I just realized I made a boo boo with the flag. Can you tell what's wrong with it? I'll tell you on the blog!

Two other things of note- 1. Yesterday was my wonderful Daddy's birthday. I had a fantastic time Skyping with him and Mommy. I can't WAIT to see them next month!

2. IMPORTANT PRAYER REQUEST: this weekend is the youth retreat. We have close to 50 kids signed up. Please be praying for the retreat this weekend, the speakers, the youth, and most of all for God to have His way in us!

Thanks be to God for the freedom we have through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Carrie

Well, I'd tell you about all those happy fourths in Falmouth, MA with Grammy and Grandpa, but apparently I did that last year . I never get sick of it though, with the minutemen and gun salute and town chorus on the Green, biking in the sun by the beach, and grilling out and having such a great time together as a family. Sometimes we'd also made up a little program, sing patriotic songs and hymns and play our instruments. We'd also play card or board games, lawn bowling or badminton. And of course, the fireworks at Surf Drive was one of the highlights of the year. So, all that, plus the 4^th being Uncle Mike's birthday and the 5^th Daddy's birthday, it was always a big couple of days.

So, my 4^th this year. Well, it was a full day. In the morning I watch Rafa Nadal win the Wimbledon final and then scurried around to get ready for church at 10. Church was a bit different this weekend because it was CCI's 8^th anniversary. So we had lots and lots of music (including Happy Birthday CCI with a cake), congregational proclamations and a pastoral testimony/vision casting chat instead of a sermon.

In the afternoon my friend Albeiro helped me make the Patriotic Dessert. I'll tell you, boy was it hard to try to figure out what to do without blueberries!!! I MISS THEM A LOT!! Now, yes, here I have mangos regularly, avocados, mamones chinos (rambutan), a lime tree in my back yard, amazing pineapples pretty much every week, etc, so I know I really can't complain too much. But none of those are BLUE!!! It took quite a bit of online research, seeking inspiration for what to do without blueberries. I thought I was going to have to settle with berry blue jello. That wouldn't be a bad option. Maybe next year I'll make a sort of trifle with blue jello. But, the blue coconut idea seemed MUCH more appealing to me. And YIKES!! The a boo-boo on the flag!! Can you tell what's wrong? That row of strawberries immediately under the blue part shouldn't be there!! OOPS!! The middle row of strawberries should stop runs into the blue. Hmm, I'll have to keep that in mind for next year.

Anyway, this was the first time I had every made Rice Krispy treats without the supervision of an adult older than me. (Well Sofía was there, but she wasn't supervising anything, we were just all in the kitchen together). And there wasn't a big enough bowl to melt the marshmallows in the microwave, so it was also the first time I made them on top of the stove! I forgot just how incredible sticky they are and that you have to use wax paper to flatten the treats in the dish. We had to grease a plastic baggy, because our spoons and plastic spatulas were not going to get us anywhere! But it worked out. Well, other than the marshmallow pieces I cut up getting too sticky. But the apple made just fine stars. And really, not having blueberries worked and made the cake more accurate (minus my striping mistake) because the background is blue, not the stars. I'm okay with sacrificing that for the sake of blueberries though.

So, after lunch and enjoying our yummy Patriotic Dessert we read a chapter of Narnia and talked until church. As soon as we got home from church Samuel sat with me as we watched the Macy's Fireworks celebration in New York with all sorts of Patriotic and semi-Patriotic songs. That was really nice. Then We watched Pops goes the 4^th (in Boston), though apparently they don't call it “Pops goes the 4th” anymore. Whatever. It was fun to see the Hatch Shell. I don't care much for Toby Keith, but I don't really have anything against him either. I don't know if the deal was the different channel or what, but the Macy's thing didn't have any ads (that I recall), and the Pops seemed to have as many commercials as they did actual programming! But their version of Stars and Stripes Forever is SO GREAT!!!!! (the muppet version is pretty hilarious too though!!!). I don't know what happened to finishing with the 1812 Overture... I thought they always did, but this year they didn't. And some of the songs that played during the fireworks were not even close to patriotic at all!! “I can go the distance” from Hercules??? Really?? Come on!! But, whatever. I guess you can't get much more American than Disney.

Well, thank you God for the liberties You have given us. Forgive us for taking too much advantage of them and for robbing others of their deserved freedom. Guide our government and teach us to trust You once more. In Jesus' name. Amen.