Tico Tuesday, December 19th

Happy Wednesday! Sorry for the delay, but the internet was down last night. (And as a heads up, with holidays falling on the next couple Tuesdays, Tico Tuesday will be coming out on Wednesday for the next 2 weeks.)

Friday was a roller coaster of a day. In the morning when I got to work, I ran into one of our house helpers. She was crying because her daughter had just miscarried at 7 months. My heart broke for her and her family and I was practically in tears as I prayed with her and hugged her.

The highlight of the day was attending the K and 6th grade graduation. I swelled with pride to see so many young people walk across the stage to receive their diplomas and delighted in watching my friend Fausía (the kindergarten teacher) congratulate her students with such love and enthusiasm.

Then, I came home to find my facebook full of comments about the atrocities committed that morning in Connecticut. Over 20 parents lost their babies on Friday. It could have been those kindergarteners who crossed the stage at the Bible Home. It could have been my friend Fau. This world is a dark, frightening place, but I thank Jesus, the Light of the World, for coming and giving us his light and life, that we may share his love and light with others. He brought us hope. This is the message I share with ever-growing conviction as I serve children and their families that come from very dark “hopeless” situations. Jesus is the Light, he is our only hope. He is the way, the truth and the life. He works in ways we don't understand, and he has the amazing capability of bringing good out of even the most dark, horrendous situations. Please join me in praying for all those who are suffering the loss of a loved one as a result of the Sandy Hook shooting, not just today or this week, but for months and years to come.

Thank you!

Love,

Carrie

This just in! I now only need 8 more supporters at $50/month and 3 more at $25/month in order to be at full support. Will you help make it possible for me to continue sharing Jesus' light and love with children and families in need?

Tico Tuesday, December 11th

Happy Tuesday to you! My goodness, enough has happened in the past week I could easily write a whole Chronicle, but I won't.

Yesterday we had our big annual Christmas and Thanksgiving service with ALL the children and staff from the Bible Home and school we have on-site. It was beautiful! All the different groups of children and personnel performed music or a skit and each house contributed a couple children to put together a Christmas pageant. I was with the children and house moms at their rehearsal on Friday, and to help set the mood and inspire them, we watched a brief cartoon movie of the Christmas story. Once Mary gave birth to Jesus, the donkey pushed the manger toward Mary as if to tell her to put Jesus there-- and it just hit me. A manger: where animals ate and possibly drooled. That was Jesus' bassinet. I've been hearing and talking about it my whole life so it's like I wouldn't expect Jesus to be born anywhere else. Duh! Of course Jesus was born in a manger! No! Not duh. People aren't usually born and placed in a pile of dirty, perhaps slobbery hay. It was like I'd heard it for the first time all over again. Talk about humility, talk about love. What an incredible miracle Jesus' birth is! I had a different attitude as I helped the children and house moms rehearse and work out the blocking and scene transitions (hooray for being able to apply things I learned in the drama club in high school!). They did a fantastic job in their performance yesterday. You never would know they'd only rehearsed twice... And some people think the kids we work with are hopeless and good for nothing!
Thank you so much for making it possible for me to be here and serve these children and everyone else at the Bible Home. God is doing amazing things in them and in me! I'm still looking for 10 more people to join my LAM support team at $50/month. Special gifts are a huge blessing and more than welcome, but it is still very important for more regular givers to join. If you can't commit to $50/month, you are welcome to commit to whatever amount the Lord places on your heart. He is more than faithful and will surely provide for you and me! And if you could please do me the favor of telling your friends and family about me, that would be great!
Thank you for your prayers for financial provision and for my health! (I haven't gotten sick!) Please also pray for the 20+ children who are getting ready to leave the Bible Home for good next Wednesday. A lot of them are anxious! Thank you!
With love and joy,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, December 4th

Was last Tuesday really only last week?
It's getting to be that time of the year when all of a sudden we are overwhelmed by special activities, concerts, parties, dinners, etc. Those of us who are students fight to finish the semester well and still keep our heart in our work though a thousand more things than usual are clamoring for our attention. I'll confess, I'm having a bit of a hard time with that and would really appreciate your prayers, not only for a good end to the semester, but also just for careful time management in general with everything that is going on and needs to be accomplished between now and December 22 when I fly to the States. I've been burning the candle at both ends and fear I am at high risk for getting the relentless flu/cold thing that a number of our children and house moms have caught.
But in the midst of the madness, we have to stop. The activities are fine and good, but let us not forget what this Advent season is all about - celebrating Jesus' coming. It's about him. And so, Sunday afternoon my friend Sarah came over and helped me decorate my apartment - putting up the tree, setting out the nativity Daddy made, and making a beautiful Advent wreath! We had a lot of fun, but I think the most special moment was lighting the first Advent candle, reading Scripture and the Advent devotional for Gordon-Conwell, and praying together. No matter how long I make these December days, I'll be lighting my Advent wreath and stopping to focus on the One whom I worship and celebrate, not only in Advent, but every day of the year. Care to join me? (If you aren't familiar with Advent, I highly recommend looking into it. It is celebrated in both Catholic and Protestant circles.)
Time to go light my wreath for a few minutes before heading to bed!
With love,
Carrie

PS I'm still praying for 10 more people at $50/month. Please join me in praying for these 10 people to commit by the end of the year! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Tico Tuesday, November 27th

Happy post-turkey Tuesday!
I don't know about you, but I'm still enjoying lots of succulent turkey! What a fun Thanksgiving I had! Well, the morning was pretty nostalgic and every little sweet thing during the Macy's parade and its ads kept making me cry and miss those happy childhood Thanksgivings with my whole family together. But after talking with my parents briefly, I headed over to the Jardin house at the Bible Home. Mr. Turkey hadn't thawed very much, so dinnertime got pushed way back, but we managed to keep the kids well distracted. And thankfully, they didn't have school the next day, so we took our time eating, sharing the history of Thanksgiving, reading Psalm 100, giving thanks for something from each letter of the alphabet, playing the Thanksgiving word scramble, and making our turkey of gratitude (behind us in the picture). What a joy and blessing it was to share with my friend Ivannia (the house mom) and the children! I'm so thankful that I had special people to share the special day with, and I'm thankful for the special people like you that help keep me here on the mission field.
Some of you have started to respond to my most recent letter mentioning my need for an increase in support. Thank you so much! I don't have any way of knowing immediately though if your gift is a special donation or a recurring commitment. Could you please drop me a note to let me know? That will help me know how close (or far) I am to my goal of 12 people at $50/month. Also, I'd love for you to join me in asking God for the 12 people to commit by the end of the year!
All I can say is thank you. I have done nothing special to be here, I have done nothing to "deserve" it. But I can't tell you how much I love to hang out with the children and house moms! I'm here to minister to them, but they sure minister to me too!
Thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement and support!
With love and gratitude,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, November 20th

Happy Tuesday to you! And Happy Almost Thanksgiving! I am indeed grateful for each of you. You are each a great blessing to me. I can not tell you what a joy and blessing it is to serve God here at Roblealto. Recently, I've been granted the opportunity to do 1 on 1 pastoral care with a few of the children at the Bible Home. It is a great responsibility I am honored to assume. I wish I could do it with all of them! It breaks my heart to see their longings for love and special attention.
The other week one of my new favorites had her birthday. I swung by her house on my way home and read Psalm 139 with her and prayed for her. I was in her house again yesterday and she asked me when I was coming again to read her the Psalm again. I told her I'd just done it for her birthday and she said she wanted it to be her birthday again so I'd come again. I don't think I'll wait till next year! This opportunity is too good to pass up! This young lady and her family are dealing with some incredibly difficult conditions and situations. Please pray for M and her mother and siblings. And please pray for me as I seek to show Jesus to young people like M. Oh how I need your prayers! I'm also still in need of your support. It is only with your help that I will be able to keep reading Psalms to M and having 1 on 1 meetings with other children. I'm looking for about 12 more people to partner with my service through the LAM at $50/month. I encourage you to pray about this too. (Or maybe you can commit to $25 and recruit a friend to commit to giving another $25?)
I thank God for the work he is doing in the lives of the children at the Bible Home and I thank him for his faithfulness. I know that he will continue to provide for my every need. Thank you so much to those of you who already support me on a regular basis!
God is good!
This week, along with praying for all the things I mentioned about, I challenge you to share a Psalm (or even just a verse from one) with someone. I'll be reading Psalm 100 with 11 children and their house mom on Thursday!
With love and gratitude,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, November 13th

It's Tuesday again! I wish I could tell you a thousand things that have happened over the past week! There were some really sweet moments: hearing a house mom share from her heart about serving at the Bible Home and marvel at the miracles God performs in children's lives there, little E gaining confidence in me and keeping his arms wrapped tightly around me, getting asked to chaperone a slumber party for 9 pre-teen girls, M (one of the really hard cases I mentioned recently) behaving wonderfully at the slumber party, watching the smile grow across Y's face as I used her as an example of God's love-driven creation, having a good conversation with fellow AWANA leaders, praying for M.A. on her birthday, and the list goes on.
I'll just comment briefly on the slumber party: I'm not sure I've ever felt a heavier sense of responsibility before in my life! One of the girls said I should change since I'm a bore, but somebody had to be responsible! I still had a lot of fun though, and the girls did too. In the morning they totally spoiled me and wouldn't even let me in the kitchen to make breakfast! One of them even gave me a backrub while breakfast was cooking. Now that's the life!
I thank God so much for granting me more opportunities to share with the children. One thing I've learned at the Bible Home is that we can and should seize every moment we can to teach the children, encourage them to practice virtues, tell them how special they are and how much God loves them, etc.
I've received word that some of you have already received the mailing I told you about. If you haven't gotten it yet, please keep your eyes peeled! I encourage you to stop and take a minute to prayerfully consider partnering with me in my service to God at Roblealto through the LAM. I currently need several more people to join my team of partners who give on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. It is through your giving that I am here and able to tell these children that God knows them and loves them no matter what! Thank you so much for participating in this work of God's kingdom!
May God fill your week with some really sweet moments too!
Peace and joy be with you,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, November 6th

I made a mistake yesterday. I forgot to bring my camera to the personnel meeting with me! A camera in a personnel meeting, you say? Does anything photo-worthy every happen in one of those? At the Bible Home, the answer is definitely Yes! For one part, we broke into 6 teams and had to present a skit of some kind of manufacturing machine.

 There was a t-shirt machine, a guitar machine, a puppet machine, etc. It was hilarious to watch one of the very professional teachers from our school on her hands and knees acting as a sheep and pretending to eat a pulled up chunk of turf! She was promptly shorn so her wool could be used to make a cotton t-shirt. Hmm, I guess that was a pretty miraculous machine, wasn't it? The noises and motions of some other more mechanical machines split our sides, and I think the favorite was our administrator (who is a delightful goof) yelling "SI! SI! SI! SI! SI!" You see, he was part of the guitar machine, which spoke the notes a guitar would play. In Costa Rica, we don't use A, B, C, etc. to name notes, instead we use Do, Re, Mi, etc. with Si in the place of Ti. And as you probably know Sí means Yes in Spanish. So while everyone else just said a syllables, he got to say "Yes! Yes! Yes!" --and he did it with every fiber of enthusiasm in his body! That is what I would have loved to capture for you. But instead, I'm sending you the product of my team's machine: a smile!
What a joy it is to serve God alongside these creative, wonderful people! Thank you for playing the role you have in allowing me to be here; whether that be through your prayers, giving, care packages, or words of encouragement! If you'd like to do any or all of the above, please visit my secure donation page, note my mailing address at the bottom of my e-mail signature, and drop me a line to let me know what you're up to!
Enjoy your work this week!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, October 30th

Happy Tuesday to you!

It's true, there's never really a dull moment at the Bible Home. This Sunday we had a condensed version of AWANA since it was a special Family Bonding day. It was a lot like the one we had in February, with all the kids, house families, biological families/guardians, plus Roblealto staff and volunteers all playing together. Thank God our days of heavy rain from Sandy were over! After playing volleyball, 3-legged soccer, kickball (with a buddy I wasn't allowed to let go of!), and other bonding activities, we headed up to the houses to eat and keep sharing. The Porvenir house chose me to hang out with them. I had a great time! The house parents and all the kids in the house just came in July, so it was a perfect opportunity to get to know them all better! As the afternoon came to a close, the children performed "Trading My Sorrow" for their parents, and then we went outside under a tree to give thanks to God together. I thought we'd all just go around the circle and say something we were thankful for, but everyone did it more like a prayer. It was a really sweet moment. I'm so thankful for Roblealto, the opportunity to serve the children and families at the Bible Home, and for everything God is doing in them! Thank you for making this possible!
I challenge us all do some family bonding this week!
God's peace and joy be with you,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, October 23rd

Happy Tuesday from San José de la Montaña!

This past Friday was a special evening, the Annual Prayer Vigil at the Bible Home. Every year we celebrate God's faithfulness, give Him thanks, and present our requests to him. We usually do it in or near our most recently built or renovated space. That means we had the vigil in the Arco Iris house!!! It is so awesome. The original Arco Iris house was razed before I came to Roblealto in 2010, but I got to see almost the whole construction process and work with volunteers whose sweat and love helped build the new house. There are now 11 boys and a house family (parents pictured here) living in this beautiful miraculous gift from God. It fills me with joy to see this house and know it is allowing us to serve more children and have their lives transformed by God at the Bible Home.
Just as God provided the resources to build the new Arco Iris house (please read the story below!!), I know he will provide me with the resources I need to continue serving him here. You can join me! Thank you SO MUCH to those of you who sent me your mailing address. The LAM is helping me with a special mailing for you!
May we all continue to celebrate God's thankfulness, praise him, and present our requests to him!
Carrie

The Story of God Providing for the Arco Iris House
This is such a good story, I have to tell it again! It was late March. Volunteers had been coming to the Bible Home and working tremendously hard putting up wallboard, spackling, installing ceiling tiles, putting in molding, etc. But they were gone, and so was the money. We were hoping to open the new house in about 3 months. We needed $XX,000 in order to finish construction. Roblealto's executive director was about to call the contractor and tell him to halt construction, but my supervisor Pam asked for one week to knock on some doors and see what God would do. Pam and I worked together, writing facebook statuses and letters, and the response BLEW US AWAY!!! Someone wrote saying they would give the exact Very Large Sum of $XX,000 that we needed! We cried with joy and raised our hands and voices in praise to God. But it didn't stop there!! Another e-mail came in... offering over half the sum we needed, another one saying we'll give $10,000, and another with another significant donation. Within about 48 hours, we had almost DOUBLE the original amount we needed!!! NOTHING is difficult for God! I had never seen Him move in such a way before in my life, and it was one of the most joyous, exciting experiences I've ever had.
Right now, I have a pretty significant financial need. I'm praying and knocking on doors, waiting to see what God will do. I know that if God can provide so easily for the Arco Iris house, he can surely do the same for me. Maybe it will be through you?

Tico Tuesday, October 16th

Tuesday Greetings from Costa Rica! Before I proceed:
PLEASE RESPOND to this e-mail. I need to update my contact list (include mailing addresses!) immediately. So, especially if you have changed your mailing address at any point in the past 4 years and/or gotten married or prefer that I use a different e-mail address, PLEASE send me your new contact info right away! Thank You!!!

And now back to your regular Tico Tuesday.
Two Bible Bees? Yup. A week ago I wrote to your about our local Bible Bee at the Bible Home. This past Friday, we had the Roblealto-wide Bible Bee, with representatives from all 3 child care centers and the Bible Home. It was delightful to see some of the children and personnel from other centers I hadn't gotten to see in a long time. The Roblealto Child Care Association is full of sweet amazing people! But I must confess, my heart swelled with pride and love when the kids from the Bible Home arrived. Of course I knew they were coming, but I was so glad to see them... I don't feel like I really have words to express it. It must feel something like having your child chosen to play on a Little League All-Star team. Have I ever told you how crazy I am about these kids?
Anyway, thanks be to God, the activity went well. It was very different from the previous week's Bee at the Bible Home. Lily and I were in charge of a game in which the children had to act out Bible stories. Except the first 2 times, it didn't go so well. There was chaos, and not enough time... or too much time. Plus, the kids didn't really get the whole acting part and it was too noisy to hear much of anything. So, we ended up making it a type of guessing game. (Who knew the story of Esther could be boiled down to "Pray! Pray! We're going to die!") Too bad there were only 4 teams. We were just starting to really get it down as the last team came around! At least now we know for the future!
Please remember to make sure I have your updated contact info!
Thanks, and have a joyous rest of the week!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, October 9th

Whew! This past Friday was a big day! I spent the last 6 weeks or so preparing, organizing, and coordinating everything for the Annual Bible Bee. 

I was very happy to do so, and praise God I can report that the activity was a great success! Though it was all over in one brief morning, every minute of preparation and planning was worth it (and much needed)! I learned a lot, and now that I've done it once, future years should be much easier. The kids enjoyed the games, answered lots of questions, and practiced good team membership (well, some more than others...). One leader told me a girl told her that the activity was really fun! Thank God! The team leaders and school teachers brought everything together and did a great job decorating, motivating the kids and just making it a special day.

I think my favorite game was the one pictured: the kids had to jump into a kiddie pool filled with shredded paper and dig out a little wooden block. I couldn't believe how well those little blocks hid themselves! (Look carefully for the little bit of paper in the hair of the boy in the periwinkle shirt at the table. I love it!)

Note to self: next time buy enough chocolates ahead of time for both winning teams (one from K-3 and one from 4-6). I had to send out our administrator to buy more in a race against the clock. Thankfully he made it back in time for us to award the kids without a moment's delay, and no one to suspect what happened. Jijiji ;-)

Thank you for your prayers and support. Through God's grace, it's because of you that I'm here with the LAM and that the Bible Bee was able to happen. My co-worker Lily is currently in evaluation meetings 3 days a week and unable to do much more than get ready for the next day of meetings and stay on top of her other normal responsibilities. God worked it out perfectly for me to be here and work alongside her!

Praise God and Thank YOU!

Rejoicing in Him,

Carrie

Tico Tuesday, October 2nd

Happy Tuesday once again, dear family and friends!
I'm not sure if you remember me raving about how wonderful our AWANA Missions Day was last year, but it was truly one of the highlights. This past weekend was this year's Missions Day, and it did not disappoint! This year, our Sparkies club did Austria. One of our leaders and her husband made a fantastic informational video, one of our Sparks girls did an interpretive dance with a couple leaders to a missionsy song, and 5 of us leaders (with some help earlier in the evening with a few other leaders) spent The Whole Night Friday making our Austrian castle display. I hadn't been that sleep-deprived, since coming back from Austria with my mom in May! The moral of the story: have a sketch of what's going to be on the outside AND inside of the display before the time comes to start putting the stand together!
This is also helping me learn more about tico culture too, though. I still haven't quite figured this out, but there is something about ticos and incredible excellence/perfectionism/detail. Seriously, I think they even outdo elementary education majors at Grove City College. Having grown up in a practical Yankee home being what I would consider a rather practical not-many-frills gal, these things are quite foreign to me, and create some tension inside. Not that I don't believe in excellence or details at all, but not always to this extent. (The cool thing about all the time and little details that went into our display is that looked superb! Russia and Romania looked really good too, but I'm a bit biased...) Anyway, all the work is worth it 100% for the kids at the Bible Home. I'm happy to sacrifice a night of sleep for them to learn, grow and have an enjoyable experience.
I invite you to head to facebook for more pictures of our lovely stand, my amazing fellow leaders, and some of my sweetie pies!
May we all share God's love with those around us, this week and always!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, September 25th

Happy Tuesday!
A few months ago when I moved into my new apartment here in Costa Rica, it was a disaster. There was stuff and dust everywhere. Not anymore! I love having this nice little space all to myself. The best part is having my own kitchen and getting to cook for myself. That has been so much fun!
 I'd like to decorate the walls a little more, but I stay so busy, that hasn't really been a priority. I'm still working on getting a desk or table to study at in my room. It's quieter back there. (To see what that and the rest of my apartment looks like, head to facebook.) For now, I use the setup depicted here. It's actually pretty comfy, except for the legs of the ironing board in the way of my feet.
Let us all thank God for the roof we have over our heads and the solid walls we have around us this night!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, September 18th

This past weekend was full of fun and time spent with the kids at the Bible Home. Friday evening it started with the arrival of the torch.
 A flame of liberty started at the Costa Rican border with Nicaragua about 2 days beforehand. Students run the torch from town to town-Olympic flame/Pony Express style-until it reaches Cartago, the former capital of Costa Rica. It splits off though, and the flame arrive to different towns all over the country. A group of kids from the Bible Home was selected to run the torch up from Barva (the town 4k down the mountain). They arrived drenched from the rain, but with smiling and with torch in hand. We had a little civic ceremony with pretty much every patriotic song Costa Rica has and then marched around the Bible Home with the homemade lanterns (most made of shoeboxes) with real candles inside. Thankfully not too many fingers and lanterns were burnt. After the march, a whole bunch of kids from the Jardin house hung their lanterns on a tree outside. Our Independence Tree looked so cool! (I've never been near real candles on a Christmas tree that I'm aware of, so this was neat to see). Then Saturday we had the Independence Day parade in the morning and the kids' parents came up to watch them and have a picnic lunch afterward. Thank God it didn't rain! More pictures are on my facebook!
Blessings on your week!
Love,
Carrie

P.S. Random aside: to see a live performance of a hit pop song arranged for choir and orchestra by one of my good friends from high school, watch The Today Show on Friday!

Tico Tuesday, September 11th

Hello, dear family and friends.

This picture is one that shows some of the damage from last week's earthquake. 

Compared to other places that have had earthquakes of this magnitude, Costa Rica made out extremely well. But, among the list of damage, a hospital has been condemned and hundreds of people lost their houses. Thankfully, they are hundreds and not thousands, but still, those hundreds of people are in need of new homes. We continue to have a copious number of light aftershocks each day (there were over 1200 within the first 3 days!). It's just a slight shaking of the ground, but I'm getting rather sick of them. Anyway, for the past week, the earthquake has been a topic of conversation with pretty much everyone I've seen. Kind of like what happened 11 years ago on this very day. It was even a Tuesday. 

I had the opportunity to go to the 9/11 memorial when I was in the States in April, and 11 years seems like a long time in some ways, but for many, I'm sure it feels like it was just last week. It's hard to fathom all the disasters and catastrophes in this world, and how deeply so many, many people are affected by them. The only thing that comes to my mind is this: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

May God comfort each of us where we hurt, that we may in turn be able to comfort others,

Carrie

Tico Tuesday, September 4th

On two occasions in the past couple weeks I've been asked to take care of most of the kids in the picture. (I took it in January and there have been a few changes since then).
By "take care," what I really mean is "babysit 11 children from the ages of 2-11." Yup, this house is on overload right now with 11 kids. Whenever there are special activities for the house moms, like on Mother's Day (August 15th in Costa Rica) or meetings for house couples, the Bible Home calls on people to keep an eye on the kids in each house. I consider it an honor that they would call me. When I think about it as babysitting 11 children with emotional and behavioral problems at no charge, I think it sounds crazy!!! But I truly consider it an honor and an Enormous Responsibility to watch out for these kids, even though they may be just be watching a movie and then going to bed. The second time I went to "babysit" (I don't feel like that term is really adequate here), one of the girls asked me why I wasn't their house mom. HA!!! It was flattering, to be sure. I could handle her, but the rest of them? Day in and day out? At this point in my life, it would undoubtedly be damaging for us all. Is being a house mom somewhere in my future? I don't know. Getting started is like jumping into a fire, and from what I've seen, being a house mom is one of the most difficult things ever. But it's there in the furnace where the broken can be restored and be made beautiful.
Thank you for praying with me not only for the children of Roblealto, but also for the valiant house parents who dedicate their lives and entire families to serving "the least of these."
May God's love and joy abound in you and your family,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, August 28th

The Calm Before The Storm

Last week I enjoyed having some spare time since I was in between semesters. My NT test was hard, but everything turned out ok. I was even able to submit my final paper for my Research and Writing course a day before I thought I'd be able to! So, Saturday I hung out with a friend and then watched my favorite movie of all time (one of Fred and Ginger's more obscure movies called "Carefree"). Sunday morning I ran a race for the 1st time this year. Then in the evening I went to a fun Gospel concert with some friends. Afterwards, we went out to eat. I know a number of you have already spotted this picture on facebook, but I wanted to share it with the rest of you too. I had a really great time! (And I LOVE those chocolate cookies!)
And then, it came. My stomach started churning, and by the time I got home... I'll spare you the details. Thankfully my stomach bug only lasted 24 hours. And I'm very grateful to God for that, since I started my Theology 1 course today. Over the next 8 weeks I get to read some 2000 pages, write three 6-8 page papers and complete a number of other assignments along the way. It's intense, and though I was hoping to practice some speed-reading, I'm afraid the subject matter won't be very conducive to that. So, I appreciate your prayers in divine speed-reading, or time being stretched out so I can be able to do it all. With God all things are possible!
Thanks!
Blessings on you and your tasks for the week!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, August 21st

This chicken hangs out at my window almost every morning. Not something I've ever been used to before.

And over the past couple weeks, I've seen, heard and experienced a number of things I never could have imagined and that no one should ever get used to. Reading an article, hearing a second- or third-hand story, or watching some slideshow about missions can't grasp this. I'm talking about the brokenness and poverty hiding behind the eco-facade of Costa Rica. I'm talking about adults that can't even write their own children's names. I'm talking about children who have been horrifically mistreated and abused and are starting to do the same. I'm talking about people who live in a makeshift lean-to with no door and one  twin bed for more than one person. I'm talking about things I've seen, related to children I know, not some identity-less face you look at and go "Aww!"
The longer I stay in Costa Rica, and the more deeply involved I get with the children and families we serve at the Bible Home, the more I learn of things that have been foreign to me my whole life. The more I see how starved of love people can be, the more I can see that Jesus truly is the only Hope for this world.
 So that leaves me asking, how can I be Jesus to these children and families? I am well aware of my own brokenness and limitations, but I want so badly to help these people. Please join me in praying for Jesus to transform these children and families, and pray for His love to flow freely through me.
Thanks. May God continue to open our eyes and show us those who so desperately need his love - and may we do something about it!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, August 14th

Surely last Tuesday was over a week ago!  Time continues to fly by up on my dear little mountainside here in San José de la Montaña.

Time has flown too, from October 2011, when we first re-broke ground on the Arco Iris (Rainbow) house, to when it was completed last month. A house family and 11 boys (sometimes houses will have an extra child or two due to exceptional occurrences) have been living there for a month now. On Friday we had the official inauguration ceremony with representatives from the various foundations and government entities who contributed to the house's construction and help keep Roblealto running. Too bad we couldn't fly down a whole bunch of sponsors, or the special donors from the States who gave very large gifts. Anyway, the Bible Home took advantage of its time in the spotlight and highlighted the different arts and sports workshops available to the children for all the special guests. The band played, the chorus sang, the recorder ensemble played, representatives from all the sports (soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball and cricket) showed off their uniforms and the kids who spend extra time helping in the garden brought some of their beautiful lettuce. Then, the chairman of Roblealto's board cut the ribbon and inside we went, with all 11 boys serving as tour guides, showing off each room's color theme and which bed and closet was whose. It was a beautiful morning in every way. I can't express how joyful I am to be a part of this wonderful ministry!
Back to my studies... Thank you so much for your prayers! I'm almost finished with my final paper for New Testament and will have taken my final exam by the next time I write to you. Please keep praying! Thank you!
Peace and joy to you,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, August 7th

Happy Tuesday! I'm surfacing from the depths of my Research & Writing paper and New Testament studies just briefly here. The summer semester is coming to an end, and I have a ton of work left to do in the next 2.5 weeks. I covet your prayers!
As I mentioned in my Chronicle, AWANA started up again this past Sunday. I think it went really well, considering we had 20 new children with us. There is nothing like singing praises to God with these kids. It is truly a foretaste of heaven. I enjoyed standing near some of the new kids and encouraging them to do the motions. Game time didn't go so well. Our Yellow team came in last... this time. Our new kids are still catching on. But as always, we had lots of fun! In manual time, we had a welcome (back) party with hot dogs and ice cream. I can't wait to start working with my kids on learning and understanding God's Word. Thanks for praying for me to establish good relationships with them. I feel like I was able to connect well with both, but especially the girl, C. She's the one who simultaneously humbled my heart and made it soar when she told her parents and relatives Sunday afternoon (when they came during visiting hours) that I'm her best friend. Please continue to pray for the children and for me.
Thank you and God bless you!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, July 31st

¡Hola!
The past few weeks at work Lily (the full-time Christian Education Assistant) and I have been pouring hours into printing pages, drawing border lines, pasting and putting plastic on visual aids for the house moms to use as they lead devotions each night in the month of August. August is family month, so there are 4 sheets on Jesus' family, 7 sheets on the church, plus 4 virtues (I found the cute pictures on the ones you see here), a 6 page long banner, a right and a responsibility, cover sheets, instruction pages, etc. Times 9 (since we have 9 houses now). And we get to do this every month! And this is just one of many many responsibilities we have! No wonder Lily needed help! Thankfully, I've already been able to suggest a couple ideas to help us get more organized and hopefully save us time in the future. The good news is, everything we're doing will be reused in the next year, 2 or 3. Today we handed all 9 packets over to the mothers of each house and explained all the material to them. Whew! It's nice to let our work go and let it be put to use. Please join me in praying for it to be a blessing to the house mothers and the children under their care!
Thanks!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, July 24th

Hello and happy Tuesday to you!

Last night I went to one of the houses that is full of brand new children and a new host family to translate for them and two volunteers who are on a short term mission trip here with their church. It was a challenging evening, but I truly had a great time. I was glad to hear the volunteers tell me the same when they left. Even though these children have only been with us for a week (at most), I can see God working in them and I see their yearning for love, attention and acceptance. These kids have a long way to go, and the house parents have a lot to learn too (of course they do, they're new!). It's hard, but this is God's work and he is more than capable of equipping, transforming and growing these children and house parents in ways far better than I could ever imagine. I invite you to join me in praying for the Eden and Porvenir houses. ¡Gracias!

Carrie

Tico Tuesday, July 17th

It's Tuesday again!

I've enjoyed getting to know this lovely lady since coming to Roblealto. Mami Marielos has been a house mom at the Bible Home for around 4 years and she loves to share amazing testimonies of what God has done in the lives of the children who have been under her care. Yesterday, we were receiving several new children at the Bible Home and I heard her say what she was going to do to receive the new boy in her house. She was going to wait for him at the door with 2 balloons. When he came she would open the door -and her arms- wide and say "Welcome!" and give him a hug. So adorable! And just what kids need when they are having to leave their families and come and live in a new place. I got to go make house calls last week to check on some of our kids and their families and see how things were going while they were on vacation. Boy was that eye-opening and heart-breaking. One family we visited didn't even have food for lunch and their house is literally falling apart. Please keep praying for the kids we serve and their families, especially the ones who are arriving this week! Thank you!
God's blessings on you and your family!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, July 10th

Happy Tuesday!

I'm writing to you from my new apartment in San José de la Montaña! This is what it looked like on move-in day. I will soon have pictures of what it looks like when it's all unpacked, but I'm still wondering what that's going to look like myself, so we're gonna have to wait on that. ;-) I used to say I would never dare to live by myself and that I would surely be miserable. Say I'm in the honeymoon stage if you like, but I am actually enjoying having a space all to myself, especially after sleeping in 17 beds over the course of my time in the States and having at least technically shared a room for the past approximately 8 years of my life. Is it/will it be lonely? Sometimes I'm sure it will be. But I share a wall with my landlords and there is plenty of singing and noise to let me know I'm not isolated. And it's really fun having my own kitchen and just knowing I have my own, cozy little getaway. I thank God for his provision for me here, and I encourage you to consider joining God in that work. Moving and obtaining furniture, appliances and the works have their costs, but you can serve as God's tangible means of provision and grace. I appreciate your prayers as I continue to settle in to life here and juggle unpacking, studying, work, and other fun things like finally getting my car fixed after the bus hit it 11 months ago and getting Migration to renew my residency.
Thanks!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, July 3rd

¡HOLA! It's a real TICO Tuesday again! :-) I'm so happy to be back! I've already gotten so say hi to a number of people again and plan to visit Roblealto's central offices where I used to work. (As of Monday I start working at Roblealto's temporary shelter, the Bible Home as a Christian Education Assistant/Family Area helper.)

Yesterday I got to tour the newly finished Arco Iris (Rainbow) house. IT IS SO GORGEOUS! The house mom is already putting in plants all around the house and the kitchen is the envy of all the other houses.

And another piece of exciting news: Roblealto is about to max out its new capacity of 90 children! We've been looking for house parents all year, but in less than 2 weeks these new families will join us and 20 new children will be arriving! Please be praying for everyone at the Bible Home as we enter this stretching transition.

Muchas gracias!

Love,
Carrie

PS Sorry, no picture, I'm having some internet connection problems

Tico Tueday, June 26th

Hey everybody!
Happy last Tuesday from the US for several months! The light at the end of the tunnel is finally visible and now I'm just trying to stay focused during this intense week of Old Testament and New Testament classes. More to come on that...
This past weekend I was in Summerville, SC. I had the opportunity to share at a church there and hang out with people I'd only ever served beside in Costa Rica. It was a great experience, minus the killer mosquitoes at the cookout we had Saturday night. Sunday afternoon a whole bunch of us went out for lunch and had a lovely time. I really enjoyed getting to reconnect with these people, most of whom I hadn't seen for about 2 years. Another plus of Summerville was going out to a Trappist monastery one afternoon. I really enjoyed the quiet space and nativity made of recycled materials. With all the go go go of the past few months, a bit of tranquility was very welcome.
May we all take a few moments to pause and relax this week.
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, June 19th

Praise God for my wonderful, sweet family! He has truly blessed this portion of my trip (and it's not even over yet)! I have had some really sweet quality time with my maternal grandparents and my aunt, uncle and cousins (and got to talk with a couple other aunts on the phone since everybody calls Grandma and Grandpa). I actually have gotten to see two of my married cousins who are close to my age!! That has been great. I am so grateful for my extended family. Between the time with my immediate family in Arizona and this, it sure makes me wish I had some biological family with me in Costa Rica. Family is still more the base unit of society there than individuals, and families tend to be very close. I like that a lot. My extended family is spread out all over the US and a few continents. So, all the more reason to make the most of what family time I can get.
And the extra special blessing? Grandma made me an apron! I'd been planning on getting one since I'm going to have my own kitchen in my apartment, but Grandma had it almost finished before I arrived and I hadn't even told her I wanted one!
May God bless you with some uplifting, quality time with your family this week!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, June 12th

One step closer!

Although it was great to spend lots of quality time with these beautiful people and some wonderful people around them, I'm very excited to announce that the next time I get on a plane, I will be on my way back down to Costa Rica! Today, I traveled to South Carolina and will be visiting some relatives and a couple churches before going up to Charlotte, NC for my first intensive residencial session at Gordon-Conwell. (I have to go to 5 times over the course of the 3 year program.) I've learned a lot in my Old Testament course and am excited to take what I'm learning back down to Roblealto. The countdown is just under 3 weeks now till I go back down! Speaking of Roblealto, the Arco Iris house that we've been rebuilding has been completed! All it needs now is furniture, a house family and 10 children! Praise God for his faithfulness and provision, both in my life and in Roblealto. I'm still working on raising some one time donations for my travel and equipment fund in order to help cover the costs of me moving and this trip to reconnect with supporters and meet new potential ones. I encourage you to consider living out God's faithfulness to me in this way.
Thank you and God bless you!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, June 5th

Happy Tuesday everyone!
I was doing some journaling and reflecting last night and was reminded again of something I (and I would dare say many other Christians too) forget. It's ok to have pain. It's ok not to be ok. It's ok to be "struggling with" (ie, failing!) something. Things don't always work out that way I expect/fantasize. And that's ok. I've gotten the feeling from many Christians that we need to be walking constantly in victory and that if you really love Jesus you'll be just fine and nothing should hurt. I say that's total bologna. Jesus himself hurt and was rejected. He wept. And that's the very beauty of it. Jesus is still Emmanuel, all the time. He is still with us, loving us, holding us when it hurts, when things don't feel right, when I wish I could turn back time, when I wish I could fast forward time. God's not mad at me. I, we can cling to Jesus and know things will improve, eventually. He is our hope. Just wanted to share the reminder with you. :-)
And no, the picture has nothing to do with the rest of the post. I'm just enjoying watching the tiny newborn hummingbirds on the wind chimes on my parents' patio and wanted to share them with you.
God's peace and joy be with you this week, whatever you're going through.
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, May 29th

Yes! We're back! Happy Tuesday to you all once more from Southern Arizona. Just over a month and I'll FINALLY get to go back home to Costa Rica! I apologize for the lack of warning regarding the absence of Tico Tuesday the past two weeks, but more on that to come in the upcoming May Chronicle.
This past weekend was a VERY special, important time for my immediate family. It was the first time we had all been together for 4 years, and that time it had only been for a couple hours. Needless to say, it was a real treat to have us all together. It was really nice to talk, play, swim and catch up. Saturday night, the 7 adults (my 2 brothers and their significant others, my parents and me) went out to celebrate my parents' 33rd wedding anniversary. In the picture you can see everyone but Nathan, who was already asleep.
If you haven't been able to spend much time with your family lately, I hope you get the chance soon!
Blessings,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, May 8th

Happy Tuesday from sunny, southern Arizona!

As I mentioned last week, it was Alumni Day at the Bible Home. I was sad I couldn't be there, but Pam (my former supervisor) very sweetly sent me a piece of the day. You can find my brown eyed beauty on Roblealto Association's facebook page. Ashley was one of my favorites. God totally transformed her life and restored her relationship with her mother and she "graduated" from the Bible Home in December. I wish I could have seen her, but Pam said her face lit up when she took the picture and told her it was for me. It sure made my day to get that note from Pam!
Praise God, he is opening doors for me to share with various churches in the area here about my service and my beloved Roblealto. Please continue to pray for God to provide my needs as I keep raising support!
With love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, May 1st

Hmm, I guess it's not Tuesday anymore for most of you. It still is here in Arizona, though! I'm delighted to be in a warmer climate again, though it was wonderful to see so many people up north. As you can see in the picture, I'm getting started with my online Master of Arts in Religion program through Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. There's a nice mix of reading, writing, watching powerpoints and lectures and other stuff. It's a challenge getting back into "student" mode, but I'm hoping to get settled back into it pretty quickly here. And, I'm glad I'm doing it sooner than later! I'm really excited about this program and I firmly believe it will help me be more effective in my ministry in Roblealto and bring more to the table not only as a Christian Education Assistant, but in all I do everywhere I go. Speaking of Roblealto, today was a special day there because there was a pig roast and carnival. Nationall in Costa Rica, it was Labor Day, but at the Bible Home, that means it's the day for people who lived there to come back and visit. I REALLY wish I could have been there, but I know God has me here right now.

May we all be dedicated to the work set before us and do it with joy as unto the Lord!

Love,

Carrie

Tico Tuesday, April 24th

It's been a beautiful, cold week in New England! There have been highlights every day, but I really loved getting to attend to baptismal services at East Auburn Baptist Church this weekend. The people who baptized shared some phenomenal testimonies of how God worked in people and showed them His love and goodness. They were a great blessing and encouragement to everyone who got to hear them! As I shared for a few minutes in each service, I also took advantage of the opportunity to share with the congregation the work God has done in my life. I was able to take a little more time to do this in the youth service Saturday night since I had a whole half hour to talk. That was really fun. It feels a little funny to hang out with kids I used to babysit, but it's cool to engage with them and encourage them to seek the good things God has in store for them.
A fun note about the picture: the guy in the white robe and I were in the same 8th grade class. How awesome to see him proclaim his faith in Jesus!
May we all proclaim Jesus with our lives this week!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, April 17th

Happy Tuesday!

Boy was it hard to pick a picture this week! Snow in Western Pennsylvania, hanging out with my friends, amazing make your-own-sundaes, the 9/11 memorial, me sticking my face into delicious lilacs and lots of pictures of me with people and other frozen goodies...you'll soon see many of the options on facebook. I had to go with this one though. Saturday, this beautiful girl (my mentor and friend Julie) and I hung out in NYC. We had a fantastic day full of fun sights and a lot of really good conversation. I never knew it was possible to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, but we did that and a whole lot of other things too!

I'm having a really good time getting to connect with prayer and financial supporters, friends and some relatives I haven't seen in a long time. And today, I even got to go to the library of the main campus of the seminary I'm getting my Master's with to get some tips on how to research from afar!

God's goodness and love are so awesome!

May we delight in God and his love this week!

Carrie

Tico Tuesday, April 10th

Hello!
Happy Tuesday from Western PA! It feels very odd to be back in the States and I miss Costa Rica a lot, but it really is good to be here. Except for the cold. It was flurrying off and on today and I had on all the warm clothes I had and was still freezing. My body has definitely gotten used to tropical climates! I had a lovely Resurrection Day and enjoyed a nice long run. I've had some down time and have recovered my voice that I lost at camp and finally gotten caught up on a number of little things. My social schedule is now picking up and this afternoon I spend the afternoon at a friend's house and got to built a helicopter out of K'nex with her son who is about my oldest nephew's age. It was insanely fun. So, all is well here. It's wonderful to visit my church and connect with my friends here.
God is so good to me!
Lots of other stories to share, but it's time to head to InterVarsity!
Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

Missing Tico Tuesday?

Yes my friends, a Tuesday came and went and I didn't post!! I was at camp on Tuesday and got home late and then was making homemade anti-lice shampoo (just to make sure my camper's lice wasn't going to get to me), doing laundry and packing packing packing! All my stuff is now in my cute little apartment in S José de la Montaña and I'm now safely in the States and will be here until July 1. But never fear, Tico Tuesdays will continue again on Tuesday. Now I'm going to get the March Chronicle out.
Blessings to you,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, March 27th

It's Tuesday again!
This past Thursday, I had the opportunity to witness the process of the members of Roblealto's new House for Adolescents start making their Family Covenant. Every house at the Bible Home makes a Family Covenant each year for its members. At the House for Adolescents (AKA Casa Barva) we started by listing all the virtues essential to life there. Then, there was time to vote and democratically narrow it down to the top 7. Each time the music stopped, people had to put a sticker on a virtue. It was definitely cooler than just raising hands. After choosing the top 7, we took 4 minutes to list the ways to NOT show each virtue, and then another 4 to say how we COULD demonstrate each virtue positively. The child psychologist and house parents take over from there, but it was a lot of fun. At supper time, we also had a lot of fun telling stories: the house parents, the child psychologist and his wife, the assistant director and his wife were all telling stories of how they met and got engaged. One broke up with the girl the same day he proposed, another preached on Gideon to the girl before asking her out, etc. We laughed a lot!
In other news-CAMP STARTS ON FRIDAY!!! Please pray for all the staff and leaders, for all the final preparations to come together, for everyone to be healthy, and for God to work powerfully in the hearts and lives of all our dear campers.
Thank you!
I can't wait to tell you how it went!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, March 20th

Happy Tuesday everyone!
As many of you saw on facebook yesterday, I'm celebrating 3 years of service as a missionary here in Costa Rica. I thank God for His faithfulness, goodness and for everything He's done in, through and around me. And thank you so much to all of you for your prayers, encouragement, support and friendship. There's no way I could do this without you! And what better way to celebrate than to go to one of my favorite places this past weekend, Isla Venado! Isla Venado is a very special place to me. It has been sort of like another home in that I know I'm always welcome there, I'm loved and there is a certain consistency to life there. Life doesn't change quite so drastically, at least not very often or quickly. And it's a total escape from the rest of life. No internet, I typically leave my phone with my backpack, and after lunch doña Epi sends me straight out to rest in a hammock in the shade. I really needed a rest this time around and could not have been happier to nap, be still and feel so relaxed I couldn't move. This trip one of my friends from work and her mom came along with me. I was thrilled to share a wonderful weekend with them!
May we all make time to stop and relax this week!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, March 13th

We're going to the circus!!!
The children from the Bible Home and I are going to camp in 18 days and I CAN'T WAIT!!!! Many of them can't wait either. :-) This weekend was the pre-camp leader training/retreat. We had a blast making funny circus presentations, learning songs for camp, previewing some of the special activities we'll be doing at camp and more! This year's theme is El Circo de Oro (The Golden Circus), with lots of inspiration coming from the Butterfly circus. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it! We'll be working on the virtues/themes of friendship, trust, care and perseverance (and they all happen to start with "C" in Spanish). Friendship is tied to clowns, trust to the flying trapeze artists, care to tightrope walkers and perseverance to jugglers. I love how in the picture we're all wearing ridiculous circus-y things, sitting on playground balls and very studiously going over the virtues just mentioned. If you can't tell, I'm the one with a flamingo on my head. jajaja! Please join me in praying for the 7 pre-teen girls who will be in my cabin and my 2 awesome teenage co-leaders. We are SO EXCITED and want to make camp a special, life-changing experience for our girls. Please pray for God to prepare their hearts and to prepare us too!
The theme verse for camp is Luke 10:27, "And he answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.'"
Let this be our desire and goal each day!
With love and thanks,
Carrie

Carrie's Cartwheel/Tico Tuesday, March 6th

Happy Tuesday!

Yes, this Tuesday is a very special edition. It's time for another Cartwheel!! Sorry, you won't find much here on the blog because I don't know how to upload word documents, or if that's even possible. So you'll have give me your e-mail address somehow. PLEASE! Lots of big and new exciting things are about to take place and I'd love to fill you in! I look forward to hearing from you soon so I can send it to you!

Tico Tuesday, February 28th

Friendship is an incredibly special gift. On Saturday, I had the opportunity of seeing one of my best friends from junior high and high school. I don't keep in touch very closely any more with many people from that era of my life these days.

In fact, Marsha and I hadn't even really been in touch over the past few years- we were even having a hard time remembering when we last saw each other! But, when we were together again, the time didn't matter. Marsha and I first bonded over Anne of Green Gables (She's Anne and I'm Diana and we're bosom buddies as long as the sun and moon shall endure. I think she's a lot more like Anne than I am Diana, but that's beside the point.) We also happened to be pretty much the only Christians in our 8th grade class. We shared many the happy lunch times together... oh the memories! We have both changed and grown in many ways over the past few years, but we are still so happy to laugh, talk, be silly, hula hoop and serve one another and others. We were thrilled just to be TOGETHER! I am so thankful to God for blessing me with this friend!

I challenge us all this week to write to or call an old friend that we haven't been in touch with very much lately. Imagine the joy we can bring!

Love,

Carrie

Tico Tuesday, February 21st

This weekend I learned to quit, to stop and to hate. We had a wonderful retreat of LAM missionaries that serve here in Costa Rica! And actually, I'm being serious. Steve, our current president of the LAM, encouraged us to QUIT lying and start being totally truthful with God, others and ourselves. He talked about exposing our lives to God's light and walking in his truth (1 John 1:5-9). I loved how he said, "God loves you just the way you are, but He doesn't want you to stay that way." Amen! Steve also encouraged us to STOP and take a Sabbath one day a week, to spend some good time with God and enjoy the creation and loved ones He has given us. Then, John Stam taught us to HATE the things that God hates. He also encouraged us to turn back to our first love and remember why we do what we do. (Yup, he talked on Rev 2, the letter to the Ephesian church.) It was a great weekend of teaching and sharing. Like last year, one of the highlights was the soccer game. My team lost because we couldn't get a goal in thanks to a stellar 75 year old goalie!
Do you need to start quitting, stopping and/or hating this week? I know I do!
Blessings on you as we enter the Lenten season tomorrow!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, February 14th

¡Feliz día del amor y la amistad! Here Valentine's day becomes "Love and Friendship Day" in order to be more inclusive. My favorite part was when my beloved Ismael ran up to me to hug me. Then he told me, "I love you" in Spanish and English! Sometimes I really wish I could just take him home with me. I mean it! I was so happy to say, "I love you too" from the bottom of my heart! Another favorite part of the day was when a volunteer asked me how he could pray for me. What a beautiful expression of kindness and love from someone I'd just met! God's love is so amazing!

The picture is of the super-fun birthday party I went to on Sunday night at Roblealto's new house for adolescents. More about that and a video of a dance they made up on the blog!

May your heart be filled with God's love!

Love,

Carrie

I felt really special and honored that I was even invited to this birthday party, especially since I'm not very close with the birthday girl. (Yorley is the older daughter of the house parents at Roblealto's new Adolescent House.) I'm looking forward to getting to know her more though. Anyway, Mami Yorleny sent me a text and told me not to miss it, so I didn't! We had a blast. I had a lot of fun talking with Mami Yorleny and hearing her share stories about her experiences at the Bible Home. It was also pretty hilarious to watch a whole bunch of hyperactive boys watch a classic Liga vs Saprissa game (Think Red Sox vs Yankees kind of rivalry but in soccer). It was so great to eat together and then have a spontaneous dance party. It was really funny, because the boys are in that stage where they're all embarrassed about everything. I got to help break the ice with them a little bit. It was so funny - once there were a couple people dancing in the middle of the circle, others weren't afraid to join. And oh man, some of these boys still don't know how/bother to dance in a less sensual way. Watching them was kind of funny, but it was pretty sad and eye-opening to see the influence the world has had on them. After that, all the boys were trying to do head stands. I'd show you a video of that, but I'll spare you from seeing a whole lot of boxers. Anyway, a couple of them actually succeeded, but Papi Nayland and I definitely showed them up. Oh, the birthday girl and the 8 boys at the house made a dance that they performed for us. I'll show you a clip of that. It was a great night!

Tico Tuesday, February 7th

Whew! Enough happened in this week, if not this day for a whole new Chronicle! Do I tell you about the lovely breakfast we had last week that honored those of us who work in development for Roblealto? They gave me a really adorable mug! Or do I tell you about the special family day at the Bible Home with its fun games, not so fun sunburn, yummy lunch and time for sharing with children and parents? Do I tell you about the fun translation night we had last night and how much I enjoyed not only interpreting for the volunteers, but getting to know the children of my dear Eden house better? Or what about getting to see my sweet Fanny and her siblings today? Or Anielka passing her social studies exam so she can officially start classes on track tomorrow? (The school year here is from Feb-Dec) Or one of our new arrivals coming up to greet me very cordially and respectfully- twice! What about all those wonderful volunteers that are painting almost the entire school inside and out in less than a week? And the rest of the volunteers that are siding the Arco Iris house and putting up wallboard? God has sent us some wonderful workers! Have I worn you out yet? Speaking of wearing out, I could also tell you about my 2.5 hour bicycling adventure that took me much higher and closer to the (dormant/inactive) Barva volcano than I expected. Well, I guess not too much is going on here. ;-)

Thanks to all of you who shared about your favorite hymns with me last week. I really enjoyed that!

May we be the hands and feet of Jesus this week and always!

With great love and appreciation for you all,

Carrie