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