Tico Tuesday, June 25th

Happy happy happy Tuesday to you!
A brief bit of good news before I get to the real topic: My contact at Migration came through for me! I finally have a resolution! Now it just needs to be signed, I need to pay $200, and get an appointment for them to take my picture. If this all happens a week from tomorrow, there is a chance I just might have some valid documentation again by the time I leave July 10th for my brother's wedding. It is my hope and prayer for this to be so. Thank you for praying with me so far, and please keep it up until everything is all worked out! Talk about a lesson in perseverance! God is so good!

In other areas of God's goodness... I ran my first half marathon on Sunday! It was such a great experience! They didn't have any mile or kilometer markers along the way, just the starting line, a 10k marker, and the finish line. I couldn't believe it when the first 10k were over. They went by so fast! (In 52 minutes to be exact.) I conversed with a few friendly runners along the way and really enjoyed the beautiful mountains that surround the Central Valley. I went into this race with a totally different attitude than in the 10k races I've done, and I think it really helped. I tend to be a very competitive person, but I didn't stress at all about people passing me and when they did it. (In a 10k, I try not to let any women pass me after about 6k). One 60ish year old man passed me at one point, after talking with me briefly and telling me to save energy for the hills at the end. But, it turns out living at 5000ft and training on this mountainside has done me a lot of good. I passed a number of people going up the hills at the end, including that man! Back to the different attitude though. I wanted to dedicate the race to God and be focused on him, so I spent a lot of time praying and singing worship music in my head. It was a really wonderful time and I hadn't felt so full of joy in a long time! God is so good and he gave me strength every step along the way (and 21k --13 miles-- is a lot of steps)! I ended up finishing in 1:50:21-within perfect range of my 1:45:00 - 2:00:00 expectation (and 36th out of the 177 women that ran the race)!
More stories below!
May we all see God's goodness, faithfulness and love around us this week!
Carrie

God's goodness was evident throughout this whole race weekend. I was able to sleep well the night before and not get any pre-race jitters. I often get jitters before a race, not from nervousness, but from excitement! I spent the night with a friend of mine who lives close to the starting line and she got me there with plenty of time to warm up and get a good spot near the starting line. The start was great. We were on a highway, so it was plenty wide, and it was uphill, so people weren't exactly shooting out like bandits. Most of the races I've done start on narrow streets and are often flat or downhill and it takes a while for the crowd to thin out so I can run normally and not be running on top of other people's feet.
I ran the first several kilometers with a friendly man named Alex who knew several other runners and told me all about the course of the race. After a while I could tell his breath was telling him he needed to slow down, so I left him behind. I saw him at the end though and it was nice to know he made it.
I spent other bits and pieces conversing with other runners, most all of them talking about how hard the hills at the end were. Most of the course was actually downhill though, and I'm sure that helped my time some. I felt great for most of the race, it wasn't until the last couple kilometers when my feet started to hurt and my leg muscles reported in that they were starting to get tired. There were only 4 water stations the whole way, and I didn't carry any food or gatorade. I think I would for next time though, or make someone meet me and give me something along the way.
I announced on facebook I would be running and tagged everyone I could think of that lives close to the race route. Nobody I know showed up, but thankfully, there were a lot of other people along the way, and that helped so much! One group of people noticed my big smile and commented how that just said it all. That was close to the end, but I was feeling good and just having a wonderful time and loving the experience.

Then there was one angel-lady that stationed herself at the foot of one of the last hills and was cheering us on. That meant so much to me and helped me get up that hill! And then, when the finish line came into sight, I couldn't believe it, and the weirdest thing happened: I got all choked up! I hadn't expected that AT ALL! But seriously, I fought so hard to not cry and just keep running. It was totally bizarre, but really, the whole race was such an amazing, wonderful experience. The weather was great, all the people were wonderful, the traffic was well controlled (except for the one part when I got stuck running single file behind a man and between a parked bus and a moving bus in downtown San José-don't tell Mommy that part), I felt great, I was running for God's glory, I didn't have to wait in a ridiculous line for hydration and fruit at the end, my time was great (11th in my category, not counting the first 5 female finishers), and I got a massage at the end. I thank God for this delightful experience and I just say...Watch out Boston Marathon and Heartbreak Hill --I'll see you in 2015 or 2016!!

Tico Tuesday, June 18th

Alto a la violencia! Un mensaje de Dios. Soy valioso. Vivo libre. Elijo vivir en paz. En lugar de pelear, mejor sonrío. Soy un agente de paz. Stop the violence! A message from God. I'm valuable. I live freely. I choose to live in peace. Instead of fighting, it's better to smile. I'm an agent of peace.
These are the key phrases, topics, and words to the song we are using in our Alto a la violencia campaign at the Bible Home. We kicked off a week ago Friday with a special activity (including a hilarious video by Andrés, Fau, and the school staff) and sidewalk-chalking nearly every solid surface on the ground we could find with messages of peace. We all wore white t-shirts and everyone was given a blue or white bracelet to show that we are agents of peace-in-training. This week, we are watching the children closely to see if they can win their other blue or white bracelet (so they'll have one of each color). Last Monday we took this sweet picture with the Peace Bear, showing that with the effort of everyone, we can all live peacefully together.
This is a really important campaign, and we are doing all sorts of special activities in the houses, at school... everything we can to ingrain in the children's minds that violence is not ok. So many of the children who come to us have grown up experiencing and or witnessing violence on a far too regular basis. And that's not even thinking about the TV shows or movies they've seen. Thank God for the creativity and hard work of all the Bible Home and Enrique Strachan School staff who are helping with this campaign, and let's ask Jesus together for these children to live as agentes de paz.
Keep reading below for a testimony and a Migration update!
God's peace be with you!
Carrie

A Miracle!
There's a house mom I've asked you to pray for a lot. She is pregnant and has been through a lot this year. Her grandmother passed away, other close family members have had other health concerns, and her own pregnancy has been very high risk. Oh yeah, and she's been taking care of 11 children at the Bible Home when she hasn't been out on medical leave. This is the same mom I filled in for 5 nights back in February. She's been out on medical leave again, and it's been incredibly hard for her. She's been really stressed by a lot of things, including some kind of malformation in her baby's heart, something about blood crossing over...  But, Friday she had another ultrasound, and the doctor asked what they were supposed to be checking her for, because the baby was perfectly fine and the blood in his heart was all where it was supposed to be! Praise the Lord!!! He heard and answered our prayers! Please keep praying for this mom, for her baby's health, for the 10 children she is caring for again until she goes on maternity leave in 2 months, and for the woman who has been covering while she's been out on medical leave and will cover again when she goes on maternity leave. Please pray especially for their times of daily devotions to go well, as that has been a challenge for both women (the house mom and the lady who's been covering). Thanks!

Migration
There really is light at the end of the tunnel! I think. Today I spoke with my contact at Migration and she said she was going to resolve my case today! I got on my knees right away and begged for it to be so! The woman called me a couple hours later and made sure that I knew I was switching from being here as a religious resident to a volunteer. Uh....yah! I've had that clear since... October? And that is precisely why this stinking process has taken so stinking long and been so stinking complicated! So stinky, I'm pretty sure you can almost smell it from here. Especially those of you that live in the south. Anyway, she didn't call back again after that. :-( Bummer. I'll probably call her again in a day or two to see how things are going. I don't want to be obnoxious, but I do want to be persistent! Please keep praying with me for this to be resolved ASAP! It would be so wonderful to have my new card in hand when I board the plane to fly to my brother's wedding next month!

Tico Tuesday, June 11

Tuesday greetings to you all once more!
Life in Costa Rica has a lot of bittersweet moments. Sunday was one of them. We had a going away party for a missionary couple that has been here in Costa Rica for 40 years. 40. That's a really long time. And they've lived in the same house the entire time. That, I cannot even imagine. I haven't even stayed in the same house for 4 years here! (My life record is 7 so far.) And this wasn't just any neighborhood. They live in Los Guido, which has one of the worst reputations in the country. They shared a brief testimony with us on Sunday about the time people stole their vehicle out of their front yard... and how that same night their Toyota was mystically returned to them and both they and their neighbors heard someone say very clearly, "don Roberto, here is your Toyota." There was a bullet on the floor of the vehicle, but no damage had been done. Pretty amazing, huh?
 I've enjoyed getting to know this sweet, old couple at LAM picnics and retreats. Ann is SO excited about the Los Guido Childcare Center being built! She once told me she could list off to me all the moms whose children we should receive in the center!
The funniest part of the day was the cake. Kind of looks like it was originally written "Valla con Dios," doesn't it? Oh native Spanish speakers and the spellings that trip them up! Here in Costa Rica, the y and ll are pronounced exactly the same, so unless people have seen it written or learned correctly that vaya is with a y, they are much more likely to put it with an ll. We carefully scraped off the top of the y so it would look better, but this shot is of the cake as it originally was. So funny!
May you have some fun moments this week (even in the midst of sadness)!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, June 4th

Hello!
This weekend was a blast. It took hours and hours of preparation over the past few weeks, but being with the children whose moms were at Camp for Moms and caring for them, snuggling with them, getting back rubs from them, hosing them down each morning and leading the devotions and Bible lessons for them was an amazing experience.

To be honest, I was having such a good time, I didn't want it to end! I'd met many of these kids before, when I used to work with volunteers in the Int'l Development Office, or I'd at least read about them and written their entrance and progress reports for their sponsors. I'd met this cutie-pie before since she's come to the Bible Home a couple times on special family days to be with her brother. This picture is a year old now, and my has she grown! I met 3 other girls who have brothers at the Bible Home too. I ran into these brothers before leaving on Friday and asked if they had any messages to send to their sisters. Both sets of brothers sent their love to their sisters. When I met their sisters, I passed their messages, and the girls sent similar ones in return. It was so adorable! I was thrilled to meet these girls. I hadn't even known they existed until last week! It gives me a different perspective on their families and makes me want desperately for the families' conditions to improve and for the treatment plan to be completed so these brothers can be reunited with their sisters and moms again! And it makes me think... the boys are at the Bible Home for a reason, but surely these girls have had similar life experiences. They are siblings after all! It makes me wish I could have more of a relationship with these girls. Maybe I can send them notes with their brothers when they go home for the weekend on Friday...
God bless you and your family this week!
Carrie

PS The latest with Migration is that, there really isn't anything new. I spoke with my contact on the inside today and I guess the meeting on Friday with her boss went well. They are supposed to meet again tomorrow (Weds). I hope and pray this would be with the idea of making a resolution about my case. Please keep praying for things to keep marching forward and for a positive resolution asap!