Tico Tuesday, September 30th

Thank you so much for your prayers! The sleepover with the girls from 'Exemplary Women" this weekend was a blast! It went so well! We started by playing with a Bop-It (I don't think I'd seen one of those since a jr high winter retreat!) and then moved on to hide and go seek while the pizza was in the oven.

I have a phenomenal bruise on my arm from a shelf that leapt out from the wall in the dark, but at least it happened to me and not one of the girls. Hide and seek here gets pretty intense! After dinner, the girls had a silly pillow fight while I made chocolate chip cookies, and then the girls each had a challenge I gave them and had to answer a review question about the women we studied. The challenges included a few "Minute to Win it" games, as well as a couple that required balancing something. Then, each one shared about an exemplary woman of the Bible she studied on her own, using the questions I have us ask every week. I was very proud of the work they did! It was an amazing night! Most were asleep by the second scene of the movie we watched, which was fine with me...it was later than I'd hoped. Then, since I was the only one responsible for these girls, I had a hard time falling asleep. Anytime I'm the sole adult in charge, I feel a huge weight of the responsibility I have and I'm always the last asleep. I woke up early too, thanks to a girl that took up more than her allotted share of mattress space. It was ok though--I napped when I got home!
A couple years ago, I chaperoned a sleepover for some girls, and it was crazy. This sleepover was wonderful! Thank you so much for your prayers! I've decided I'm going to be praying for one a day, since there are 7 of them!
You are welcome to keep praying for them too, especially since we've received the green light to keep meeting for the rest of the year!
With gratitude to you and praise to God,
Carrie

P.S. The Bible Bee is this Friday! There is still MUCH to do and very little time to do it in. Please pray for everything to get done and for the activity to be a blessing to all the children. Thank you!

Tico Tuesday, September 23rd

This past Thursday, we studied Ruth in Exemplary Women (the discipleship group I'm leading).

Artwork by S

Though a few of the girls are usually eager to read, this time I told them to just listen and use their imagination to picture everything as I read to them. I thought I might be able to find a little video online for them to watch or something but the only thing I found that wasn't a full length movie was one of those animated ones that has a whole bunch of made up stuff in it and kids watch it and think everything in it is straight out of the Bible. So, I told them their imagination would be better. I interrupted myself a few times to explain some things, but it was just wonderful! These girls were left inspired by Ruth. I had told them before that the Book of Ruth read just like a fairy tale, and my words did not disappoint!As I read, I was impacted once more at Ruth and how God directs and provides so perfectly for her and Naomi. And, I came across something fascinating: In the Spanish version of the NIV, Boaz tells Ruth that he knows she is a "mujer ejemplar" (an exemplary woman-- that's in 3:11 if you're wondering)! I did not have that verse in mind when I named the group "Mujeres Ejemplares!" But, God did! I will have to ask, but I suspect that so far, Ruth has been everyone's favorite woman so far.
Please be praying for us this Friday: we are having our closing slumber party and it's going to be a blast! And guess what? The girls are asking for the group to continue! I'd be delighted to do so, and am checking in with my supervisor about it. It brings me such joy to see these girls enjoying our time together and motivated to learn from God's Word! So far we've only studied women in the Old Testament, so we can definitely study a lot more women in the time we have left in the year!
Thank you so much for your prayers for me and for these girls. Between now and Friday will you pick and pray for one in particular? M, MJ, K, S, J, I, or JA?
Also, if you haven't read the Book of Ruth lately, I challenge you to read it before next Tuesday! Let me know if you do and what you learn from it!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, September 16th

While knowing life and loving two very different countries can be hard, it is fun to get to experience and participate in the traditions and celebrations of Costa Rica. Yesterday was the 193rd anniversary of Costa Rica's independence from Spain. It was fun explaining to one of the kids at the Bible Home a little bit of how the US' independence is different from Costa Rica's. Traditional Independence Day celebrations here mean, the torch of freedom comes on the 14th (after leaving Guatemala a couple days previous), and we get the flame and run it up the mountain to the Bible Home. Quite literally, run. Last year, we took it pretty easy and had lots of time. This year, the torch was running a bit late and so we did have to push a little harder to get up the mountain faster, but it wasn't too bad. The kids were great troopers! Then, we did our annual little march around the Bible Home with faroles (homemade lanterns that all represent something typical or a national symbol, or just something with red, white and blue on it!). This year Magali came out front to keep us from going too fast. I was at the front with all the kids who had ran with the torch and we all still had lots of energy and were moving at a pace much quicker than we were supposed to.

Then yesterday, Chrissy (my roomie) and her boyfriend Gera (Gerardo) joined me up in S Jose de la Montaña to watch the parade. I just love to watch my kids march by! They did a great job again this year! We joined one of the houses for lunch and had 2 desserts: arroz con leche (rice pudding) one girl's grandma made, and... ice cream made from Roblealto's farm!! Yum! It's no Hood or Turkey Hill, but it's a lot better than other brands of ice cream I've had here.
So, all is well. Work is still a bit crazy with prep for our quality certification and I have a lot of other things going on too, but life is good, God is good, and I'm trying to take it all one thing, one day at a time.
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers for me!
Viva Costa Rica!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, September 9th

Happy Children's Day! I never heard of Children's Day until moving to Costa Rica...I'm not sure I even heard of it before I started serving in Roblealto. But, apparently it is a big deal in many parts of the world! Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to join the children from the Bible Home and our on-site school in their Children's Day celebration: a member of the Legislative Assembly paid for us all to go to the National Children's Museum!
The children picked coffee, learned how bananas are processed, toured the train that used to go back and forth to Limón (Caribbean side of the country), "directed" an orchestra, dressed up like police and firemen, learned about the food groups and grocery shopped, did an obstacle course, toured a house with slanted floors, learned about dinosaurs, lit up a light bulb with their bodies, learned about Egyptian mummies, and more! This kid was an absolute hoot as a "mummy!"
God really protected me from getting sick, since all the kids I was with were coughing (without covering their mouths), sneezing, putting their hands in their mouths, touching everything...and of course holding my hand! On the way home a girl with a temperature fell asleep on my lap and left a HUGE spot of sweat on my pants. I am so glad I didn't get sick!
Thank you so much for your prayers: God does protect me in wonderful ways. I guess I haven't told you about the time a few weeks ago when I was on my way to one of our child care centers and my wallet fell out of my bag and an honest man missed his bus to give it back to me! In a sketchy neighborhood in Costa Rica!
I thank God for his presence and the ways he cares for me. Thank you again for your faithful prayers, and please keep them coming! God hears and answers them!
God's blessing, peace, and joy be with you and your children!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, September 2nd

Surely last Tuesday was more than just a week ago, right?
What a week it has been! (And what a month August was! A Chronicle is forthcoming!)

I am now a resident of San Pedro de Barva, which means Chrissy and I are now officially roommates! Our apartment is beautiful! It is brand new--we are the first to live in it! And it is so much nicer and more spacious than my old one! I am so happy and grateful to be living here! Once I get more settled and unpacked, there will be more pictures, and perhaps a virtual tour on facebook. Moving was EXHAUSTING! I told Chrissy on Sunday night that if I was any more tired, I would just break down and cry. Thankfully, I had a lot of support in the move. Two girls from my "Exemplary Women" group at the Bible Home came over and did a great job helping me pack and make muffins. That was a really fun evening. Moving Tip: Make lots of muffins (or sandwiches or something) before you move. The muffins saved me from turning into a hypoglycemic monster until I could go out and get food. Saturday, three friends from our young adult group from church (Arbolitos) helped me finish packing and pack everything into their cars and the truck a woman from church brought. They were such a blessing to me! But, once everything was inside the new apartment, they had to leave, and it was me and a whole lot of boxes and suitcases. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! When there is a lot to do, I tend to get overwhelmed and just kind of freeze. Or I start a million things and don't finish any of them. But, poco a poco... (bit by bit). Chrissy and I got the kitchen and living room under control. So now, I'm chipping away at the piles of boxes and suitcases and bags in my room. I can't believe how much stuff I had crammed into my old apartment! I'm trying to sort through some things and see what I can get rid of. Simplicity is something I'd like to try to aim for more. And the goal is to make serious headway tomorrow, since my weekend is getting quite full and the new semester starts on Monday!
Thank you so much for your prayers and support and for accompanying me virtually on this journey. (And for those who are wondering, this move was not for financial reasons. But, it is a little more economical than my last place. I have to drive to work now, but it's only about 15 minutes away, and well worth it!)
May God give us all the grace and strength to do what we need to in the rest of the week... and may we keep our eyes fixed on him in all we do!
Love,
Carrie