Tico Tuesday, September 29th

We did it! We gave the mission coach training!

 It was a full, tiring day, but we did it! It went really well and it feels great to have finished it, but really, it was just the beginning! We got some good, helpful feedback from several people who came and have some great ideas to integrate into the training in the future. We have come to a difficult place now though: I will only be in Mexico for another 16 days, and Ann just left for the States for three weeks, so we won't be able to do much followup up on it together. What we really need is a missions coach coordinator who can come and dedicate him/herself full time to leading this area of the Centro Latino de Movilización. Neither Ann nor I feel called to this role: God used us to help develop structures, processes, and to kind of jumpstart things, but we need someone who can take over from here and start bringing people through the process. Last Wednesday's training was really just a trial run, since no one there had gone through the application process to become a mission coach. It was important though because Cynthia and the rest of the core team of the CLM needed to see the training straight from the horse's mouth. Also, this way the first official mission coach training will be an improved version of this trial one that we did. We got a lot of encouraging feedback, but there is always room for improvement. Please join us in praying for the mission coach coordinator to join the team quickly so that the area of missions coaching can continue to move forward. There are a couple ideas of people, but so far the search continues. There are also some other needs of personnel and finances at the CLM, so please just keep the whole ministry in your prayers.
Thank you for journeying alongside me in this and for all your prayers. It has been an invaluable experience to collaborate with Ann in developing the mission coach training and process. I learned a ton, gained a lot of confidence, and made a new friend.
Over the next couple weeks I will be wrapping up my service at the CLM and preparing to leave Mexico. Please continue to keep me in your prayers. Things are progressing regarding my next ministry placement and I look forward to sharing details with you as they come!
May we continue to see God's faithfulness and trust him provide for our every need,
Carrie

Top 10, er 13, reasons why housesitting for K&L was awesome

I recently housesat for a family I know here. Their house was quite a contrast to the place I've been living here in Mexico. While some of the things that are true for K&L's place are true for other places and people, I especially appreciated them this time around!
1. A big soft bed with a headboard! Soooooo nice!
2. Being able to walk freely through the house without dogs barking, lunging, or occasionally snapping at me. I will say it. I do not like dogs. I appreciate my brother's greyhound and think he is brilliant, but I would not want live with him. I will never live with another dog again (and don't even think about cats)! The end. Please make sure my future husband knows this. (I can stay with a dog or cat overnight, it's not like I can't deal with them at all. I just refuse to live with them.)
3. Privacy. I've been living with 4 other people and sharing a bathroom with two. It was really nice to enjoy those freedoms that come with living alone (or with someone you really know and trust) for a week!
4. Being able to use internet throughout the house. Where I've been living, I have to come down to the middle floor in order to use the internet on my computer. It works very slowly on my phone in my room. And where I can use my computer I have to sit sideways in a chair --it's quite uncomfortable. At K&L's, that was a nonissue and it was so nice! I had a huge dining room table all to myself!
5. Being able to listen to music whenever I wanted! This is closely related to being able to use the internet throughout the house. I've realized how encouraging for me it is to be able to listen to music, so it was a real gift to be able to do so at K&L's!
6. The water in the shower stayed hot for more than 5 minutes.
7. Laundry onsite!
8. Room for my things to fit easily in the fridge, and no need to worry about someone else eating food I was counting on eating.
9. The gliding rocker (with a gliding ottoman too!)
10. K&L's oldest daughter's adorable fleece ladybug blanket
11. Getting to see mountains from the roof.
12. The electric piano! Almost every night I took a few minutes to work my way through a couple songs and hymns (one finger at a time). I'm not good at playing the piano, but I have a reasonably decent ear for music and love to sing, so it was wonderful to be able to take advantage of the piano. As mentioned above, music does great things for my soul!
13. The turtle. If ever I do get a pet, it just might be a turtle. The last few times I've seen turtles, I've been fascinated by them. They help me not only #practiceawe, but with their reputation for slowness, I am learning a spiritual lesson from them. Slow down. Pay attention. Engage fully and don't just rush through life. Discover how Christ is present in this moment. I loved watching him move about in his nifty homemade tank (made out of one of those big 5 gallonish sized water jugs); admiring his webbed, clawlike extremities (what do you call those things anyway?); seeing how he extended and drew in his neck; observing how he blinked. I feel like a little kid and want to learn about turtles now!
So, housesitting was a real blessing to me in so many ways (I didn't mention the super-rich chocolate cake that got left in the fridge, did I?). I feel spoiled and refreshed now, and have only 17 days until I say goodbye to the four poorly trained dogs who have been trying my patience here!
Housesitting helped me be grateful for a lot of things I often take for granted and think I deserve. I've been learning the importance of being grateful in all circumstances because it is a way of being more aware of Christ, the Bible commands it, and I know that just having solid walls and a roof over my head in a safe neighborhood and with food stored in the fridge is a lot more than many people have. I encourage you to join me in practicing gratitude and looking for Christ in all things!

Tico Tuesday, September 22nd

At last, here you have it! A picture of Ann and me. We are sporting new chairs we bought off the side of the road (where else do you buy cheap chairs?) for the café of the Centro Latino de Movilización (CLM), which is now open! That's exciting!

Tomorrow is our big day! Please pray for a good night's rest for Ann and me and for a good day of mission coach training with our 15ish participants tomorrow. We are armed with dynamic activities, metaphors, small group and individual reflection times, and fun visual aids!
Changing topics: please watch this video! It does an amazing job portraying Mexico City in just over 2 minutes. It will give you quite a taste of what my life has been like over the past few months. It shows the most famous buildings & landmarks and includes many of the noises I hear every day. It starts with the haunting voice that wanders each neighborhood daily asking for mattresses, fridges, microwaves or any other piece you might want to sell. Listen also for those bells I hear every day. That means the trash truck is coming! Can you pick out the man selling the tamales from Oaxaca? Or the shouts of ¡Viva! from Independence Day? What about that calmer version of dreadful sweet potato cart whistle? City life sure is noisy! And I thought the car alarms and bus brakes in Costa Rica were bad! Well, they are, but I'll take them over the sweet potato whistle any day!
Thank you so much for your prayers for this mission coach training. I look at it all and just see God's grace in helping us develop the materials for the future mission coach coordinator, the mission coaches, and the volunteers that the coaches with work with in the CLM.
God's peace and joy be with you,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, September 15th

It's beginning to look a lot like...

WAIT! Not yet! While some people will soon be pulling out their Christmas decorations (at least in Costa Rica), this red, white, and green is not for Christmas. These are Mexican colors. I have had to remind myself of this many times over the past couple weeks.
While Costa Rica and Mexico have consecutive days of celebration, Mexico's Independence came in 1810, while Costa Rica and the rest of Central America did not become independent until 1821. Costa Rica starts celebrating its independence on September 14 with the running of the torch of liberty from the border of Nicaragua to Cartago (Costa Rica's first capital city), parading around with homemade lanterns, and eating typical foods like white corn on the cob and hot agua dulce (kind of like diluted molasses). Then there are parades the next morning in the center of each town. Mexicans start celebrating the night of the 15th by eating pozole (chicken hominy soup) and then going to the center of town to shout "¡VIVA MEXICO!" at 11pm. Tonight will definitely be an interesting new cultural experience! Honestly, I don't know what, if anything happens tomorrow. It's common for latinos to celebrate holidays the night before the actual day. They always celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve too. Just some interesting facts for you. Oh and I just heard more fireworks...That has been happening all day and I expect will intensify over the next several hours. What a day it will be! Instead of feeling like I have a divided heart and wishing I could be in Costa Rica, I'm praying for a big, open heart to enjoy it all.
Before I close, I'd like to mention 3 petitions:
-One week from tomorrow Ann and I will be giving the mission coach training we have been developing over the last few months. Things are coming together and we are going over final touches and trying to make sure we have everything ready for the big day. Please continue to pray for our final preparations!
-I have a Skype meeting on Thursday with a couple UWM leaders to see how things are progressing with a couple future service possibilities for me. Please continue to pray for God's guidance in this matter.
-I am praying for someone in Chicago to lend me a car for 10 days in late Oct/early Nov. Please pray with me, and spread the word with all your friends who live Chicago! (I'm willing to pay up to $300 for the 1400-1500 miles I'll be putting on the car).
Thank you so much for accompanying and supporting me along this journey! I am a grateful, blessed woman!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, September 8th

This is the Avance library, minus the one shelf out of view.

I have now spent two days here making sure books are labeled, in proper alphabetical order and according to the Avance decimal system, purging old books that don't look as good to make room for new books I wish I had time to read, sorting through donated books to figure out which are worth saving and which we can pass along, sighing at the number of good books that I want to read, and laughing uproariously at "How to Find a Husband: For Girls." Published in 1953, this book is kept around the Avance office for entertainment purposes. The author describes how unfeminine and unflattering wearing "levis" is and how men are turned off by heavy makeup. I'll skip a more gory one about fingernail polish colors... Yes, 60+ years ago, it was the way of life (and I know some men are still turned off by heavy makeup), but the way the book is written makes me laugh so hard, they can surely hear me down the street.
Anyway, this is an impressive little library, and I could literally spend days enclosed in it reading! It was fun going through the titles and recognizing the names of some authors I came across in seminary. I'm definitely feeling inspired to become a better-read woman.
Speaking of reading, I've started reading the first book for our second round of spiritual mentoring training (which officially started Sep 1st) and wow, it's a good one! The Shattered Lantern by Ronald Rolheiser. I highly recommend it. Less than 200 pages, but an eye-opening, thought-provoking text. Let me know if you read it; I'd love to hear your thoughts!
And, 2 weeks from tomorrow, Ann and I give the first mission coach training! Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we try to finish and review everything and make sure it is interactive and easy for the participants to learn and for the Mission Coach Coordinator who will come after us to find the material we've created easy to follow and use as well!
Thank you so much!
Carrie