Tico Tuesday, February 23rd

A beautiful long bike ride on my day off, my pastor's father passing away, the second small group leader training, family weekend at church with baptisms, construction of the new church building's roof being slowed because of too much wind, the excitement of being on the church property and seeing the construction, having a flooded kitchen thanks to a clogged pipe and finding out the septic tank is full, my car's transmission not working well, getting complimented 3 times in front of groups of people by my supervisor being impressed and pleased with the work I'm doing... What a roller coaster of an amazing, intense, exhausting week it has been! I have felt on top of the world, I've cried in empathy with my pastor, I've felt in my element leading part of the training, I've brimmed with excitement and joy over the progress in the building and am praying very hard for the construction to not have any more delays and even for lost time to be made up! And, I've had a couple excellent opportunities to practice trusting in God.

Trust is one of my key words for this year. As I'm reading through the Psalms, every verse with "trust" in it leaps out at me. I was nervous my car would break down before I got it to the mechanic's today. I was stressing about it, but decided to pray and trust that I would be able to get there safely--and not have to arrive via tow truck. Thanks be to God for answering that prayer!
It wasn't until late Friday night (several hours after the funeral) that I realized my pastor's wife probably wouldn't be able to give her part of the training for the Small Group leaders the next day. I was kicking myself for not thinking of it earlier, but decided to sleep in peace and trust God to work it out the next day. I texted in the morning and indeed, she was not up for the task, but she coordinated for another staff member from church to give her part--and it turns out this staff member had been preparing a training on almost the exact same topic and she couldn't give her talk on Friday because of the funeral, so she ended up being able to give it anyway on Saturday (and tell her people to join us)! God worked everything out better than I could have imagined! And I didn't stress about it! It was amazing. His plans and ways are so much greater than mine! And stressing really accomplishes nothing.
Please continue to pray for me to have wisdom, trust God, seek him first, and cling to him through all things, and for him to bless my times of recreation and rest. Thank you!
May God continue to reveal his greatness to you and may you feel his presence wherever you are on life's roller coaster!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, February 16th

I hate to admit it, but the honeymoon is over. It's to be expected, yet always catches me by surprise. Things will not always be smooth and easy. That's life.

Sunset during last month's training

 I was supposed to have a Small Group team meeting on Saturday, and 3 out of 5 people couldn't come. I'm realizing my team isn't as solid as I thought. One of the hardest things for me about tico culture is that people often don't take commitments seriously. As my InterVarsity cross-cultural training taught me, Latins (and many other cultures) value people over tasks. I hate for a Small Group team meeting to be considered a task, but I think it will take some serious effort to try to change that. Many ticos themselves admit that fulfilling responsibilities/commitments is a general cultural flaw though (being people oriented, however, is not a flaw, just a difference). Getting people together frequently requires double and sometimes triple confirmation.
At first, I was quite frustrated on Saturday, especially since one person announced via the text group they are withdrawing from the team 7 minutes before the meeting was supposed to start. But, the children's pastor was about to have a meeting too, so I went to him and he gave me some good advice. Building a team takes time (and it turns out this Small Group team was really only just being formed as I arrived) and will be a continual process. I have to convince people Small Groups is the church's greatest ministry. I may recruit people, and after an initial meeting, maybe only 2 or 3 out of 15 or 20 will commit. But, he said that some people really will commit and throw themselves in heart and soul. That was encouraging. So, will you pray for me as I learn about leadership, deal with cultural differences, and set out to build a strong team? I'm setting aside tomorrow to pray and plan for the team. What should we do? How should we work? What are things I can delegate? How can I keep from being too controlling? Please join with me in prayer as I present this before the Lord and seek his guidance. It's all about and for Him.
May God continue to grow, guide, and bless you,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, February 9th

I love being at-level with clouds!

Last week was one of the busiest weeks I'd had in a while in terms of getting together with people for sharing meals and cafecito. I had something every day of the week with someone! I love being finished with seminary and being able to have a social life! Of course, some of these get-togethers were work-related, but along with being productive, they were also wonderful times of having sweet fellowship and getting to know each other on a deeper level. What a gift it is to be with one or two other people and marvel together at God's love and grace! How uplifting it is to share stories from the past and see how God has worked through them and glorified himself in them! What an honor it is to get to know people and keep in mind that every conversation is an opportunity for spiritual mentoring! That little nugget helps me be a lot more intentional in my conversations. How can I help this person be more aware of God's work in their life? What lessons have they been learning about life and God?
I also want to share a brief testimony: I was on my way up to this beautiful mountain overlook with a friend on my day off and we got stopped by the police on the way up. I'd never gotten stopped by the police here before, but they are often on the side of the road, randomly selecting vehicles to pull over, so it wasn't for any kind of citation. I'm glad they did pull me over though, because after they looked at my residency card, one of them noticed my back right tire was going flat. I was able to make it to a tire shop down the mountain and get it patched up right away and then make it back up to the mountain and have a lovely picnic with the above view before I was dying of starvation! It was one of the easiest, quickest, least inexpensive car issues I've ever had. Whereas if the police hadn't have stopped me, I would have been way up on the mountainside with a flat, needing to leave the park at closing time and getting delayed and stressed. And I had my friend along, she made things better too.
God takes such good care of me and I am so grateful!
May God bless your times of sharing with others this week and bless you with helpful, observant people in your life!
Love,
Carrie