Tico Tuesday, November 22nd

I guessed I skipped a week! I'll tell you why in my Chronicle which will be out in the near future. :)

But for now, I am very happy because I finally have a picture of my small group core team!! I'd meant to get a picture of us at one of our meetings, but always forgot. So, at the annual party the church staff throws for all the volunteers, I made sure to get us together so I could show you these delightful ladies with whom I've been working this year! Shirley and Yuli have been faithful, dedicated, hard working companions who have a great love for God's people and have come up with a number of great ideas for a number of areas within the realm of small groups. I have had a wonderful time not only getting to work with Shirley and Yuli, but also getting to develop friendships with each of them. They have taught me much and are great at keeping me from committing cultural faux pas and understanding why it's best to do (or not do) certain things. It has been a real honor and blessing to get to work with them and I'm very glad they were both able to come to the fiesta on Friday to celebrate them.
At the party for the 450 volunteers we have at church, we served them a delicious meal, recognized one outstanding "volunteer of the year," prayed for and blessed all the volunteers, and had karaoke to various Christian songs. It was a lot of fun. In order to keep the singers who help lead worship from monopolizing, we encouraged someone from each table to sing and many were brave enough to go for it! Sometimes the whole table ended up singing together.
It was challenging trying to plan the party without counting on any volunteers to help. We wanted it to be a night to celebrate them and not have them work at all. So, the staff worked hard all day preparing and decorating. I wore myself out in the morning, so had to go home and rest in the afternoon before the party, but thankfully had the strength to make it through the evening. Being operated on is very tiring. Thankfully, I'm continuing to make good progress though. My physical therapist is very pleased and last night he gave me the go ahead to ride my bike again!
Also, before I sign off, I ask you to please pray: Hurricane Otto is heading straight towards Costa Rica and Nicaragua and could do a lot of damage (and be quite a literal wet blanket on Thanksgiving/birthday). May God calm the winds or keep the storm out to sea! Thank you!
I'm thankful for each and every one of you!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, November 8th

Greetings! As you (hopefully) read at the end of my Chronicle last week, I had an arthroscopy on my right knee on Friday. Since then, several people have been helping me very generously: bringing & preparing me food, helping me with the ice machine I have to use on my knee every 4 hours, just being present while I bathe and then helping squeegee the shower floor so it doesn't get slippery, etc., etc., etc. I have never had to be so dependent on people before. It's challenging. But I am hugely grateful. I am grateful for the success of the surgery (both my family practice doctor and my orthopedist were present and pleased with the outcome). Basically my patella was moving a lot horizontally upon contracting my leg and surgical intervention was the best solution. It had been causing me pain for some time and I hadn't felt it very newsworthy, so while maybe it seemed I had a sudden surgery, I've been dealing with knee pain most of this year (and on various occasions in past years as well). I pray I won't deal with future knee pain from here on!
While it is tiring to sit around all day, this has been a wonderful opportunity to grow friendships. This evening a woman near my age that just started coming to young adult group came over and we had a lovely time getting to know each other. I doubt that would have happened had I not had surgery, or at least not this soon after meeting each other! Yesterday a woman from my mission brought me a lovely lunch and we got to catch up. Normally I only see her at UWM activities a couple times a year. Today, the staff from church came to visit me and pray with me during lunch time (see photo). Numerous friends are checking in on me via text message and I have a long list of people I know I can call on in time of need.
I had a really helpful cultural conversation with Rudy (my head pastor here) on Thursday. He told me ticos rarely taking initiative is a cultural thing. It is something that often frustrates me, but hearing a tico tell me not to expect ticos to reach out to me was really helpful for me to hear, even though I sure don't understand it. That makes it a lot easier for me to reach out and call on others though. Sometimes it has felt tiring and it's been tempting to wonder if people actually care about me. This surgery experience is proving me that they really do! I'm learning a lot about my need to depend more on others and more on God. I can't do anything on my own! I praise him for his faithfulness and thank him for all the loving, supportive people he has placed around me, both near and far!
Love,
Carrie