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