Tico Tuesday, January 23rd

Greetings from windy Costa Rica!

Most of my growing team

I write to you tonight with a grateful heart. The first week of January, God gave me a fresh perspective on my role as Small Group Coordinator and told me he was going to do great things in Small Groups this year, and he is! I'm currently working on coordinating a one day Small Groups with Purpose seminar in early March to be led by Steve Gladen, Saddleback's small groups pastor I got to meet at the strategic planning conference I went to last July. And, John Maxwell has decided to invest in Costa Rica, so several of my small group facilitators and other church leaders are going to receive some training through his ministry too. Exciting things are happening!
And, thanks be to God, things with my team are improving dramatically. Last year, my team was often a source of frustration for me. Through a lot of prayer, reflection, preparation, and support from my parents and coworkers, my first team meeting on Saturday was a rousing success! Instead of not being able to sleep from the stress, I had trouble falling asleep from my excitement! I have officially added another member, and I am talking with another woman as well about her joining. She came as an observer on Saturday (pictured above with her baby), and it was good to have her there. Pray for her (and me) as we continue to talk and come to a decision. And please pray for God to send some men too. I would love to have a male or two on board to help bring more balance and enrichment to the team. You can also pray as we prepare for our first series of the year: promotion for it starts in just a few weeks! There is so much to do, but thankfully I am starting to delegate more and not carry such an enormous work load. Thank God!
Thank you for your prayers and support, and please continue to pray for me as I adjust to life without the friends I mentioned last week. Thankfully, things are going pretty smoothly so far for them as they start settling into their new life. But, there is a void in my life now without them here and I miss them a lot. So, please do keep praying for me and for God to continue to provide me with good, close friends here.
With love and gratitude for you all,
Carrie