Tico Tuesday, November 10th

Happy Tuesday!

One of you kindly helped me realize I neglected in my Chronicle to tell you about my retreat time in Grove City! I had a wonderful experience. I was able to share with a woman who listened, encouraged, and prayed with me as I verbally processed with her. She also gave me some helpful materials. After working through them, I felt God inviting me once more to worship and rest in him. So I made a playlist of songs of God's love that have been speaking to me. As I was listening to the third song, another song came to mind and I added it into the fourth position on the playlist. That song, "Sovereign Over Us" (both Aaron Keyes and my old favorite Michael W. Smith have great versions of it) ended up being the song that spoke to me the most. "Even what the enemy means for evil, you turn it for our good and for your glory." It's been hard for me to remember this year that God is working all things for my good and his glory, but He is! Through it all he is "faithful forever, perfect in love." Thanks be to God!
Also during my retreat, I joined members of my church in Slippery Rock for a beautiful walk/hike through nature. Afterwards we took some time to reflect and pray. I loved sitting there and watching the leaves fall. I also admired the trees and realized that no matter what season they are in, they bring glory to God. In the same way, no matter what season of life I am in, I am to continue seeking, trusting, and worshiping him. That was a powerful lesson for me!
On the hike, I also met a newer member of my church (pictured with me). We couldn't believe it when we realized we have a mutual friend here in Maine! It's so nice to be back in a place with more of a small town feel to it!
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support. I can't express how much it means to me!
Maine people: let me know if you want to get together while I'm around! I'd love to share with you!
May we all rejoice in God's faithfulness, sovereignty, and love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, October 28th

Salutations!

The past week has been full of travel and rich times of sharing with family and friends who feel like family. I have been experiencing and enjoying fall as if for the first time. While I was with my brother and his family in St. Louis I got to see some trees hit their peak color and then start losing their leaves. A nephew, my niece, and I were catching leaves in mid-air before they landed and it was one of those glorious experiences of sheer delight and freedom. I relished the moment, the beauty and wonder of God's creation, the laughs and shouts of Agnes and Isaiah, the breeze that made leaf-catching such a challenging sport, and the joy I felt welling up in my heart. I wanted to just lie down on the ground and soak it all in, wishing it would never end. Knowing that homemade pizza and homemade applesauce were awaiting us was good motivation for going inside though. After meeting my youngest nephew, Gabe and spending quality time with my brother, sister-in-law, and their six amazing children, I headed up to Chicago to visit some other dear friends and enjoy my surroundings: Pumpkins, apple cider, a wonderful time of worship at Willow Creek Community Church, a beautiful 11 mile run, pretty sky at sunset, the Art Institute of Chicago, Lake Michigan, excellent conversations, and lots of delicious food. Yesterday I had brief but wonderful visits with a cousin and his wife and a great aunt and uncle.
Tomorrow I leave my friend here in Ohio and head to Pittsburgh and the Grove City area, which leads me to a prayer request: On Friday and Saturday, I'm going to be taking a personal retreat to try to process the events of the year and pray and reflect on what God has been doing and what I've been learning. Will you please pray with me as I seek the Lord and quiet myself before him? I want to be open and receptive to what He has to say to me. Thank you so much!
May we all delight in God's creation and good gifts to us this week!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, October 20th

Arizona has never been so beautiful to me before!

 When my parents lived here, I was never struck much by the natural beauty of this place. The sky was big and deep blue, and the mountains all around were nice, but after being in Mexico City for the past few months with only a few brief excursions outside the city, I'm feeling like God is just spoiling me here and pouring out his love to me through natural beauty. The sky is enormous and gorgeous; I looked out the window last night and saw the most stars I've seen in a really long time; I've had amazing mountain views and was even able to hike 10 miles yesterday--and got to see some leaves miraculously changing color in a canyon and follow a pretty stream with its soothing song for a while; I'm breathing fresh, clean air, and just generally feeling a sense of joy and freedom from leaving the overwhelming-ness of Mexico City. 
Sunday, I had the opportunity to share at two different churches here. I had been a little nervous about it, but though it was exhausting, both times it went really well, thanks and praise be to God! It is such a privilege to not only serve others in Jesus' name, but also to share with others about serving and what I learn through it. That in turn brings its own wave of blessings to me and I am just feeling hugely blessed, grateful, and loved. This trip around the States is off to a great start! Next stop, my oldest brother and his family in St Louis!
Thank you again for keeping me in your prayers! 
May God continue to open our eyes to see his work and love and teach us to live in awe of him,
Carrie

PS. You might be wondering what is happening with my ministry assignment. I'm still waiting for the schedules of 3 busy men to have an aligned opening. One of them is currently traveling in a place where he has no internet access, so hopefully after he returns next week, they will be able to determine when they will meet together. Please continue to keep this matter in your prayers. Thank you!

Tico Tuesday, October 13th

In less than 48 hours I will be on US soil! It's been a week of wrapping up, good byes, lasts, and working on final details for my three week tour of the States before I get to home sweet Maine. 

I had a little going away get-together Saturday night that was very nice and low key. Well, my hilarious friend Eunice (pictured) breaking out in song for us all wasn't so low key, but it was delightful! As the party wrapped up I seized the opportunity to thank those who came for their kindness and friendship to me. Then, I gave people the opportunity to say something to me if they wanted to, and several people spoke very kind, life-giving words to me. I left the party feeling humbled, grateful, and inspired. We often have no idea how we impact the lives of others, and to get a glimpse of how God has used me in my time here was special. I like it when God uses me without me realizing it because that leaves no room for my pride--it is all grace. I am more aware than ever of everyone's need for Jesus (which is awesome because this is something I've been praying about) and feel a greater sense of importance and urgency to become more like Christ and have others see Jesus in me. This makes me even more grateful for the spiritual mentoring training I'm receiving and shows me the importance of putting everything I'm learning into practice.
May the Holy Spirit continue to make us more like Christ each day and teach us to see and love others as he does!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, October 6th

Have you ever driven on the beach? Have you ever driven on the beach and gone faster than 20 mph?

Not very common, but it's the only way to get to the Kikomar camp I'm visiting this week. I'm staying with two other UWMers (and would be with a third, but she is in Costa Rica helping her brother who broke his back a couple weeks ago) and getting to listen to them, watch them, and learn from their lives. It is a joy to be with them, and they are challenging me and stirring in me and greater desire to spend more time with Jesus and become more like him.
The camp is beautiful and is thriving under their administration. There a lot of bugs, so I'm suffering from them, but to get out of the city and come to a quiet camp on an empty beach is worth every bite. I was really feeling the need to get away from the city again, especially after I went to the heart of the city to run an errand on Friday and saw all these important building surrounded by barricades and police everywhere because there was going to be some kind of big protest. It was scary, but thankfully I got back to my part of the city before the protest began. I've learned that big city life is not for me!
Anyway, my heart is heavy right now since there's a delicate situation my hosts are dealing with concerning another person they know. I think they'd prefer I not go into any details, but will you please lift up a prayer for my hosts, A, and those around her? Please keep me in your prayers as well, as I've been dealing with a few heavy situations myself over the past week.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
May God grow our desire for him every day and continue to make us ever more like Jesus,
Carrie

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!