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

Tico Tuesday, January 26th

Yet another Tuesday is slipping away...
This is a very full week for me as I am working on the preparations for the first Small Group Leader Training of the year: I'm confirming attendees, working on my presentation of "Purpose-Driven Small Groups," confirming speakers for the rest of the year's trainings, and a host of other details and related things. Please keep me in your prayers this week as I seek to do everything well and as an act of worship to God. Thankfully, I have a good team to help me with a number of things I've already delegated so I'm not too overloaded, but I'm definitely putting in a lot of hours this week. Everything is still very new, so this is quite a learning process. This is setting a foundation though, and all the rest of the trainings should be easier to prepare. This is the beginning of a new era in Vida Abundante Heredia and I'm really excited to be a part of it. I was especially excited when I put up our new Small Groups banner at church this weekend! (see picture). I'm enjoying my work, I feel capable yet stretched, and I feel appreciated, respected, and cared for by my fellow staff members. Not only is it a new era for my church, but it is a new season in life for me and I'm profoundly grateful for it and the joy I'm deriving from it.
I'm looking forward to sharing more thoughts and reflections with you in my Chronicle next week!
May God fill you with joy and gratitude this week!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, January 19th

Happy Tuesday to you!
As promised, here is a picture and some information about my new apartment! I moved in two weeks from this coming Thursday. Time sure flies! I am very much enjoying this place: it has a lot of natural lighting: it is removed from the noise of busy streets; the surrounding dogs, cat, and roosters aren't too annoying; my upstairs neighbor is really sweet; it has a hot water heater (a real treat around here); it is 10 minutes from church; it has ample counter and storage space in the kitchen; and there are beautiful butterflies that live in the yard!
Unfortunately, the place was absolutely filthy when I moved in, so I have been deep cleaning as I've been unpacking, but I think I've taken care of that--it should just be typical upkeep now. As you can see, I still have some boxes sitting around. I'm gradually working on unpacking, and I'm almost done--just 4 more boxes to go!
Still no sign of a roommate, but that's ok. I'll keep praying for one and spreading the word, but am happy to use the spare room as an office in the meantime. It does get lonely at times, but I think the key is just to make sure I get out (I'm doing a lot of work from home) or have people over every day.
Today I had my first guests over--and of course forgot to take a picture with them. Angie, Yendry, and I are going to start a small group, since they aren't in one right now and the small group coordinator needs to give the example and be in one too! I'm sure I'll be posting a picture with them soon. :-)
Thank you so much for walking with me on this journey and for your prayers and wonderful support. I am so grateful!
As a friend texted me this morning: "May God surprise us with his wonders!"
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, January 13th

See my new coworkers!!

I am now the Small Group Coordinator of my church, Vida Abundante Heredia! All this job description stuff has all of a sudden come together and I am so grateful and excited! My church is striving to grow it's small group ministry, train up more, better small group leaders, teach people basic keys to walking with God, and help them deepen and strengthen their walk with him. This is going to be so great! I feel like this is a really good for for me--I believe I will be stretched and grow significantly this role, and I feel like I have something to contribute to this important ministry. It is neat to see how God has been leading me to this place--the Church is something I've thought about a lot and highly value. I'm thrilled and honored to be a staff member of Vida Abundante Heredia (VAH)! My new coworkers are a group of fun, hardworking people who deeply love the Lord and the people of Heredia, Costa Rica. The one on the top left in the white shirt is Pastor José, who is the Pastor of Discipleship and will be my direct supervisor. Rudy, the head pastor, is next to him. If you want to know who the rest are, send me an e-mail and I'll be happy to fill you in!
Next week: progress on my apartment!
God's joy be with you in this week and may we all see our work as an act of worship and service to God!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, January 5th

Happy first Tuesday of the year!

The bridesmaids (minus the matron of honor!)

This has been an amazing return to Costa Rica. I hit the ground running with a multitude of activities for my roommate's wedding and finding an apartment into which I hope to move later this week. The wedding was beautiful, and a whole lot of fun. It was a bit intense for me, since I interpreted almost all of it, but thankfully that went really well. I really enjoyed getting to know some of Chrissy's family and friends, as well as spending time with my dear friend Jessica (the tall one next to me), who introduced me to Chrissy and suggested we room together.
I'm now in the throes of packing. I still have a ways to go, but I'm feeling motivated and excited to have a space of my own again, since my room has also doubling as the wedding room. I'm still hoping to get a roommate, but I'm not counting on that happening immediately. I'll probably need to meet another expat, since ticos tend to not move out until they get married. Please keep praying with me about that. I like having a place to myself, but it gets pretty lonely pretty quickly. At least the woman who will be my upstairs neighbor is really nice.
Things continue to progress with my job description. Final details are being reviewed this week! I'm so excited!
Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. I have an incredible support network and am hugely thankful for each and every one of you!
God's blessing, peace, and joy be with us all in this new year and may we remember that his mercies are new each and every day!
Love,
Carrie