Tico Tuesday, July 12th

Stop and smell the...geraniums?

Over the past few weeks I was housesitting for some good friends here. Along with taking care of the dog, I had to water several flourishing potted geraniums. Having already killed a chrysanthemum and basil plant of my own, I was hoping the geraniums would not suffer under my care. Thankfully, they continued to thrive and one was sprouting this beautiful new blossom just yesterday when I watered them before their owners returned. Why am I telling you this? Because I've realized I've been living full throttle lately and I need to slow down. I need to admire the flowers as they unfurl (I wish I would have had time to sit and watch this one!). I need to take time each day to stop. To re-center myself on the Lord. To take some deep breaths. Maybe life wouldn't be so crazy if I stopped interrupting myself in whatever task I'm trying to accomplish 17 times an hour. Ok, so I made that number up, but my point is, I want to be a better steward of the precious time God gives me and I want to be more focused. More focused not only on whatever I'm doing in the moment, but more focused on God--more aware of him and what he is doing in and around me. I want to learn what it means to do everything as unto the Lord. And I've realized part of what helps me focus is   S l o w i n g   D o w n . Closing my eyes and taking some deep breaths. Engaging fully in the moment and enjoying it --not constantly letting my mind move on to whatever is next. That's not easy. But I am convinced it is very important. What helps you focus, slow down, and be more aware of God?
May God attune our hearts to his and draw us closer to himself each day,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, June 28th

What happened over the course of the past week at church is really wonderful and exciting in a number of ways. Bathrooms, light fixtures, the rest of the platform, and new projectors all got installed, mud was covered over, areas were finished and painted, and while cleaning and cleaning and cleaning, I was able to get to know several people from church better. And God was doing some work on my pride--reminding me that all my hard work should be an offering unto him, not so people could see me and say what a good hard worker I am.

The inaugural weekend itself was amazing. We opened with a worship concert on Friday night. Our youth group's band did a very nice job opening and the band that followed them led us in a wonderful time of worship as well. Then the inaugural ceremonies were Saturday and Sunday evening. We had two identical ceremonies so everyone could fit. There was singing to the Lord; brief performances from the theater ministry out of which our church was born and a glimpse of the circus that has also stemmed from the theater; a video of our church's history; a children's choir; glow sticks (symbolizing being light in the world); video greetings from Marcos Vidal (a Christian musician from Spain who did a concert for us a few years ago to help raise money for the building), Rick Warren, and others; a homily; prayers; and then the cutting of the ribbon, followed by a high energy song declaring God's greatness and strength. (I wish I had a video! Here is a similar version.)
The final surprises of the night started with a cimarrona (see-ma-ROH-nah), a band very typical of our beloved province, Heredia. It consists of percussion, a couple brass instruments, and a saxophone, and is accompanied by people in giant masks/costumes who dance around. They led us outside where we then had fireworks! As you can see, there were a number of different elements contained in the ceremony. They all served to remind us who we are, whose we are, and what we are to do. But above all else, it was a big fiesta celebrating God and his grace, faithfulness, love, provision, power, strength, nearness, holiness, and desire for everyone to know, love, and worship him. And we all got to dress up to celebrate--that was fun and made it even more special.
My heart is overflowing with thanks and praise to God: a year ago I was just arriving to Mexico, not knowing what God had in store for me. Now I have had the privilege of being back in Costa Rica for six months, being a part of this special time with my church! Praise the Lord! I look forward to what he has in store in the future! He is so GOOD!
May you see his goodness in your life this week,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, June 21st

It's the final countdown! This weekend my church is having our big inauguration!
The staff meeting this morning was intense with final details about how many volunteers and who will do what where and reserving seat for special guests and logistics for some of the surprises we are inviting. There is a lot of adrenaline flowing and a lot to do by the end of the week. There is some stress and pressure because there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Yes, the tico style of inaugurating is quite different. We are still very much in the process of construction. Things need to be painted, bathrooms and a few more doors installed, the office space above the lobby isn't finished yet, the outside of the building needs to be painted, etc. But we are so excited and grateful to have a space that is our own and solely dedicated to proclaiming and worshiping God! The inauguration weekend starts with a worship concert Friday night with the band from our youth group ministry followed by one of the worship groups from Vida Abundante Coronado, our "big sister" from whom we were founded. Then on Saturday and Sunday we will have our big, formal inauguration ceremonies. I can't tell you everything that will happen yet, but it's going to be very powerful and exciting: lots of different elements, each one to remember and celebrate something. Rudy, our head pastor, has been planning this for months with a team of people and we can hardly believe the big weekend is just a couple days away! We are excited, we are a little stressed, and we are in need of a lot of prayer: for all the staff, members of the church, and for all the special guests who are coming from all over Costa Rica, and some from the States and other places. Please pray with us for everything to come together and go smoothly--and that we would do everything for God's honor and glory. And pray that God would use this new building so that even more people may come to know and love him. Thank you!
To God alone be the glory! He is worthy of all our praise!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday. June 14th

Happy Tuesday to you!

This past week we recorded the videos that we'll use as the primary material for my church's next series, which will start in August. My supervisor don José found the material in English and really liked it, but it didn't exist in Spanish, so he translated the whole thing and then got the church staff and a few other people from church to be recorded. I was a little surprised that he wanted the gringa to be recorded too, but part of it talks about small groups and it definitely made the most sense for me to do that part. Putting this video together has been a ton of work, but we trust that this series on Life-giving Relationships will powerfully impact the lives of everyone in our church.
Things continue to progress in small groups. On Saturday we had another training. Not many people came because the Father's Day activity was that morning and the last training was only 3 weeks ago, but I felt it was important to not cancel. Also last week I ended up having a 4 hour meeting with my small group team. We are getting more organized and are about to call all the facilitators in order to build a relationship with them and provide better support to each group according to its needs. And God is answering our prayers! This past week I had 2 people contact me and say they are interested in helping more with small groups! I'm not sure these people will end up on the core team I'm working on building, but still to have people interested is a wonderful blessing! The small group ministry needs lots of helping hands! Thank you for your prayers, and please continue to pray for this team and for the calls we'll be making to each of the facilitators. Please also be in prayer for my church in general. It is an exciting time and we are growing and great things are happening, but that means we need to remain all the more humble, united, holy, and flexible, as Rudy our head pastor has been preaching.
Thank you so much for walking with me on this great journey! How great is our God!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, May 24th

Greetings from Costa Rica!

The last week has been absolutely insane--full of wonderful activities and lots of emotions. First, I HAVE MY NEW CAR! At last! Praise the Lord! Thank you so much for your generosity that made it possible for me to get this vehicle. It is such a wonderful blessing to me! My mechanic was very pleased with the car when he test drove it and I am really enjoying being a couple inches higher, being able to fill up my gas tank faster (my old car had a defect that made me spend about 10 minutes at the gas station each time!), listening to CDs, being able to pull a U turn instead of a 3 point turn, giving people a ride without have to move seats, and riding more smoothly, and feeling more safe, secure, and comfortable. I miss having a clutch pedal, but am truly thrilled and delighted with this wonderful blessing from the Lord. I pray it will be an instrument of blessing to many. I was able to pick up my car on Wednesday last week, and a friend was even able to come along and accompany me to a couple government agencies to get all my proper stickers and everything. It was nice to be able to share the experience with a friend, I was very grateful.
I would also love to tell you about an impressive 60th birthday party I went to for a fellow staff member at church, the great core meeting we had for church leadership, the small group facilitator training I gave, and more, but right now my priority is to ask you to please pray, pray pray for the trip I'm going on to Cuba. Twenty of us are going. I'll be totally out of touch while I'm gone, so I will happily respond to all emails and texts after I return (June 1st). I'm feeling a little nervous, but also excited and full of anticipation. I look forward to sharing some stories of the trip with you once I return!
Please keep all twenty of us in your prayers! Thank you so much for your faithful prayers, support, and encouragement!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, May 17th

Happy Tuesday to you!

This past Saturday, the young adult ministry partnered with the ministry from church that provides a meal and Christian teaching for the homeless every other weekend. I'd heard a lot about this ministry, but never had participated. It was a really interesting experience. Of the approximately 40 people there, only one was a woman, and she had a little girl with her. All the rest were men, a few young ones, but I suspect most were between the ages of 40 and 60. The vast majority of them, if not all of them are substance abusers. Some were quiet, some almost started throwing punches at each other at one point, some reeked, some looked quite well taken care of for living on the street. We shook all their hands as they came in, and as I watched them while we sang and listened to a woman share how God changed her life and helped her get and stay off the streets for good. And the thought that came to mind was: These are the least of these. These are the ones Jesus would rub shoulders with were he to walk the earth today. Jesus loves these people just as much as he loves me. Jesus died for these people too. The homeless generally don't have much dignity. It's easy to pass them by, ignore them, judge them. But, they have names, personalities, and stories that people in my church are getting to know. And not long ago my church assumed responsibility for a drug rehabilitation center that's about an hour away. The goal is that we can use this biweekly ministry as a bridge to send people to the rehabilitation center. It's really exciting! Please pray for God to transform the lives of these homeless men and women and for them to experience true freedom and love in him--and for me to see and treat them more like Jesus.
May God continue to use us to be his hands and feet!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, May 10th

It's Tuesday once more!

That means tonight I'll be attending my third session on a prayer seminar my supervisor from church is teaching. This seminar is based on Philip Yancey's book Prayer and is being offered to approximately 40 of the students who have already taken the Bible Basics course through my church. (Hence why Tico Tuesday is coming out before most of you are in bed.) So far, it has been really good. I still like Richard Foster's Prayer better, but I'm still learning and growing and very appreciative of this little course on prayer. It's incredible what a vast topic prayer is. So far we've talked a lot about perspective--how differently God sees things than we do, and how truly other he is. He is far beyond our comprehension, yet longs for us to know him and draw near to him. I look forward to seeing what all else we learn in this course. And I also look forward to continuing to get to know my fellow students better. I see and interact briefly with a lot of people at church, but this is a great opportunity to get to know some of them a little better.
Change of Topic: I have started sending out my Chronicles via Mailchimp. If you haven't gotten the last couple, please be sure to check your spam filter!
And, as I mentioned in last week's Chronicle, I hoped to have my new car in my possession by now. Unfortunately, things continue to take longer than I expected. So, maybe next week by this time I'll have it? Please pray for things to go smoothly and no further complications.
Thanks so much!
God's blessing and peace be with you!
Carrie