Tico Tuesday, September 27th

Over the course of the year, I've been wondering whether or not I should stay in this apartment. When I first moved in, I hadn't realized how poorly built it was. I don't think I've shared many of my apartment woes with you, but I've had a few different flooding issues which have led to kitchen cabinets being wrecked, mold growing on my laundry room and bedroom ceiling, and water seeping in under my front door when it rains hard. I wanted to finish out my year contract here, but the issues just got to be too much. My landlords live several hours away and that makes it hard for them to respond to issues well and in a timely manner.

My new apartment! (Before)

I've been keeping an eye on apartments off and on over the course of the year, and on Thursday I discovered one that seemed to fit my criteria. I was able to go and see it that day, a friend was able to accompany me and hear me process everything, and Thursday night I could barely sleep I was so excited about moving! Thankfully, things have worked out well with my current landlords: I only gave two weeks notice, but am moving out in one, so I don't have to pay next month's rent (and might still get some of my deposit back!). My new landlords are excellent! I ended up hanging out with them for two hours on Saturday when we met to talk about dates and review the contract. I am so excited and grateful! This place is well built, is nicer, and I think it's bigger! And it has an electric gate (living with a non-electric gate has been hard, especially in the downpours!) and covered parking! It is in a more central location and my landlords live just behind the apartments. I haven't felt comfortable in my apartment all year, and I already feel more comfortable in the new one! Please be praying for me this week as I am working, packing, and participating in a number of activities and meetings. I am moving on Saturday morning and have small group leader training in the afternoon. It's going to be a full day, but thankfully, I have friends who can help me and a friend is sleeping over tonight and helping me pack.
Thank you so much for keeping me in your prayers! I'll let you know how the move went next week! May God guide each of us in all our tasks and the decisions we make!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, September 20th

I was going to write and tell you about the fun Independence Day celebrations here last week (195 years of independence!), but yesterday something quite newsworthy happened. Our local active volcano Turrialba decided to spew ash, rocks, etc. 4km (about 2.5 miles) into the air. From what I've heard, there hasn't been this big an eruption in some time and the ash fall last night was the worst in a long time. 

The back window of my car last night

I was on my way to visit a small group when all of a sudden I felt like I was driving through a fog. I couldn't tell if it was actually fog or if there was just some dust accumulated on my windshield. So, I cleaned my windshield and all of a sudden, I could see again. I was grateful for that, but was perplexed because I thought I hadn't driven through anywhere that was particularly dusty. Well, when I arrived to the small group they said Turrialba had erupted at various points during the day. I am clueless about the news because I'm terrible at following it and I'm intentionally spending less time on facebook, which is how I normally find out about significant (and not so significant) events. Visiting the small group was delightful and I think it's perhaps one of the better groups I've visited. By the time we finished, we went out and what they say about ash looking like snow on a car is not so far from the truth. It's just like fine, dirty snow. Thankfully, it rinses off pretty well, but my car still definitely needs a good bath. Please pray for it to rain soon to help clear out the air. We're in rainy season, but I don't think it has rained since Friday and it's supposed to rain hard at least for a bit every day! 

As far as I know, there hasn't been any damage or serious injurious due to the eruption. People know what precautions to take and the ash is more a pain to clean than anything else (unless you have a plane to catch, or asthma). I even saw one post on facebook commenting what a blessing it is that our pollution here is totally natural and will end up being good for the earth. Of course, Costa Rica isn't pollution free by any means, but I thought it was an interesting perspective to take on the heavy air pollution we got yesterday.  

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers for me and my wellbeing and protection. They really mean a lot to me!

May God protect you and keep you safe in all you do!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, September 13th

On my day off on Thursday, I went to the beach! It was a much needed getaway with all that has been going on and thankfully there is a beautiful beach with calm waves just about 2 hours away-a perfectly doable day trip. And thankfully, a friend was able to come along with a friend of hers so we were a gringa, a tica, and a Salvadorian. It was really fun.

So why am I telling you about my day off? In addition to enjoying sharing happy things with you, I'm also telling you because I learned a lesson I'd like to pass along to you. Lately I have been going full speed ahead. Always trying to practice good self care and sleeping and exercising and eating well, but still pushing myself hard and sometimes feeling overwhelmed with everything. I was at the beach though, just sitting there, enjoying the waves. I looked out and saw the sand, a few shells and rocks and leaves, the receding tide, the crashing waves, the cloudy sky. But as I sat still and kept on looking, I began to see one, two,... five, six, hermit crabs making their way across the sand (interestingly all in the same direction!). Then a bigger crab, camouflaged by the sand half outside a hole, then another crab, walking around in plain daylight. The longer I sat still and observed, the more I saw, even though I was looking at the same things. There is often more than what first meets the eye, and I wonder how often I've missed things because I've been in a hurry? What beauty have I missed? What opportunities have floated right before my eyes without me seeing them? I don't beat myself up for what I might have missed. But I do sense an invitation which I believe I've shared with you before: S L O W   D O W N! Slowing down is hard. Really hard. I know I need to, but I will right after I... and then it never happens. I want to slow down and be more aware of God and his presence and his work throughout each day. I want to be connected to him, lift my eyes to him, not just keep my eyes down focused on whatever task I'm doing. It's a process. As I learned in my spiritual formation training through my mission, I'm on a long, slow, deep, difficult, particular journey. Thank you for praying for me and walking alongside me on this journey. Please keep it up! I hope what I share encourages you on yours!
Love,
Carrie

PS. I find it delightful and fascinating that though larger crabs walk sideways, hermit crabs walk forwards! God's creation is amazing!

Tico Tuesday, August 30th

Thank you so much for your prayers. Leading Vigía on Friday night went really well!

We had several new people come and everyone participated well in the different activities I had us do. It was a really lovely time. First I explained a little about Psalm 119 and how it is an acrostic of the Hebrew alphabet. Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has 8 verses that start with that letter. What an incredible task! Yes, Psalm 119 is indeed the longest chapter in the Bible. And it is all about love for God's Word: his laws, his teachings, his statutes, his promises. The psalmist is deeply passionate for God's word and shares about the blessings that come from loving and obeying it: peace, joy, understanding, protection, worship, etc. Often when people hear Psalm 119 they think it is long, boring and repetitive. My hope was to give people a different perspective on it, and I feel that my mission was accomplished! I read the last 16 verses of the Psalm with my partner and when we finished she exclaimed, "¡Qué lindo!" How lovely/pretty! That was the best reaction I could have dreamed. It was a joy to see people enjoying the chapter so much and having God speak to them through his Word.
As a response in worship, I had each pair compose 3 verses that all started with the same letter. Then I had everyone read their verses in alphabetical order, composing our own acrostic psalm. It was really neat! I heard lots of positive feedback afterwards. People saying they'd never done anything like that before, how fascinating the activity was, etc. Thanks and praise be to God! I love the Bible and I was very grateful to be able to share my passion for it with others and help them interact with it in different, creative ways. God is so good!
Small groups started meeting to do the series last week. Please keep them all in your prayers. Talking about Life-Giving Relationships is turning out to be a lot more confrontational than we thought and is bringing a whole bunch of life-sucking relationships to light. There are also a number of relational crises taking place. The enemy loves to attack the very area we are trying to strengthen! Please pray for the church staff and all the individuals and families participating in this series and for life-giving relationships to grow and abound!
May God bless you with rich life-giving relationships--thank you for the life you give me through your friendship and support!
Love,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, August 23rd

This past week was a very full one for my church. We had our quarterly 101 welcome class in which over 50 new people officially joined our church, a beautiful Mother's Day party, a meeting of the core leaders of our church, and a family fun weekend with baptisms followed by fun with bouncy castles, ping pong, pool, soccer, volleyball, other activities, and food that completely sold out.

On Sunday we sold over 110 books for the series: over 1.5x what we sold last weekend, which had been our biggest selling weekend so far! The series officially started on Sunday as well, so small groups started using the materials in the series in their meetings last night. We have several new groups opening with this series: some from people who have been part of my church for several years, and others who went to the 101 class last Tuesday night and then filled out the Small Group Facilitator form as soon as it ended. I'm really sensing a need to add to my small group team. There is a lot of work to be done and I can't put too much weight on the two women who are currently on the team with me, and I only have so many hours a week. Please join me in praying about this, and pray for all the facilitators (new and old) and the small groups as we dig into this series, Life-Giving Relationships.
This coming Saturday we have our 2nd to last small group facilitator training of the year and the following we have the 201 class on discipleship, in which I'll be teaching the section on prayer (and the following week I'll likely be teaching on Sanctification for our Bible Basics course). And I'm going to be teaching/leading an activity on Psalm 119 at young adult group this Friday night. And over the next several weeks I'll be visiting and supervising multiple small groups.
My plate is full, but my cup runneth over and I am so grateful and happy to be here and have all these opportunities to share my gifts and passions to help others grow in their relationship with God.
Thank you for being a part of this and for all your faithfulness, generosity, and kindness to me.
May we all continue to use our gifts and passions for God's glory!
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, August 16th

Happy Tuesday!

The last couple weeks I have been swamped with work as we prepare for our next church-wide series, in which the sermons and small group material complement each other, and a 6-7 week season when all small groups are in full swing and many new groups open. It has been a bit stressful at times, but stress in this job doesn't feel like stress I've had in other jobs. I don't know if it's the job or if it's the ways I've grown and changed, but while I've felt pressured to get lots done with little time, I haven't experienced the same kind of underlying fear/angst I've felt in the past, and I am so glad!! Thanks and praise be to God! I think this is the best and healthiest work environment I've ever been a part of, and I am so, so grateful. We care for, serve, and support each other, and it's just beautiful. I'm still feeling a bit overwhelmed with work and have a lot of things coming up over the next couple months, but, I'm trying to keep my eyes on Jesus, stay organized, and keep plugging away.
In the midst of all this work one of the neatest things that has happened is that, as I called people who filled out those commitment slips I had to staple to the bulletin a couple weeks ago, I was the first person from church to reach out and contact them. I got to talk with people that are really excited about my church and what God is doing in and through it. Several people want to open a small group and haven't even been to the welcome/membership class yet! I hope they will make it to the class tonight so they can open their groups!
Thank you so much for keeping my church and me in your prayers. God is at work and it is my desire to see people get plugged in and meet with other people to grow together through worshiping, sharing, studying, serving, and evangelizing together. There is much to be done, but it is God's work. He is doing it, and it is all about him and it is all for him. To him alone be the glory!
Thank you so much for coming alongside me and helping make my service here possible through your financial, emotional, and spiritual support.
May God continue to use you to be an instrument of blessing to those around you,
Carrie

Tico Tuesday, August 9th

Today has been an interesting day here in Costa Rica. My friends' children, who go to a private school here, had school canceled due to a protest staged by the "official" taxis. These red taxis are known for taking advantage of the system and not always providing the best service. They've essentially had a monopoly for a long time and are very unhappy with Uber as an unregulated competitor. Since Uber has been in the country (around a year), they have been complaining about Uber stealing their clients. So, to get the government's attention, today they blocked all the major entryways to San José. In response, Uber offered service for a thousand colones, which is less than $2.

Unfortunately, this peace-loving country is not always so peaceful. I suppose the fact that a taxi protest is a big deal for us makes it look like there aren't many big issues here, but indeed, even here in one of the happiest countries in the world, things are not perfect. I've been realizing the government here is a lot more corrupt than I'd thought (and there are a number of other issues I won't get into here right now). And today, there was some violence: a policeman lost a few teeth in an incident with a taxi driver. Thankfully, I don't think there was anything beyond that, but still, it's not a matter of comparison. There was no need for any violence at all. It was a day of concern for many.
Please be praying for Costa Rica as a country. It faces many challenges: trying to be like a developed country, yet still very much in development. Bigger cars on the same narrow roads with no shoulders. (Not to mention the potholes and little to no street signs). There is poor/limited infrastructure and a rapidly growing population. Pray for the Body of Christ here to be centered on Truth and to unite and act to bring God's kingdom here on earth. I know my church is doing the best we can to bring light to our dark corner of the world and am proud to be a part of it. Yet there is still a long ways to go.
May God use us all to be bearers of his light and love wherever we are,
Carrie