Home

We have finished our summer journey.
We are back home.
and it feels so good to be back home.

Our friends and neighbors, did a great job of helping us ease back into the states. We felt so blessed to have friends who would pick us up at midnight, let us do 8 or 9 loads of laundry, provide cake and icecream, and disrupt their routine. And was overwhelmed to come home to find our home clean, the fridge stocked with fresh summer fruit, dinner, and desert, and a wonderful sign welcoming us home.

We were so humbled. Thank you for our warm welcome.





We are mostly unpacked now. We have our treasures from the oceanside, our letters that friends and family sent us, we even have some sand and dirt in the bottom of our suitcases.

Now we are settling back into summer.

I have been asked if I was able to communicate in Spanish, and honostly I am not able to. I understand alot more than I can say. While we were there in Costa Rica we were at the point where we were able to start to form sentences. They are very simple sentences. I am hoping to be able to really practice my Spanish at work, and do some on the job training.

We are also asked if we had a good time. That one is tough one to answer.
We did have a good time. We met alot of new friends. Ones that we hope to be ministering side by side one day. We saw so many beautiful new things and places. We were so blessed to go to many different parts of the country of Costa Rica. Almost every weekend we went somewhere new. The things that we were able to do overwhelms us. My girls will never know how blessed they were to participate in the activities they were exposed to.

My family was amazing. The girls loved Costa Rica. They adapted so quickly. The loved the challenges of a new way of living. The were able to quickly communicate with those around them, and even got high marks for their phoenitics. They are ready to win the lost for the Lord, ready to go to any new country. They both feel they are ready to be missionaries, and are excited to find out where God will lead us (so am I for that matter).

They also realize that we were not on the mission field when we were there. They understood that the activites like horseback riding, or zip lining, would not be the normal way of life. They are still ready to go back.

They made sacrifices while there. They gave one of the things that were most important to them, "silly bands". This was no easy thing, let me assure you. But in the end, they called it their silly band sacrifice, to "reach" the children around the world. They have even prayed for the children that receive the bands, that they will come to know the Lord, as our missionary friends give them the silly bands.



The girls didn't complain about their bug bites, or having to walk a ways to get to the grocery store, etc. And God kept them safe. Emma did end up with a staph infection from a spider bite, but we were able to take care of it before we left. I praise God for His hand of protection on my babies.

David also did great. That man will go to great lengths to make sure his family is comfortable and safe. He keeps us well feed, and pays a great price to give his wife the things that make her happy.


(those were the most expensive cheezits I have ever eaten. But they were good.)


But I am going to be honost. It was hard too.
I found my self struggling with a call that was placed on my life over 20 years ago. The frustration and exhaustion of everyday living became a huge burden to me. Which then made me question if I had the charactor needed to do such an amazing call. I felt very raw and exposed.

The enemy wages such a strong war, and uses such powerful tools. I was not ready for that battle. I don't know why I was caught off guard. I wish I would have been stronger, not complained as much, not wavered. I have so much to learn. I need to really learn to live the Word, to hide it my heart. I need to believe His word. I need to learn how to "enjoy" and not just "endure".

I have so much to learn.

I can't remember if I have used this before, but this statement if from David Livingstone who was a Scottish missionary, doctor, and explorer who helped open the heart of Africa to missions.

"Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me.
Lay any burden on me,
only sustain me.
Sever any ties but the tie that binds me to Thy service
and to They heart."

I want this to be my prayer. I fall so often, I need God's forgiveness and strength. I am so glad I serve a God who is there to walk beside me, and forgives me, who strengthens me.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thig I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to witn the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14