An Amazing Year!

Wonderful view from our porch

What an amazing year! God has been so good and faithful to us. It has been a year of blessing upon blessings and a few challenges. Here are some of things that occurred this year.

• The amazing blessing of our daughter who will be born very soon
• Dustin has graduated from High School
• Acceptance in the community where we live and work
• Finished construction of our house.
• Continue to build relationships
• Aqueduct water at the house
• Bible Studies in Spanish
• Our Two English classes
• Two Mission Teams and several individual visits
• Dental Clinics in Paso Marcos
• Opportunity to partner with a public school within in the reservation
• Work has started on replacing the Bridge at Bajo Pacaure
• Cell Phone Signal and Increased Internet Speed at the house (the little things in life)

One beautiful morning

Comfort Zone

We have helped with the dental clinic in Paso Marcos since we moved to Paso Marcos. But this time, we were asked to help with the clinic in Tsipiri. Tsipiri is not foreign to us as we have been there many times, though this time would be a little different. For you who have not heard of Tsipiri, Tsipiri is further inside the reservation and I was a bit unnerved thinking how things would go since I only know basic greetings in Cabecar and the Cabecar people can be so very shy. The other key important piece was taking Lori, who happened to be seven months pregnant, even further from civilization. On top of that, she has been very fatigued and we were not sure how she would hold up running the store.

My Baby with the baby

This picture was too cute not to post.

With all that said, I was excited to finally stay overnight in this beautiful location and spend more time getting to know Phillip, Saukeen and their 4 wonderful kids better. Praise God all went well with the clinic and the store. I was expecting dozens of people lined up waiting to see the dentist and a certain amount of chaos. Well that never materialized. We were in the middle of a 11 day storm that dropped over 20 inches of rain. Only those in need of dental help made the hike to see the dentist. The dental team kept busy but we were not inundated with patients. Actually, Lori had more business with the store than I did. Emily and Christy, the two oldest of the Jones' kids were a big help to Lori and I. Lori was able to get away and get some rest during the afternoon.

Some of the store's customers.

The team from Clinica Biblia, Gabriel, Laura and Christian.

We had a wonderful wet and muddy time in Tsipiri. God is good and faithful in all He does. We are blessed in so many ways serving here in Costa Rica.

Thanksgiving

I was pondering the other day about Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays and after thinking about it I have a lot of favorite Holidays. Of course there are the many memories from the school plays to the trips to grandparents, the college years and the military years and now we have the Costa Rica years.

The kids writing their "thanks" on our tree.

Wow, how blessed I am for so many great memories, how blessed I am for the amazing experiences God has allowed in my life. This was the first of many Thanksgiving we plan on celebrating in our new home in Paso Marcos. I am thankful for the opportunity to open our house to four other families as we ate, sang, and shared a day’s worth of memories to be enjoyed for years to come.

One big thing we were thankful for was the protection of our house and electric line that runs from the road to our house. As our first guest got settled into the house we were moving to the deck when we heard the loud sound of a tree falling. We went out to investigate to find a huge limb had fallen on our electric line and was blocking the road up to our driveway.

Time of sharing and praise

I am thankful for the help of Dustin and Mark as we turned off the power to the house, cleared the tree from the line and then the tree from the road. As I was walking back up the driveway to our house another guest had come. I was thankful for the lift back up to the house. Those who have visited realize that our driveway is no easy feat to tackle.

Enjoying the wonderful meal

Our 15 pound turkey fed the 22 people we had over for lunch. What a blessed time we had while reflecting on the blessings of this last year. Sure we all missed home but we knew where are suppose to be, content in all the things God has given us. Amen

Village Parkway Baptist Church Team

Hosting a team is a bit of work but a ton of fun. What a blessing to share a little over a week with five men from our home church in San Antonio. We have been experimenting with different size mission teams. We have hosted groups as large as 12 and as small as two people. This was the first time Village Parkway has sent a team of only men. What a blast!

Making concrete the old fashion way!

This was a construction team that helped work on two projects. The first was to pour concrete in a fellow missionary’s house and the second was making repairs at a forgotten public school inside the reservation about 25 minutes by car from where we live. Both jobs included some heavy work without the modern machinery we are so accustomed to in the States. All the concrete was mixed and carried up the hillside by hand and wheelbarrow. At the school we had several projects going on. Adding an extension to the roof, fixing the bathrooms, removing the concrete floor, laying tile and adding a boot wash to keep the school clean.

Allen getting some "expert" help.

Lori had her hands full cooking for this team. Praise God for the help of our friends that helped Lori. As some of you know Lori is 5 months pregnant. We did have to modify the schedule to the demands of the work and climate of Costa Rica.

Our crew with the Cabecar Teachers

After each day of work we would return for an incredible meal and devotions and fellowship. What a blessing to get to know other members from our church a little better and to open God’s word and share what God is teaching us in our lives.

One of the highlights of our trip was when the young school kids got to help. Each patiently waited their turn to help lay tile in their school. Their little faces would light up when it was their turn.