I know - you are shocked I'm blogging

I'm making an early new years resolution - to keep up on blogging more consistently. I feel like the kids are getting so big, so fast, and there are so many things that you should all know about, that just get left to the wayside. So - in an effort to turn a new leaf, here's a quick entry.

A few nights ago I was putting Sydney to bed, and as always we sing a song together and then I pray and she prays after me. At school, I think they start most of their prayers with "Heavenly Father" so she started her prayer like that on this particular night. I had to keep from laughing, because she said "emily father" - it's what she hears and is copying it. It was so precious. She's becoming quite the little prayer warrior. We've been praying every night for an almost 2 year old named Marley Moore that has brain cancer. Last night she thanked God that Marley was learning to walk again (she had a stroke and lost a lot of abilities) and prayed that she would "rest well" during the night. Then she said "please God, PLEASE, PLEASE help the medicine to work so that Marley's cancer goes away". It's amazing the power of a 4 year old's prayers - she teaches me frequently how to pray.

Elijah is chronically outside playing soccer in the backyard. For a few months both kids have been earning allowance from us, to help them learn to manage money and to help teach them the concept of tithe. As a side note - I'm proud to say that they both always get their 100 colones out of their banks on Sunday morning to take for Sunday School offering - I don't even have to remind them anymore. Anyway - Elijah saves EVERY cent that he gets, rarely spending it on frivolous things like his sister. :) A few weeks ago, right after we moved to the new house, we were in a store that has lots of toys. We walked past a set of portable soccer goals that cost about $40. He wanted them so bad, but I told him that I didn't plan on buying that, and didn't have the money for them. I told him that he had about that much money saved in his bank (he had birthday money still, as well as his allowance) and he could spend it if he wanted to. He decided that it was a worthy investment, and bought them. He plays with them everyday and hasn't regretted his decision yet. He's also started getting into "extreme speech". For example - a couple days ago I made some hotdogs with melted cheese wrapped up in a tortilla for lunch. He really liked them and looked at me in all seriousness and said "mom, this is the best lunch I've ever had!" With easy standards like that, I'm bound for cooking hall of fame with him. :)

Candy and Tim are coming in 2 weeks and we are really looking forward to their visit. We are so excited to show them around our new house and our new country! We are going for a mini-vacation to the beach for 3 days and are REALLY looking forward to that. Their visit and vacation couldn't come as a better time - life's been crazy busy, and we are ready to slow down a little.

We'll see if my resolution sticks - hope to blog at least once a week. If you are on Facebook, look up Misión Mundial MAC and become a fan of the page. We just started it for our ministry and you can get a peek into what we are doing. It's all in spanish, so you might want to brush up. :)

It's update time

Hey to all! I've been HORRIBLE at keeping up. I know that none of you LIVE for the blog postings, but I know that it's nice to stay in the loop. SO - I'll try to give you a quick snap-shot of the past few months.

We did finally decide on a church - it's call Cuidad Refugio, El Bosque (Refuge City, the forest). El Bosque in the name of the area of town that it is in. They have quickly welcomed us and our skills and willingness to want to be in active ministry. They've asked us to help with the youth program and give it some "shape" in the way of formal youth ministry. We've been meeting with the youth on Saturday nights at 5PM and have lots of challenges, but see a lot of potential in the 12-15 core members. Elijah and Sydney love the Sunday School class that they are a part of on Sunday morning, and I was asked to attend a Sunday School teachers meeting next Sunday morning. I can see myself getting involved in that way as well in the future.

I took this picture for my mom - I knew she'd love seeing Sydney
"cleaning" our porch after it had rained!

The kids' school is awesome - we are really impressed with it. Elijah is doing really well at reading in English and Spanish and pretty much knows how to write in cursive (except for obscure letters like "Q" and "Z"). I often compliment him on his penmanship and tell him that he writes better than Scott - that always gets a laugh out of him! He's also doing great at soccer - his coach seems to be really impressed with his skill level. He had a game this past Saturday - they lost, but their goalie didn't show up for the game. The coach put Elijah at goalie for the first half, and he blocked all the shots (even taking one in the face!). In the second half, the other substitute goalie was a little more afraid of the ball, and let 2 get past him. Elijah had fun playing the goalie, but I prefer to watch him play forward. I had butterflies in my stomach everytime the ball would cross midfield and head his way! Sydney is coming along beautifully in her skill sets as well. She has known letters and numbers for quite a while, so a lot of Pre-kinder is review for what she already knows. Her Spanish is exquisite and she has a best friend named Sofia. She is still enjoying her ballet class, but has already starting dropping hints that cheerleading is what she wants to do next year - she's got lots of rhythm in her blood - she's a good match for the "sport" (quotes for those of you who don't consider cheerleading a sport...). Tomorrow Scott and I are going to her club to see what's she's been learning in ballet - we hope there is a recital someday before the end of the school year, but haven't heard of anything yet. She feels little slighted that we've gone to 2 soccer games for Elijah, and nothing for her. Hopefully going to club tomorrow will make her feel special for a few hours.

May and this last week of July brought 2 really huge ministry milestones for us. In May we had our 4th missionary training and were able to see a class of 13 new missionaries trained in missiology and practical concepts of missions. This past week, we welcomed back our 7 volunteers that have been serving for the past 2 years in Spain and the Middle East. It was so awesome to hear how God used them to touch so many people's lives. It was incredible to hear a maturity in their conversation of the many strategies implemented to really relate with people, and earn the privledge of talking to them about God. All of them came back changed people - what a great thing to be a part of.


A few things you can pray for - Scott has tonsilitis and is STILL battling his ingrown toenail. Elijah has had a persistent cough for the past 5 days. That our energy level would get back to normal - we all are completely wiped out when the evening comes.

To leave you with a funny Sydney phrase: (To the tune of "Bringing in the Sheaves") We're bringing in the cheese, bringing in the cheese... :)
Also - It's mother's day on August 15 here in Costa Rica - check out the video bar (2nd video down) for a tribute to moms!

Quick update

Here is a quick video of Elijah's soccer game - sorry for the "shakey hand" syndrome. :)

We've also had lots of fun with Elijah's first birthday, my 32nd birthday and our 9th wedding anniversary just around the corner. Oh - Elijah also lost his second tooth the day before his birthday. Sydney just got her hair cut last night - it's about shoulder length again. I don't have any pictures to post, but it's super cute.

We are all looking forward to General Assembly, even though it means working lots of overtime hours - the vacation time afterward is REALLY appealing. We are so excited to see practically everyone in our family within 2 weeks! What a blessing on a "non-deputation" year.

Lots of love to everyone.

Cool Mom Moments

A couple days ago, I started reading a book on how parents are the main disciplers of their children. They mentioned baptism as a sacrament that children should also be a part of, and I started thinking how we've not really talked about that with Elijah or Sydney. I've been praying that God would open a door so that we could talk about it, and the door was opened last night. The kids have a children's bible that we've been reading through, and the story that we were on last night was Jesus' baptism. We read the story, and I asked the kids if they knew what baptism was - they both said no, and I explained that it was the outward showing that Jesus lives in our heart. They were interested a little, and I asked if we should talk to our pastor about a baptism service - they said no - that they were afraid of the water. :) So, we resolved to pray about it and ask Jesus to talk to our hearts about it. At bedtime, I prayed that both of them would be willing to be baptized, if Jesus asked them too. It was so sweet when Elijah said in his prayer "God, help me to be baptized". I know that Jesus is working in his heart already. Please help me pray that Elijah especially would be sensitive to the Spirit moving in him.

The other thing happened this morning. As we were eating breakfast, Elijah said "Hey mom, Jesus has been talking to me". I asked him what Jesus said. He told me "Jesus said that he loves me, and that he's helping me to have self-control" (self-control has been a hot issue with us for a couple weeks). Not to be outdone, Sydney said "Jesus says he loves me too". It was so neat to already hear them testifying to what Jesus is doing in their lives. Thanks to many of you who pray for them everyday - God is moving in our kids, and I know that the world will be different because of their committment to God, even at this young age.

Elijah's Big News

Well - this week we had a milestone for Elijah. He lost his first tooth! It was loose for about a week, but he continued to baby it. We never pressured him to pull it, but it was increasingly becoming harder and harder for him to eat. On Wednesday morning, as he was brushing his teeth before school, he decided it was the time. All the sudden, he ran to me in the kitchen, and said "mom! my tooth!". Sure enough, he had the little baby tooth in his hand. He was so excited - I was excited for him. We made a little envelope for it and put it under his pillow that night. El "Ratón Peréz" visited him (the spanish version of the Tooth Fairy - I told him they were friends, and they would both come) and left him 100 colones (about 20 cents). He told me that the tooth fairy wasn't real - I told him he was right, but he didn't believe that I was the tooth fairy. I've still yet to figure out who he thinks left the money under his pillow...


Since I'm on the blog, I can update you on our residency. We had our appointment last Tuesday, and everything went really well. A few setbacks happened the morning of the appointment, but it all resolved itself. We will have our cedula and temporary residency card on May 8. Once we have the card, we have to fill out a petition to take the kids out of the country with us - it really important that we have this done before General Assembly, or they won't let the kids leave the country. We've been told it's not a hard process - we are praying that's the truth.

Scott is in Mexico right now - Campeche to be exact. He called us today and said that it is REALLY hot there. In fact, one of the girls that is there to help with the event had to buy new shoes, because her's melted, because the pavement is so hot! He heads to Mexico City tomorrow afternoon, and to Guadalajara, Mexico on the 23. He heads home next Sunday (the 26th). Thanks for your continued prayers on his behalf, and for our family as we are apart.

Here is a cute picture of the kids - a friend in Mexico sent them typical clothes from their area of Mexico - a couple weeks ago, we had all the District Superintendents in for a retreat, and one of the evening services was "typical night"- most of the ladies were dressed up in their typical clothes, and it was the perfect time for the kids to show off their style too. :)

These are just cute pictures.

His Eye is On the Sparrow

I wanted to take a moment to tell you guys that the Lord really spoke to me yesterday.

Actually, it started on Tuesday night, but I didn't realize it. I was reading in my devotions in Luke 12 and verses 7-8 say "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." I read this and sorta glossed over it, because I've read it many times before. I didn't feel like it was anything new, and didn't really meditate on the words.

In the mornings, Scott and I walk for about a half hour around the Seminary campus. Scott has been in Nicaragua this whole week, so I've been walking by myself. I was about 5-6 minutes into my walk, when right in the center of the road was a dead bird. It wasn't smashed - in fact, it's eyes were closed. I think it was just his time to die and he did. Those of you who know me well at all might remember that I've got a phobia of birds - it's not as bad as it used to be, but none-the-less, birds - whether dead or alive- still give me the creeps.

I mustered up all the courage I had to look at it for a second, and God IMMEDIATELY brought back the words that I had read the night before. As I continued on my walk, I dwelt on the fact that God knew that bird was dead, and it MATTERED to him. God spoke to me, and told me that if the death of that little bird was important to him, that me and my family, problems, work, etc are even more important to him.

It's awesome to serve a God that cares so much about everything - even little birds. I pray that everybody feels loved by God, and knows the awesome power of serving Him.

Already learning new things

Just wanted to take a quick second to share with you all what Elijah shared with us yesterday. He came home from school and said "mom, guess what a boy in my class can do?" Being the interested mom that I am, obviously I responded "What?" "He can burp his ABC's - ON PURPOSE!" He was so impressed by this skill - we've yet to find out if he is going to attempt the talent on his own.


Sydney is doing great, although she has yet to figure out what the names of her friends are. She comes home everyday and says that she has a Sofia and 2 Valerias in her class. I asked her who her favorite person to talk to was, and she said Valeria. She loves gym class and recess.

Hope that you all have a great day!

First Day of School in Costa Rica

At 5:03AM our alarm clock went off, and our day began. The kids (amazingly enough) pretty much got right out of bed without too much pulling. They were ready to start the day and go to school. They got dressed, ate breakfast, brushed teeth and got on the bus at 6:00AM. It was hard to believe they were out the door just as the sun was really coming up! They were excited to get on the bus - another girl, Daniella, is in first grade and is our neighbor at the seminary. They all got on the bus together. I'm sure Elijah and Sydney were fine, because they had each other. If Elijah had to go by himself, I think we would have had some tears.

Since we now have an extra 1 1/2 hours in our days (with waking up so early!), Scott and I have decided to start walking in the morning. We walked around the seminary campus a few times - it felt good to have some time to exercise. I also hope to be able to read a chapter a day in some books that I've started and haven't finished - I've got about 4 books that I'm in the "middle" of.

I also started back at the office today - it's different getting ready to go to work, instead of sitting at the desk at home. I've been doing some follow-up work from the COM that we had last week in Nicaragua. We are trying to get rid of so much paper and keep things digital, so all the paper from the COM (registration sheets and interviews) have to be scanned - guess who gets the fun of that? I can't complain - Scott has to send out the recommendation letters to everyone - that's a day long project in itself.

Things are starting to feel more normal - we think that we've found a church. There are still 1 or 2 more that we are going to visit, but we are really happy with one that we found a few weeks ago. We'll see what God has in store. We've unpacked about 96% of the boxes - home is starting to feel like home.

I'm anxious for the kids to come home (around 1PM) to see how their first day went. We've been praying that it's AWESOME and that they can't wait to go back everyday. :)

Settling in

Just wanted to send a quick update on our Costa Rican status - everyday looks a little different because of all the things that we need to get done. If you get our update newsletter, you know that we are the proud new owners of a 2004 Terrano (Nissan). It was on the high end of our budget, but we were prepared for the close to $20,000 price tags that come with Costa Rican 4x4s. In fact, we feel really blessed that we found it for under 20K - a few other missionaries that are just moving here are having a hard time finding something in that price range.


We've also been busy purchasing some furniture for the house - we got a chest of drawers for the kids room, a dresser with mirror for ours, 2 bedside tables for our room and an entertainment center/stand. Today, we went and placed an order for a couch and 2 chairs and are having some curtains made for our living rooms as well. The curtains are SUPER expensive, because half of our living room is solid windows. Due to the positioning of our apartment, anybody can see inside if they aren't covered. Due to the monstrous size of the windows, I'm not adequate to find window fixtures and curtains that would work.

The kids have enjoyed every single day here - lots of the Latino missionary kids haven't started school yet, so they are enjoying the warm mornings here. The weather is something that is a little shocking, because it's warm (upper 70's) in the morning, but by 1PM it seems to fall into the lower 60's. The kids always start the day with short sleeves and end with sweatshirts and jackets. We've been told that Feb/March will take a drastic turn for warmer weather - we'll see if that rings true. :)

We are still awaiting our shipment - they thought it would come on Wednesday, and then today - I'm sure somebody thinks it will come tomorrow. I'm not getting my hopes up - I'll believe it when i see it. Call me a doubting Thomas. The kids are dying to get to their toys again - it's been almost 4 months since they had them to play with. With Sydney's birthday coming up, I'm tempted to just put away one of her old toys and wrap it up and give it to her again. I don't think I could really pull it off, but it's crossed my mind.
Hopefully our TV arrives in tact - the cable company comes tomorrow to install the line. Elijah is geared up for the SuperBowl. He is cheering for the Cardinals to win (who would've thought that Cardinals and SuperBowl would be in the same sentence?) We'll see what the outcome is shortly.

Keep us in your prayers with the church search - we've visited 3 different ones so far and haven't felt like any of them have completely "clicked" with us. We have 3 more to visit that are possibilities - the kids are anxious to find a place that we can be every Sunday - they get really anxious having to go to new Sunday school classes every week.

Lots of love to all of you!

We are here in Costa Rica!

PURA VIDA! That is the Costa Rican way to say that all is well. In fact, even if someone asks how you are, the proper response is "pura vida" (pure life). That will take a while to get used to saying, I think. :)

We make it to Costa Rica exactly one week ago, and I'm finally able to slow down enough to send some news your way. Needless to say, we've been busy. I've sent the link of pictures of the house to family members, so that I don't overload this blog with that stuff - if you didn't get it, and want to see, just let me know, and I can send it to you. We are slowing making the house a home, but without our shipment here yet, things still feel a little "temporary" - like we are just here for a while. We should be getting our things in about 2 weeks, we hope.

We've gone to the grocery store twice and Scott went out today to look for a potential car. He thinks that he's found one, but until we get permission and go through all the processes, we can't purchase it. If the purchase goes through, we'll take a picture and post it in the next few weeks. Grocery shopping here is much like it was in Guatemala - lots of the same type of foods available. One difference is that there are TONS of grocery stores - in Guate there were only 2 main ones that were even close to where we lived. This morning I went with another missionary who has lived in CR for a long time to the produce market - I'll definitely be buying there every week. There is a lot more selection and the prices are a little bit lower. Speaking of prices - things here are MUCH more expensive. I think the hardest thing to get used to will be the price of cheese - for 10 pieces of sliced cheese, you can easily pay $4.00. For a block of cheese, prices are around $6-$10. The exchange rate has been kinda hard to get used to - it's 550 colones to 1 dollar - it's been interesting trying to figure out how much I'm spending to buy things.

The weather here is pretty nice - it's always sunny and warm in the morning and by the afternoon it cools down considerably. We usually have long sleeves or jackets on by early evening. You probably all know about the earthquake that happened a few days ago - it was pretty big. The newspapers are still carrying it as the front page story. No damage happened here on campus - we are very thankful for that.

Elijah and Sydney are LOVING being outside all the time. There are about 15 MKs all within a stones throw from our front door. About 6 of them are younger (6 and younger). Needless to say, they have found some new friends pretty easily. The older kids are enjoying playing with them too - Elijah like to play soccer with them, when they let him. He comes in crying almost everynight that he's not ready to stop playing. I don't think that he really understands that we live here, and that when he wakes up, everybody will still be here. :)

Well - lots to say, but don't want to bore you with everything. We have got an internet connection in our house, so feel free to send an e-mail. We should be able to get to it soon. We want to go to the kids school on Tuesday and get them registered and buy books and uniforms. We have a scheduled power outtage all day on Tuesday, so we figure it's the perfect time to get stuff like that done. Lots of love to all of you.

em