Praying

Monday, February 11

Mondays are always hard… even in Costa Rica… but especially after a vacation.

We went to class and I had some good practice talking in Spanish about our trip to the beach.  We also had another surprise!  Deidre decided to stay another month.  God provided her the opportunity and she just didn’t feel ready to leave just yet.  So… she is back in my class but she was pretty pre-occupied because she is planning a quick trip to Panama this week. She has to leave the country by Friday because Costa Rica does not allow you to stay in the country for longer than 90 days with out leaving.  You can return 3 days later, but you have to have your passport stamped.   Amanda is joining her on this three-day trip, and then she is spending just one more week here.  She decided to change her ticket and go home a month early.  We are not excited about this decision, but we are supportive and we understand why she made this choice.  

After class, we went home and Gatica told us she is not feeling well.  We told her to just go home and that if she is still sick tomorrow to take the day off.  Her husband is sick too, so it seems a little bug is traveling around our little town.  Please pray for her and her husband’s healing.

Amanda and Deidre spent the afternoon trying to plan their trip to Panama.  Since Deidre is staying an extra month, she needs to leave the country for 3 days.  They were a bit frustrated with the bus companies and hotel that were not returning their calls or emails.  I think they have it figured out, but not with out hours of frustration.

Jaden has been practicing his speaking skills, and his language learning is exploding rapidly!  Tonight he was repeating the letters “A” and “B” for Amanda and I.  I love hearing him say new words and listening to him try to repeat after us.  It is also awesome to see him understand both English and Spanish equally.

Tuesday, February 12

Praise God that Gatica and her husband are both feeling better.  She showed up to make us our breakfast today, but Amanda had already made pancakes, so she had a little break.  Amanda was up early anyway because we were all awakened last night by a noise in our house around 5:00am.  We figured out it was most likely just a bat.  She has been hearing it that past few nights, but last night it woke us all up.  I think his radar was broken because it sounded like it crashed into a wall or the roof near our bedroom.  I guess there are worse things we could have flying around our house.   I’m not sure what, but who’s asking?

Sonia and Deidre and I had fun in class today.  We were practicing making sentences in a past tense form that we were reviewing by using a pile of verb flash cards to base our sentences off of.  She would ask me if I ever did _______ and I would have to answer with "yes" or "no" and sometimes a story to go with it.  Then, I would take a turn asking her questions.  Deidre likes to ask some interesting questions.

The kids came over after school today, and the owner of our house was in the yard.  He came and spoke with them and told them that they are not allowed to play at our house anymore.  It is bittersweet… we don’t want them to damage anything else at the house, but we also do enjoy their visits on occasion.  Please pray that we handle the situation in a godly way, and that there will be no feelings hurt or relationships damaged.

Eddie led Bible study again tonight.  I love to see the faithful attendees and the new faces each week.  This week, we spent time praying for each other in groups of two or three.  I will be honest, praying in Spanish is still a struggle of mine, but I am beginning to understand them more.  I am not sure if this is something the people of this church do regularly, but I know it was blessing on my heart to have this opportunity.  Jaden even picks up on the fact that we are praying and stops what he is doing to fold his hands and sit quietly for a few moments.  It doesn’t always last too long, but I love that he is trying to participate!

Please pray for Amanda and Deidre to have a safe trip to Panama and back!  They leave at 4:30 in the morning tomorrow (Wednesday).