Un Mes

One Month.  One month today we were en route to Costa Rica.  How is that even possible? 

Over the last month a lot has happened!  Holy Cow!  I am just now really thinking about it all!

• We've moved our entire lives to Costa Rica.
• Set up a home here.  No small feat, even with a beautifully furnished house!
• Started school
• Gotten through the week of tears!
• Navigated the health care system here
• Dealt with an allergic reaction to antibiotics
• Had a flooded laundry room for about a week
• Dealt with no refrigerator for 3 days when we had meds that needed to stay cold
• Been through our first "real" earthquake
• Had 6 tests between the two of us (an we each have another one tomorrow)
• Figured out how to buy groceries
• Gotten a sun tan on the tops of our feet (and if you know me at all, this is a huge accomplishment for just a month!)

• Had 3 flat tires on the stroller.  And three holes in the new tube we bought to fix one of the flats.
• Figured out the Feria
• Made Mango Pie
• Started to build relationships with our neighbors and fellow students.

• Seen God work in the hearts of our kids as they have gone from crying when we take them to school to saying it's the second best thing about living in Costa Rica.

No wonder we are tired at the end of the day.  Almost everything we do is new in some way. 

But we are so thankful to be here, learning Spanish in preparation for Honduras.  We're grateful for a staff at ILE that really approaches teaching us all as a ministry.  And they are so very patient with us.  Goodness, we are a needy group of people.  The other day I fell apart in the office trying to figure out where the boys were needing to be during this trimester.  The administrator, Mimi, quietly said, "Can I hug you?  And can I pray for you?"  Which she did both.  So sweet.  She knew.  There is so much new all the time, and I am sure I am not the first mama to fall apart in her office.  The next day the academic director for our program saw me in the hallway and said, "I heard you were crying yesterday?  How are you today?  And just so you know, we prayed for you this morning in staff meeting."  So this is a good place to be.  

And thanks for all your prayers over the last month!  We have needed them, we have felt them and we are grateful!  We can't do this without you all!