Here We Go!

We're off!  By the time you read this, we will have already put in many hours in the airport.  Here's the run down.

2:00 am Wake up
2:30 am Leave for the airport
3:00 am Arrive, check in 12 duffel bags and 1 car seat bag.  Take the 5 roller bags, 5 back packs, 1 stroller and 3 kids through security and get ourselves set up at the gate.

5:30 am Take off from Grand Rapids and fly to Baltimore
8:30 am Take off from Baltimore to San Jose, Costa Rica.

Arrive 11:30 Costa Rican time (which will feel like 1:30 Michigan Time)  Collect all bags, make it through customs and immigration.  Head to our house!!

Would your pray with us about a few things?

• For easy going kids
• For our friend Jamie who is coming with us!!  She is a brave woman to decided to help us move!  And we love her!
• For perfect connections, that our bags would all get to where they need to be
• For understand folks wherever we are

Thanks!

Moving, Again

Well.  We are just about 6 days away from returning to Costa Rica.  Somehow that went fast and slow all at the same time.  Strange how time works like that.

And 6 months is just a weird amount of time.  On one hand, it's really long.  It is a half a year after all.  But on the other hand, it's only half a year.  Just enough time to start to get to know someone, to start to feel connected to a community, to start to form new friendships.  It's just a weird amount of time.

It's been a good time of reconnecting with family, supporters, and friends, as well as developing new friends and connections.  One of my biggest concerns about this time was a lack of community.  We are living in an area we last lived in 8 years ago.  That's a long time.  People have moved on.  But God has been so faithful.  About 3 weeks before we left for the US He told me "don't worry, I am going before you."  And He did!  I was able to be part of a women's group for the whole 6 months and those ladies took me in and made me a part of them.  We have also been making connections at a new church in the area, and it's been good.  Very good.

 And now we are into the last week and the emotions are all over the place!  With the goodbyes and the see you laters and the excitement of heading back to Costa Rica, and well, it's just a lot.  Quinn asks multiple times a day when we are going to Costa Rica.  Almost everything is packed, except for the clothes we need for the next 6 days.  Monday we move out of the mission house and will stay with my parents for a few days.  The van has sold.  There are just a few things left in the fridge.

While we're sad to be saying the goodbyes, we are oh so excited to say the holas again!  We've so missed our friends, our church family and neighbors while we've been gone!  And ok, I'll say it, we've missed our stuff too.  I am ready to be back in our space, with our things. 

So pray for us as you think of us.  That we would say goodbye well and have a smooth transition back to Costa Rica. Things are different there too, friends have left that we didn't think would, so we weren't able to say goodbye.  Things have changed because we've been gone for half a year.  And things have happened in our lives.  After all we're different than we were 6 months ago too.