It was a long and busy summer. After fighting our way through the World Cup here in Costa Rica, we all had to return to reality. For us, that included hosting our first ever short-term team from Oklahoma! They pulled off a fantastic VBS, Teen Camp, and Spiritual Emphasis Week on campus that got a great response from all ages. We were involved in some serious counseling and Krista is finishing up her final hours toward certification, working long hours with supervisor to meet the deadline for this year.
In between trimesters at the language school, we take a short break so that families can move out of their houses and go to their new countries and a whole new class of students and their kids move in to the neighborhood. Since there are no classes during this time, it’s a good chance for us to take a break. Personally, our family had gone several trimesters without taking a “real” break, so we worked hard to make this happen. Wow, we were so thankful we did!
We drove over “Death Mountain” back to the jungle/mountain/beach region where we used to live and work.
For whatever reason, Joel’s first order of business was to shave once we arrived. (I have no idea.)
Right away, we could hear all the sounds we’d been missing in the city.
The girls dove into their new books (Heidi and Nancy Drew).
So did the adults (not Heidi and Nancy Drew but our kinds of books — this time Randy Alcorn [Heaven], a new biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, another on Lincoln’s philosophy of leadership, a Joni Eareckson Tada book on rest, and a few others). There wasn’t a TV so I was glad we’d brought more books than we planned on reading because after it turned dark at 5:30, that was generally how we spent the evening!
A couple from our church has a cabin up the mountain, in the same little village where we used to live, so we were back among all of our old neighbors and friends.
There was always a temptation to go to the beach, but with views like this, it really was a toss-up each day!
Oh, how we miss this view. This was what we saw every day when we lived here.
These guys live in between all of our houses and stick with whoever gives them food, but they are technically still wild birds–they’ve just always been part of the community!
And then there are the toucans! I love hearing the helicopter-like thumping of their wings as they fly between the trees around me as I read. I had forgotten that sound.
Visiting the Swiss/German farm where they train indigenous Indians from all Central American countries in the skills of farming, ….
carpentry,…
mechanics, and theology. An amazing work. The directors are our recent alumni so it was great to spend some time with them and to see how well they are doing. They were also a great encouragement to us!
On Friday night, we observed Shabbat on the farm.
In the morning, the rumble of the wagons got our attention.
We weren’t the only ones who stopped to gawk. These boys will be the future farmers in this community.
They told us they are training these guys for the heavy loads.
Time to be a family without the phone ringing or any appointments.
Visited the thrift store where we send our donations and where the girls’ older sister works. She’s doing an amazing job! When we were there, she was managing and closing the store single-handedly! So proud.
Joel provides for his family the old fashioned way.
Buying fruit as we’re headed back up the mountain to go home after a day at the beach.
Army of leaf-cutter ants taking apart the jungle, piece by piece.
Picking mamones (which we ate in ridiculous quantities!).
Our last stop before heading home.
Watermelon at the girls’ first-ever beach bonfire.
Thank you for praying for us to find some rest this summer. It wasn’t long, but it was perfect. We came back energized and excited about the work at the language school. The very next day, we jumped into Orientation, but we were so happy to be back. Thanks for praying for refreshment; that’s exactly what happened.