Thanksgiving Without Family?

Thanksgiving without family is like a bird with no wings, a cheetah with no legs, an eagle with no eyes... You get the point. This being said, our friends from Cartago did as good of a job hosting two random Gringos (thats us) for this special time of the year as Aaron and I could have asked. As we were all sitting down at a large table with 10 people from Costa Rica, that I didn't even know a year ago, to eat turkey, dressing, green beans, NO RICE, pumpkin pie, etc., I began to think, "What am I doing here and why"? Then as we began to share what we were thankful for, I started to realize how truly special these "random" people were. Slaving over an unbelievably cooked meal, inviting us to join THEIR family to eat, and making sure that we feel super comfortable when we are there, are just a few examples of the love that they've shown us. Aaron and I are so truly blessed to be thousands of miles away from home during Thanksgiving, and still feel as comfortable as we did Thursday. Thanks again to Meyling for the incredible Thanksgiving meal (que rico!), to Costa Rican mami and pops and Kevin for the hospitality, and to Suling and Elaine for the fun times. You guys are great.




Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Aaron and I were separated once again. He went on a 2 day encounter trip with the church that lasted from Friday evening to Sunday evening, while I held the fort down back at home.

The encounter for Aaron was a good experience. He says that it was pretty much a seclusion from cell phones and internet that were replaced with Bible studies and quiet time. I use the words "quiet time" literally. Everyone that went on the 40 hour encounter was not able to talk the whole trip. The pastor told them, "you can talk all you want... just talk to God". So needless to say, this was a trip that seems to have brought a good many people closer to God.

I, on the other hand, stayed here and helped a preacher named Douglas move out of his old home and into a new one. Anyone that has ever had the opportunity to do such a task knows that this can be quite a nagging process. How my cousin does this for a living, I will never know. (quick shout out to Derek Mills and "SQUARE COW MOOVERS" out of Austin, Texas - It's "A MOOVING EXPERIENCE" : 512-401-MOVE)

Aaron came back on Sunday evening where the whole congregation met at the church to welcome back the "encounterers"... This was somewhat of a celebration with tears shed, testimonies shared, and lots of singing and dancing.

Monday night some of the youth, Cesar, Wendy and I went and sang happy birthday to a member of the church. You may remember this guy from a past post, his name is Pablo or Pablito, and he has such a heart for the Lord. He seemed to be super touched by the simple fact that we cared enough to show up and sing happy birthday. His humble home that could barely fit a dinner table and a fridge, hosted about 20 people for a great time.(the picture below is just outside his house; Pablito is the one holding the cake)

Yesterday (Tuesday) Dimas, Enny, Aaron and I went to Palmares to have some coffee and bread with a family that we know and to also have our English class. The coffee and bread was good but no where near as good as the view that this family has from their house (there are some pictures posted below).

The English class lasted for 2 hours and seemed to be very productive. The 5 students that we had were very interested and a lot of fun to work with.

Harvey, our new puppy, is a tough one to put up with but is a lot of fun at the same time. I feel like im preparing myself for toddlers. He is on about a 3 hour cycle of sleeping with 30 minute breaks of "you better play with me or im going to cry all night" time. It is fun though to have something new going on in the house. Scrabble and Pattycake just get a little too monotonous at times.