Catching up and remembering my Grandma

I should warn you that this is going to be a long post. I have to apologize to all 3 of my readers :) for my lack of posting. As you will see there has been lots going on.
As I write this post I am sitting in the Denver airport waiting to fly home to Costa Rica. Last week my sweet Grandma went to be with Jesus and I was able to fly home and spend some precious time with my mom and family as we celebrated her life. More on that in a moment......
Tim and I have finished our first trimester of language school and we have passed with flying colors! I will tell you there were times that I wondered! We had our first language evaluation with the International Mission Board. We are expected to be at a certain level by the end of our year in Costa Rica. Well, we were both beyond pleased with our rating as it was higher than we had anticipated. It feels good to know we are on the right track! We are on a two week break from school and look forward to doing some traveling. Our friend Tresa is flying into San Jose tomorrow and we are headed to the Cloud Forest for a few days. I will be sure and post some good pictures!
I want to close with some personal thoughts about my Grandma. I have been able to reflect the past few days on all the wonderful memories I have of her. My brother and I talked about how much fun we used to have as little children hanging out at Grandma's house, drinking coke on crushed ice and eating strawberries. Perhaps, the most precious memories I have are when I was older and becoming a young adult. I remember so many times sitting in my Grandma's living room. She would sit in her rocking chair and I would sit on the sofa. I would talk. I would share my frustrations and thoughts on the world. I would ask questions about why things were the way they were. She would listen. She would always offer some wise thoughts on my situation. Somehow, she would always make it seem better. She would always point me to Jesus. Looking back I see how she was pouring her wisdom into my life. Not in an abrupt forceful way, just in her quiet strong way. I was to young to really appreciate it then, but it is sure priceless to me now. She was one of the finest woman that I have ever known and so much of how I think and who I am came from her pouring herself into me.
Please pray especially for my mom and her sister as they grieve the loss of their precious mom. She truly was a remarkable woman and I am blessed to have called her Grandma.