I Have The Wrong Couch

I mentioned in my previous post but in case you missed it, it is HOT in Panama? No really. I mean HOT! Tim says it is not that bad, but I disagree. I think it is HOT! In truth, we have adjusted pretty well to the heat and lack of AC. Our house sits up on a hill and so we get a rather nice breeze most days which is very helpful.
I could not possibly remember of all the fun things that have taken place over the past few weeks as we have set up our home. So, I will share a story which pretty much sums it up. We bought a couch and they were going to deliver it for us. A week passed, and then another. Finally, they arrived with a couch. The only problem is, it is not the one we bought. Nice. So, we have a couch although it is not the one that we want. They will be bringing that one back next week. Or the next or maybe even the next. Only time will tell. Really, we have had fun and lots of laughs (maybe just a few tears) setting up the house. It is feeling like a home and we love it. The kids have settled in amazingly well which is such an answer to prayer. They are ready for school to start so that they can make some friends but all in all, they are happy as can be.
Tim and I had 3 days of training last week and our first team meeting this week. We are ready to get busy! We really love the folks we work with here. We have already met some folks in the community that we hope to be able to work with in the future as well. God is already opening doors and we are so grateful. Would you pray that God will continue to bring Panamanians into our path that we can walk alongside and disciple?
Our visit with the Barwick family was just what the doctor ordered. Lots of laughing and catching up. Noah and Ben were stuck together like glue and it did all of our hearts good to just be together. They brought lots of fun goodies from our Thomasville friends. The kids felt like it was Christmas in July! Thank you for loving on our family through your generosity. You blessed us!

Setting up shop in Panama!

It is midnight, I am melting and I just finished setting up my kitchen. Let me rewind a few days......
We have been in lovely (and HOT) Panama for just over a week now. We arrived with all of our luggage and a dreadful flu like ailment. All 3 girls were sick chicas for several days. They even shared their germs with some other kids on our mission team. Nice way to make friends with the team, don't you think! :) In between tending to sick kiddos, we have managed to buy lots of wonderful things to set up our home. Can I just say that Panama is a shoppers heaven!!!! The variety here is amazing and we have been so happy with our new purchases.
We were able to stay in a mission apartment for the first week we were here. Last night was the first night in our new home. We kind of feel like we are living in a mansion after our year and a half in 700 square feet with one bathroom. The kids love the house and the yard, so all seems happy on the home front.
Our wonderful friends, the Barwick's, are headed our way in just a few days. Bless them, they have no idea what they are walking into. Tim has big plans for Ken in the yard and I feel sure that Leigh and I will have plenty to keep us busy. We are thrilled that they are coming and cannot wait to spend a few days laughing and catching up. Noah is beyond excited to see his best friend Ben. Life is sweet!
We feel beyond blessed that God has called us to this beautiful country and cannot wait to see what He has in store for us here. Thanks for lifting us up in prayer as we continue to settle in.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica~ I will never forget the day we first met. All I could think about was how to get away from you and go home. I will never forget that feeling. I have thought at times about why it was that our meeting was….. less than magical. :) Perhaps it was all the bars. The trash in the streets. The people and animals in the streets. The language that sounded like gibberish to me. Those first sights, smells and sounds are still vivid in my memory. All I wanted to do was run.

I am pretty sure that I cried more in those first few weeks than I thought was humanly possible. Scared. Intimidated. Lost. Those are the feelings I remember. Slowly, I began to settle. In my spirit and in my new home. Over and over again, I learned to trust the Lord. It became so much more than just words. It became a way of life. I learned lessons. Hard ones. But I would not trade one of them in for my old comfortable life.

Eventually, life in Costa Rica seemed almost normal. I learned the language. I made relationships. I learned how to grocery shop and cook with ingredients that I had never heard of. I got lost more than once. I always found my way home though. I traveled your roads to places so beautiful that words cannot describe them. I saw physical poverty and spiritual wealth. I saw what it looked like to put people before things. How to slow down and enjoy each day. And at some point along the way, I fell in love with your culture and your country.

So, I will leave you with a much different view than the one I had of you when we first met. You changed me. I am wiser and more at peace because of you. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my relationship with my family and my Lord are stronger because of you. I am better for having landed here and for having stayed.

Noah, our 6th grade graduate

Congratulations to our 6th grade graduate! This past school year has been full of challenges for Noah. We are so proud of the way he has handled them, and of how hard he has worked this year. We have been beyond blessed to have teachers who have loved and encouraged our son!

Congratulations Noah!!! We love you!