Sometimes love looks like an abandoned child nestled in your arms, or a mission team hearing the Lord’s voice in a new timbre. Sometimes love looks like a list of conjugated verbs and definite articles to help bridge the gap between hearts. Our family is on the ascent to those vistas, but our first 10 days here in Costa Rica were colored by some of love’s other hues: lots of elbow grease applied to clean spaces and organize our things, a heavy duty extension cord delivered in the rain after some of the house’s wiring self-destructed, meals from scratch, and laughter with new friends. Click on a photo in the gallery below to take a tour of our Tico beginning.
Our rental house’s dinner-table-sized garden is home to two palm trees. The larger one decorates the master bedroom view.
Looking through the bars of our small balcony, we spend time with Lord, the mountains, and the rooftops each morning.
Theft is serious business in Central America. Razor wire, wrought iron, concrete walls, and big locks help to keep our home safe.
Electricity is expensive here in Costa Rica. Whenever weather permits, we will hang our laundry out to dry. Embellishing the window grating with skivvies was fun, but didn’t prove very effective. Matt restrung the current lines to make better use of the space inside our laundry room, and installed another 50 meters of line outside to catch the breezes. Now to find enough wooden clothes pins. . .
Rental houses here don’t always receive the most attention to detail. Razor blade, putty knife, and scrub brush are working their way around the house to bring out it’s beauty.
My true love bought me flowers at the Feria (Farmer’s Market). Inexpensive bouquets are a wonderful perk to living in the tropics.
The kitchen windows look into the laundry room. A detached dryer vent tube coated this space in gray fluff. Three days of battle have liberated it into a sight that makes me happy.
Command central is located upstairs between the kids’ room and ours. We are blessed to have a second story to catch the breezes, the sunshine, and the view.
Matt worked hard to organized the three E’s clothes and toys into a functional system. Elijah tried Ezekiel’s wardrobe space on for size.
The small pantry off of the kitchen now sports a bunch of onions hanging by their braided tops, courtesy of the feria. I feel so Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Grandma’s bluebird made the migration with us as a reminder of the ones we love back on the prairie.
Discovering what local shops carry which items is both exercise and an adventure. Matt is returning up our driveway with the spoils from a visit to the hardware store. Our gate is in the background–always waiting to be unlocked for friends.
Palm Fronds wither and drop off as the tree grows. Seeing them on the ground helps you to appreciate how grand they are. Fun to play with, too.
The Good News Family 
Kris, you ARE the Laura Ingalls of 21st century Mesoamerica!
Dynamic and Godly couple for The Lord! – the Gnuses –
Awesome posts. Great disciples – amen.
To my looney friends in Costa Rica,
I miss you already. Have prayed for all 5 of you and for Kris’s parents to grow to see the need. I hope you see the good in every day and the occasional lesson to be learned. I get a smile every time I think of you all. Eliana I bet you are already learning how to help your Mom with her chores. Elijah, I am sure you are helping your Dad around the house. Ezekiel, You obviously neatly put away all of the clothes before climbing into the closet, Be Blessed,
Jim Abraham