Category Archives: Matt’s Thoughts

Catching Up…

Here are the happenings around the home…

Kris finished up her final day with the preschool kids today. Barb, the missionary that teaches the preschool returned from her time at home in the states and will be back at the school on Monday. Kris will now be spending some time pouring into another group of children at the home. There are a few children who are not infants but are not yet old enough to be in the preschool. At times that age group gets a little less attention because they aren’t in school and they aren’t one of the babies crying for attention. Kris is praying into how God would use her with those kids in our remaining time here at the home. She is also looking forward to doing more baking so she can share cookies and scones with the people here at the home.

I am continuing to split my time between physical therapy and working with the men around the home. The physical therapy with the children has focused on the infants that have delays so I work with them in the infant stimulation room next to the school. I have also been trying to help the staff around the home. Many of them have orthopedic problems, often related to the very physical jobs they do here. This has been a hit and miss thing as I have a moment here or there. I joked that I need to set up a table and just line up the staff so I can really get a chance to work on each of them as well. Hopefully the Lord will create opportunities for that in the rest of my time here.

Earlier this week Yorleni (one of the tias) asked me to come help Denia (another tia) with her back problems. Yorleni would like to go to school to be either a nurse or a therapist so she sat beside us the whole time I was working with Denia asking questions and trying to take notes on what I was doing. After a few minutes she ran to our cabin to get the English-Spanish dictionary because we were running into too many words we couldn’t understand. After about an hour and a half working with the two of them I asked Denia how she felt. Denia said she was better but I could tell in her voice it was really only a little better. I said she should blame Yorleni because I ended up doing more talking about therapy than I did actually working on her back problem!

On the days I work with the men our main project has been to put in a gray water septic system for a washing machine and sink in one of the homes. They used the backhoe to put in the water tank and we then dug a trench (by hand, with a shovel and pick) for the water to drain from the tank. After digging the trench it was filled with large rocks and gravel then covered back over with dirt. All that remains are a few connections with the pipes leading to the tank and maybe putting in some grass over the dirt. When I see the kids after working with the men I tell them I played with rocks and dirt all day! Aside from that project there is a lot of time spent mowing around the home. Hot, humid, weather with lots of sun and lots of rain makes the grass grow quickly.

This afternoon we were blessed by Debbie Bastian and her kids. Debbie and her husband Tom work as missionaries here in Atenas. Tom is an engineer and his group helps missionaries throughout Central America design, plan and build homes, offices, etc that they need for their work. We met them when we were here last year at Hogar de Vida. Tom is away in Mexico working on a project so Debbie offered to watch Eliana and Elijah for a while so Kris and I could go out and have some time for ourselves. She even loaned us their car so we could get around town. The kids played while Kris and I did some shopping. (I know everyone will be shocked to hear that I bought three soccer jerseys!) We stopped at a bakery for some fresh pastries and walked around a few of the small shops in Atenas. After shopping we went out for dinner at a small restaurant (they call it a soda).

If you have never been to Central America it is hard to describe the differences walking around the downtown here compared to America. I can say it seems haphazard because things seem so disorganized. It is like a mix of a larger town and a small town together. There are few chains, most of the stores are like small family places and if you are not from the area it can be hard to tell what exactly are stores and what are not. If you can determine that it really is a store you never exactly know what they will be selling until you go inside. We walked past a store and I asked Kris what they were selling. She replied that they had a selection of fabrics for sale along with toiletries. So if you were looking to buy supplies for a quilt while picking up some deodorant and hairspray that was your place! The name super mercado (supermarket) also has an entirely different meaning here. The actual large supermarket is maybe the size of a small town grocery store but overall it is probably smaller. Of course there are a lot of little places that call themselves a supermarket that might be 300 square feet at best.

This weekend we hope to rest, pray and go to worship. I want to spend some time reading and Kris wants to spend some time making cookies, scones and bread. Thank you all for being with us on this trip in your thoughts and prayers.

Devotions

Every morning at the home we have devotions. On Monday there is a prayer time, Tuesday is worship time and Wednesday through Friday are a message. One of the topics while we have been here is to pray for the nations. This past Tuesday during worship they had flags from many nations around the world. As we worshipped we prayed for each of those nations. There were also Gold flags for heaven, White for God’s forgiveness and Red for His Blood.


Zoo Ave

On Monday we took a field trip with several kids from the preschool Kris is teaching. We went to Zoo Ave (the Bird Zoo) in Alejuela about 30 minutes away from the home.
Kris took lots of pictures of the animals. The kids had lots of fun and we were able to see many different animals. We saw…
Toucans
 Iguanas
Monkeys
Parrots
A Crocodile

And lots of different flowers

Rain+Dirt=Mud, Mud+Kids=A Beautiful Mess!

Today after church and lunch we had a terrific downpour. The rain came down in absolute buckets for several minutes. After a while the downpour eased but the rain continued. Now, if any of you have been to Hogar de Vida before everyone will tell you shortly upon arriving that Costa Rican children melt in the rain. Whenever it rains the tias quickly bring the children inside. Well, I think we managed to break about every Costa Rican childcare custom this afternoon. We definitely proved that ninos norteamericanos (North American kids) do NOT melt in the rain. They have an absolutely fabulous time and get EXTREMELY MESSY! The kids romped in the puddles, plopped in the mud and twirled to their hearts content. Thankfully our cabins are behind all of the houses the tias and children stay in so we didn’t offend our hosts with their antics.

At one point Eliana was crying out ‘Ayudame!’ (help me!). She managed to get into mud so deep and thick that her shoe was stuck in the mud. I told her to slip off her shoe and then reach in to pull her shoe out of the mud with her hand but, she only managed to lose both shoes in the puddle. Elijah came to the rescue, reached in and pulled out both of her shoes! (At this point daddy has to insert how very proud he is of his boy!)

After the mud baths we (of course) took pictures! I then carried the kids directly to the shower. Kris hosed off the kids while I hosed off the shoes and clothes. Being hard working kids after clean up they devoured Jello and cookies!

It is the Glory of God to create such Life in small things like playing in the mud. We have our plans and our rules. They keep us on a straight path, but there are brief windows where God calls us to step off the road, take a break and savor His creation. They are a time to let go, watch and release yourself into His Joy. They are special because they are not part of the everyday. If we played in the mud everyday it would lose the joy and become routine. There are moments that Our Father gives to us just for that time. We can’t recreate them. We can’t force the pieces back the way we want them and do it over again. We can take Joy in what He has given to us and keep the memory of His Love for us as His precious Sons and Daughters. Thank you God for this memory. Thank you Father for reminding us of your Love for us. Thank you that You came to us, chose us and pursue us as Your precious children. In Your Holy Name. Amen.

(P.S. Thank you God for cameras! Please enjoy the pictures)

Testing the waters….

Getting Wetter…

Oh Just Get Wet!

Why do we have umbrellas anyway?

‘We Are Friends’ (and Really, Really Messy!)

Lawns, Lunch and Huskers

I spent this morning clearing out sticks and then mowing the grass around the home. They have a lot of space to maintain and hot, wet weather so mowing is a continual need. Kris and the kids were outside most of the morning. Kris helped hang up laundry and Eliana and Elijah had fun playing all around the park and the rancho with the kids. I think the kids will not know what to do when we get home and there are no longer 30 friends around to play at all times! Elijah is really starting to open up and interact with the kids the last day or two. In the beginning he stayed more to himself playing beside the kids, now he is playing more with them.

After the morning we had lunch in casa arriba (the upstairs house) with Noemy and Connie, two of the tias in that home. Our Spanish is improving and we were able to have a very good talk, joking about soccer teams (Saprissa vs. Alejuela) and how Elijah must have gotten his gray eyes from me because of my gray hair. As Kris said later, you can only ask someone how they are so many times a day with any real meaning to the conversation. We have really enjoyed being able to get past ‘How are you? Good.’ with the tias and ticos the past few days.

Right now Kris is making chocolate chip cookies and I am listening to the Huskers on the computer. Praise God for laptops and wireless internet. It continually amazes me the dichotomy of how some areas seem so behind and others are technologically up to speed. I can sit in our cabin, post blogs and listen to the Huskers but I can’t flush the toilet paper.

Tim and Dena left today for Omaha so please bless them while they are there. We are praying for restoration, refreshment and new vision for them while they are away. They will be returning on Monday October 6th so we have a new stage living here without their help.

Tomorrow we will go to la Iglesia Biblica, Pastor Oldemar’s church. Another test to see how our Spanish is progressing. Next Sunday will be a nice blessing because the service will be translated into English. Iglesia Biblica translates it the first Sunday of every month.

We have planned a field trip with the older class of kids from the school this coming Monday morning. We will be going with a couple of the tias to Zoo Ave (the Bird Zoo) in Alejuela, about 45 minutes from Atenas. We pray that the rain will hold off until we return and that we will not lose any of the kids at the zoo! Eliana has been praying regularly that we will be able to go to the zoo, so she is very excited.

Thank you so much for your prayers.