Tag Archives: Costa Rica

Common Cowardice

Last spring, as I was considering the magnitude of changes our family is embracing, the Lord did a sweet work of encouragement that made for a poignantly vibrant Full Heart Moment.  A copy of Marcia Moston’s book, Call of a Coward, came into my hands and drew me into the story of someone just like me who had been called to serve with her family out in the nations.   I was eager to walk alongside her struggles and triumphs as she traveled the path the Lord set before her, much of it riddled with pot holes, sharp drop-offs, and breathtaking views.

Lady walking in San AndresAs the pages turned, I began to wonder if she had lived in the same village that we had traveled to for mission work in 2006 and 2011.  Then Tim drove up on his three-wheeler, and there was no doubt.  I was treated not only to laughter and lessons pondered with a new friend, but with old ones, too,  as Marcia’s story twined with the Stromstad family during the early years of the Home of Life in Guatemala.  Hugging them all from my reading chair was a warm sunbeam of hope and joy in a season that had been looking rather gray.

Out of the overflow of the heart, this person writes.  My post, Full Heart Moment, was the fountain, dashed off contentedly in the quiet hours when the rest of the house was sleeping.  Basking in the Lord’s encouragement through the book and the satisfaction of a completed post, I assumed the blessing was complete.  Then Marcia Moston herself commented on TheGoodNewsFamily, and we traded emails in the days following.

When the Lord desires to do a work, the ripples often travel further than we can see.  Marcia was also touched by the common places and faces we loved, and wrote about how she discovered the connection in her post Counting the Cost on her blog.  As our family explored the grocery store in Costa Rica this summer, translating the ingredients to make meals in our cabina, she posted an interview with me, God is Able to Turn a Woman’s Heart about our calling and the way the Lord coaxed me back under the wing of His plans for our future.  I’m amazed by and grateful for her kind support of our family’s journey and for the way she is helping me overcome my own fears by the word of her testimony in her book and her blog.

Through the Front Gate, Guatemala

And that is the essence of why I write, spending hours playing with words and tinkering with nuances: yes, so that I can express my heart, but more so that the Lord might use it to be an encouragement to someone else in the steps of their walk with Him.  When we share our stories with their difficulties and victories, faith is multiplied and our common cowardice becomes a stepping stone rather than a barrier.

“They overcame. . .by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;” Revelation 12:11a

Where Your Treasure Is

Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.  Matthew 6:21 NLT

In keeping with my last post about setting up our nest of family life in Costa Rica, I wanted to share some pictures of the “treasure” that I have tucked away there.  We are going out as a family of 5 to serve by hosting short term mission teams and helping with the children at the Home of Life.  I can’t tell you the excitement that rises in me when I think about those sweet brown eyes, and the laughter of team members at their cabins as I walk up the path to greet them.   From this end of the plane ticket, however, I find myself being the practical wife and mama, strategizing how to stuff our suitcases with just the right essentials to enable us to hit the ground running (physically and emotionally) upon our arrival.   I’ve seen “bed in a bag” sets at the store, but how to pack “home in a suitcase?”

The Lord, in His kindness, gave us a head start.  Last summer we took down 4 large tote’s worth of sheets, socks, skivvies, books, and other basics to store at the Home for our upcoming launch this August.  Given our family’s fondness for tasty sustenance and my heart for hospitality, outfitting the kitchen has been getting the lion’s share of my attention.  Good food at an inviting table is home in a nutshell to me.

Costa Rica’s tile floors have a knack for shattering glass and pottery, so this plastic tableware above is a gift of grace for our bouncy crew, with a pattern pretty enough to make the endless dish washing more interesting.

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Of all the bags we packed, this one was my favorite.  Tropical kitchens have sparkling critter potential. Grocery stores there sell many items in small individually wrapped packages for protection against the humidity.  These canisters are going to be my go-to for making the most of our cabinet space while keeping our food all safe and cozy.

What’s the significance of all this plastic?  Cinnamon rolls and homemade bread coming out of the oven, beckoning in the neighbors.  Breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks shared over school lessons and silly stories.  Peaceful organization and future grocery hauls.  A bit of worldly treasure marking the spot on the map where the Lord has planted our hearts.  Home.

My Inner Bilbo

“. . .it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”  J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

As Bilbo made his dash to join the adventuring dwarves and lose his reputation of being respectfully predictable, one of his first laments was missing his pocket-handkerchiefs.  I have enjoyed the humor of that little scene recently as I made a batch of them for our family to try out.   Inspired by a friend’s table and hankering for a bit of sewing, I’ve become interested in making everyday cloth napkins for our family.  Considering my abundance of narrow quilting remnants, I decided to start on a smaller scale with some hankies.  (We like them, but I won’t go into the blow-by-blow.)

Making something useful out of something that I already had–and wasn’t using–is always a personal joy, but there’s been more to this project than wiping kissers and sneezers.  A sense of home.  A new family tradition.  In this time of releasing so much of our family’s way of doing life, my heart is hungry to tuck another feather in the nest we are making in Costa Rica.  Like Bilbo, I enjoy my comfort.  Yes, I am glad we won’t have to buy paper napkins and as many tissues in the future, or send our landfills another offering.  But mostly I think of meals that we will eat, conversations shared, and prayers made over that cloth for years to come.  When we move from our home of 7 years to an apartment in San Jose for 8-10 months of language school, and later to a rental house in Atenas to serve at the Home of Life, they will lay on the table as a thread of continuity.  A little luxury speaking the truth that the life our family shares is not defined by the space we share it in.

Today I spent some of my Christmas money on yards of beautiful fabric, a peaceful swirl of blues and greens for most days, a black print for spaghetti dinners.  And as we continue to move through the next few months letting go of what doesn’t fit with our calling, I will be stitching on the background for new memories.  I’m channeling my inner Bilbo, fluffing up my faith to set out upon this journey, and tucking away a little comfort for the road.

Photograph and a Tutorial on Napkin Making at Blissfully Content.

The Language of Laundry

Laundry with a ViewIn the states, laundry happens in a small (often windowless) room or closet whenever one can spare the moment to flip the load into a machine for washing or drying.  Costa Rica has washing machines  (praise the Lord!) and dryers, too.  Electricity is so expensive, however, that colorfully decked-out clotheslines decorate everyone’s open spaces.  Washing machines are often situated under awnings in open back patios.  This summer I got to pretreat and sort within view of rolling hills and (hopefully) clear skies.   The washing machine emptied its rinse water into the nearby sink and delighted my children by making enormous “sud cakes.”

The language of Laundry is spoken often in Costa Rica because of the warm weather and easy access to dirt, but it is spoken in terms of sunshine and warm breezes, limited only by afternoon rains, line space, and the number of clothespins you own.  In Costa Rica, joy, and laundry, come in the morning.

Introducing “1000 Words” Posts

I’m usually pretty capable of cranking out 1,000 words at any given moment. My husband will verify this, especially at bedtime when he’s drifting off. Whether those slurries of words are of interest to people outside of marriage vows (and sometimes even in them) is another story.  I would like to start a new feature here on TheGoodNewsFamily to make it easier for me to share my heart for our global launch to serve at the Home of Life in Costa Rica.  A picture is said to be worth that much in verbiage, sometimes even more.  Please enjoy a few of my favorites and the (brief) reasons why.

Coming Home to Cabin 5

Our home for 5 weeks this summer.  There is a beauty to doing life in a small house when you are surrounded by glorious weather (I even love the rain) and warm people.  Itty bitty living space, phenomenal cosmic life.

Every morning of our stay, the skyline above was the breathtaking view from the rocking chairs on our front porch.  Cue the symphony of birdsong, crickets, and gecko chirps, pour the coffee, and breathe in the presence of the Lord.  Blessings!