Unfortunately, I don’t have my cable to download my pictures, so you won’t get to see the rainbows just yet. But I can tell you that if you come to Costa Rica in the rainy season (June through December), and you plan to be at any altitude whatsoever, bring clothes that will keep you warm and dry. We landed Monday, it’s now Saturday, and we’ve yet to see the sun or a temperature much above 60. Of course, we have been at 4500 feet above sea level, but who knew? I have only one thin wind breaker and no long sleeve shirts. BRRRRRRRR! You’d think this close to the equator you’d be warm! Praise God for the stocking hat that happened to be in my bag!
One day we did see the most incredible rainbow I’ve ever seen. Tara takes issue with that, however, and says that there was one we saw in Hawaii that beat it. There will not be resolution on this argument, however, except to agree to disagree.
God moves in so many ways. Just when you think you have it all figured out as to why things have happened, God shows you yet another facet of His plan. It is amazing that we came to Costa Rica. It all happened in about a 3-week time span. A YWAM friend of ours, Andy Huddleston, had a relationship with a base in Costa Rica and had mentioned that. Another YWAM friend, John Ray, connected us with a family that works in Costa Rica with the San Jose, Costa Rica base. Tara stuck putty on the back of a map while praying about where we should go and, even though she thought it silly, looked at where the putty was by flipping over the map and it was square in Costa Rica. Tanner found an old card he had made for Tara and me in 2006, in which he wrote about us traveling around the world to different places. In that note he named three specific places, including what other than Costa Rica. I can tell you we never have thought of going to Costa Rica – at least not that I can recall or with any particular seriousness. So, then, when we discovered that we had a small window of time during which we could go in 2008, and that it coincided with a big YWAM conference in Costa Rica, we felt like we had to go. So go we did.
We came to scout out a possible location for a short-term outreach in 2009. Because of the conference, we were able to connect with not just one or two locations during our 10 days here, but at least 10 locations! Not only that, much to our surprise, Loren Cunningham, YWAM’s Founder, announced our presence and our desire to do family ministries and outreaches, to the entire group of 300 attendees. Later we even met with both Loren and David Hamilton, another YWAM leader and speaker at the conference. God clearly brought us here and made things happen well beyond our own ability. It is so fun to see how the testing of our faith (believing we heard to come to Costa Rica and then seeing the results) produces such fruit!
At the same time we called home via Skype the first opportunity we had. What was Regan’s, our four year old daughter, first words to us? “How many more sleeps until you come home?” Sigh.
I am currently sitting on a porch at the YWAM Heredia base, with goose bumps, and with a sweet and beautiful female boxer at my side. My knee is pushed into a seemingly immoveable foosball table, as I squeeze into the least breezy part of the porch, spiders and webs 6 inches from my head. The rain has fallen for 6 straight days and continues to gently cascade down through the hundreds of cypress trees that stand towering all around me. It’s very peaceful and picturesque, minus the chill bumps and cold knuckles that remind me that I can’t completely rest. Oh, and then when the wind picks up and the tin roof rattles, the tarpulins covering the lumber and tents flap, and the trees begin talking, things can get a bit uneasy.
I am reminded that I am getting older as the cold, damp weather continues to feed my chest cold and exacerbate my aches, but praise the Lord it can’t dampen my Spirit! God has amazingly provided for us and paved our path so smoothly and clearly.
Oh, did I say that we also experienced our fourth major earthquake in three different countries (6.2 on the Richter Scale)? Yes, there was that, too. 12:15 a.m. God seems to speak to us through earthquakes and rainbows. Rainbows we like; earthquakes… well, we are getting used to them. Having grown up in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Florida (between Tara and I both), earthquakes just weren’t a part of life. Beds shaking aren’t supposed to be caused by anything other than humans in our minds.
We have much to pray about and much to do. Thank you for your prayers and support.
We miss you Tanner, Keaton, and Regan!!! I wish we could have seen you swim. I wish we were cooking breakfast together. I wish we were all reading together! Not much longer now. Just four more sleeps. We love you.