I also had a chance to share in worship and fellowship this past week. I attended a 30-minute Prayer and Share at a couple's home in Santa Elena. I had talked with the couple earlier in the year as we were hoping to start a small group (much like what I am working on with the other family I spoke about in my previous post). One day I opened my email and saw an invitation to join in a community opportunity to share in meditation, prayer, bible readings and song. I was IN and made sure Mike was home by 5 p.m. that night so I could attend. The setting was beautiful, an intimate circle of chairs on their front porch overlooking the Gulf of Nicoya as the sun was setting. I was encouraged by the ten or so folks that attended and each of us shared how excited we were to have this opportunity for worship. We agreed to meet every two weeks! I am hopefull that we can pool our resources and work together to form a cohesive group and plan for a more structured and permanent worship program. Time will tell, but exciting none the less! I just got off the phone with a mom from the States that will accompany me this coming Thursday along with her two high-schoolers!
We had another busy weekend and spent most of it down in San Luis. We enjoyed Saturday at Gaudy's farm, Mike and Raul continued working on the greenhouse, while I helped Gaudy with her laundry and the boys gathered raspberries in the nearby mountains in hopes of making a yummy and refreshing Fresco!
You can see by these pics that Raul is handling the heavy-duty machinery and is an expert at tree-cutting - I'm sure Mike's time will come! The plot of land for the greenhouse is sectioned off, holes dug and corners squared! The cutting of lumber was quite the task. What a blessing it is to harvest wood from your own farm - a huge $ savings!
Late in the afternoon, we headed to a soccer field 10 minutes away with Raul, Gaudy and Laundry as Raul was eager to get Mike involved in a 'friendly' pick-up game of soccer! Friendly, well, that's debatable... boy some of those guys were pretty competitive, but I was proud of Mike for getting out there and showing his stuff! He even had a couple of bounces of the head and looked like a real pro. The younger boys enjoyed kicking around a ball on the sidelines, while I just kept my fingers crossed that Mike would survive with all his bones intact :) Survived he did, but several sore muscles and joints the next morning!
Sunday we headed to Lower San Luis to support a community fundraiser focused on raising funds for repairing the local cemetary. We arrived just in time to watch the Horse races...well sort of! Real cowboy country. Lots of cowboy hats, horses and 'yee haws'. It wasn't so much a race, but a practice of patience and precision as the cowboys were to try and thread a small stick through a clothespin (with a small loop on the end of it) strung up high above, across the road - all this, while riding a horse at full speed. YIKES. How anyone could hit a bullseye, I'll never know! The kids had fun and enjoyed refreshments and frolicking in the open fields in the late afternoon sun.
We had a lovely dinner this week with a couple from the Chicago area who found us through our blog. He is with the Peace Corps now and is stationed here in Monteverde for two years. His wife came into visit and we shared a really nice evening with the both of them. They were so thoughtful and brought puzzles and granola bars for the boys - perfect gifts if you know my boys! The kids were perfect hosts and so engaging...perhaps they are indeed growing up. We love to open up our house and share a meal, conversation and laughter. Please come visit!
We are excited to have harvested our first bunch of root vegetables from our garden (and I even cooked it up in a hearty soup/stew). I am enjoying cooking more and experimenting with all the local veggies.
I think this little creature speaks for itself. Don't even want to know where the boys found this one but Raul tells me some folks here in Costa Rica pay big bucks for the horns...just Gross!
Mike has been obsessed with catching the family of mice that have made themselves at home in our third bathroom. Once my head hits the pillow, I am out, but the scratching and running through the wood panel walls seems to keep Mike awake for hours. We are using some live-traps and have successfully captured four of the little critters this week. The boys have delighted in helping dad deposit them at the edge of the pasture to continue their life. Okay, they're sort of cute!
Mike is busy planning a school trip in the coming weeks and I am heads-down coordinating the April 2nd Walkathon!
Thanks to all who have sponsored me so far, I a may run the 13K after all as I've been running with Raul every day this week. He is kicking my butt and really pushing me and I continually have to remind him that he is 20 years my junior :)
We hope to run a race together before the end of the school year.
Peace,
Signed: S
No comments:
Post a Comment