You Might Just...

If you realize all of sudden that your little guy has been very quiet for the last little while, and you further realize that he has gone into your bedroom and shut the door, you might just be wise to investigate. And when you investigate, you might just find... And the worst part is that might just find that there is not only marker all over your little guy's arm, but also over his shirt, the sheets, and the pillowcase. So at such times, you might just have to look up some pictures of sweeter moments, and thank God for giving you a little guy that is healthy, active, mischevious, and all boy. And, you might just have to pray for endurance and longsuffering in the same breath.

Sweeter Moments

Sunday School at Paraiso

What Would YOU Do?

Our trash gets picked up twice a week here in Costa Rica. Usually the garbage truck comes very early in the morning, so most of the time I set our trash out the night before. Tonight I set our trash out at a little after 9:00. At about 11:15, I went outside and took this picture. You might think, "Ahh, those pesky dogs got into the poor missionary's trash." Wrong! Missy looked out of our apartment window not long before I went out to take a picture and clean up the mess, and there was a man rooting through our trash trying to find some goodies. So you might think, "Ahhh, that's disgusting!" And yes, it is disgusting, but it is also a sad reality of life down here in Costa Rica. Even though we are living and a wealthier neighborhood while we are attending language school, there a still plenty of homeless people roaming the streets just trying to survive.

Now, I'm going to ask you a thought-provoking question. If you were a missionary here and some down-and-out looking person came to your door begging for money, what would you do? You could give a monetary gift, but it very possibly would go towards beer or drugs. I once gave an old man some money after he told me than he was going to run up to the bakery to get some bread. Just a few minutes later, he came walking back down the other side of the street, heading the opposite direction of the bakery. There was NO way that he had time to make it to the bakery and back.

OK, so money might not be the best option. What if they ask for a tube of toothpaste and a bar of soap. We gave a man those items one day, only to be told a couple of days later that people will habitually ask for things like that, and then either sell them to buy drugs or just trade them outright for drugs.

OK, so toiletry items don't make a good option either. But food is always a good option, right? We were told that one beggar was given a nice bowl of soup from a home, and the guy took a couple of steps, turned around, swore, and through the soup on the ground right in front of the lady that gave it to him. One day a man came to our gate asking for food. He was very specific, asking for either a canned item or something in a plastic container. When I gave him a bag with some bread and cookies, he looked very upset. Guess what? People take food and either sell it to buy drugs or just trade it for drugs outright.

OK, so what would you do if you were the missionary and someone came knocking at your gate asking for money, food, or other items? We have to make those decisions all the time.

Language School: Devin's Day Care

Devin's Teachers, Stephanie and Samantha

There are eleven children in Devin's class, and all of them are two years old.

How to Use an ATM (In Honor of My Mother-In-Law)

MALE PROCEDURE:
1. Drive up to the cash machine.
2. Put down your car window.
3. Insert card into machine and enter PIN.
4. Enter amount of cash required and withdraw.
5. Retrieve card, cash and receipt.
6. Put window up.
7. Drive off.



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FEMALE PROCEDURE:
What is really funny is that most of this part is the Truth.!!!!


1. Drive up to cash machine.
2. Reverse and back up the required amount to align car window with the machine.
3. Set parking brake, put the window down.
4. Find handbag, remove all contents on to passenger seat to locate card.
5. Tell person on cell phone you will call them back and hang up.
6. Attempt to insert card into machine.
7. Open car door to allow easier access to machine due to its excessive distance from the car.
8. Insert card.
9. Re-insert card the right way.
10. Dig through handbag to find diary with your PIN written on the inside back page.
11. Enter PIN.
12. Press cancel and re-enter correct PIN.
13. Enter amount of cash required.
14. Check makeup in rear view mirror.
15. Retrieve cash and receipt.
16. Empty handbag again to locate wallet and place cash inside.
17. Write debit amount in check register and place receipt in back of checkbook.
18. Re-check makeup.
19. Drive forward 2 feet.
20. Reverse back to cash machine.
21. Retrieve card.
22. Re-empty hand bag, locate card holder, and place card into the slot provided!
23. Give dirty look to irate male driver waiting behind you.
24. Restart stalled engine and pull off.
25. Redial person on cell phone.
26. Drive for 2 to 3 miles.
27. Release Parking Brake.

A Good Sunday

Thank the Lord for a good Sunday. We attended our church in the capital, and God was present and working. A couple had come to the church an hour before service time and had wanted to talk to the pastor. They had told him that they really wanted to get their lives straightened out, and during the service they prayed to get saved!

Right after the service was over, a drunk came to the church. The pastor talked to him first and prayed with him, and then the man wanted to talk to me. John was definitely drunk, but he was at least partly with it. One thing that stuck out to me was that although he was drunk, he did not have the appearance of a bum. John told me that he is a mechanic and owns a shop right down the street from the church. He said that he has money, but that he is not happy. I was able to share with him the only true Reason for happiness, and he really took it all in. At the end he really hugged me, and he asked for my phone number. He said that he wants to start attending our church, and the he wants to be my friend. We have his number as well, and the Lord willing we will be able to build a relationship with John. Please pray for this man. Sometimes it is hard to interpret a situation like that, but I do know that God specializes in hard cases.

Unfortunately we didn't have our camera with us this morning, so I can't share pictures of John or the couple who got saved. I guess I will just have to post a random picture of our little man instead.

Armed Robbery and the Great Shampoo Heist

This afternoon I was playing with Devin outside in our gated garage area. I saw a taxi drive by slowly, but didn't think anything of it. I also noticed a well dressed man standing at an apartment halfway up our block. All of a sudden I saw a young guy come around the corner of our block and start hurrying up our street. As soon as I saw him, I knew that something didn't feel right about the whole situation. Sure enough, the young guy went running up to the business man, pulled a pistol out of his pants, cocked it, and started hollering at the man! After doing a little jig, the man handed over his cell phone and wallet. The thug started running back down the street, and I quickly pulled Devin inside the house. As the guy ran by our apartment, we made eye contact. I stared him down, and he quickly pulled the hoodie of his jacket up over his head. Then the robber looked back up the street and noticed that the man he had just robbed was coming after him! The robber started swearing and hollering at the man to turn around and go back. By this time Missy was with me at our door, and we watched as the robber lifted his jacket and started to pull out his gun again, and then turned, ran around the corner, and jumped into the waiting "taxi." The whole time the getaway car and driver had been sitting just two blocks down the road from the police station in plain view. The victim ran down in time to get a description of the car, which was a fake taxi, then came running over to us and asked to borrow our phone to call 911. In a little while a police van pulled up, saw us outside, and stopped to talk to us. They then went and talked to the victim. Throughout the rest of the day we saw a lot of police vehicles cruising around, but I doubt that the robbers were caught. This was the first armed robbery that I have witnessed, and it was rather scary, especially since it happened in the middle of the afternoon in our "quiet" neighborhood just two blocks from the police station.

A police van sits right up the street from us where the robbery took place.

However, that is not all the excitement that we have had within the last 24 hours. Last night, two of our bottles of shampoo were stolen. Here is what happened...

In the middle of the night, someone climbs over our gate (I doubt that they climbed over the wall pictured below, which is our northern boundary). These gates are probably close to 10 feet tall, but that is no problem.



The robber opens our bathroom window (which we had left cracked open for ventilation) perhaps standing on the water faucet (since most Costa Ricans are short).

The robber reaches through the window and begins to take bottles of shampoo of the windowsill.

Ooops! The robber knocks one of the bottles of shampoo onto the shower floor. Although it didn't wake us up, we hope that it scared the tar out of him. The robber no doubt goes flying back over the fence, and we continue to sleep peacefully.

Missy gets up at around 4:30, sees the fallen and the missing bottles, and after crawling into bed wakes me to tell me about it.

Both of us wonder why in the world someone would go to all that trouble for a little shampoo, but we are able to go back to sleep.

We wake up to get ready for school, and I run outside to take pictures for an exciting blog post.

We discuss whether we want to: 1) just start locking that window at night, 2) fill some more shampoo bottles with vegetable oil and put them back on the sill, or 3) leave a shampoo bottle up there with a tract taped to it.

After thinking about our options throughout the day, we decide to go with option 1.

Well, that has been our excitement for today. If you ever get too bored, come down and visit us.

Ear Infection

Please pray for Little Man, who has an ear infection. NOT FUN!!! And please pray for Little Man's mommy and daddy, who are feeling under the weather too.

Children's Museum

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We are having a three-day weekend due to the teachers having a convention or something, so yesterday we took Devin to a children's museum. It was a great museum, and it cost less than $5 for all of us to get in. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Language School: Our Teachers

Missy and I have been blessed with excellent teachers at our language school. They are all well qualified, but more importantly they take a genuine interest in their students.

Missy never knows what she will be doing in Francisco's grammar class. He is an awesome teacher who keeps class very creative and interesting. Students might have to teach a Sunday School class, illustrate a Bible story, or tell a parable. He has a great sense of humor too. She is very happy with him as a teacher and is learning a lot.

Anna is Missy's quiet language teacher.

Missy and I both have Dixiana for a teacher, although we are in different classes. Dixi pushes us hard and sometimes is tough, but it is for our own good.

And last but not least, Mecbell teaches my grammar class. She has a very outgoing personality and is a blast to be around. Our classes with her are never dull; no doubt those in surrounding classrooms can hear us dying laughing many times throughout the class period. This class is unique because all four of us students have a good Spanish background. We covered the first trimester of the grammar book in three weeks, and so we have a little extra time for some diversions.

OK, so these aren't teachers (thankfully), just two of my crazy classmates. Of course, I am always laid back, reserved, quiet, and quite mature. One nice thing about the language school is that they keep the classes small. The student body is well over 100, but many classes only have 3-5 students in them. These two girls are in both of my classes, and in this particular class I am the only guy in a room with these two and Dixiana. That's right, I can use some extra prayer.