We are here! We left yesterday at 9am from EWO and headed to Chicago. We were suppose to fly out at 2:55 but it ended up delayed and we didn't fly out til after 4pm. We flew into Mexico City and just barely made the flight the next flight to Costa. There was a bad storm in Costa and they were concerned with landing. They waited for clearance and if we couldn't get it we would be flying on to Panama...thank God that we got clearance to land in Costa. I was shocked that our actual air time was around 6 hours! We arrived around midnight but due to our delayed flight, 10 of our bags remain in Mexico City. Some of these are personal but most of them are our ministry items - including the tools and supplies needed for our eye clinics! Please be in prayer that they arrive today. We were told they will come on a flight tonight and arrive at midnight (they only have one flight from Mexico City to Costa and it's the 9pm flight). Pray, pray, pray!! Mark said he's never had a team come and not have bags missing, so he is experienced with this.
We got to bed around 2am. I am rooming with 3 other girls - we have a bunk bed and then a full size bed and also a bathroom in our room. It is much nicer than I expected. I will post pictures later. I took a freezing cold shower this morning and we can't flush toilet paper though! So thankful I had a nice bed to sleep in!
Since we don't have our supplies we are going to do some fun things this morning. We already did some planning things for the week this morning and our praying hard for our bags with our ministry items to arrive. We were suppose to do an eye clinic this afternoon and as of 8am we called to reschedule for tomorrow. Mark said at 8am there were already people standing in line waiting for the eye clinic that wasn't suppose to start until 1! There are 40,000 people that live there and have never gotten their eyes checked. That makes me so sad. Excited to see what God is up to!!
I obviously have internet access and they even have a phone that I can use for free! We are way blessed~
Today we are going to Los Guido to have fun with some kids. We are doing some fun water slide/slip and slide with them! We are celebrating Bethany's birthday today in La Finca. We will be breaking eggs over her head - this is a tradition - the number of eggs depends on your age. Bethany is serving here for the next 9 months from our church. Pictures later!!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Update on Costa Rica
There is not much to report on Costa Rica at this time but things are getting crazy around here as we gear up to leave on Friday. I had my last song practice this morning with the other girl I am singing with. The song seems really pulled together and we are ready to sing it. We have been preparing a video to have playing while singing it with the lyrics to the song in Spanish going along with it. Once it is complete, I will post it on here so that you can see it.
I thought I would just post a short itenerary on here of what we will be doing each day. If you can remember to pray for us each day, that would be wonderful!! I would like to try and post to the blog each day but I am just not sure I will have time or access to do this. But I was told the missionaries that we are staying with will be updating their site. The website address is http://www.kuzdas.com/. Click on Team Reports at the top of the page and click East White Oak. I took a look at it and they already have some info out their for our arrival so I am confident they will be good at updating it! Please note that Costa Rica is one hour AHEAD of us!
Here is our somewhat tentative schedule:
Friday June 10th
I thought I would just post a short itenerary on here of what we will be doing each day. If you can remember to pray for us each day, that would be wonderful!! I would like to try and post to the blog each day but I am just not sure I will have time or access to do this. But I was told the missionaries that we are staying with will be updating their site. The website address is http://www.kuzdas.com/. Click on Team Reports at the top of the page and click East White Oak. I took a look at it and they already have some info out their for our arrival so I am confident they will be good at updating it! Please note that Costa Rica is one hour AHEAD of us!
Here is our somewhat tentative schedule:
Friday June 10th
- Arrive at church at 10:30 to leave for O'Hare for the 2:55pm flight. Arrive in San Jose at 11:45pm!
- Clinic prep set up in LaFinca for eye care clinic to start Sunday
- Survey of the work site and planning for work week - for wall building project
- Spend time with student leadership team in Costa Rica
- Children's Club - run by the student team leadership
- Church service in Los Guido
- Eye clinic held at La Finca (mostly adults for this one)
- Work teams in LaFinca all day for building wall project
- Eye Clinic in the grade school in the am (will see 300-400 children)
- Buffet lunch with teachers in the school (will provide supplies and things needed for them to do their jobs)
- Eye Clinic in the grade school in the pm (will see 300-400 children)
- Work teams in LaFinca all day for building wall project
- Eye Clinic in another grade school in the am (will see 300-400 children)
- Buffet lunch with teachers (will provide supplies and other things the teachers need to do their jobs)
- Eye Clinic in grade school in the pm (will see 300-400 children)
- Work teams in LaFinca all day for building wall project
- La Carpio Day: share gospel in new areas (distribute toiletries or food, etc). From what I hear this is a dangerous area! Prayers for us please!
- Same as Wednesday
- Women's Outreach lunch in La Carpio
- Free/fun day - white water rafting and zip lining
- Return home - leave around 4:30am for a 7am flight from San Jose. Wont be back to Chicago until 10pm! Long day!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Update 4 on Doula-hood and Costa Rica
Doula-hood
Over the weekend, I had the priviledge of attending the final birth for my doula certificate. It was a 3 day process and a great experience for me on this road to doula-hood. This past week I had a name contest going on facebook. I will update you soon on the outcome of this and when my certificate arrives! Very excited to have this complete!!
As always, birth is an amazing process and experience. Each time I head to the hosptial, I am reminded of my own birth experiences. Watching a new mom and dad to be and their excitement and emotions, brings me closer to my own husband. Seeing a baby be born, draws me closer to my own children as well. It is such a neat experience that I can't even describe it.
Costa Rica
In order to save me some time, I am just going to copy the email update that I sent to some friends and family this moring on Costa Rica. You may have recieved the email already but I didn't have everyone's email address. In addition to this info, on Sunday June 5th during the first service, our Costa Rica team will have it's commissioning. Not sure exactly what this means, but am guessing it will be some prayer and discussion around our upcoming trip.
I wanted to give you an update on Costa as we prepare to leave in a little over 2 weeks! I want to thank you all for your encouraging words, prayers, offer of help, and contributions towards the trip! They mean so much to me and are very much needed! I was able to raise almost $3000 (including my own contribution) - praise the Lord! This covers my expenses and the surplus of funds will go to the wall building project and other team members who were finding it difficult to raise funds. I am thankful that there doesn't seem to be alot of preparing left so now I can spend my time mentally and prayerfully preparing, getting things ready around home, and spending good quality time with my family!
What will I be doing on the trip? First off, I will be helping with the eye care clinic. We will be heading into a couple of schools and pulling classrooms of children out at a time to have their eyes checked (probably for the first time ever). During their time waiting in line, we will be sharing the gospel with these little children via salvation bracelets that they will construct while in line (with the help of an interpreter). During these days, we are providing a buffet style lunch for the teachers that work there and sharing the gospel with them. We have prepared tote bags for them which will contain some supplies they need to do their jobs better!
Secondly, I am planning the ladies luncheon which will take place that Thursday afternoon (the 16th). It is predicted that around 100 ladies will be there with 3/4's of them being unsaved! We are currently working on a devotion and believe it or not, I am singing a duet which will hopefully minister to the ladies! (Hopefully after hearing me they won't decide to leave!) The song we are singing is Glorious Day (Living He loved Me) by Casting Crowns (see lyrics and listen to song here: http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/casting-crowns-lyrics/glorious-day-(living-he-loved-me)-lyrics.html). I just found out last night that we are also singing the song at church this summer (not sure on the date but possibly July 10th)...and by the way, sweating and feeling sick as I write this (terrified of singing in public).
Lastly, I will be helping with some other things like the teen dinner (serving food mainly) and other items like that. We do have a free day in which I was told we are going zip lining and white water rafting (another terrifying thing for me! - see, the Lord is at work in me).
If I could just ask for some prayers surrounding the trip. They are as follows:
I continue to welcome your thoughts, advice, prayers and encouraging words! I need them more than any monetary contribution! I will try to update the blog while I am away but just not sure how accessible the internet will be.
Over the weekend, I had the priviledge of attending the final birth for my doula certificate. It was a 3 day process and a great experience for me on this road to doula-hood. This past week I had a name contest going on facebook. I will update you soon on the outcome of this and when my certificate arrives! Very excited to have this complete!!
As always, birth is an amazing process and experience. Each time I head to the hosptial, I am reminded of my own birth experiences. Watching a new mom and dad to be and their excitement and emotions, brings me closer to my own husband. Seeing a baby be born, draws me closer to my own children as well. It is such a neat experience that I can't even describe it.
Costa Rica
In order to save me some time, I am just going to copy the email update that I sent to some friends and family this moring on Costa Rica. You may have recieved the email already but I didn't have everyone's email address. In addition to this info, on Sunday June 5th during the first service, our Costa Rica team will have it's commissioning. Not sure exactly what this means, but am guessing it will be some prayer and discussion around our upcoming trip.
I wanted to give you an update on Costa as we prepare to leave in a little over 2 weeks! I want to thank you all for your encouraging words, prayers, offer of help, and contributions towards the trip! They mean so much to me and are very much needed! I was able to raise almost $3000 (including my own contribution) - praise the Lord! This covers my expenses and the surplus of funds will go to the wall building project and other team members who were finding it difficult to raise funds. I am thankful that there doesn't seem to be alot of preparing left so now I can spend my time mentally and prayerfully preparing, getting things ready around home, and spending good quality time with my family!
What will I be doing on the trip? First off, I will be helping with the eye care clinic. We will be heading into a couple of schools and pulling classrooms of children out at a time to have their eyes checked (probably for the first time ever). During their time waiting in line, we will be sharing the gospel with these little children via salvation bracelets that they will construct while in line (with the help of an interpreter). During these days, we are providing a buffet style lunch for the teachers that work there and sharing the gospel with them. We have prepared tote bags for them which will contain some supplies they need to do their jobs better!
Secondly, I am planning the ladies luncheon which will take place that Thursday afternoon (the 16th). It is predicted that around 100 ladies will be there with 3/4's of them being unsaved! We are currently working on a devotion and believe it or not, I am singing a duet which will hopefully minister to the ladies! (Hopefully after hearing me they won't decide to leave!) The song we are singing is Glorious Day (Living He loved Me) by Casting Crowns (see lyrics and listen to song here: http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/casting-crowns-lyrics/glorious-day-(living-he-loved-me)-lyrics.html). I just found out last night that we are also singing the song at church this summer (not sure on the date but possibly July 10th)...and by the way, sweating and feeling sick as I write this (terrified of singing in public).
Lastly, I will be helping with some other things like the teen dinner (serving food mainly) and other items like that. We do have a free day in which I was told we are going zip lining and white water rafting (another terrifying thing for me! - see, the Lord is at work in me).
If I could just ask for some prayers surrounding the trip. They are as follows:
- Safety - for travels and while there
- Order and detailed the next couple of weeks as we prepare and while there
- My emotions as I leave and while gone. I know that I will miss my family terribly. This is the longest I will have been away from my kids and husband at the same time. Give me peace that they are well taken care of and they aren't too sad. Make the time go fast for me so that I don't think about it too much.
- Courage and a good singing voice. I'll tell you that when I decided to go on this trip, the last thing I thought I would be doing is singing. I use to sing a lot on stage and in competition type settings but I let my fear of it overtake me and I stopped doing it. Over the past couple of years, I felt the Lord calling me back to it but I have been very hesitant and disobedient, because of fear. I know the Lord is asking me to trust Him during this time, but still feeling like "why me?" since honestly there are way better singers out there than I! I am seriously crying as I write this because I am petrified!!! We have been practicing and it was been going very well. I am finally believing that I am not tone deaf. My biggest fear is that I am tone deaf and no one has told me yet!! But I am thinking in this case since I am singing with someone, she would want me to know! As we practice and my parter is giving me encouragement, I am feeling more confident.
- That we will see many come to know the Lord and that He will be glorified through all of it. We know that this is the most important thing out of all these bullets, even if that means I totally destroy the song!
I continue to welcome your thoughts, advice, prayers and encouraging words! I need them more than any monetary contribution! I will try to update the blog while I am away but just not sure how accessible the internet will be.
St Louis
On Mother's Day we left for St Louis to take the kids on a little "long" weekend away. The hotel had a pool which the kids loved! We went to this Incredible Pizza place which had mini bowling lanes for kids. So we spent some time teaching the kids to bowl. It was a lot of fun.
Reece's last day of school
Reece's last day of school was last Thursday. They had a fun swim and pizza party. We got to watch a video of pictures and stuff from throughout the year. Each child got to take a copy home as well as a disc of pictures that were taken only of her throught the year. What a great keepsake for her! I highly recommend Normal West's pre-school program. If you want more info on it, please let me know.
Each preschool class has their own section on the walls of the room where they get to put their hand prints and put their name on the wall. She's forever stamped on the walls of Normal West!
Reece and her classmates and some of her teachers.
Mother's Day weekend
On Mother's Day weekend, we had a mother/daughter brunch at our church. It was fun to sit with my mother in law and sisters in law with their mother in laws...confusing!!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Pray me through
There has been this situation/area in my life that I have struggled with for several years now. I am not going to go into too much detail here because I don't want to cause anyone to stumble and I don't want to hurt anyone. Few of you would know about it but if you don't, I am open to talking about more offline if you geniunely want to know and pray for me.
It's one of those situations that in the scheme of things really shouldn't matter but for some reason, it always rears it's head and hurts me to the core. It will be okay for awhile and I think I can deal, but once in awhile it peaks and I just feel so hurt over it. God always reminds me during this time that I place too much of my faith in people and in things instead of looking to Him to fulfill me. I struggle with this so much. I know that He is with me and is doing big things in my life, but sometimes I just need the quality time and love from people. I feel bad even saying that...is that selfish? Shouldn't He be all that I need? I can't help but think about if I was truly alone in this world - no friends...no family...would I then fully rely on Him? I am reminded to be thankful for what I have and to go to Him for comfort.
The last month or so it has really been bothering me. I know most of it is Satan just trying to drag me down. Even facebook has been a root to some of the problem. So much that I have thought seriously about deleting my account. I mean if you look at some of the benefits and losses of facebook, there's hardly a competition between the two. Some benefits might be you gain access to new and old friends; possibly gain information that you may not have otherwise (items for sell, inspiring quotes, events going on). But when you look at the losses...loss of time (it's addicting, you know?), loss of friends, unwanted/hurtful comments, temptation, lack of comments (maybe as opposed to others), competition, etc. I really don't even tell anyone happy birthday anymore (just family) as I am afraid I will forget to do it for someone else and make them feel bad...maybe I am just sensitive. I guess the reason I bring facebook into it, as that lately it has been the cause of some of my hurt feelings over this area/situation in my life. See how Satan uses these things??
Last night I was truly broken over the situation. I went in the office to cry as I didn't want my husband to see! :) I reached for my bible to find some truth but I keep it in the living room right next to the chair he was sitting in. So I looked in my "library" of books in the office knowing I had bibles in there somewhere. My eyes were immediately drawn to my first "real" bible. It was the bible I was given when I graduated 5th grade. It was given to me by my old church where I grew up and has my name engraved on it. The binding is broken and pages are falling out. I flipped to the back of the bible in hopes to find some verses on peace. I begged God to show my why this situation hurts so much. Why do I get so brought down by it? I was actually getting angry that it has gone on so long and that I have tried so hard to understand it. I begged God to show what He was doing in this situation. I know He is up to something in it, but why is it taking so long for me to undertand it??!! Maybe it's not for me to understand...maybe it's working on someone else...maybe I'll never know in this life. I don't know...all I know is that I am frustrated. So I looked under peace and saw a reference to Isaiah. As I started flipping to Isaiah, a post it note fell out and had these two references on it Jer 29:11 and Jer 33:3. Not sure what I was going through at the time I wrote these down, but felt these were written for exactly what I was going through now (even though I know these were written down a long time ago).
Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know".
By this time, I'm sobbing and it can no longer be hidden from my husband (oh, darn! :). I am so thankful that God reminds me to seek Him out for truth. What a blessing it was to read those words and know that they are true and for me. He does have a plan in the situation...and He will not harm me in the process....only prosper me and give me hope and a future. It is so good to know that I can call out to Him and He will give me the answer I need...even to these unsearchable items that I just can't seem to put my finger on. I can't do it without Him.
I wrote this to be an encouragement to you! I hope you can find some out of this somewhat depressing post. I beg for more prayer surrounding this area in my life. I love the new song by Sixteen Cities "Pray you Through".
The walls are closing in
You feel alone, you feel afraid
Your heart begins to bend
You take a breath and then
It starts to break
Chorus:
I'm all out of words
There's nothing I could say to you
To take away the hurt
So let me pray you through
Let me pray you through
So lift your shaking hands
Don't say a word
I'll stay with you
The tears will heal the pain
You shouldn't be ashamed
To come undone
Chorus:
I'm all out of words
There's nothing I could say to you
[ From : http://www.elyrics.net/read/s/sixteen-cities-lyrics/pray-you-through-lyrics-18.html ]
To take away the hurt
So let me pray you through
Let me pray you through
Fall down
And let me carry you
I'll carry you
Chorus:
I'm all out of words
There's nothing I could say to you
To take away the hurt
So let me pray you through
Chorus:
I'm all out of words
There's nothing I could say to you
To take away the hurt
So let me pray you through
Let me pray you through
Let me pray you through
Let me pray you through
Let me pray you through
It's one of those situations that in the scheme of things really shouldn't matter but for some reason, it always rears it's head and hurts me to the core. It will be okay for awhile and I think I can deal, but once in awhile it peaks and I just feel so hurt over it. God always reminds me during this time that I place too much of my faith in people and in things instead of looking to Him to fulfill me. I struggle with this so much. I know that He is with me and is doing big things in my life, but sometimes I just need the quality time and love from people. I feel bad even saying that...is that selfish? Shouldn't He be all that I need? I can't help but think about if I was truly alone in this world - no friends...no family...would I then fully rely on Him? I am reminded to be thankful for what I have and to go to Him for comfort.
The last month or so it has really been bothering me. I know most of it is Satan just trying to drag me down. Even facebook has been a root to some of the problem. So much that I have thought seriously about deleting my account. I mean if you look at some of the benefits and losses of facebook, there's hardly a competition between the two. Some benefits might be you gain access to new and old friends; possibly gain information that you may not have otherwise (items for sell, inspiring quotes, events going on). But when you look at the losses...loss of time (it's addicting, you know?), loss of friends, unwanted/hurtful comments, temptation, lack of comments (maybe as opposed to others), competition, etc. I really don't even tell anyone happy birthday anymore (just family) as I am afraid I will forget to do it for someone else and make them feel bad...maybe I am just sensitive. I guess the reason I bring facebook into it, as that lately it has been the cause of some of my hurt feelings over this area/situation in my life. See how Satan uses these things??
Last night I was truly broken over the situation. I went in the office to cry as I didn't want my husband to see! :) I reached for my bible to find some truth but I keep it in the living room right next to the chair he was sitting in. So I looked in my "library" of books in the office knowing I had bibles in there somewhere. My eyes were immediately drawn to my first "real" bible. It was the bible I was given when I graduated 5th grade. It was given to me by my old church where I grew up and has my name engraved on it. The binding is broken and pages are falling out. I flipped to the back of the bible in hopes to find some verses on peace. I begged God to show my why this situation hurts so much. Why do I get so brought down by it? I was actually getting angry that it has gone on so long and that I have tried so hard to understand it. I begged God to show what He was doing in this situation. I know He is up to something in it, but why is it taking so long for me to undertand it??!! Maybe it's not for me to understand...maybe it's working on someone else...maybe I'll never know in this life. I don't know...all I know is that I am frustrated. So I looked under peace and saw a reference to Isaiah. As I started flipping to Isaiah, a post it note fell out and had these two references on it Jer 29:11 and Jer 33:3. Not sure what I was going through at the time I wrote these down, but felt these were written for exactly what I was going through now (even though I know these were written down a long time ago).
Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know".
By this time, I'm sobbing and it can no longer be hidden from my husband (oh, darn! :). I am so thankful that God reminds me to seek Him out for truth. What a blessing it was to read those words and know that they are true and for me. He does have a plan in the situation...and He will not harm me in the process....only prosper me and give me hope and a future. It is so good to know that I can call out to Him and He will give me the answer I need...even to these unsearchable items that I just can't seem to put my finger on. I can't do it without Him.
I wrote this to be an encouragement to you! I hope you can find some out of this somewhat depressing post. I beg for more prayer surrounding this area in my life. I love the new song by Sixteen Cities "Pray you Through".
The walls are closing in
You feel alone, you feel afraid
Your heart begins to bend
You take a breath and then
It starts to break
Chorus:
I'm all out of words
There's nothing I could say to you
To take away the hurt
So let me pray you through
Let me pray you through
So lift your shaking hands
Don't say a word
I'll stay with you
The tears will heal the pain
You shouldn't be ashamed
To come undone
Chorus:
I'm all out of words
There's nothing I could say to you
[ From : http://www.elyrics.net/read/s/sixteen-cities-lyrics/pray-you-through-lyrics-18.html ]
To take away the hurt
So let me pray you through
Let me pray you through
Fall down
And let me carry you
I'll carry you
Chorus:
I'm all out of words
There's nothing I could say to you
To take away the hurt
So let me pray you through
Chorus:
I'm all out of words
There's nothing I could say to you
To take away the hurt
So let me pray you through
Let me pray you through
Let me pray you through
Let me pray you through
Let me pray you through
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