A day at the cabin

Last Tuesday, our pastor and his wife invited us to their cabin for the day.  They visit there every Tuesday as a way of relaxing and getting away.  The moment it was brought up, I already started getting nervous.  Josh was of course his cool, collected self, but I on the other hand was just plain nervous.  Okay, i can carry on a conversation fairly well, but imagine an entire day of trying to put thoughts from an English brain into Spanish.  My brain gets tired.  Plus, it was our PASTOR.  We have loved getting to know the people in our church and are feeling more and more like we have a church home here also, not just back in the States.  So, needless to say, I wanted it to go well.  My prayer was for the Lord's peace and that He would give me words to say even when my brain was tired.  The day ended up being just wonderful.  We drove up there on a very precarious road which kinda reminded me of the roads in Haiti.  We drove up on this rustic, little cabin that they built themselves surrounded by dozens of fruit trees...lemon trees, mandarin orange trees, cas trees.  It was a very neat atmosphere.  We ended up just sitting most of the day and talking about everything we could think of.  We talked about the church in Costa Rica, about our desire to really take root in the church, about parenting and about life in general.  It was such a neat thing.  Pastor Javier is not only a pastor but also a psychologist (he volunteers at the orphanage where I also help out), so it was interesting to hear his perspective on things.  By the end of the day, somehow Josh was asked to consider being a part of the leadership of our church and to to give a presentation/devotional at the next meeting.  This is both exciting, and I'm sure a little scary for him.  So, you can be praying for him in the coming weeks.

There has also been a ton going on in our ministry.  Josh is currently at the Association of Christian Design Professionals volunteer conference.  He is teaching 4 courses on disaster response.  He spent alot of time in preparation for this conference, and I am praying that the Lord will bless his work.  I am also excited because some of our family and friends gets to meet some of our "family" from here in Costa Rica at the end of the conference.  Josh and the 3 guys from here in Costa Rica are meeting up with some of our family and friends for dinner before they fly out.  I'm so excited for the two worlds to intermingle.  Josh will be home for 4 days, and then leaves on a project trip here in Costa Rica.  They will be designing cabins and doing some master planning for a seminary/pastoral retreat center that prepares and equips pastors that will be working in Latin America.  Please keep him in your prayers.

On a side note, please pray for me as I have been sick for the last few days.  On Monday, I spent the day at the orphanage loving on the kids.  It's an absolute joy for me, but the con side is that I pick up whatever they have.  This time, I guess it's a stomach virus.  I think I'm on the mend, but your prayers would be appreciated.