by jeannie | Jun 27, 2014 | Blog |
We made it! Hola Familia y Amigos! As we write on our 7th day in Costa Rica, we have had an exciting time already. Some good, some challenging, but we have an overwhelming confidence of God’s goodness in it all. Our Arrival: We were picked up by our friends holding a welcome posterboard! They took us to lunch, and then to a special place to get snow cones and watch the planes fly overhead. This is a place Randall’s mother brought him as a child. It felt special to us for him to share this with us. Randall is the National Director here. We began moving into our house the very next day after our arrival at 6 a.m.! We hear this is impossible here in Costa Rica, but with the World Cup playing at 10 a.m., we think the movers were in a hurry to be done in time for the game. The spirit in the streets is wonderful: Red shirts everywhere, flags and excitement for the Costa Rica team. New Things for us: As some know, the house we moved into is on a farm, and has sat empty for months. We were greeted with many large spiders, bugs and mice upon our arrival. Yesterday is the first day we have not battled many critters, as we are winning back the house slowly. We have already endured a long power outage of about 18 hours, and we are overcoming problems with hot water, no oven/stove, dryer and internet. It’s cold here in the mornings and overnight, and rains daily in the afternoons. Sun is up at 5...
by jeannie | Apr 14, 2014 | Blog, buildingaboat, missions, push to costarica site |
“How does this make any sense?” I asked over and over sitting on the edge of the bed one day a few summers ago in Nicaragua. I kept asking God how he could possibly use a family of Americans in a different culture. So clearly seeing how irrelevant we seemed there, and how stripped of everything familiar. And after all the wrestling with Him, we came home to the same questions from family and friends. But his answer is always the same. He is enough. He is sufficient for our weak faith and lack of vision. We have been asked about why we would leave the comforts of the United States. Why Costa Rica? Why wouldn’t we stay closer to home and serve those here instead? We love that people care, and are authentic enough to ask. We love that they love us so much, that they wonder why we would go and need to question us. So much need here, so much going on presently in our own culture. And while the reality of our leaving sets in, we are still convinced this is what God has next for us. We haven’t deserted our own, and chosen others as more valuable. We are just doing the next thing. The next ‘yes.’ Because when God invites you to something, no matter how impossible, the only answer is yes. Need is everywhere, it always has been. But need doesn’t determine our call; God determines our call. It’s his work, not ours. We know that God continues and desires to grow and build up the amazing community of people we are...
by jeannie | Feb 27, 2014 | Blog, buildingaboat, missions, push to costarica site |
We leave for Costa Rica in 4 months. Sometimes people that don’t know us very well seem to think we’ve figured something out that they haven’t. I don’t think that’s true, but if it’s anything, it’s this. We are weak, and God is strong. And at the end of each day, it’s about what team you’re on not whether you’re always getting it right. And the reality is none of us are capable of such a life, regardless of how much we try. At some point, we all face our own brokenness, lack of faith, or lose hope. I imagine for simplicity I could just write about why Jesus is the answer to all of that. And He is. But really, what I think is more important, is that we all have a shared narrative. I don’t think God really needs me to tell anyone how I’ve figured it out, since I haven’t. But maybe He wants me to share more about how I never really ever got it right. About how grateful we all should be that it’s not up to us. About how it’s all about his mercy. I think he wants me to share how much we’re all really the same. For those that just don’t see how living for Jesus makes sense, maybe we have more in common than you’d think. There are so many different perceptions of freedom. Some are true and some aren’t. But I think we’re all trying to get more of it. Sometimes I think about the darkest parts of my own story, and I grieve it again. I don’t need...
by jeannie | Oct 10, 2013 | Blog |
I’m not sure I ever realized how vast the learning curve is in life. That no matter how old you get, if you bet everything on the reality of Jesus, you actually are amazed like a child over and over, and in awe of the hearts of the people he draws into your life. As we wander into the unknown waters of fundraising, and preparing to leave the U.S. in 9 months, it’s safe to say the most uncertain of times has been the richest. In this place of humility and surrender, Jesus is carrying us every step, and we see with clearer eyes, and hear his words with different ears. And we fall deeper in love every day. Rarely in my life have I experienced a lack of words, although there have been a few. Sitting in a room in Africa, listening to a girl rescued from sex trafficking do her best to tell her story, experiencing the courage of a special needs kid in Costa Rica, or the moment I embraced a witch doctor after they had just heard about a man named Jesus. These moments when emotions are new, foreign, and full of the Spirit of God, and you know that nothing you say will fully represent the experience. While these happen every day, all around us, I don’t always see it. This season for us, brings us again to places of seeing God work in mighty ways and we are surprised, overwhelmed, and filled with a gratitude that an ocean could not contain. But words are so hard to find. This is true with our...
by jeannie | Jul 8, 2013 | Blog, push to costarica site |
Hello Friends! Today is Monday, and after a slower week, resting and working on our Spanish, we had a busier weekend and have many things planned this week. We spent Saturday at camp with Vida Joven & Capernaum kids. And Sunday, we attended a church in Escazu. Escazu Christian Fellowship. (West side) They don’t have an actual building, but meet in the International Baptist building on Sunday nights and the service is in English. We plan to visit another church on Sunday, Viva Abundante on the East side, where they translate from Spanish to English in their earlier service. No English speaking churches on the East side that we can find. The service yesterday was done in a Taize tradition where it’s completely unplugged, no lights, no instruments. Only our voices and candles. They do this a few times a year. Candles lighting the words we sing, candles used to see the scripture readings, and long silences and moments of prayer throughout the night. It was a beautiful time to be still during a service with others to pray, be still, and then we took communion together with them as a family. We were introduced to the small congregation there, and were approached by many afterward with blessings, encouragements, offers to use their homes for YL mtgs, and to help us look for homes as time nears for our move here. We are hosting and cooking dinner for some staff this week; which we’re excited about. Our time has been filled with great moments, and challenging moments, but we’re starting to see and feel more that God is going...
