God is still God!

The other day I was walking to class and I was going to a class where I am having a difficult time, its the phonetics/phonics class. As I was going I would have much rather been going elsewhere. But I was reminded that when I came out of that class, God would still be God. He would still be in control and He would still know me and love me. That gave me reassurance and peace about whatever happens. He is still (and will always be) God.

What's your priority?

What's your priority? The past few weeks that is a question I have started asking myself. What are my priorities? Last week I did a lot of studying which is a good thing. But I also missed out on doing somethings which help me to relax. I was reminded in a recent Oswald devotional that our purpose on earth is simply to glorify God.

As I looked at different things I could get involved in I thought what are my priorities? What needs do I have that need to be fulfilled? What are the things which allow me to recharge?

This week I've set some things as priorities, those are the things which I have decided will help me to recharge. One thing is an accountability time with other single ladies and another is an evening of playing volleyball. These are two things which I want to make a priority this week.

I encourage you to find those things which energerize you and make them a priority. I know there are some things which we can't change like going to work or to school. But whether we believe it or not we do have the option to say no to things if they don't meet our priority needs.

Make your choices but make your choices based on God's best for you. Because He does want the best for each and every one of us!

Update

Hello friends,

How are you?

I’m sure a lot of you are wondering how Carol is doing in Costa Rica so I just thought I’d send out an update for you. I must say this past week was very busy and tiring with classes, homework and life. It is amazing how tiring learning a new culture and language can be. The point was made that anytime you are out in the new culture you are seeing new things and all your senses are “on alert”. Thus you get tired easier. Speaking of new things, I am glad to say that I had a haircut today and its looks nice. Little by little I will continue to adjust to new things here.

The other day I was able to use one of the phrases which I had just learned in class. It was the simple question of Where is the party? I was able to ask that question to my Tica mom in reference to the conversation we were having. It’s always nice to be able to immediately use something which you have just learned.

At the school I have classes in grammar, conversation and pronunciation. This past week was a really tough week for me with the pronunciation class. The teacher has us record her speaking in class. Then we take the recording home and then we say the same sentences into the recorder. At the next class she listens to our recording and either says very good or do it again. This week I have heard the phrase do it again many times. A prayer request would be that my ears and speech would be receptive to the language of Spanish. Also that in the times of discouragement with this class that I would remember that God is my strength. The other day in class she commented to us that she had a student recently who said she couldn’t do it. The girl prayed about it. Then it was a complete turnaround and she began pronouncing things correctly.

I had a grammar test on Wednesday morning. It covered a lot of different items. As I was walking to school that day I had the thought that no matter what happens on the test, I know that God will still be God. That was such a peaceful and encouraging thought.

Yesterday and today the Baptists had a Bible study and training time. One of the families were telling about the small groups which they are leading among Nicaraguan refugees who are here in Costa Rica. They made the point about the ministry driving their language learning. They said that when they have been working in these small groups and they get to a point where they can’t understand the Spanish; then they are more determined to go to class and learn even more. There are different ministries which I can get involved in here. I would ask for your prayers as I discern the one that is best for me.

I thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement. Just to let you know it takes about 7 days for mail to get here from the states.

I would ask for your continued prayers as I live with the Tica (Costa Rican) family. A praise is that it is going good.

I would also ask that you would pray that I would find those things which refresh me. Those things that I can do where I can relax and just enjoy. However I have found one thing I like to do which is to take the dog on a walk each day. The dog loves it to. She gets so excited when she sees me because she knows that soon she will be going for a walk.

Looking back on the past days I am reminded of how God answered some prayers before I even knew they were prayers. He continues to be faithful each and every day.

If you want to see pictures be sure to check out the blogspot. I try to keep it updated.

May God bless you all!

15th birthday

In Costa Rica the 15th birthday is an important time for a young lady. At the house where I'm living there is a 14 year old young lady. She and some of her friends were going to a 15th birthday party celebration for a friend of theirs. They spent the afternoon getting ready. I had to leave before they finished getting ready. So I left my camera with them and asked them to take some pictures for me so I could see them when they were all dressed and ready for a night out.

How long has it been?

I've been here for almost a month. However it seems like it has been alot longer than that. I keep trying to figure out if that is a good thing or bad thing. I think some of the thoughts come from the fact that I have done alot in the time that I have been here. Also getting back intinto the routine of school, classes and studying has been different from what I'm used to. Someone said that it was like their college days. The days seemed really long but then when you look back on the semester it seemed like it went really fast. Just some interesting thoughts which I've had since I arrived here.

Singles accountability group

One of the groups which I meet with on a weekly basis is a group of single ladies. During orientation week we had a time of teaching and meeting about purity. We broke up into groups during this time according to singleness, married, and gender. The single ladies were led that day by a Costa Rican business lady. After that meeting we decided to start meeting each week as a time of accountability for each other. Its a good time of fellowshipping with others who are going through some of the same struggles as me. Its a good time to learn from each other.

Who's your favorite disciple?

I bet who's your favorite disciple is a question you haven't thought of a lot is it? That was the topic of conversation for the language class today. I think two people said Peter, one said John and I said Matthew. I said Matthew because Matthew was a tax collector and I enjoy doing jobs like that. Also Matthew wrote a book which I would like to do someday as well. For this point the teacher emphasized to me not to say in the future but to do it now. She said so many times we say I'll do it in the future but the future never comes because you keep saying in the future.

I said I don't know if Matthew had a family or not but he had a family in the family of God. I like Matthew because when Jesus said come follow me, thats what he did. There wasn't any hesitation on Matthew's part. He said okay and he went. I would think that is a picture of the obedience which God wants from each one of us.

When I'm answering these questions in Spanish my main thing is to keep it simple. But how many times do we make things more difficult than what they should be. Everyone says that the Gospel is simple. When you think about it, it is simple, just believe in God and trust Him. Just something for you to think about...My question for you is Who is your favorite disciple? Look in Matthew 10:2-4 for a listing of the 12 disciples.

Peaceful pictures

These are two peaceful looking pictures which I took on the beach trip....

Entertained by a band

As a part of the beach trip day we were entertained by a band, a group of 3 men on the boat to the island during the meal on the island. One man played a drum, one the guitar and one the instrument in the picture above. It was just some type of metal cylinder with foam inside and a fork type instrument. It was something so different from what I had seen that I just thought it was interesting. And no right now I don't remember the name of it.

Photos around Costa Rica

These are just some photos which I took around Costa Rica.

A crab

Just thought you might enjoy seeing this picture of a crab from the beach.

Just having fun

On the way to the Island we stopped at a place for breakfast. There was a really pretty view from the restaurant even though the clouds were still out and it was a little overcast.

Tortuga Island

This past Saturday I, along with other students, took a trip to Tortuga Island as one of the trips offered by the school. We left the school at 6 am and returned home around 9 pm. It was a long day but it was good day of sitting on the beach for a couple of hours and just relaxing.

Farol making

September 15th is Independence Day for Costa Rica. As a part of the celebration they have Farols. These are items kind of like lumanaries. At as a part of our school classes on Friday we made a Farol. As you or may not know I am craft challenged so making this wasn't as easy for me as it was for some others. But it was still fun. I said I did feel like a school kid when I left school with the Farol which I had made.

God knew better

Yesterday another student gave me some money and asked for me to buy a few items for her while I was out. I said sure no problem. Well, after the Bible study I along with some others went to the mall to eat. After we finished eating, the stores started closing. So I wasn't able to buy the items for my friend. I was disappointed.

This morning at school I gave the money back to her and said I'm sorry that I couldn't get the items. She said no problem, thats okay.

Well, in chapel this morning an offering was taken up to help a family. I happened to be sitting beside my friend who I wasn't able to buy the items for. She smiled and said that she hadn't brought any money with her today. All she had to give was the money that I gave back to her this morning.

Isn't that neat? God knew that the stores would be closed and that there was an offering today which she would want to give to. I smiled as I thought about it later.

No driving on Thursdays?

I found out something interesting yesterday. Even if you have a car in Costa Rica there are certain days which you can't drive. It depends on what the last digit of your license plate is. For instance the family that I live with has a license plate which ends in 8. So that means that they can't drive on Thursdays. Thankfully the public transportation is good.

Timer shot in my bedroom

I am very thankful to have a private bathroom attached to my bedroom. I was playing with the timer and took this photo. You can see the door leading into the bedroom. My room is off of the party room.

View from across the road

When the sky is clear this is the view which I have across the street at my house. The mountains are really pretty. I'm sure once the rainy season is over in two months or so it will be even prettier. Everything is very green around here because of all the rain.

Relaxing

I took this picture with a timer shot on the front porch of the house after I had taken the dog for a walk. Taking the dog for a walk is one of my favorite things. The Costa Rican mom here said that the dog has a nanny now because I take her for walks when I can between the rains of the rainy season.

First week of classes

I'm sure alot of you have been wondering how the first week of Spanish classes is going. The day starts with Spanish grammar at 7:30 am and it goes until 9:10 am. Then its onto conversation Spanish class until 10:15 am. After that it is chapel time. The chapel time is in English which is a nice break. After chapel I go to a phonetics class. At 12:10 pm I end the official classes for the day. Then the afternoon is left for studying, meetings, practicing and anything like that.

Right now I'm finding out how many words are similiar in Portuguese and Spanish but they are different. The phonetics teacher forewarned me and the class by saying something to the effect of she will have to do a lot of correction for Carol because of the Portuguese.

A big relief/accomplishment yesterday was to go to the Police Station to have fingerprints made as a part of the visa process. It took about an hour to get this done. But thankfully I was able to go and do it in one trip.

I'm continuing to get adjusted to getting up earlier and getting back into the class mode. The school has tried to place us in groups of about 4 or 5 people who we are in class with all day. The placement was done based on our Spanish knowledge level.

I'll try and keep you updated on how things are going......