Ok, so there are not so many basketball fans here in Costa Rica who truly understand March Madness due to fútbol or soccer being much more popular here. We have been blessed to continue the madness here of studying Spanish and learning more each day. We say we are learning "poco a poco" which means little by little.
Toward the end of February we were blessed to have Spiritual Emphasis Week with Dr. Ernie Baker and his wife Rose. They started their time here by going with a group of ILE students and ourselves to see the Poas Volcano and tour the Doka Coffee Plantation.
Spiritual Emphasis Week was a wonderful time of learning how to deal with conflict God's way. Dr. Baker gave us handouts and pamphlets to help us in this process because as he said many times, we are living with a Genesis 3 hangover and we are all going to face conflicts in our lives. However, with God's help, we can face it with the assurance that we can come out of it with a closer relationship with those we had the conflict with and with our heavenly Father as well.
We learned about the seven A's of confession, the four promises of forgiveness and the PAUSE principle of negotiating, (prepare, affirm relationships, understand interests, search for creative solutions, evaluate options). If you are interested in more information about Peacemaking Principles go to the website: www.peacemaker.net
Our classes for the week were a little shorter and we had a session in the morning and one in the afternoon. Here is a picture from an afternoon session.
The group of "Marie's". We were pleased to find that all of our middle names are Marie. From L-R is Gemma, Sheri, Ernie's wife Rose, and of course me :)
More recently in March Chris and Hannah had a Daddy/daughter day in which they went white-water rafting and zip-lining. They enjoyed the day of adventure and came home with many tales from the river and different animals they saw while rafting.
Praises & Prayer Requests:
*We are thankful for teachers who truly care about our lives and how we are doing not only grade-wise in the class, but also how we are doing emotionally.
* Please continue to pray that the language would click with us. Danica seems to be doing the best with this. It is amazing to think how far we have come in the past 6 months, but we still have much to learn. Please pray for us to stay motivated in our studies.
* We are thankful that Chris' dental work is done and he is feeling much better.
* Please pray for the teachers and childcare workers at Sojourn and Rayitos where the girls go, that they would stay healthy and have energy and joy daily as they care for our children.
We are so thankful for your love and support. We appreciate your continued prayer support. May God bless you as you abide in Him.
Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eyes upon you.
