Little did we know when we walked off the airplane 8 years ago today, with a crying 1-year-old and a sleepy 2-month-old, that we would still be here, in Costa Rica, 8 years later. Wow.
When we first said YES to being on staff at Portantorchas, we agreed to 2 years. If it didn't work out, then we would head home. Well, we have continued to extend our time here, with no plans for moving "home" - wherever that is.
Many people have asked us how me manage here. Cultural differences. Being surrounded by 30+ students every day. Working evenings and some weekends. A foreign language, and so far from family. Those are the challenges.
But the blessings? Extended family of friends here and around the world. Children learning a second language. Eating "gallo pinto" and fresh fish with the family for $4 at a local supermarket. Fresh fruit. Tropical beaches and volcanoes. No snow or freezing rain. A wonderful church community.
And those aren't even the blessings we receive in ministry, which in our deepest hearts, are the blessings that really keep us here. Walking with students as they experience Jesus in a new and personal way. Learning from them. Loving and enjoying them. Discipling, challenging, and encouraging them. Seeing them grow and mature, then watching them go home and heal family dynamics, serve the Lord in various countries, change career goals so that they line up with God's plan for their lives, and then graduating from university with confidence, and marrying and having children, fulfilling their dreams. It is amazing!
Of course, we have nostalgic moments. Sometimes we wonder "what would have been" if we had stayed in the USA as teachers, owning a home, living comfortably, with our summers off. But we can never know what the reality of that dream would be - both good and bad, so we live here in the present, and strive to fully enjoy it. "A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God". (Ecc. 2:24) It is His gift to us. We are thankful, so thankful for His goodness to us.
We are thankful that God brought us to Costa Rica. And the story continues.