Being part of God’s family

One of the hardest things for us about living here is that we have no blood-related family. Everyone else on staff has family in the country. When I see and hear our staff members get together with their families for different events, I think, ‘What are we missing out on with our own families?’ But God faithfully reminds me of two wonderful things that grow out of the absence of family:

1. Our family times are so rich! We love being with our family in the U.S. and Canada. We try to see each side of our families once a year. Every time we do, I go with the expectation and longing to squeeze every precious moment out of each trip, spending time together, enjoying one another, and building the bonds of friendship.
2. We have a greater understanding of the family of God. Because we are “alone”, we are free to build bonds of friendship in our own nuclear family, with staff, church families, and with our students, of course! (And do you remember who I met at the little store in San Jose?) We even make friends with strangers: some of our closest friends are missionaries that Tom met while standing in line at the Immigration Office!

These past two weeks we added new members to our Christian family: the Mission Team from our home church NewSong. Each of the 6 members of the team has blessed and encouraged every member in our family. We spent time with them in the midst of their ministries to a local orphanage and our own students. It was nourishing to have meaningful conversations and to learn from them in so many areas of life. We already miss them, even though they just left on Sunday morning. The team also found family here: please visit their website to see what they did on their mission trip: www.costaricatrex.blogspot.com

I hope this is an encouragement to those of you who are away from family, maybe away at university, maybe away from your home for the first time. God has a family for you wherever you are. You will find joy and love in that family, just as we have.

Tired and hungry

These past few days have been crazy. New students. Mission team. Neena’s 6th birthday. Homework for Rekha. Bills due the first of the month. Suffice to say that we have not done most of these very well. If you didn’t already know, we make mistakes! And, we are not perfect parents either: Neena had a great birthday, but Rekha cried at the end of the day saying she didn’t get any attention (we sound like 7-year-olds sometimes too!).

Some days I have felt tired by 9 in the morning. I was wondering why and I felt the Holy Spirit chasten me, “You aren’t getting enough food.” It’s true. I am malnourished spiritually. I have been doing personal Bible study, but not always filling up with meals of prayer and Bible reading. It’s been a low-calorie plan.

How can I get fed? How can I have a close walk with God? The answers are pretty obvious, but I want to encourage you with some nourishment that the Holy Spirit gave me while thinking this through…

I was envying Moses today. I read in Exodus 24 how God called to him 3 times to “come up” to meet with Him. Not fair! I wish He would call me.

Then I was reminded of something. God does call me, and He calls you too. From beginning to middle to end of Scripture, He seeks us out! In Genesis 3:9, “the Lord God called to [Adam], “Where are you?”’ In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, “Come to me.”

And read this! In Revelation 3:20 God says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” This verse doesn’t tell where the food comes from! BUT, it teaches me that when I spend time with God, when I respond to His voice and invite Him in, I will be fed. Wow! That is the answer to my spiritual malnourishment. Yummy. Or as they say here in Costa Rica, ¡Que rico!

Thank YOU

Thank YOU for reading our blog. We have been overwhelmed by the number of people reading and responding to us through it. We feel encouraged to know you are interested in our lives. This virtual family is a big support to us.

We returned last week from Chicago where we spent two weeks visiting Sara’s family, missionary friends, and some Portantorchas students. All in all it was a great time to see people, enjoy parks and libraries, ride the trains, and to refresh ourselves. We were invited to a student’s home for the first time! It was an honor and a joy to meet her family. Another highlight for Rekha and Neena was to meet their baby BOY cousin who just turned 1 in June. He was smothered with love and hugs from their instant fan club. And, Tom and I enjoyed a superb buffet lunch at an Indian restaurant. Yum.

These next two weeks will be busy again. We are hosting a mission team from NewSong, our home church in California. They will be helping to ready the campus for our incoming students (arriving on the weekend) as well as with several of our partner ministries. After only one day with them so far, they have already been a blessing to our family.

Keep us in prayer for the ministry of the NewSong team, and for our upcoming semester. We want to be ready for our students, and we pray that this will be a rich time for them to get to know the Lord in a new and deeper way. Thanks to so many of you who do pray for us. God works through your prayers.