Jesus is Exciting!

     Everyone in the house went to bed with a sense of excitement.  Caleb knew that early the next morning we would be going to visit the 6:8 ranch property.  As I passed by his room he would call to me "Daddy, is the ranch far away?"  I said, "I'll tell you about it tomorrow morning." "Daddy, are there horses?" I said, "Ill tell you about it tomorrow morning Caleb, go to bed." "Daddy, are there friends at the ranch?"  I replied, "  I love you Caleb, no more talking, I'll tell you all about the ranch tomorrow morning."
 
   4 am came very quickly but with a kick of adrenaline we awoke in no time.  We prepared the car and woke the children.  We left the house at 4:30 am a little groggy but excited.  As we headed down the mountain Caleb beamed with uncontrollable excitement. (If it was up to him this is the time we would get up every morning.)  As promised I began to tell him all about the ranch, " Caleb, at the ranch, there are cows and horses,  a beautiful river full of cool water,  big fruit tree filled with ripe fruit and some of our friends will be there too.  Lord willing we will be moving there soon.  Jesus has called us to invite children with no mommies and daddies into our family so they can have a mom and dad and learn all about Jesus.  They will be your brothers too!"  With a huge grin and an uncontrollable voice Caleb exclaimed "JESUS IS EXCITING!!"  With tears near in our eyes we agreed, "You are right Caleb, Jesus is exciting!"

  My 3.5 year old gets it.  According to his Child like faith Jesus is exciting.  He might not fully understand the extent of what we are doing but he doesn't have too.  In his mind following Jesus is exciting and full of adventure and he is totally right.

    For Alli and I as Jesus shaped our minds and hearts towards Him, He became more and more exciting.  Are you kidding me?  Jesus the God-man, came to the earth to live a perfect life, taught His word, died a sinners death and defeated the grave so that we could be called His own.  He justified the unjustified, He loved the unlovable, He forgave the unforgivable and He gave purpose and  excitement to our dull lives. 

    Following Jesus is exciting.  When we loose vision of what Christ has done for us and the call He has on our lives we become dull once again.  Paul writes against this in Colossians and urges the church to have our minds set on things above. Therefore, I leave you with this verse, let this mental setting excite you for today and the future.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
(Colossians 3:1-4 ESV)



The firs two structures under construction.  They will serve as multipurpose buildings and team houses.

River of life



Coconut Tree

 

 Caleb's favorite fruit tree Mamon Chino

 Another picture of the Mamon Chino Tree

Papaya Tree

 

 

 The beautiful river

Prayers on the wall of the team house.

 

   

Our new earthly home

It is amazing what prayer does.  Thank you all so much for praying. I really can't believe that we are actually here. 

Tuesday morning started very early for us, but we made it out of the door and started our way to Orlando.  About twenty minutes into the trip I realized that I didn't have mypurse! Yeah, great start. We ended up meeting my mother in law halfway and then finally made our way south. 

I'm sure we were a sight at the airport. We were blessed with a great checkout worker and he quickly got our tickets printed and even let the pack n play go along with our nine bags. All three kids, three carry-ons and two tired parents made it through security and to the gate within an hour! 

We arrived safely with nothing broken or missing. Mema made it safely too and it was great to see her! Such a blessing to have her here. 

The boys...please keep praying for them. The first couple of days they were doing well, taking in everything and having fun. But then, oh the meltdowns and drama caught up with us! It really isn't anything new, just harder with a new environment and little sleep.  But it is such a great reminder that "His mercies are new every morning," and that the morning is a fresh start. They are picking up new words, in English and Spanish, and it's pretty cute listening to them. 

It has been great to get out, shop, see friends, and learn.

A couple days ago we went to Walmart to get stuff for the house and we bought a chicken. The next day we were getting dinner started and I was unwrapping the chicken when I pulled out the "gut bag." In my head, I was thinking, "yeah, heart and liver. No problem. Easy!" Well, little did I know that when you buy a chicken here....you buy the whole chicken. Yep! On one side of the bag I saw all of this.

I screeched and threw the bag back into the sink. I picked up the bag again and turned it over to see this

The "extras" did not make it into the crockpot for dinner. That has probably been the craziest experience yet. Although I did try some local cheese last night *gag* It was horrible! We even tried frying it. That makes things better right? Oh no! I don't think anything could make that cheese taste good. 

Thank you again for praying! Here are some specific ways to be praying for us. 

-finding a Church 

-learning Spanish quickly 

-doors would open to know our neighbors

-Josh, as he goes out with the teams, loves people and works on the ranch

-for me as I am home with the boys. I am so thankful to be home with them! It is exhausting, but i wouldn't trade it for anything. 

-please be praying for Mema's family. 

Also, please be praying for the people of West Africa as they face the Ebola crises. It is so sad and frightening. RestoreLiberia.org 

We are very happy to be in Costa Rica. We feel so blessed to be here and we are excited to see what God is doing here. Thank you all for your love, support and friendship. We love you!