Mr.Mom and a birthday surprise

Last month I experienced something every father should.  I played MR. (single) mom while Alli went to surprise her mother on her 50th birthday.  I knew it was going to be a difficult week but I was counting on that a lot too.  I'm not going to lie it was much harder than I expected.  As you can imagine with 3 very young boys things were non stop.  It was a very long 7 days without momma. When one wants to eat the other needsw to be changed and while you are changing the one kid the third kids wants you to play with them.  There are always decisions to be made and priorities to be had. Such as during nap time should I clean or take a nap?  I pretty much always opted for a nap.   I surprised myself and actually had the house simi-clean (floors were not moped, laundry was never folded and the house never was not really that clean).  Honestly I don't know how Alli does it.  I had a lot of great memories with the boys and we had a blast.  I really bonded with Judah and we have a different relationship now. 

I learned that being single and having kids is extremely hard!  I know that it doesn't really count because I still had a wife praying for me and encouraging me but she wasn't able to physically help me.  There were times where I felt lonely as well as stressed. 

I learned that my wife is superwoman.  She is able to do so much in a given day for the good of our family.  It is amazing how God has equipped her to serve and love so faithfully.  I knew she was good at what she did but man do I have a much deeper respect for her.  She is truly an example of grace and hard work.

For over a year now Alli has had 1 Corinthians 12:9 posted in our kitchen.  It never really spoke to me the way it spoke to Alli.  That was until the 3rd day of watching the kids.  It hit me like a sack of bricks.  Read it and meditate on it, 'But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.'"  See God knows we are weak and in need of Him for strength.  When our weakness is revealed the Gospel speaks to our weakness and says my power is enough to flourish you.  Acknowledge you are to weak to do it because Christ power can.  This passage was an attitude change throughout the week.  I had to practice reciting it and repeating it in order to believe it.  Life is hard and it's not enough to just read the Bible or skim a passage we have to soak in it His rich word. 

We host many mission teams throughout the year and I get the same question over and over, "what does Alli do all day"  I laugh and explain to them.  See Alli's mission is her family.  She is an amazing mother and a fantastic wife.  Her mission field is her 3 little boys (soon to be more when we get kids on the ranch).  I praise God that she pursues her mission with faithfulness. 

She has embraced her calling to the fullest.  It doesn't mean that it's easy but it is rewarding.  She is genuinely shaping and disciplining 3 little lives.  She is blessed by her calling and she has blessed many through her faithfulness.  God has called us all to serve and to give our lives.  It may look like a stay at home mom or a high end executive, either way it's up to us to be faithful in our calling.  I hope you find joy and purpose in your life of ministry.

Waiting to pick up mom from the airport.

A afternoon outside after naps.

Special pumpkin muffins one morning... everyone was excited.

I had to take a break from cooking dinner. 

Alli enjoying a sunny day in California with her mom and Mema

Mission beach California.  Alli enjoying the sunset.

Alli enjoying a father daughter date.

Words from Mema

  Monday started early for Alli as she got up with Mema to take her to the airport.  If you don't know, Mema is Alli's grandmother and she has been living with us for the past 3 months.  You may be thinking that we were taking care of her but that is actually quite opposite.  See, when we started praying about moving to Costa Rica a few years ago Mema was also praying about moving to Costa Rica with us.  Mema has a desire to serve the Lord wherever she goes.  She knew that our little family would have many needs in moving to Costa Rica.  She made it her mission to bless us in many ways as possible.  She has already spent a total of 5 months down here with us.  She has been such a huge blessing to us and a dear friend to Alli.  Recently she wrote a letter to her daughter sharing some of her thoughts.  With her permission we would like to share it with you.

                  Hi love. 

I wanted to send you information about Verbena, the poorest of poor area where the Nicaraguan squatters live. I went with a team from Denver. Spencer drove Alli and me there as I couldn't walk that very rough mile in and out. Those people live in tin and cardboard houses with human waste running by their homes covered by decaying old wood. But the children come out by the dozens to play with the people from 6:8. They play really hard for about an hour and a half.

Then it is a long, difficult climb over those rotting boards to a very simple little church building run by a local Pentecostal church. We have a Spanish speaking pastor on staff that leads singing (with lots of movements) and tells a Bible story that everyone can understand. Then a few more songs and finally, lunch.

The ladies from the church bring a huge container of soup. It is very good but very hot. I was holding a little boy on my lap and put my purse between him and the bowl so it wouldn't burn him. The little guy was so hungry, I could hardly get him to wait while I blew on the soup to cool it. Once he sucked it right in and had to spit it right out. At one point he wanted to help, so he blew so hard the hot rice flew into my purse. He ate every bite of a fairly large bowl that had lots of good ingredients. He smiles up at me so sweetly, I'll be praying for him for years to come.

Yesterday I went to the local orphanage for the severely handicapped. There were many very young children but also older (16 - 30 yrs) that I saw which were still very young mentally and some physically. I fed an 18 year old her dinner. She could not speak or walk, not sure if partly blind, but she ate every bite of her dinner.

There was a precious little boy (3yrs?) that had his hands and feet burned off by his father. He has to be fed thru a feeding tube. His little body and mind will never recover here. But he loved to smile when he was held and rocked. There were several children with feeding tubes because they couldn't learn to swallow. But all those orphans were clean, feed and helped as much as possible. There are six nuns that take care of everyone every day of their short lives. I left thanking God for those Catholic nuns. We are blessed to go and help feed and play with those that can respond. I had pushed a young girl (13yr?) in her wheelchair, and when I patted her hand to say audios, she grabbed my hand so tight I could not get it free. I finally asked one of our staff to come take my place because I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

As sad as the orphanage was, it is not as sad as Verbena. The needs are met at the orphanage and the children are content. The children at Verbena have so little hope for a better life than their parents. It isn't the lack of wealth, but the filth, drugs and sins as a way of life that breaks your heart. Only Christ can break that bondage and one heart at a time. This may be where the children for the ranch may come from.

Wow, this is long, but wanted to share a part of 6:8 Ministries as I can. The staff goes out almost every day serving in so many areas and ways. Alli takes and includes me as much as possible. It is truly amazing how many poor Ticos know the staff of 6:8.

Boys are up from nap time and a group of young believers are coming over for game night later. So, will run and help where I can.

Mucho agape,
Mom

Mema will be missed for now.  She is planing on coming back in April for a 6 month stay.  When you remember to pray for us please pray for her too.

This past year...

Let me start off by saying this year was awesome!  We moved to Costa Rica a year ago to begin our cultural, language and ministry training before we land at the children's ranch.  6:8 Ministries was founded in Costa Rica to provide an affordable life changing missions experience.  I had the blessing of being a part of 18 church groups mission experiences so far this year.  As of now my job is to help lead the team in the neighborhood in which we minister and serve as pastoral care for the staff and Chaplin for teams that come down.  Have I mentioned I love my job?  Well I do, Here is why:

1. God has graced me the opportunity to teach His life giving Word over 50 times this year.

2. God has allowed me to develop relationships in the communities in which we serve.

3. God used us to feed many children in need and provide food for many deserving families.

4. God allowed me to see 2 adults confess Jesus Christ as their Lord along with 20 children.

5. God gave me the responsibility to lead and love 10 part time staff this year.

6. God keeps me in a place of not feeling adequate for the job therefore I am always dependent on Him.

7. God has allowed me to be a part of the development of the Children's ranch.


As much as I love my job and was blessed to be a part of many amazing things so far this year, it's nothing compared to what my wife does.
People often ask me what my wife does all day, I chuckle, then reply, she cares for and shepherds our 3 boys under 5. Sometimes people get it and sometimes they don't.  But I wanted to take a minute to praise God for what he has done for me and His kingdom through Alli.  I couldn't do any of the above if it wasn't for her understanding of the gospel.  If she didn't view her mission field as these 3 beautiful boys running around our lives would look completely different.  Anything I am able to do is because she frees me up to do so.  We are a team!  This is why she is going to make a awesome mother at the Children's ranch.  Her love and energy for our children is supernatural. She longs for the day when the first abandon child walks through (or carried) the door.  Her heart as a mother is to serve and love unconditionally.  She trains and directs the boys in the way of the Lord.  Not to mention her ministry of love, grace, support and friendship towards me.   I am so thankful for her ministries and it is more important than anything I could ever be a part of.  We are together.

Children's ranch update.
The first family home is being constructed as we speak.  We are hoping to have the second one in progress very soon.  We will most likely be moving in to the second home so we are still a little ways from moving to the ranch.  In the mean time we will continue faithfully serving in the city.  Please pray that finances continue to come in for the ranch project.  God is so good and has us exactly where he wants us for now.



Thank you to everyone who has partnered with us financially and in prayer.  You are a part of this team too!!  Check out the pictures below.

Josh

Elton, a wonderful 4 year old.  Has already had many horrific things happen to him.  A perfect candidate for the Childrens ranch.

Cross Creek team buying groceries for several families in need.

One of our weekly stops.  Caleb dancing with this sweet woman at the senior center

Tiribi, this was the children play ground until...

We partnered with the local community to purchase material for a big concrete slab

One of the hikes we do that leads to a wonderful waterfall

One of the many painted skies we have seen

Tiribi School children helping paint along with our mission team.

Mema doing her thing with the kids

I had the honor of teaching a sending off message to the 50+ students of MPC

My brother Chris came in for a visit and instantly connected with the kids.

Verbena before our weekly feeding center.

Yeah... it was huge.

We delivered prayer and food to this family

The boys came to play with the kids in TiriBi

Alli with her friend Maria

Micah with our neighbor and his horse

Caleb

Judah didn't like it.

The highlight of my summer was baptizing one of our part time staffer Lexi!

One year done and hopefully many more to go!

Well we made it. 

We can't believe that we have lived in Costa Rica for a year now. Most months have flown by while others were awfully slow. 

If we could sum up this year in a word it would be; Repeat. As I type this we are sitting outside the fingerprint office waiting for FBI background check cards for the second time in under a year. 

Repeating immigration papers. Repeating visa runs.
Repeating missed expectations.
Micah repeating Caleb.
Caleb repeating Caleb.
Repeating meals...excellent meals.
Asking people to repeat a sentence in Spanish slower.
Repeating Spanish vocab words.
Repeating lessons from God.
Repeating rules to the boys.
And sometimes the boys just don't get it. That would have to be the same with Josh and I. It has been a year of learning and trusting God. His timing is perfect.


Please join us in prayer:
For residency to be completed.
That paperwork doesn't expire for the third time.
That we would continue to learn and understand Spanish.
That we would continue to build friendships that are encouraging and edifying.
That funds for the ranch would continue to come in and that houses would go up quickly.

The ministry webpage has been updated with new information. If you haven't checked it out, please do.

It would of been very hard to be here without your prayers and finical support. Thank you! 

`.

Oh hello there

Sorry that we haven't blogged in months. It's been a whirlwind! Let's catch up....

April: 

It was a busy month for us. We had Holy Week, 2 teams where all 5 of us were able to tag along, we were covered in bug bites, witnessed a team member get baptized, saw a sloth, helped on a cabin, played in the river and also did a border run to Panama. 

May: 

As we were coming back to Costa Rica we were given 30 days to stay in country. Not cool! We had 3 options; 1) apply for a work visa. 2) Go to the states and reapply for the papers ourselves. 3) Renew our visas by going to Nicaragua and pray that we would be granted 90 days all while asking family to do the paperwork for us. We had no clue on what to do. 

One morning I sent out an email asking for prayer because I was overcome with fear all while still speaking truth and just praying for peace and wisdom. Within an hour after I sent out the email I had peace. It was amazing! And 48 hours later we had plane tickets back to Florida. Definitely not what I was thinking God had planned. Ha! It all worked out well. 

                                                                                                                                 

                         

It was great to be in Florida and see family and friends! We went fishing, played on the beach, saw beautiful sunsets, hung out with good friends, listened to music in English, ate blueberries, and boys even got to hang out with cousins. 

                          

It was an incredibly refreshing time! 

June: 

We were still waiting on paperwork from Florida and California. Josh called the Florida office, a week before we were to return home, and asked if they had received our birth certificates. The person responded that they were backed up and that she didn't see our name in the system. We would be driving through Tallahassee later that afternoon and josh was told that if we had the birth certs that we could get them apostilled within 5 minutes. Oh but they closed at 5pm. After driving around the huge parking lot we pulled up to the building at 4:52. I stayed in the car with the boys and prayed that we found the right building. A couple minutes later josh ran through the pouring rain and exciting proclaimed, "We did it! They are doing it right now!" How good is our Lord?! The boys stayed cheering but had a confused look on their faces. We explained, "God got us here in His perfect timing and we have exactly what we need from Florida!" "Yay! Thank you God!" 

We just needed California to mail us back the documents. And God had those in the mailbox the day before we left. Amazing!! 

And it has been so good being back. All of us are happy to be home! And like a normal life here we jumped right back into everything. Josh ran around getting stuff for the house and picking up people from the airport, he pulled a dead possum from underneath the house, had help fixing our washer, and I swept up at least 30 June bugs the next morning. 

Looking back at the past 2.5 months, Josh and I keep repeating, Romans 8:28, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." 

Last month I heard this song, "I am not alone", http://youtu.be/I2oel0_Xa54 and the last part gets me every time. Listen to it when you can. 

You amaze me

Redeem me

You call me as Your own

You're my strength

You're my defender

You're my refuge in the storm

Through these trials

You've always been faithful

You bring healing to my soul

May you find strength in Him alone!
Blessed to blessing.

Life lessons

 Last month, Caleb, Micah and I were able to get out of the house, granted it was to the store and starbucks but hey, it was nice. As we were walking back to the car I noticed a sticker on someone's car: Dios es fiel

I wasn't sure what fiel meant but looked it up and it is one of my favorite attributes of God, Faithful.

In Spanish the word, "es" implies a characteristic or permanent general trait about a person.
Where the word "esta" implies temporary condition and a couple more things but...I don't understand that completely.
Anyways, after I looked up the word it hit me, God IS faithful. That will never change!
And oh how He has been teaching me that lately. It's a phrase that I keep repeating often.

He is faithful in the early mornings.
He is faithful with providing food to fill the stomachs that just finished eating 3 eggs for breakfast, even if they just ate.
He is faithful to bring naptime everyday, lately all of them have been going down at the same time 
He is faithful in getting us through the bewitching afternoons and dinner times.
He is faithful to bring giggles from being outside.
He is faithful even when I don't hear  "Mom, I love you!"
I could go on...but the point, He is faithful!
He doesn't change when my attitude wavers.
He doesn't change when my cup of coffee is cold for the third time.
He doesn't change when babies don't sleep, get sick or smack their head on the tile floor.
He doesn't change when it's fried eggs again for dinner and there's water all over the table because the boys decided to do "cheers!"  He is faithful in teaching and shaping me. 

We have been in Costa Rica for 8 months and I have no idea where the time went. My mom life is pretty much the same here with the basics; eat, clean, eat, sleep. I don't know if it's learning to be a mom of three busy boys, living in a new place or a mix of both, but God has been teaching me a lot.
The teaching time isn't easy and God never promised that it would be either. It reveals sin, it reveals what our hope is in, it reveals where change needs to happen.

I know I'm not alone.
I know that I will need to be reminded that God is Faithful often.
I know that God is working in my life.
I'm writing this out not to complain about where I am in life but to look back on and see God's faithfulness over time. It's easy to get in a funk. I hate being in a funk and yes, it happens, thanks sinful flesh.

So, preaching the Gospel back to myself, listening to scripture, listening to Christian CDs is what I do to remind myself that God is faithful.  

A great CD that has brought me a lot of encouragement is this http://www.seedsfamilyworship.com/release/seeds-of-courage-vol-1/. Mom friends, definitely check these out. A friend sent them down to us and what a blessing they have been already for us. The boys love it too!

So friends, push on. Focus on the Gospel. Focus on the joy.  Focus on the truth. We are sinners. He is faithful! 

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Thank you for your prayers. Please keep praying. We love it here, God is moving in many ways in our lives and within the ministry. We are adjusting well but there are many hard days. Pray that we would remember God's goodness and grace. 

The Lions

 First off it has been way to long since our last post.  On the other hand I can't believe that it has been a month and a half since the end of December. We have felt the rush of the new year and it has been good.  God is doing many things through us and for us.  We feel so blessed and overwhelmed at the same time.

  As many of you know we raised enough money to start our residency application.  However, for various reasons we have to wait 3-6 months longer before we apply.  Like typical Costa Rica, things are always changing!  We can't wait to have our application in the system so we don't have to go on a visa run every 90 days.  However, God has seen it fit that we needed to go on at least one more visa run (with at least one more to happen in April).

This last time we went to Panama and decided to drive across the boarder.  So two weeks before we left I registered the van to leave the country.  This was surprisingly easy. A week before we left I was out at the Children's ranch with an awesome team from New York.  Alli and Mema stayed home with the kids while I was gone for the week.  The plan was to come home on Friday and then leave for Panama on Sunday.  After a long week at the ranch  I was excited to have my family come pick me up from our base in the city.  I said my goodbyes to the team and got in the van and that's where the fun began.  I turned on the car and something was very wrong.  The van was miss-firing and wasn't going anywhere.  My anxiety began to kick in because I knew we need to leave in one day to drive to Panama.  My van is not common here in Costa Rica so finding parts is very hard.

The first thing on Saturday I took it to the mechanics and he said that there is nothing they could do.  He asked me to take the car out of his shop but it was not going to happen because things were getting worse.  Finally after 30 minutes of just sitting in my car and trying to figure out things Alli called me and had great news "Josh we don't actually have to leave the country until next Friday!" Praise God. This gave us some time to figure out what to do.  After that good news the owner came out and said I could leave the van there until we could get the parts.  Even better news the director of the ministry was flying in on Wednesday.  So I ordered the part on amazon and had it sent to him.  So one day before He came in I got a call from the mechanics, "Great news I was able to fix the part that was broken."  What?!  Seriously?  Awesome!  I picked up the car and it worked great.  The crazy part was that Amazon never got my car part to the director on time, so if he couldn't repair the part we would have been very stranded. 

So we loaded up the car first thing on Friday morning and headed to Panama.  One of our dear friends had sent a care package down for us.  In the package were 2 CDs with scripture put to song. They were actually pretty good.  I was telling Alli that I am enjoying this... plus this is a great way to memorize scripture.  Then a song came on that really had me thinking.  It used Psalm 34:10 "Though the lions may grow weak and hungry, those who seek the Lord lack no good thing," and Romans 8:28 "All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and have been called according to His purpose."  As I sat in the car meditating on those words I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the love of God.  Even in my troubles in preparing to leave for Panama God was using all of those moments to train me up into the man he wants me to be.  I thought how liberating it is to know that everything that happens to me in my life is for my good.  Whether seminally negative or positive.  God's word never fails nor changes.  There is so much freedom in following Christ. God is so good!

Do you feel free?  Do you think that God works all things out for your good?  If not maybe you don't fully trust God's word or better yet trust God.  Be freed brothers and sisters and know if you love the Lord that all things work together for your good.

Traveling through the border is always tricky and going to Panama was a new experience for us. We were given trouble at the border from a boarder patrol agent who trying to extort us. Between getting paperwork for the car and trying to find all the different immigration stations, it ended up being a very long time. The boys did incredible! Such a blessing.  After two hours at the Panama border we were finally free! And then began the next adventure of finding our way to the hotel.

Our phones only work within Costa Rica and so we had to find a place to buy a phone card. We stopped at the first store we saw and bought a new phone card with minutes but unlike Costa Rica your minutes do not recharge your internet.  We were planning to use our phone GPS but it needed internet.  So in the midst of me trying to figure out why the phone weren't working the boys ended up falling asleep as we drove around looking for someone to help us. We were driving around a new country and just praying for a miracle. We pulled over at a restaurant with a young gal serving tables. In my best Spanish I asked for help!  She was able to get her friend to help us charge my phone with internet!  Now that the stress was gone it was time to eat.  This experience was stressful but really amazing! God is so good. Here we were praying, asking God to show us where to get help, and on the side of the road at a small little restaurant there were two kind people eager to help us. After dinner we pulled out and made an immediate left. We were on the right track and with a fully working phone!

The rest of the trip was uneventful. What a relief. The next morning at the hotel we talked about how good God is and all the time. We saw how God went before us in every circumstance. We saw His hand in helping us get all the paperwork for Panama, the car troubles, the injustice at the border, meeting the people at the restaurant, and great kids the whole way. It was relaxing but oh do we love when we make it back into Costa Rica.

These visa runs are stressful, a lot of work and extremely tiring for the whole family. However the good, the easy, the hard, the frustrating, all of it works together for our good.

We often ask ourselves do we see hardships and blessing as for our good from the Lord? Not only does the answer YES bring us peace but understanding. 

May God be glorified in all of our lives.

Panama is a beautiful country.

Caleb and Micah have been asking to play at a park for so long.  The hotel in Panama had one!  It helped to have some new friends to play with.

Judah playing Mr. Flirt.  Oh does he turn some heads.