“This is my desire….

to honor You.  Lord with all my heart, I worship you.  All I have within me, I give you praise.  All that I adore, is in You.  Lord I give you my heart.  I give you my soul.  I live for you alone. Every breath that I take, every moment I’m awake, Lord have your way in me.”  Those are the words to the song that I found myself listening to tonight as my infusion has just ended and I am trying to sleep.  According to my doctors and nurses, it should have made me very sleepy and I should be asleep right now.  I was listening to my iPod and meditating and worshipping and I realized, “I’m awake, He wants me to write.”   So I will write.

More words now to the same song right now as I write, “And I will live for You.  And I will live for You.  And I will live for You.”

So, wow!  What a day.  It started with us thinking things were looking so great on the scan of my lungs.   And what results we had gotten looked like all of my medications were working fantastically.   But we had more blood work out there, so we were waiting…..

More words from my iPod at the moment, “Jesus, I’m living for you name.  I’ll never be ashamed of You.  Take, take, take it all.  Running to the one who heals the blind.
Following the shining light.  In Your hands the power to save the world  and my life.”

We got back some results and Dr. Manley came to let me know.  He wanted the opinion of the lung specialist.  The lung specialist said that he could see me around lunch.  So I called Jacob and told him that I was going to see another doctor around lunch, but I am probably going to be able to go home around 2, so if he could come then.  So the doctor came, was very thorough and did an exam and wanted to re examine the scan of my lungs.  After a bit, he came back and said that he had talked to Dr. Manley and he felt that something was missing from the print out of my lungs and he was going to go down stairs and look at the original on the computer to see if there was something missing and if was not still in the computer, he was confident that I needed to do it again.  So we waited….

More from my iPod right now, “What to say, Lord? It’s You who gave me life and I Can’t explain just how Much You mean to me now That You have saved me, Lord I give all that I am to You That everyday I could Be a light that shines Your name Everyday, Lord, I’ll Learn to stand upon Your word And I pray that I I might come to know You more That You would guide me in every single step I take, that Everyday I can Be Your light unto the world.  Everyday, it’s You I live for.  It’s You I live for everyday.”

So he came back and said indeed they had the original in the computer still and infact they had missed the inflammation where I had been feeling burning as I was exercising.  So he had talked again to Dr. Manley and Dr. Manley would come up in a bit and let me know the treatment they had agreed upon.  So in a bit, Dr. Manley was here (he was running back and forth from his office in the next building over to the hospital).  He explained all the blood work to me and what the lung specialist and himself had discussed and I needed this new drug infusion.  It would be best to do it today.  So I called Jacob back…..

My iPod right now, “You go before me.  You shield my way.  Your hand upholds me.  And I know You love me.  At the cross I bow my knee.  Where Your blood was shed for me.  There’s no greater love than This.  You have over come the grave.  Your Glory fills the highest place.  What can separate me now?”

I was very emotional because it was just a roller coaster of a day.  Up and then down.  Jacob encouraged me.  I called Johnny and talked to him about it.  He encouraged me and prayed.  I called my parents and explained it to them.  Then I put it on facebook and sent out an email to our prayer partners.   The nurses started coming in and giving me all of this preventative medicine, pills and 2 different IVs.  And I was a bit overwhelmed.  I think because of just a huge range of emotions all at once.  And the responses started to come in on facebook and in my Inbox……

My iPod right now, “Saved by your mercy.  Found in Your Grace.  Totally surrendered to Your embrace.  And there’s nothing more than You.  See Your perfection.  I’m lost in Your peace.  Your faithfulness sings over me.  And Your love is alive in my soul.”

I don’t think that it was a coincidence that I had this procedure on a Wednesday night.  Because everyone was letting me know they were going to go to their churches and pray for me.  I started being prayed for all over the world.  Prayers were coming in and rising up for me.  I believe that it honored God and He was so pleased and He truly blessed this time.  For He granted me a tremendous amount of peace.  I had to sit here for a little over 5 hours just letting this cancer medicine enter my body.  I had some strange sensations and my stomach is not feeling great at the moment, but all in all, I was able to handle it well.  Dr. Manley came to hang out with me for a bit so that I had someone to chat to as well!  So nice of him to take time like that.  I also had a sweet friend send me an awesome song on facebook that God used to sooth my soul.  I am so blessed to have so many people praying for me.  It humbles me to call on your guys and your love that you pour out for me each time I need it.  You guys have blessed and honored and given glory to God my/our Great Physician, Father, Friend, Never Give Me More Than I Can Handle, Always Beside Me, Savior, Guide, …..

Right now on the iPod, “Take me, mold me, use me, fill me.  I give my life to the Potters Hands.  Mold me.  You guide me.  Lead me.  Walk beside me.”  “Falling on my knees in worship, giving all I am to seek Your face.  Lord all I am is Yours.  My whole life I place in Your hands.  God of mercy, humbled, I bow down.  In Your presence at Your throne.  I called.  You answered.  And You came to my rescue and I want to be where You are.”

And guys I am not sure what more to say, but “Thank you.”  Thank you for being there for me.  Thank you for going before the only One that could truly help me in that moment.  Thank you for giving Him the chance to bring Himself glory through your prayers and His response by just blessing me with His peace and patients while I had that treatment and allowing my body to handle it well.  Thanks.

My iPod right now, “In my life be lifted high.  In our world be lifted high.  In our love be lifted high.”

I feel that is an appropriate place to leave this.  🙂

 

Potter’s Hands

I am so in to being encouraged through music.  Sitting quietly and putting praise and worship music on my ipod and just listening is like snuggling in God the Father’s lap and letting him heal me, comfort me, guide me, encourage me and be my all in all.  This song, Potter’s Hands is one of those that bring me such comfort and encouragement.  Here are the words.  I would encourage you to try spending time with our Father in song.  Try it now with this song.  The link where you can listen to it on YouTube is here.

Beautiful Lord, wonderful saviour
I know for sure, all of my days are held in Your hands
Crafted into Your perfect plan

You gently call me, into Your presence
Guiding me by, Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord
To live all of my life through Your eyes

I'm captured by, Your Holy calling
Set me apart
I know You're drawing me to Yourself
Lead me Lord I pray

Take me, Mold me
Use me, Fill me
I give my life to the Potter's hands
Hold me, Guide me
Lead me, Walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter's hand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE3RyFA5ZgE&feature=related

 

Our week with Enon!

We have just finished a fabulous week with a group from Enon Baptist in Easley, SC.  They were a hard working group that worked in the town of Cot for the week!  They were able to paint the outside of the library where Francisco holds church.  They also held kids clubs with a great turn out of an average of 30 kids.  And some of the kids that they shared with even showed back up for church on Sunday!!  It was so exciting.  Here is their picture!!

And for those of you keeping up with the jalapeno eating contest…..  The last team to come through was the Enon team!  So they had 4 contestants trying to beat the old record!!!  Well, their pastor, Scott Willis is the official winner for the summer contest!!!  He blew all other contestants out of the water!!  His official count was 42 jalapeno slices with the closest other contestant eating 34!!!  Way to go Scott!!  You are the official winner and have bragging rights until next year!!!  LOL!!!

Please keep the prayers coming for my health and the mission going on here on the Irazu volcano!  The new Sunday morning Bible study going on in Cipreses has been so encouraging and all the new believers there are so eager to take in every word taught from the Bible!!  God’s work has been amazing this summer and we are praising the Lord for all of the teams that have come to work on the volcano!!!  God used each team member tremendously and He continues to bring fruit from your labors here!!  I am sick for the first time with a cold here in Costa Rica.  God has been good to have provided some Zyrtec here to help me with this.  Please pray that this does not turn into an infection.  Also, I have had a bit of a flair up, but each day I am improving – Praise the Lord!!  He is so good!  Living on the missionfield with dermatomyositis has been such a time for me to grow in His grace and love.  It continues to draw me closer to Him.  All praises to Him who created us all and who continues to work in each of our lives for His glory alone!!

 

Meet Andre

Me and Andre

This is a photo from today after church of myself and one of the newest members of our Christian family.  He is a glorious testimony of how awesome our Lord and Savior is!!  Andre and his family opened up their house for us to use as our place to have our Sunday morning Bible studies in Cipreses.  We started having Bible studies there about 3 weeks ago.  When we started, Andre was very interested in what we had to share.  He looked very sickly and even one time needed to go get his inhaler to make it through the service.  About a week and a half ago he prayed to receive Christ as his Lord and Savior!!  Last Sunday he looked physically like a different person.  His color was better and he just looked happier and healthier!!  He hung on every word that was said in the Bible study.  After the Bible study I shared a little with him from my counseling experience about how he should handle battling alcoholism.  I gave him a daily battle plan consisting of reading his Bible and spending time in prayer.  Especially in moments when he was facing decisions about drinking and spending time with his old friends.  He seemed so encouraged by all of the prayers and the time spent with new friends in Lord.  Well, today after Bible study I asked him how his week had gone.  He is so honest and open.  He said that each day is a struggle, but that he had not had a drop of alcohol in 1 week.  This is who I had asked you all to pray for in my last blog and we so appreciate all of your prayers.  Andre is a true testimony to God’s goodness and God’s strength.  He is taking it day by day.  I had encouraged him to memorize Scripture and Lizzie made him sticky notes with pictures on them to mark Scripture that he felt helped encourage him during times of hard decisions and desires to drink.  I asked him had he done that.  He quoted to me, “If God is for us, who can be against us.”  He did not even hesitate.  He also said that he has been reading Psalm 23 a lot.  He again did not hesitate.  I am so happy for Andre and for the work the Lord is doing in his life.  I am humbled by the fact that God continues to use our family to bring others to Himself and encourage and help new Christians.  I am also so encouraged by all of the teams that continue to work on Irazu.  Right now we are working with a team from Enon Baptist in Easley, SC.  They will be here until Thursday morning!  The work the teams have done this summer has just been amazing.  Each one has been a blessing not only to our family, but to the people who live on Irazu.  God has used each team and their gifts and talents for His glory and to draw those like Andre to him.  Thank you to all of you that have been praying and to all of you who have come to work.  We are all working together for God’s glory alone!

 

Another Fantastic Week in Costa Rica!!

What another fantastic week working for the Lord in Costa Rica!!!  This week we were able to host our first team in our house!!  The brave team to be the first was a wonderful team from Unity Baptist Church in Mississippi.  They were such troopers!  No complaining!!  Even when two ladies did not understand for three days how to get the hot water to come out of the showers!  They just patiently waited and finally asked, “Do any showers have hot water?”  And Kelsey was able to show them!  By the way, next week an electrician is coming to hopefully install “widow makers” in the back three bathrooms, so hot water in all five showers!!  Yay!  They also seemed very content with my cooking!  I had purchased extra bread and peanut butter and jelly in case someone did not like or want what I had scheduled to eat.  And you know what?  No one used it!!  The group was happy to pitch in and help out where ever/however we needed them to, in the kitchen or cleaning or whatever.  They were awesome to have in our home.

They were also hard working in the towns of San Gerardo, Cot and Cipreses.  They painted the inside of the library that Francisco has church in Cot.  It looks wonderful with fresh new paint!  They also went door to door spreading the gospel in San Gerardo and Cipreses.  On Thursday they met a bunch of kids in San Gerardo and challenged them to a soccer match for Saturday.  One great thing about planning it in advance was that we had time to recruit some ticos to be on our team 🙂  We had Monica, a young lady that is our new neighbor and her boyfriend Manrique, Suling, and Egidio on our team!  Amazingly, we won!  6 to 3, I believe that Egidio scored 4 goals and Jacob scored 2.  We also had an amazing goalie in Casey which the kids said was too big because he was so tall and blocked amazingly!  It appears that everyone had a great time.  The kids on the San Gerardo team kept saying, “Let’s just play for 5 more minutes!”  They were not used to loosing and we were not used to winning, so we were happy to quit when time was up!   Not to mention the elevation difference!  They are probably a good 1000 feet higher than our house and our house is already at around 6000 ft above sea level!

Another neat thing that has happened between the last two teams is that as we go out, we have been taking along with us local teenagers to help us with translating and spreading the gospel.  It was such a blessing to have Monica (our neighbor) join us.  We have also had another young lady named Maria join us.  She is a member of the church in Boqueron.  To me, there is nothing sweeter than to see the young people being involved in the work of spreading the gospel.  Last night at dinner Maria shared her testimony with a few of us and it too is so wonderful to see God working here.  It is always wonderful to hear the testimony of how someone comes to trust Christ as their Savior.   God is so good.

The Unity Baptist team flies out on Tuesday and a team from Glenwood Baptist in Easley, SC is arriving on Tuesday!!

Oh and for those of you keeping up with the jalapeno eating contest on chili night, Casey gave a valiant effort, but he was not able to beat Victor from Mt. Airy.  We are not telling the amount of jalapeno slices that need to be eaten to beat Victor, but he has set the bar high!  So we will see who challenges Victor’s record from the Glenwood team and keep you informed!!

We also just found a place in Cipreses to hold a church!!  Praise the Lord!  We hope to have our first service either this Sunday or the next!!!  Our long term goal is to have a Tico take over this church so that it can be long lasting here in Cipreses, so also please pray that God would raise up just the right man for the task!

As far as my health goes, the team from Glenwood is bringing my medicine for the next 9 months!  I will be starting Methotrexate (the new medication) on Wednesday.  Please pray that my body will easily handle this new medication so that I can continue to work my way off of Prednisone.  Thanks!!  🙂

 

What a week!

Wow!  We have had a wonderful week!  Where to begin?  Well, a group from Mt. Airy has been here for the past week!  Jacob has been able to translate for them all week and they have been working in Cipreses!  The team did many activities there including showing the Jesus Film for kids one night and for adults another night.  They also came to our house and helped us build bunk beds for the future men’s bunk room and helped seal up the house!  Oh, and I got to host my first event!  We had a baby shower yesterday for a young lady in the church in Boqueron!  There were 60 people at our house!!  It was so exciting!!  God really moved this week and we feel so blessed to be here and that God has called us to this wonderful country to serve Him!

Another really amazing thing that has happened this week is that…..well,…..ok, let me start back in November of 2009 when we returned…. Jacob started going to Cipreses to try to start some Bible studies there.  Well, he had started 2 before he had to return to Charleston to be with me.  When he returned he has been so busy with finding us a house, getting the house ready for us, and now working with teams that he has not had time to restart the Bible studies.  However, he asked Francisco to take over for him back in February while he was in the States.  And Francisco has continued (he is such a hard working, faithful servant of our King).  Well, Francisco shared with us this week that 12 families from Cipreses have come to him asking for their own church!  And not only that, but asking that “the curly haired North American” be their pastor!  We were all very excited and emotional about this!  This has been a prayer for many over the past year, that a church would be established in Cipreses, and here it appears that the Lord is working it out.  To quote Francisco, “God does not always call the qualified.  He calls those with the heart to serve Him.”  Although Jacob is humbled by this request and does not necessarily feel qualified, he knows that the Lord will equip those He calls!  We are praising the Lord for this!!  Please join us in prayer over this, not only for our preparations, but that the Lord would open up just the right house to have church in there.

Also, our first team that we are going to host is coming tomorrow!  I am so excited!!  We have spent so much time in preparation for this and now they are getting ready to arrive!!!  🙂  Please pray for us this week!  We are so excited!!  Please pray for the people in San Gerardo where they will be serving this week.

As far as my health goes, I had some tests done last week and went to the doctor today to discuss the results.  I have been going really hard and I must say, I am a little sore, but I am feeling great considering my lack of sleep and excitement over work!  It has been decided that I need to start a new medication, so that I can continue to work my way off of Prednisone.  So I am hoping the Glenwood group can bring it when they come in another week.  Please pray that we can work all of this out.  And pray for my body as I transition to another medication.   Gotta run….I will update with pics when I can!!

 

Panama 2010!!

So as most of you know we have just arrived back from Panama to get Jacob and the kids’ passports stamped.  We were blessed to find out 2 weeks ago that a group from ILE (the language school that we attended last year) was leaving this past weekend for Panama and we could join them.  The trip would cost us $115 per person, except Sophia, she was free!  It included a private bus trip, hotel stay and breakfast.  That was by far the cheapest and safest route for us.  The problem was that it was to Bocas del Toro – the place that we went in 2008 for this same process and, to put it nicely, was probably the worst trip we have ever been on.  This was the last place we wanted to go and yet it seemed that this was the answer to our prayers, so we agreed to go with the ILE group.

We woke up at 4am and set off at 4:30 to be at the bus by 5:30am and also drop the car off at the Leckie’s house.  Francisco stayed at our house while we were gone to keep Zorro and be a body in the house, so he had come the night before.  As we were walking to the bus and turned the corner to the street it was on and saw the bus – it was this beautiful, private bus!!  We were starting off on a fantastic foot!  We set off through San Jose and on our way towards Limon we went through beautiful rainforest.  We stopped for breakfast which the tour guide from ILE decided to pay $3 towards the cost of each person and again she arranged for Sophia to be free, so we had breakfast for $3 each!  What a blessing.  Then we were back in the bus for the remainder of the trip.  We arrived at the border and all got off the bus to have our passports stamped – we were praying the whole time that we would not have any problems – Jacob and the kids’ passports were 3 days past the 90 day limit!!  Well, I guess because we were in such a big group, the guy at the border did not even glance at our entrance stamps!!  Praise the Lord!  Now, with that over, we had the dreaded walk across the 100 year old bridge!  Jacob, Kelsey and I each had one child and started off.  Well, to our surprise it seems that they have worked on the bridge since we crossed it in 2008 and there was actually enough boards to walk a straight path without feeling like one of the kids were going to plummet into the raging river below!  As we made it across it seems the temperature went up about a billion degrees!!  It is hot in Panama!!  We are used to it rarely getting about 70 at our house in Boqueron and it must have been at least 100 in Panama!  The kids did great though and we were definitely happy to have our stamps on the Panama side and to be back on the air-conditioned luxury bus!!  So we were then off to the water taxi place.  We had to ride through some pretty poor places in Panama.  It is always sad to see the living conditions of some people and here we were in this awesome bus and we had no rooms for complaints.  It is in these times that we certainly see God’s blessing and realize we have no room for any complaints.  We all loaded up in the water taxis, which by the way are no more than speed boats with rows of seats, and took off toward the island of Bocas del Torro.  Again, we passed people living on the edge of the water whose living conditions just broke your heart.  After we were hurled towards Bocas for about 40 minutes, we arrived and walked to the hotel.  We were hot and sweaty, ready to get to our room and get to supper.  When we got to the room we were assigned, it was a single bed and a double bed.  Clearly 6 adults and 3 children were not going to fit in this room.  So I went to talk to Nina – the group leader – and the only other room available was next door and it was just a double.  So we agreed to make that work.  Jacob and I in one room and Kelsey braved the other room with all of the kids 🙂  What a trooper she is by the way!!  We were so thankful that she went along with us for this adventure!!  We then headed off for supper and then came back and went to sleep by like 7:30!!

We woke up on Saturday with no expectations for the day except to be hot!  Well, while we were eating breakfast, Nina came and said that she had arranged a tour for the whole group.  We were thinking we could not do a tour because they are normally $20 per person and now we are being told that we are going to be getting back in the boats and going to see dolphins, swim on a private beach and then go to another private beach where we can see a ton of starfish!  And all of that was going to be paid for by the money that was collected to pay for the trip!  It was quite a surprise and we were so excited!  We had a fantastic time and were so amazed at God’s provision for our family.  The kids got to see dolphins and starfish and play in a safe quiet beach.  The tour lasted from 9:30am to 4:30pm!  It was such an unexpected treat!

We woke up Sunday to another great breakfast and then had a worship service together on the dock/restaurant on the water connected to the hotel!  Then headed back towards the border and Costa Rica around 11:45am.  We went through the Panama border easily and then I had Benja, Kelsey carried Sophia on her back and Jacob had Lizzie and we crossed the bridge.  On a funny note, our bus decided to cross the bridge after we had started across and after our “adventure” doing this in 2008, we were not about to try to move over to the side and let him pass us.  Jacob looked back and he said that it was like the ball chasing Indiana Jones!  I refused to look back and just kept going.  Once we got over to the CR side I stepped off and looked back at Jacob and Kelsey and it was kind of funny to see this huge tour bus looming over their shoulders!!  Back at the CR side we again were praying that nothing would happen with our stamps and guess what….when they guy went to pick up Jacob’s the phone rang…it distracted him and he again did not hardly look at anything and just kept stamping away!!  Praise the Lord!!  So we got back on the bus and headed back to San Jose/San Francisco.  We arrived back at our house around 8:30 or so.

I cannot say enough what a blessing it was to go with the group from ILE.  They welcomed us and loved our kids.  On another funny note, we got to see Sophia (our 4 year old) come out of her own little shell and into her personality more.  She has always been friendly with most people and loves to make new friends.  But she had to have met and had a conversation with everyone that she met from the ILE group.  They might not have known our names, but they knew we were Sophia’s parents!  She said at one point, “Mommy, all of these people are my friends.  They like me and talk to me and want to be my friend.”  Who cannot love Sophia or Lizzie or Benja?  All three were such troopers and did wonderfully the whole time!  God has blessed us with such amazing children!!  And we are also so thankful for Kelsey!  She was such a blessing to have along as well!   I asked her, if we ever have to do this again, would she please fly down and go with us?  LOL!  🙂  We are also so thankful for your prayers!  God was so wonderful to us throughout this trip!  Here are some pictures!  Enjoy!

 

Some photos of what we have been up to!

Here are some photos of what all has been going on around the house in Costa Rica.   Most of it involves fixing things on the house!  Some are fun times!!  We gotta mix it up a little 🙂  Enjoy!

 

Meet our Guards and Gardeners

So the house came with 2 guards and 2 gardeners that we are not having to pay for and I thought that you guys might like to meet them.  The 2 guards are named Thor and Chaos.  Actually, I have not learned the names of our gardeners, but you have to watch them closely because they may “get rid” of plants and flowers that we want to keep.  Sometimes they are so busy doing their work, that they just “eat up” our plants.  Here are their pictures….

 

Settling In

We have been hard at work getting our things settled into the new house.  I cannot wait to be finished with getting things organized, but we are loving the house!  God has been so good to provide us with such a wonderful place.  If you remember, last summer we turned down a house that we thought would be perfect for our ministry, but at the last moment neither Jacob nor I was comfortable with signing the lease.  Well, before Jacob returned to Costa Rica in March, we sat down with Dr. Gilkeson and asked him what types of things should we look for in our new house.  He suggested that we try to find a place with lots of fresh air flow, away from traffic fumes and things found in city life.  He also suggested that I just follow what we would suggest tourists follow with eating and drinking.  Well, the Lord has provided us a house that has been used as a retreat center in the past.  It has enough room for our family and a team of about 12 people.  It even has 5 showers!!  It also has a 10 foot long picnic table in this all glass room for teams to eat around!!  The house seems to be just what the doctor ordered!!  🙂  We are working hard to get everything in its place and it is going well, just a long process.

I am resting quite frequently because I continue to be a little sore, but I believe it is because I am probably trying to do too much.   Please continue to pray for my health.  Again, it is a bit more difficult than I imagined to eat here as a diabetic, but little by little, I am making it work.

My mom has been a big help.  She and Jacob have tackled many projects around the house.  Jacob, my mom and Francisco spent one day cleaning the house along with 2 other ladies.  On a funny note, Francisco asked Jacob if my mom was like Pharoah and a slave driver.  He and my mom had so much fun together.  I can only imagine because I was not there, but mom said that he was able to talk a lot to her in English and that they had a good time together and that Francisco worked really hard to help us out.  I have not gotten to see him yet, but I have talked to him on the phone.  He is so happy that I am back.  I think he just wants to give us time as a family together before he comes over.  I am ready to help him deal with his diabetes and help him see what he can and cannot eat and the importance of really staying on top of his diabetes.  I do feel that he is one reason why I have been given this diabetes at this point in my life.  I am going to use it to help him with his.

We do not have Internet at the house.  We are working on figuring that out.  I am hoping to post pictures when I can so that you all can see what we are seeing and doing.  We love you all!!