I was going to write “Halloween” for the title, but here that really wouldn’t be accurate.  I know in the states, there are tons of kids and adults dressing up in costumes and decorating houses and getting ready to scare one another.  I know the dentists are rubbing their hands with glee at the possibilities of cavities and such in the coming weeks.  I know this is a big day up there.  But here it is simply the last day of the month. 

In some parts of Latin America, there are tons of preparations for Day of the Dead (dia de los muertos) celebrations on November 1 and 2.  That’s the time that some believe the gateway between the dead and the living is very thin.  Today at noon in some parts of Latin America, church bells chimed twelve times to welcome the children who have died.  Tomorrow at noon, they will chime again to say goodbye to the children and to welcome the adults.  There will be picnics in some cemeteries.  Some will even have mariachi bands.  But here…again…not much. 

I’m going to miss All Saints Day (November 1) in the church this year.  That’s the day we remember the saints in our lives who have died.  Some say its just a Catholic holiday, but those who say that are wrong.  There are a number of Protestant churches who also celebebrate it.   I guess it is similar to Dia de los Muertos, but it is much more focused on the example our saints have left for us to follow.  It’s not a time to talk to those we love who have died.  It is a time to celebrate their lives.  When we served churches, the Sunday closest to November 1st would find the altar covered with candles.  During the service, we would name the saints in our lives, ring a bell, stand in their honor, and light a candle.  It was a very special time praising God. 

Even though we probably won’t do that in church this year, it won’t stop us from remembering our saints.  There are many.  We love them all. 

May you be blessed today, as you remember the saints who helped make you who you are.  We’d love to celebrate the lives of those saints with you.  If you feel led, feel free to leave a comment about how they’ve impacted your life. 

We love you all.

It is hard to believe how this last year has flown!  It wasn’t very long ago, it seems, people were asking me if I was going to have our baby in Costa Rica and now here we are a year later and she is a big one year old.  Soraya’s birthday was last Sunday (October 19), but we were not at home to make a cake and celebrate, so Wednesday night we took care of that with friends here.

Getting back to her actual birthday, she will have a story unlike most others.  We had gone to San Carlos, Costa Rica on a mission trip, so on Sunday, we finished up a great time of sharing with the local children and prepared to visit a volcano heated hot spring in the area, followed by a dinner at a local hotel.  What a wonderful weekend she had!  Soraya was held by fifty different people. played with, loved on, kissed and coddled.  We are continually amazed and thankful for the people God brings into our lives to be family when we are so far away from our own.  We did have a bit of a rocky start this week after being spoiled all weekend.  I think the detoxification process is about complete. 

 Soraya is also showing her age in other ways.  She has decided she can take naps–long naps.  I talked with our house help, Rocio, and she said (in Spanish, of course…) she kept going in to make sure she was ok.  Soraya had only been taking two fifteen minute naps, if that.  She has also been experimenting with tantrums, but with only limited sucess…we are a bit out of practice, but still have a few tricks up our sleeves!

Please pray for missionaries around the world,  many are heavily persecuted right now and pray for all of us here learning Spanish–there have been many accidents and illnesses and we covet your prayers!  Know we are also praying for you or could be if you share your requests (hint, hint).

Blessings!

Audra (I put that because, well, I’m not the usual blogger…)

I know I’ve written a lot about the rain, but the last few days it has been different.  Usually we awaken to the birds singing to the bright blue sky.  Mid-morning, the clouds start rolling in to open up around one o’clock in the afternoon (the same time, by the way, that we get out of class and have to walk home…but that’s another story). 

Over the past few days, though, we have been awakened by the pitter pat of rain on the tin roof.  The ground is wet from the stroms that started the night before and finished as we walk to school, only to restart again an hour or so later.  The wind has been refreshingly cool and the sidewalks dangerously slick with algae and slime of some sort.  Looking online I learned we were on the edge of a tropical depression that was centered off the coast of Nicaragua and heading northwesterly.  Right now it’s officially called “Tropical Depression 16″ and is over Honduras, Belize and Guatemala.  It’s not affecting us much anymore and the sky was once again a deep blue this afternoon.

It didn’t leave our area, though, without causing some damage.  About 500 people in one region had to leave their homes because of rising flood water, and one man is still missing after trying to drive across a flooded road.  Looking at the pictures of people driving through the rain and the puddles (ponds would be more accurate, I think) and across some cables, concrete and wood passing as bridges makes me shudder.  There are things we had drilled into us about safety during floods.  Things that we see happening. 

I’m not writing these things to condemn anyone, and I hope it doesn’t sound that way.  Things are different here.  People do what they have to do.  Sometimes the rain and rivers don’t cooperate.  Sometimes it causes the mountainsides to slide down and cover homes (that happened a few weeks ago just south of us). 

I don’t know what’s happening north of us right now in other parts of Central America.   Please pray for the people there. 

Gracias y Dios te bendiga.

The picture, by the way, is from the local newpaper La Nacion.  I wasn’t there and didn’t see this flood.

Guess what?  Today is another holiday here in Costa Rica.  It is in the United States, too, and all across Latin America and Spain.  As citizens of the United States, we know today as Columbus Day.  No disrespect to Columbus intended,  but in truth all it is for most of us is a day off of work (maybe) and a day the post offices and other government offices are closed.  I remember years ago in school studying about the day in 1492 when Chris Columbus sailed the ocean blue and “discovered” the new world.  (There’s an interesting article on Wikipedia about Columbus day, if you’re interested.)

Here in Costa Rica, though, the day has different meaning.  The name of the day here is Dia de las culturas or Day of the cultures.   Last Friday, we got out of school a bit early so we could watch the kids’ school do a presentation on the different cultures of the world.  What an amazing job they did!  Costa Rica does not have the cultural diversity that the United States has, but for weeks, the students have been studying different countries and cultures.  They decorated their rooms to refect those cultures, and brought in food for us to taste.  We tried everything from a vegetable stew from Madagascar to fried rice from China to a fishless sushi from Korea to Falafel from Iraq to cookies from Hungary and Venezeuela and many more. 

The program started with the flags of various nations carried in by students and the everyone standing to sing the national anthem of Costa Rica.  Most of us adults had to look at the words on the screen, but the sweet sound of 150 or so children singing in Spanish brought tears to my eyes.  One of the groups of kids had their faces painted to represent the flags of various nations and did a choreography (it looked more like a dance to me) to the song “Go light your candle”.  Each of the kids carried a burning candle during the presentation.  Another group (Todd’s class) did a Greek dance.  Other groups read scripture in various langauges or sang songs from various cultures.  I admit, there were times I could hardly choke back the tears at the beauty of God’s world and the cultures around us. 

The pictures are of Todd’s class dressed like Greeks (Todd’s wearing the striped shirt) and Aylis with a basket of fruit on her head (from Cuba).

Be blessed in all you do and who you see.  Explore your own culture and rejoice!

It seems as though we’ve started a new tradition here:  celebrating Wednesday. 

I don’t know exactly how it started, but I think we’d invited some then-acquaintences-now-friends over for some birthday cake.  After we’d enjoyed the food and conversation, it was time for them to leave.  Heading out the first of the front gates, one of them asked when we were doing it again. 

“You know,” she said, “we don’t have to have a holiday.  We can always find a reason to celebrate.”

From that (or something like it) celebrating Wednesday (or Thursday or Monday or…) began.  This afternoon Audra made some blackberry cobbler, a white confetti cake and a carrot cake (made with coconut and fresh pineapple) with cream cheese frosting.  This evening the house was bustling with kids from age almost 1 (Soraya) to 14–if I counted right there were fourteen kids here along with their parents.  It was fun.  The kids played.  The adults talked.  We enjoyed cake.  Oh, yeah, and ice cream. 

I can’t wait until next Wednesday…

May all your days be celebrations!  ¡Dios los bendiga!

In other things:  If you’re curious about how our studies are going, I posted a sample of one of our assignments.  I know it’s full of grammar mistakes (I’m still working on when to use what past tense when), but it tells the story of Ruth.  Look to the right under “The Word Proclaimed” and click on La Historia de Rut.

I know what the calendar says.  It says October (actually here it says octubre, but you know what I mean…).  October is the first full month of fall.  The leaves are turning colors.  Church yards (at least in the south) begin to be covered with pumpkins for the annual fundraiser.  Stores become homes for vampires, witches, ghouls and ghosts and a miriade other types of fantasy and folly.  The morning air has a nip to it and sweaters have come out of hibernation in preparation of a long winter of use.  Crops planted last spring are being harvested before the frost takes them all.  Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  Christmas will soon follow. 

I like the fall.  I think it’s my favorite season of the year.  The leaves in Georgia turn red and yellow and orange casting a warm glow over the landscape.  Raking the ones that have fallen, we jump in the piles and throw them in the air…a rainstorm of color.  Walking through the woods bundled in gloves, a scarf, sweater and stocking cap (toboggan in the south) warms my senses as I breath deeply the changes around me.   The autumn breezes may nip at my cheeks, but I don’t mind because I know a steaming cup of hot chocolate (made with real milk) awaits me at home. 

I’ve been looking forward to fall all year.  It’s funny I didn’t realize it was here.  Well… not here.  Here it’s still raining and it is still invierno (the wet season).  But back in Georgia and Montana and Minnesota and Colorado and Maine and other places, it’s fall. 

I missed it this year.  I’m glad I’m here doing what I’m doing.  I believe we are doing the will of God.  But I still miss fall.   

Do me a favor…take a walk for me.   Get bundled up.  Breathe deeply.  Let your cheeks turn red.  Anticipate the hot chocolate.  Enjoy the steaming mug. 

Someday we might enjoy the fall again…until then, please enjoy it for me.

Be blessed!