Day 24 (17): Children Aren't Very Good at Using Cameras (but their pictures were cute still)

Today was different. 

Breakfast wasn't though; we had eggs! And bacon. It was muy rico. I've taken to just putting random things into the eggs when my cooking partner isn't looking and seeing if it makes it better. Today I also put lime on the bacon after it was done, but you couldn't tell. My sister is, like, a master chef or whatever, but I have absorbed nothing of this skill. Except! I have learned how to take care of knives, which is pretty complex. Turns out, you don't store them pointy-side down and you don't put them in a dishwasher. There's other stuff, but that's my real big takeaways (love you, Anne).

Worship this morning was also good. I usually think about worship as a God-and-I thing or a God-and-us thing. This morning, however, I felt keenly aware of the fact that we have possibly done more live, group worship in that park in the last 24 days than has ever happened there. And I wonder what kind of spiritual impact it can have on a place just to worship God there. I don't know a lot about that, it may be a thing; it may not. But, I felt a refreshed gladness to get to worship God here.

After worship, we got ready and walked over to the Lagos' place to help Ana carry cupcake stuff to the bus to the CDI. We went to the CDI and got everything all set up and ready for today. Today was Isabella's birthday, so we had our normal start, but then changed some stuff up to celebrate.

Today, Georgen (CDI person) led the Bible study, and I think it was better than it has been yet. This doesn't surprise me; that's how it works. Turns out, a Costa Rican woman, who is also a mom, is better at leading Costa Rican kids in a Bible study in Spanish than four single Americans. Lol, nobody is shocked, right? Yet! Sometimes, as missionaries, we can think we know better or can do better...especially when something gets done differently than we would do it. Georgen led the story of Jesus at the house of Simon the Pharisee, where the "sinful woman" washes his feet with her tears and anoints them with perfume. Nahomi (a.k.a. Genesis), one of the girls at the CDI, gave quite the performance as the woman when we acted it out. I thought she was going to really pour the water bottle (perfume) on "Jesus'" feet, but she didn't, so crisis averted. 

Georgen read much further than I would have, but it made the kids more involved, rather than less. She also didn't let them get away with not paying attention (#momskills). The kids were more invested and involved in this story than we've seen yet. We also got a real, heart-level prayer when one of the kids offered to pray. Usually we get the Lord's Prayer in mumbled, adorable voices - which is awesome - but it's exciting to see the kids talking to Jesus like he's there.

To celebrate Isabella's birthday, we watched a movie and had cupcakes and played games today. None of the kids had homework, so it worked out well. It was definitely a high-energy day, but a lot of fun. We played Go Fish and Uno and Chancho and there were many piggy-back rides given. My camera got found and so there are a million pictures from today, mostly taken by Andres. There were only about 10 that weren't blurry or blocked by fingers though.

My wont is to forget the importance of celebration together. When I first connected to a homegroup my freshman year, I wouldn't come to hangouts and parties, just the "spiritual stuff." God is constantly reminding me, though, that Doing Life Together (a.k.a. real church) involves a lot more than studying the Bible and singing. It involves weeping together and working together and studying together and eating together and, yes, partying together. It's still weird for me, but it's beautiful.

After the kids left, we stayed at the CDI for a while. We organized our thoughts on the kids' personalities and how to love them well and possible next steps. The church here has asked us to compile this information so that they aren't starting over in getting to know these kids. After we got organized, we cleaned the CDI a bit - wipe down, sweep, mop, etc. and then headed home. 

We cooked pesto pasta for dinner, which was pretty tasty. We also ate some canned octopus that we found at the AM/PM. Over dinner, we had some really good conversation about how our brains work and what our dreams are like (I never remember mine).

After dinner, Matthew and Sheryl went and found a bug (idk, some kind of ant...it looks scary) and then we watched a movie together (which is becoming a habit. We're running out of episodes of The Chosen). Now, Matthew is strumming his guitalele and I'm typing while my laundry goes. There's no dryer, so I'll wait and hang them up when they're done, which is kinda cool.

Lagos is back, as of tonight, so we'll get to see him tomorrow. We've made plans to spend the weekend with Lagos and Ana at the beach. We're super, super excited. This is my fourth trip to Costa Rica, but my first time going to a beach here, so I'm very curious. Honestly, though, the real thing I'm looking forward to (and maybe a little nervous about) is getting to hang out with the Lagos disconnected from the work we're doing with them. I think building real relationship with them is going to be a big part of having a sustainable, long-term partnership between our churches. But, I sometimes also forget how to be a person and have fun and conversation that isn't centered around ministry. So, if I don't blog at y'all this weekend, it's not because we're dead. 

Well, that's my laundry being done, so I'll wrap up.

PRAYER: 
- for strong connection between the kids at the CDI
- for strong connection between the church here and the kids
- for wisdom and love and boldness to continue to mark this church's ministry

Pictures: