I think they call this settling

Maggie is coming to see me for Thanksgiving and I cannot wait!

Tonight I was looking through my stuff here at the house because my mom has offered to go on a shopping spree and send things that I need with Maggie when she comes.  What an opportunity!  And yet, for the first time since I’ve been here, I looked through what I have and thought through what I can get here, and I couldn’t come up with much.

There are things of course: hair mousse, sunscreen, etc.  They are just crazy expensive here.  But for the most part, I think I can say, I’m settling.  I still talk about foods that I miss, but the truth is, I can get a lot of stuff here that I like.  I talk about missing my car, but public transportation is pretty amazing.

Don’t get me wrong, there are PEOPLE that I miss.  And I still have my moments with things.  I think I always will.  It seems like culture shock is a cycle that comes back and bites you in the butt at the most inconvenient of times. 

But for the most part, I can say, I’m settling.  I think I’ve been whining about foods I miss and not having my car… not because I really miss them, but just because life is new here and different, and its not a vacation, this is my new life.  And that’s overwhelming and scary and hard and uncomfortable.  So I crave things that are familiar, even if I don’t love them all that much.  Otherwise, why are lucky charms my new favorite cereal?  But, when I’m honest, I’m not unhappy here at all.  Its different, and I’m adjusting.  And it is hard and it takes time. 

But, the Lord has given me new insight here that I didn’t get to have at home.  This is the real life understanding that we serve a God who transcends culture and my comfort zone.  He really does go with us where He calls us to go, He makes good on His promises.  He provides exactly what we need where we are, even if its not in the timing or way that we may have asked for it… its better.  The God who I serve is full of grace and faithfulness for His faithless servant – me.  I have had my moments of asking why, of wanting to yell out in my room, “I’m lonely, I’m uncomfortable, this is hard.”  And yet the Lord of Hosts gently reminds me that He hasn’t gone anywhere, and that HE is walking before me where He calls me to go.

“He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.” –Colossians 1:17

Krissie reminded me of this verse this past spring when I was having to learn to trust the Lord with a baby boy whom I loved with all my heart.  I had to trust Wesley to the Lord and trust that He was holding all things together for that little one.  And I saw Him answer prayer in an incredible way.

And now He asks me not to trust this promise for someone else, but to trust it for my own life.  He is before all things.  And He is holding all things together.  That includes my life, my future, my ministry… He holds them all in His very capable hands.  And when I believe that, it doesn’t matter where I am – NC, Costa Rica, Honduras… no importa!  I can settle in that place.

Pleasure

Today I was studying about finding pleasure in the LORD.  Its interesting because twice in the last 2 days I’ve been reminded of John Piper’s thoughts on Christian Hedonism.  Basically its the concept that we were created to find our GREATEST joy in the Lord.  So, when we are seeking the Lord and abiding in Him, we are actually seeking our own greatest pleasure.  I love this.

Saint Cyprian (200-258) 127 wrote:
”It is a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy that is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians - and I am one of them.”

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalms 16:11)

Bananagrams

Last night I went to volleyball… except I didn’t.  When I got up there it was cancelled, go figure.  But I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know.  So, the other couple who was up there asked if I wanted to come hang out with them.

Barb: “Do you play games?”
Me: “Yes, I love them”
Barb: “Do you know Carcassonne?”
Me: “Yes.  Random.  Usually other people don’t know that game.”

So I went to their house and played 5 rounds of Carcassonne, yeah, that’s a lot.  And I didn’t win, not even once.  A blow to my competitive nature :)

And then we moved on to Bananagrams (just like take two with Scrabble pieces if you’ve ever played that.  Only, we decided we needed the challenge, so we played it in Spanish!  It was great!  But took us forever… and the letter distribution wasn’t quite right.  Who would think you would ever need more Qs and Us?  When I got home I located it on amazon in Spanish… yay!  Guess what I’m asking for at Christmas? :)

Stats

Bad news. 

I just found out that I can check the stats of how many people read my blog and where they are located.  Honestly, I had no idea that I cared until I could check it.  And now I’m just curious.  Who reads my blog who lives in South Korea or Denmark or the Philippines?

I’m not sure this is a good find.  I’ve been writing because its good for me, its good processing and I want people to be able to share in my life here.  I don’t want to start worrying about how many people read it or if I’m being funny enough or clever enough or have enough excited things to share.  I don’t want to always be checking it and wondering why people read it but don’t leave comments (except that blogspot does not make it easy to do that!)  So I think I’m going to try to forget that I know that information exists and go back to writing in complete ignorance :)

I will say this though.  I was talking to a friend the other day and we decided that the non-bloggers of the world need a little reminder.  It’s possible that when you read our blogs and hear about our lives that you feel connected to us, which is great!  Maybe it even makes you think, oh I miss them!  Well… just throwing it out there that just because you know about our lives doesn’t mean that we get to know about yours.  And we’d LOVE to :)  So shoot an email every once in awhile just to let us know how you are.  And when you have those moments of “oh, I miss them”, let us know that too.  Sometimes we feel like life is moving in warp speed at home without us there and we’re getting lost in the shuffle.  We know its not true in our heads, but some days it gets the better of us.

Thank you for reading this blog, for caring about my life and what I’m doing.  The Lord has called me on a crazy journey of obedience.  Some days its mundane and normal and not adventuresome at all and I don’t know why you would want to read about it.  Some days I just can’t believe that this is my life and I’m blown away by the adventure and newness and confusion and overwhelming nature of it all.  But on all those days the Lord goes before me and is leading me every step of the way.

School Supplies

School in Honduras is a different ballgame than school in the States.  Compulsory education only goes up through 6th grade and only about a third of the population receives education beyond that.  Kids are pulled out of school by their parents all the time because of money issues.  We’re not even talking tuition, we’re talking the bus fare to get to school, money for paper, pencils, notebooks, etc.  If the family cannot pay to provide these necessities, their children cannot go to school.

So, for that reason, my team is collecting school supplies to make it possible for some of the children in Armenia Bonito and other areas to go to school this year.  Last year they were able to provide school supplies for over 400 kids!  That’s great :)  If you want to know more about it, my team leader put together this video from their school supply drive last year…

If you are interested in being part of this specific ministry, you can gather up school supplies and send them to this address by December 31st!!!  The school year starts in February (I think!), so they need this time to organize and distribute stuff.  Also, you can send a note to the McCanns to say congrats b/c their new baby Anna was born yesterday :)  HOORAY!  I can’t wait to meet her.

Sean & Lindsey McCann
P.O. Box 171
La Ceiba, Atlantida
Honduras
Central America

If you would rather send money and have the team make purchases in Honduras, let me know and I’ll give you info on how to do that.

Costa Rica

Today I was in Hipermas (the Costa Rican Walmart equivalent).  I went with 2 friends and ended up running into 4 other people that I know, one of whom we recruited to share our cab on the ride home.  After shopping we grabbed McDonalds ice cream and burgers and were processing Costa Rican life together, when I said, you know, I would never buy McDonalds ice cream on a Walmart run in the states.  I think I like it here.

And its true.  For all of the things that are different here and for as much as I was frustrated by my newly acquired pet peeves (squishy flip-flops that squeak and wet pant legs from puddles and splashes that are just about dry by the time you’re ready to go back outside again) later in the day while walking to the Lee’s… I really do like it here!

Here are some things that I love.
1. Believe it or not, I love not having a cell phone.  It makes my life more peaceful
2. I love that places like Hipermas have a food court and I can sit and eat ice cream after I shop
3. I love that I’m not paying for car insurance or gas
4. I love that things are close by and its easy to travel to places that are beautiful for a weekend get-away
5. Although I complain at times, I really enjoy walking a lot and I know its good for me
6. I love volleyball on Tuesday nights
7. I love my Wednesday night Bible study in Spanish
8. I love that people are friendly and want to chat.  I could stop and have a conversation with about 4 people that I’ve met in their workplaces, just on the 3 block walk to school.
9. I LOVE living in this kind of community where I can walk to everyone’s house, I see people that I know all over the neighborhood when I’m out walking or running errands, I love that people help each other (housesitting, watching kids, asking what you need at the store), and that we’re all in the same place learning and living life together with a common goal
10. I love meeting all these people who love Jesus and have the same heart to reach the nations for His kingdom

To sum up… the Lord has given me the opposite of culture shock today… we shall call it “culture enjoyment” and I’m thankful for it! :)

Broken Cisterns

"Men are in a restless pursuit after satisfaction in earthly things. They will exhaust themselves in the deceitful delights of sin, and, finding them all to be vanity and emptiness, they will become very perplexed and disappointed. But they will still continue their fruitless search.

Though wearied, they still stagger forward under the influence of spiritual madness, and though there is no result to be reached except that of everlasting disappointment, yet they press forward. They have no forethought for their eternal state; the present hour absorbs them. They turn to another and another of earth's broken cisterns, hoping to find water where not a drop was ever discovered yet." Charles Spurgeon

Cannibalism

So there is a difference in Spanish between saying “comer – to eat” and “comerse – to eat something in particular”.  So today a classmate of mine was talking and said something like this… “¿Cuando la familia se come la hija se enfirme?”Which actually means… When the family ate the daughter, did they get sick?  Instead of… When the family ate, did the daughter get sick? We laughed.  A lot.

Martyrs and Thieves

I was listening to Jennifer Knapp this morning and this song came on… it is probably one of my all-time favorite songs.

Martyrs and Thieves – Jennifer Knapp
There's a place in the darkness that I used to cling to
It presses harsh hope against time
In the absence of martyrs there's a presence of thieves
Who only want to rob you blind
They steal away any sense of peace
Though I'm a king I'm a king on my knees
And I know they are wrong when they say I am strong
As the darkness covers me

Chorus-
So turn on the light and reveal all the glory
I am not afraid
To bare all my weakness knowing in meekness
I have a kingdom to gain
Where there is peace and love in the light, in the light
Oh I am not afraid
To let Your light shine bright in my life, in my life
Oh I... am, I...

There are ghosts from my past who've owned more of my soul
Than I thought I had given away
They linger in closets and under my bed
And in pictures less proudly displayed
A great fool in my life I have been
Have squandered till pallid and thin
Hung my head in shame and refused to take blame
For the darkness I know I've let win

Can you hear me? (repeat 6x)

Well I've never been much for the baring of soul
In the presence of any man
I'd rather keep to myself all safe and secure
In the arms of a sinner I am
Could it be that my worth should depend
By the crimson stained grace on a hand
And like a lamp on a hill Lord I pray in Your will
To reveal all of You that I can

There's a place in the darkness that I used to cling to
It presses harsh hope against time...

Parrot

This morning I was so confused.  I woke up to a voice outside my window that just kept screeching different mostly indiscernible words.  Oh tireless person, PLEASE go back to sleep and let me go back to sleep. Well Bethany informs that she thinks it is a parrot, which makes A LOT more sense.  I just haven’t really heard one before.

So, as I sit and write I keep hearing two things… RA-CHEL, A-VENA (oatmeal)

I don’t know what he is really saying, but that’s what it sounds like to me.  And I couldn’t figure out why Rachel just couldn’t eat her oatmeal and let me sleep.

Puppy Chow

Laura is awesome and brought me a huge container of peanut butter.  Then some people staying at my host family’s house had extra chocolate chips.  So… what else would I do, but make puppy chow?  For those of you who know this by a different name, puppy chow is chex cereal with peanut butter/chocolate/powder sugar goodness on top.  So delicious!

Except they don’t have chex here, so I made mine with cheerios.  Looks and tastes a little different, but still SO good! :) I introduced it to my host family and their neighbors and they loved it.  I think I’ll be sharing this recipe…

Also, I’m housesitting so last night we had chili… yum!!! I don’t grocery shop often around here.  So I haven’t learned the kilo equivalent of pounds.  So I went in the grocery store and asked for ground beef, this much please.  And I held out my hands to show about one large handful.  He laughed and did it.  Surprisingly, it was about a pound when I got home and figured it out!  Awesome!

Whoops

Don’t you love a post that starts with the word whoops.  Its sure to show a new Spanish blunder in the life of Shannon.  Correct. Tonight we were hanging out with our friend Ligia and speaking all in Spanish, which is great practice and so fun to get to know her!  We were talking about traveling thanksgiving weekend and I said…

“Tengo un amigo” (I have a friend) “Él organiza viejos” (He organizes old people)

Umm… what?!? “oh, él organiza viajes” (He organizes trips)

Yep, those things are not the same.

Galatians

If you are a reader of this blog, first of all, thanks!  Second of all, get ready to learn about Galatians.  I just started Tim Keller’s study on Galatians with some girls here.  I’ve done it before, but I am loving doing it again!  I am just continually struck by the truth of the Gospel.  We need Jesus, nothing else.  And I’m so thankful for that. 

Don’t worry I’ll still be sharing antidotes of my daily life and Spanish learning here in Costa Rica.  But this is a lot of what is on my heart these days.

Here’s a quote from the beginning of the study, just to give you a little taste…

“The gospel is the way that anything is renewed and transformed by Christ — whether a heart, a relationship, a church, or a community. All our problems come from a lack of orientation to the gospel. Put positively, the gospel transforms our hearts, our thinking and our approach to absolutely everything.

The gospel of justifying faith means that while Christians are, in themselves still sinful and sinning, yet in Christ, in God’s sight, they are accepted and righteous.  So we can say that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope — at the very same time. This creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth. It means that the more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God’s grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God’s grace and acceptance in Christ, the more able you are to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions and character of your sin.”

Let me explain, no there is too much, let me sum up

Please tell me you know the movie reference…

Yesterday I got back from area conference with MTW missionaries all over Latin America.  I loved every second of it!  There really is too much to tell you about how amazingly blessed I felt and how renewed and restored I feel coming back to Costa Rica.  So, let me sum up.

Every morning and evening I was reminded of the good news of the Gospel and that the Lord’s message is for me.  Fear, anger, temptation, doubt, and insecurities reign in my heart far too often and the Lord offers freedom.  The good news of the Gospel is that I don’t have to have my life together in a pretty little package to bring it before the Lord.  He takes my mess, all of it.  And He gives me the freedom to be humble, to not always have to be right, to confess sin, to live honestly in community, to apologize, to walk away, to serve, and to love.  And somehow He uses a broken vessel like me in His plan to bring the Gospel to bear and expand His kingdom around the world.  What is He thinking?

I was so blessed and challenged by the teaching from the Word, the music, the seminars, and the testimony of other missionaries.  I was convicted that I complain too much and don’t pray enough.  I am excited again to be part of this global family that is working for the Lord around Latin America.

And what about the rest of the time when we weren’t in meetings?  Well, I got to see old friends and make new friends.  I enjoyed spending time with my team and FINALLY meeting all of them face to face.  (I want to move to Honduras tomorrow!)  I was humbled by the kids whose Spanish puts me to shame and motivated to study more.  I ate well and far too much.  I didn’t see a drop of rain :)  I enjoyed being in the sun.  I read books in English just for fun.  I did some line dancing and watched a youth talent show. 

All in all.  It was great and I was a little sad that it had to end – perhaps because I knew that missed homework assignments waited for me here in San Jose :)  But I’ll get caught up and I’m excited to be where God has me for now.

Here’s team Honduras… (missing a few!)
left to right: Clows, Pettengills, Shannon, McCanns
By way of an update, Bethany and Leo are here with me in language school for one-two months and both headed to La Ceiba as interns.  Mike and Ashley are raising support and Lord-willing will come to Costa Rica in January.  Kate is raising support and should hit Costa Rica next August.  Please pray for our ever expanding team!

Area Conference

Tomorrow is going to be a great day!

Every four years MTW has a conference for all of the missionaries in Latin America, and it is happening this week!  I am really excited to be able to go and spend time with other missionaries.  But mainly I’m excited to see my team!

There are three other families on my team who are already in Honduras… The Pettengills, The McCanns, and the Clows.  I have gotten to spend 4 days with the Pettengills and McCanns, but I have never met the Clows.  Well tomorrow is the day and we get to spend the whole week together!

As an added bonus, I get to room with Abby, my friend and roommate from my pre-field training in Belgium.  And spend time with Laura.  Laura and I have been friends ever since I was 6 years old and she hid a rock from my rock collection as buried treasure… never to be found again :)  She and her husband are coming to do the children’s programs.

I’ll be MIA from the blog and internet for awhile.  So, more to come when I get back :)

Los Guizaros

A couple weeks ago at church I met someone from La Ceiba, Honduras!  Isn't it amazing how the Lord works?  It really is a small world.

After meeting David, he invited us to join a ministry that he is involved with in a neighborhood called Los Guizaros.  So, last Saturday Abby, Melissa, and I piled in a car with him and headed up the road for a new adventure.  And we loved it.

Every Saturday they play games with the kids and then teach them from Scripture.  They go through books of the Bible and study some hard topics.  Right now they are going through the book of Ester.  So we had a competition to see which team could answer all the trivia questions first.  My job was to listen to their answers and see if they were right.  Imagine excited kids talking all at once in rapid fire Spanish :)  But we made it work and it was fun to be able to communicate a little bit.

My team got finished first, which of course I was excited about and very proud of them.  There are some really bright kids in this group and I loved getting to hang out with them.  It will take going back awhile to learn all of their names, but they were patient to tell me more than once and to speak slowly so that I could talk to them.

After the Bible time they feed the kids lunch so we just got to hang out for a little while.  This little girl is precious and very loving.  She just sat and chatted away to me.  Her vocabulary is probably more on par with mine :)

It was a unanimous decision among us.  We would love to go back and spend more time with these kids and be a part of what the Lord is doing in their lives.  The people that work with them have a great vision to teach them about the Lord while also providing them with lot of other opportunities.  (Wow… the word oportunidades actually came to mind before the English)  So please keep these kids in your prayers!