Cuatro Cosas

1. Jesus Storybook Bible
2. Framed picture of my family
3. Camera
4. Spanish Bananagrams

Today I had to take four items to class in a bag that give a picture of me, or things that are important to me.  We put them in a bag and had to describe them for the rest of the class to guess what they were.  Well, I think I’ve been in class with these people for too long because they know me!  They guessed all of them almost right away.  I got as far as saying… “You use this to have fun” when Scott said Bananagrams.  Hmm… predictable?  I guess so.

It also just struck me that a year ago I didn’t own two of these things, nor would I have enjoyed the fact that they are in Spanish.  And I would say that right now pictures of people that I love are becoming increasingly valuable to me as time goes by since I’ve seen them in person. 

A year in Costa Rica has changed me.  And praise the Lord, I think I’m better for it! 

Loving the community of believers

This morning I got a precious email from a lady who lives in GA.  I don’t know here.  I have never met her and will probably never meet her.  We have no connections that I know of or mutual friends.

She is praying through the list of MTW missionaries with her 5 year old daughter and they just wrote me today to let me know that they had prayed for me.

It was such an unexpected blessing :)  And I’m so thankful for them!

Change

When I was 6 years old Laura and my sister hid my “fool’s gold” rock from my rock collection in the ground somewhere.  We never found it (although they swear they marked it with crossed sticks, but do you know how many crossed sticks there were in our backyard?).  But regardless, Laura turned out to be my best friend for the next 12 years!  This is how my childhood was… I had best friends and they didn’t change.  My friends were my best friends ‘till I went to college.

We had, and have, a pseudo family of 6ish families that did almost everything together… church, birthdays, roller hockey, school, softball, etc.  No one ever moved, we just all stayed friends and did life together for years.  And they are all still there in Cary.  When I go home I get to see all my “moms” all together in the same place.  The kids have moved, but we all come home for Christmas.

Needless to say, I never really learned how to do change.

So now the Lord has me right smack dab in the middle of a very transient life.  I’m here for a year, there for two, traveling, seeing people, saying hello, saying goodbye, and still not really loving change.

This past week my dear friend Megan has been home from England visiting.  She is serving with MTW for a year in England and I haven’t seen her since last June!  Praise the Lord for skype because I got to pretend that I was there for a little while sitting with her family and my siblings in the Hodge’s family room (one of my favorite places in the world).  But it also made my heart hurt b/c I wish I could just be there with them pretending that things are exactly how they used to be before we lived oceans away from each other.

But then I think of all the joy that change has brought.  Little Jack and little Annie, Erin and Andrew entering the pseudo family, all my friends here in Costa Rica, college educations, new memories, travels, new lessons from the Lord.  And I realize that change isn’t all bad.  Its just hard.

So… I’m trying to learn what it looks like to “do change well”.  To rejoice in the past, enjoy the present, and look forward to the future while thanking the Lord for each step of the way.  I’ve been a whiner about change.  I’m not saying that is going to be different, but I would like to learn how to embrace it instead of complaining about it.

A night out…

Last night I stayed with the Messick boys so Kristy and Matt could get a night away.  It was so fun!  We played memory, went to the park, watched Emperor’s New Groove (which is my favorite all-time kids movie), ate pizza, made crafts, just had a good time!  But I also pulled out my camera, so I wanted to share some favorite pictures from the weekend!  This is such a special family to me!  Too bad Taylah missed out on picture time…

3 little monkeys!

Little Elijah.  I love this little guy.  He loves helping, especially with cooking, he always says yerz instead of your, and he always wears his pants backwards (as you can see from picture 1 :) ).  I feel like I speak Spanish exactly the way he speaks English.  Sometimes he starts a train of thought and can’t finish it, so he switches mid-sentence to say it a completely different way.  I totally do that!

Micah is a constant leaner.  I love that about him.  He loves to try out his new Spanish words these days and is constantly asking what things mean in Spanish and English.  He doesn’t miss anything!  He is a rule-follower to the core, but always wants to know why.  He makes me laugh with his simple matter-of-fact statements.

And this is Jonah, the leader of the pack!  Today he sang with me while reading along in Spanish!  I could not believe it.  The kid is still learning to read in English and is rapidly surpassing me in his Spanish skills.  He loves playing “kick” (aka soccer) and just being a monkey in general. 

oh the stories…

Tonight I’m watching the Messick kids and we took time to take a fun trip to Pizza Hut.  While we were there conversation revolved around the rocket ship on TV, how much coke they were allowed to drink, and my love life, of course.

M: Miss Shannon, are you a teenager?
J: No, she’s an adult!
M: Then why don’t you have any kids?
Me: Because I haven’t found a good man to marry yet.
J: Miss Shannon… are you even looking?

Thank you six year old for sounding exasperated with me for not being married.  You help my self-esteem… :)

Just a little laugh

This afternoon I was trying to accomplish homework while sharing the hammock with a 4 year old… needless to say the homework didn’t get done.  We were singing silly songs and just talking and Micah was kind of smooshed up instead of lying stretched out.  All the sudden, out of the middle of nowhere, he says in an exasperated voice…

“Miss Shannon, God did not make me to be comfortable all squished up like this!”

Love it!

Fun picture

Thanks to the McCann family I have a car waiting for me in Honduras.  They are leaving to go back to the states and already sold their van.  So now they are driving the car that I am currently raising money to purchase.  The Lord is so good to provide.  It is far better that Sean and John picked out my car than me.  My only request was that it not be yellow… and that doesn’t really pick out a reliable car:)

I loved this picture that Lindsey shared on their blog!  If there was any question as to how useful a car will be, I think this answers it…

This is a picture of a Friday afternoon trip from the soccer court to the river with kids from Armenia.  Looks like fun!  Makes me excited to get there :) 

I am praying that the Lord will provide $4000 for the car by May 1st when I arrive in La Ceiba.  Thank you so much to those who have given, I have about $500!!!  Please let me know if you are interested in giving towards my car fund.  You can read about it a couple posts down, or email me at ssinnes@gmail.com.

a video

Someone from my home church recently asked me to put together something for a Sunday school class with pictures of Costa Rica talking about the Lord's creation and HIS promises to His people. They wanted a video... but, as I told Amy, "I don't do videos". Well, I got excited about it, put together a powerpoint, and then decided it would indeed be cooler as a video. So I am far from a professional video maker or photographer, but I hope you'll enjoy this. Its only about 3 1/2 minutes. :)

Trying to compete with a chicken…

I’ve worked with kids a lot in my life, but this morning was a little crazy!

In the taxi on the way up to Guizarros I find out that I need to teach this morning.  No big deal, I have my handy dandy kids Bible, a puzzle (rompecabeza en español, which means broken head and I think that’s great :)), a memory game, and am good to go.  Or so I thought… I had no idea what awaited me.

In a small room it was just me, 12 kids between the ages of 2 and 10, and a whole lot of Spanish.  So, we try to get started.  Oh, but wait, there’s a front-end loader out back and all of the sudden everyone is staring out the holes in the wall to try to see it.  Ever try to pry little boys attention away from a piece of construction equipment?  Not even the story of Noah is interesting enough.

So I finally have them mostly settled listening to a story…

And in comes the chicken.   That’s right, a real live scurrying chicken.  Guess who wins between Noah and the chicken?  Yep, right again. 

The chicken finally leaves while I’m holding a two-year old in one hand, a book in the other, and trying to keep 11 other sets of ears listening to a story.  About 5 minutes later the chicken is back and running away from the people trying to catch it, under the table where all the kids are sitting.  So now I have 6 little boys trying to catch a chicken and bunch of little girls standing on the table :)

When it was all over I just looked at one of the girls and said, “today it is impossible to pay attention.”  She agreed, smiled, and gave me a hug.  Then we abandoned Noah and drew rainbows instead. :)

Provision

This is, for me the hardest part about being a missionary.  I want my blog to be about Jesus and life and what the Lord is doing in the lives and hearts of people.  I want to write funny stories and Spanish mishaps and let you know my friends.  And I get to do all of those things via this wonder called the internet!

But I also need to share a need with you as I get ready to leave language school and head to Honduras.  I need a car.  Mission to the World doesn’t do cars because of some tax complications so missionaries have to raise money independently to buy a car.

The thought of having to raise more money gives me a sinking feeling in my stomach, but it shouldn’t because I trust that the Lord will provide.

So I’m putting it out there.  I need $4000 to buy a car.  The Lord has provided for me already and I have a car waiting for me in Honduras, but I still have to pay for it.  So if you would like to help support me in this way, I am very grateful.  If you would like to join me in praying that the Lord would provide these funds by April, I would be blessed by that as well.

You need to send checks to Shannon Innes to my parent’s address.  I don’t want to post that on the blog, so if you need it you can write to me at ssinnes@gmail.com.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way I want to spend a little time recalling just a few of the AMAZING ways that the Lord has provided for in the past.  It is such an encouragement to me to remember and I hope it will be encouraging to you too that we serve a God who is a PROVIDER!

1. I went to Zambia and when I got back a family at church had paid to put new tires on my car.

2. Multiple times I found cash in an envelope with my name on it in my box at church with an anonymous note that said, “we’re thankful for you!”

3. Many of you supported me so that I could take a mission trip to India which is the way the Lord called me to full-time missions

4. I raised a bunch of money in just 10 months… (when someone asked me last week how I did it my only response is that the Lord did it b/c I still remember that day MTW showed me my budget and I told them there was no way I was going to Honduras!)

5. Tyler’s grandma bought the house I was living in without expecting us to do may repairs and we never had to put it on the market!

6. Erin bought my car and I never had to advertise it

7. People at Peace Church paid for us to have a turkey for Thanksgiving here in Costa Rica

8. My mom’s Bible study sent all the food so that I could make Thanksgiving dinner for my host family and lots of neighbors and show the Lord’s love to them in that way

9.  Kristi sent me Lucky Charms in the mail :)

10.  Someone gave my mom a bag of $45 worth of quarters today to go towards my car!

The Lord is a provider… always has been and always will be.  This time is no different.  :)

Brought Near

“Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
Ephesians 2:12-13

What a good reminder today.  I have been brought near and into relationship with God by the great sacrifice of Christ. 

“Nothing in my hands I bring… simply to the cross I cling!”

These words from an old hymn echo in my heart as I read this passage of Scripture.  And I am blown away that the Lord loves me, and not only that He loves me, but that He lets me be a part of loving His children. 

There is no way that is a good idea!  I mess things up way too often.  I am selfish and greedy and lazy and stupid and prideful and scared and apathetic and English speaking.  I’m really not a good choice.  And yet… He asks me to be obedient so that He can do something awesome.  So here I am. 

Here I am learning every day what it means to love Jesus and walk with Him.  I am no longer far off and alienated from God.  I have the privilege of knowing Him and being comforted by Him, knowing His peace, knowing His joy… what a blessing.

El 1 de Mayo

I’m moving to Honduras!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally bought my ticket and on May 1st its really happening.  I’m taking all the Spanish I can muster and moving myself and my 4 suitcases and guitar to La Ceiba, Honduras for the next couple of years!

Why I was a math major…

So we’ve reached that point in Spanish that is all too reminiscent of miserable days in high school and college English classes.  It’s the feeling that I get when I’m biting my tongue to not argue my point with the teacher, because it ultimately doesn’t matter.  Why does this happen?

The answer is simple: perception.

Math is very black and white.  You solve for the answer and you’re either right or wrong.  No questions.

Languages on the other hand are just really complicated.  You can say something and I can take it one of 4 ways.  I can write a poem and you can read into it 100 things that I never meant to say.  I can listen to a song and apply it to my life circumstance right now when it was written from a totally different point of view.

There is something really beautiful and appealing about language for this reason.  It gets to our hearts.  Its how we express ourselves.  It gives a way to communicate things that aren’t always black and white issues.  And I love that.

But I don’t like having it in the classroom.  My perfectionist nature balks against getting points off on my test because I didn’t read something from the same perspective as the teacher.  But that’s pride.  And I’m learning to let things go.  It’s a good lesson for me and one that is much needed.

February Newsletter... just a few days late!

February 2011

Bananagrams

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE bananagrams in Spanish? It makes me feel like I'm learning when I can make a board with 30 words that I didn't even know existed 8 months ago. And every time I play it gets easier and I know more words. And I find myself using new conjugations that I'm learning and new vocabulary. Its just fun.

So, there's my plug. Play bananagrams :)