Beautiful Table

Our son, Jon, is a student in the Fine Woodworking Program at College of the Redwoods in Fort Bragg, California. Only 17 students per year are admitted into this exclusive program; 6 students are invited to stay a second year. The program was founded over 30 years ago by James Krenov, a world-renown woodworker. He taught at the school until his retirement in 2002. He continued to work in his woodworking shop until he died in 2009 at age 88. Over the years the school has gained an reputation for excellent craftsmanship and has been recognized by the woodworking community around the world.

The students attend class 8 hours a day, 6 days a week and each semester culminates with the completion of their single semester project. We visited Jon at school when we were in California in December and watched the students working on their projects.

All the student projects are featured in the school's Mid-Winter Exhibition (January 29-February 4) at the Fort Bragg Town Hall. Students may offer their projects for sale if they wish; the instructors set the purchase price which reflects the design, type of wood and number of hours spent on the piece. Jon finished his sofa table and sent us pictures on Wednesday. It is made of maple and the majority of it was made by hand. If his table sells, I will be sorry that we won't see it. When we were there in December, it was still just parts/pieces. We are so proud of him and we would love to have the table in our home. Unfortunately, it's just not possible to get it to El Salvador!

If you're interested in seeing other projects, you can check out the gallery of student work from the class of 2010: http://www.crfinefurniture.com/1pages/exhibitions/winter10/thumbnailsmw10.html

It's Friday again!

It seems like I just posted, but when I checked it said it was Monday. Wow--time flies when you're really, really busy! We survived our first test and our second test. Yesterday's test was in conversation. We don't have the same teacher so our tests were not alike. In our class we had to talk about our family for 10 minutes (longest ten minutes of my life) while the others in the class listened. Stephen's teacher called them in one at a time. Who knows how the tests will be graded. My teacher took very few notes!

Last night was the first quilt class for the ladies at Vida Nueva Baptist Church. There were six of them in the class. I purchased 8 yards of fabric (a floral and solid in 4 different colors) in San Salvador and brought it with me. We cut out squares for a nine-patch block. They were so patient with my instructions in Spanish. Everyone is handsewing in class, but some of them have machines at home. Everyone got one nine-patch block completed and took home enough fabric to make a second one. Next week we will make a friendship star block which has triangles. I forgot my camera (sound familar) so I will have to wait until next week to take pictures.

Our Tico family is going to be gone to a wedding all day tomorrow so we will be on our own--not exactly sure what we will do. We both have another grammar test on Monday so studying may fill much of our weekend.

One day this week we walked to the Parque de Paz (Peace Park.) As you can see from the pictures, you get a 360 view of San Jose from the top. In addition, if you look closely you will see kids "sledding" down the hills on cardboard. Who says you need snow and cold to go sledding!

Never did like tests!

Well, the first test is over and all that is left is the second, third, fourth, etc. :-) I remember the feeling of realizing that some of the things on the test weren't on my list of things to study. For example, where did that verb come from and why is it on the test! Unfortunately, it wasn't among the 140 verbs I studied. Instead it was one of the remaining 2000 I haven't learned! Stephen and I have decided that learning is for young people, as it sure does take a lot of brain power to study these days!

Our next test is on Thursday and it's in conversation rather than grammar. It will be interesting to see how we are tested, but that's for another day.

We finally made it over to Okayama Park with our camera today after class and I've attached some pictures. I am only posting 3 here; I will put the rest on my Facebook page. We're slowly learning the lay of the land around our house and can walk to several grocery stores and restaurants without getting lost.

Stephen has basketball tonight so I'm planning to work on things for the quilt class I'm teaching at church on Thursday night. Hoping the ladies are patient with me because I won't be able to explain everything in Spanish!

Sunday church--an all day affair!

We had a great day of worship and fellowship at IBVN San Jose yesterday. The house where we are living is fairly close to the church so the pastor, Rodolfo, and his wife, Rocio, come by to pick us up so we don't have to take a taxi. We are usually the first to arrive so I try to help Rocio get things ready. Every Sunday during the greeting time they have cookies and iced tea/coffee.

Yesterday Stephen sang David Crowder's "Oh, How He Loves Us" (in Spanish.) Luis David played along on the guitar and I stood up front and held the microphone for Stephen (they didn't have a stand.) Believe me, it's the closest I'll ever come to singing the special music. The second time through the congregation joined us. It was really cool. Pastor Rodolfo preached on Colossians 1:9-14 which is one of my favorite passages. I'd like to say that I understood it all, but "no."

After church a group of 5 families went to lunch at a restaurant on top of a mountain. The views driving up were amazing, but, unfortunately, we didn't stop for pictures. The restaurant specializes in carne (meat); they don't serve chicken. They use a huge barbeque-style grill for almost everything: pork, beef, baked potatoes, and grilled plantains. You can see the smoke from the grill as you drive up to the place. The portions are huge; Stephen and I should have shared the medium order of bistek (thin steak.) Everything we had was very good. Sunday church and lunch is an all-day affair. They picked us up and 9:30 and brought us back at 4:00.

I've attached the few pictures we did take: a not-so-good picture of the two of us, Carolina and her precious daughter, Rebeca; view of the table and then Pastor Rodolfo and his wife, Rocio. All of these families have welcomed us like we're long-lost friends. I can already tell that it's going to be difficult to say good bye at the end of February.

We have our first grammar test today so we spent the rest of the evening studying (although Stephen found some time to catch part of the game.) As I posted on Facebook, all this studying reminds me of the good days at Southwest Baptist! Please pray that we will be able to remember everything and that we won't make any careless mistakes!

Reflections on the first week

Today is Friday! Since we retired and came to El Salvador, we have been less aware of the importance of this day. However, now that we're back in school, we remember how great it is when Friday comes! Classes for the week finish up at 3:00 today and then it's the weekend!

Stephen went to the gym at the Institute last night for their regular basketball pick-up game. He's been missing his daily trip to shoot baskets on the court in our neighborhood back home. He also ran for the first time yesterday (trying to get his exercise for the week in one day) in the park that's just down the street.

We've been going for a walk to explore the neighborhood every day either before or after class. We have found numerous parks within walking distance including Parque Okayama, a Japanese-themed park, that is beautiful. Unfortunately, we forgot to take our camera with us so I will have to post pictures another time. On Wednesday, we stopped at Otero's pizza and shared a small pizza--we had heard that their pizza was the favorite of several people at the church and it didn't disappoint. We are planning to take our family (at least the kids) there one of these days.

Most of the homes in El Salvador and here in Costa Rica don't have hot water. Fortunately for us, our home in San Salvador does have hot water in the kitchen and bathrooms. Here in San Jose, however, it's only cold water. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to "turn on" the hot water (there's a non-functioning knob) in the kitchen sink and bathroom sink. All of the showers have "hot" water which comes in the form of a small electric heater built into the shower head. The first step to take a shower is to flip the breaker (located in the kitchen) which controls the electric heater, return to the bathroom to turn on the water and then wait several minutes for the water to get hot. With this system the water is either all cold or all warm/hot. For us, it's the perfect quick shower and a very good way to conserve water.


So, what are we eating you ask? Well, breakfast is at 6:45 and usually consists of tortillas with cheese and some type of fruit (bananas, mango, papaya, pineapple.) We've also had guyo pinto (beans and rice) with scrambled eggs and fried eggs with fruit. There's always bread, but it's not regular sliced loaf like we're accustomed to. Stephen says the coffee is awesome. I brought some herbal tea bags from home. Flor (Mom) usually makes breakfast and we eat with her, Jose (dad), Ruth (grandma) and Esther (teacher at the school.) Flor, Jose and Esther leave for work at 7:00. The kids don't get up that early since they are still on their summer vacation. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day--we eat at 11:45 before we go to class at 12:30. Ruth is at home all day so she prepares lunch. We like everything she prepares. For example, Tuesday we had pan-fried tilapia, rice (of course), vegetables and a green salad. Yesterday--spaghetti. Stephen, Ruth and I eat together. Dinner is a light meal, i.e. hot dogs, sandwiches, tamale or macaroni and cheese. As you can tell, the menu is very carb driven--it's a good thing we aren't on a low carb diet! We're hoping NOT to gain weight while we're here. Stephen will probably be fine, but I'm not sure about me.

We spend time talking to the family in Spanish, but it continues to be difficult for us. Keep praying for us! Well, it's almost 8:00 a.m. and I need to get to work on today's assignment.

Instituto de Lengua Espanola--Day 2

Thought I would blog for just a few minutes before posting some pictures from yesterday. We went to chapel this morning. The worship time and testimony time were awesome. We met several students who are enrolled in the regular course.

Today's classes were very challenging, but, then, I'm pretty certain that I will say the same thing everyday. Yesterday and today, Stephen and I went for an hour long walk after classes so we can get to know the neighborhood. There's a big park within walking distance that has a regulation size soccer field with a track around it. Since the traffic is pretty heavy and the sidewalks aren't in great shape, we think that the track may be the best place for Stephen to run. Breakfast is at 6:50 so he will probably run in the afternoon. If he goes to the track, I can go along and walk.

Anyway, I've got lots of homework tonight so that's it. Enjoy the pictures of the first day of school!

First day of school!

As I entered the title for this post, I realized that I had used the exact title for a post back in August, but that was then and this is now. In August, New Life Christian School was starting and we were preparing to meet our students for this first time. Yesterday Stephen and I started our first day of school as students at the Instituto de Lengua Espanola in San Jose, Costa Rica. So the title is appropriate for both postings!

Orientation began at 8:30 and after a very short introduction, they passed out the Spanish "pre-test" to the 26 students. The written test and the oral test helped them determine our class level. Oh my goodness, it seemed like I couldn't remember anything! There were five pages and I would say that I didn't complete more than 2 of them. Some people were flying through the pages and some turned it in right away. Later I found out that one of the people who turned it in almost immediately was a total beginner! We had 20 minutes for the written test and then came the individual conversation "test" with one of the teachers. She started with several questions and for the most part I could understand what she was asking . . . . it didn't last too long so that was good.

The orientation continued after the test--we finished at 11:40. The group is varied: young (I think 20 is the youngest) and old (we might be the oldest.) We have met several people from Canada; there are many denominations represented among the group. I'm sure we will find out more about our classmates as the weeks progress.

We rushed home (luckily it's only about a 2 minute walk) to have lunch. I can hardly relate to walking in the door and having our lunch on the table in just a couple of minutes. I may have a hard time going back to cooking for myself. Ruth, the grandmother in the house, does almost all of the cooking because Flor teaches music at a Christian school. We had rice, pan fried yuca, beans and mixed vegetables. Everything has been very good. We have a large breakfast, large lunch and then a light dinner.

We were back at the Institute by 12:25 to find our class assignments posted on the bulletin board. Stephen and I are not in the same class--I believe they may split up spouses on purpose as I don't think any of the couples ended up in the same classes. There are four in Stephen's class and five in my class. We have grammar class and then conversation. Stephen and I share a teacher--he has her for grammar and I have her for conversation. I believe I understand why they call this an intensive! They moved soooooooo fast yesterday and there was homework in both classes.

Right now we are trying to figure out the best way to study . . . . . flashcards, notebooks, both, etc. We will need to get our system down because the time will fly by.

Well, speaking of homework, I've got to get back to it. This blog will have to be continued later.

Pura Vida en Costa Rica

We left El Salvador at 11:30 and after a 35 minute flight we landed in Managua. The airport in Managua is very, very small (six gates) and only three restaurants . . . . . we spent almost three hours there. Stephen studied Spanish--he's cramming for the test on Monday--I worked on the computer. The flight to San Jose was only 50 minutes. We sailed right through immigration and customs, got all of our bags and were out on the sidewalk waiting for our transportation about 30 minutes after we landed--about a half hour early!

Rony, the bilingual transportation guy, picked us up about 5:30. We felt so important because he was holding a sign with our name on it! About 45 minutes later we were meeting our host family. We are so blessed to be with the Chincilla family. They have been hosting future missionaries from the institute for more than 10 years so they are experts! Their house is across the street from the school. Altogether, there are nine of us in the house: Jose and Flor (mom/dad), David, Maria Jose, Fernanda (kids ages 20 to 27), Grandma Ruth, Esther (teacher at the institute's elementary school; she's from Texas) and us. We have a private bathroom and Internet in our bedroom. Stephen's excited because David, who's 20, loves American football. In fact, they have been watching the games together. There's a park down the street where Stephen can run and a grocery store within a couple of blocks.

This morning we took a taxi to Vida Nueva Baptist Church. We were the first ones there; the door was still locked. The taxi driver tried to tell us that the church was across the street. (There is a Mormon church across the street.) We assured him that we had the location right--the church is on the second floor above a pet store. The owners of the store brought out two chairs so we could sit while we waited for someone to arrive. It was only a short time until Pastor Rodolfo and his wife, Rocio, came to open the doors and get everything set up. There is a digital piano at the church, but they don't always have someone who can play. Stephen helped get it set up and played during the visiting time, offering and closing. Next week he and Luis David will get together to practice the songs so he can play along with the guitar during the worship time.

After church we went to Rodolfo and Rocio's home to wait for Roger and Natalia, their son-in-law and daughter. We all went to lunch together and it was a great time of fellowship. We have been talking Spanish (to the best of our ability) for the last two days. They brought us home and promised to pick us up next Sunday.

It is so great to see how God has provided all our needs as we begin this new chapter. We are so thankful that we have a God who cares about the details. Please pray for us as we attend orientation in the morning and have our placement test; our classes will start at 12:30 p.m.

As always, stay tuned for more stories, pictures and all of the details of our time in Costa Rica. I will blog as often as I can--homework, studying and talking Spanish is our number one priority for the next 6 weeks.

Off to Costa Rica

Jeff and Paula are picking us up in 20 minutes and we're heading to the airport. We fly to Costa Rica this morning and will begin a 6-week intensive Spanish course on Monday, January 17. We're excited and nervous! We will be living with a host family so it will be total immersion--just what we need! We've been married almost 37 years and now we're going to move in with another family; Stephen probably won't get to touch the remote control! He's already worried about how he's going to be able to watch today's playoff games.

We're going to miss our Salvadoran "family" and they keep telling us not to fall in love with Costa Rica because they want us to come back. We assure them that our home is here in El Salvador so there's nothing to worry about!

We will be worshiping at our sister church, Vida Nueva Baptist, in San Jose. We were there on a mission trip in November so we will be among friends. Stephen is hoping to be able to play the piano for the services.

We don't know whether or not our "house" will have Internet, so please forgive me if my blog posts are few and far between. Please pray for us--it will be hard work! Thanks for your support and your prayers--they mean so much to us.

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

We are wishing a very happy, happy 31st birthday to our son, Daniel! I can't think of the last time we celebrated his birthday in person with him . . . . . maybe 1998 before he graduated from high school. When he was in college, we would see him at Christmas, but every year he would have to return to school before his birthday. Same thing since college--we have seen him at the holidays, either Thanksgiving or Christmas, ever year, but not on his birthday. Maybe when he reads this he can correct me.

We're hoping to Skype tonight so we can tell him "happy birthday" and see our granddaughter at the same time. No reason to be coy about it . . . . . maybe we can see her telling him "happy birthday."

We're so proud of the Godly son, husband and father you've become! It so exciting to see God's blessing on you and your family.

Love,

Mom and Dad

First campaign of the year

Last night we joined almost 40 Americans on the first night of the first campaign of the new year. The group is made up of teams from four different churches--two in California, one in Kentucky and one in North Carolina. A large group of Salvadorans gathered at the church at 4:00 p.m. and waited for the "gringos" to come. By 4:30 we found out that they were late getting to the hotel from the airport so they would meet us at the campaign location. Two vans and a very packed small bus headed to a neighborhood in Lourdes. By the time we set up the inflatable and movie in a rather large traffic circle, the team had arrived. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet anyone because the giant inflatable slide had already attracted a long line of kids.

Normally, we keep the inflatable going for about a hour, stopping it around 6:30 (actually it's when Jeff tells us to stop) when the team is back from door-to-door canvasing. Last night about 6:15 the generator shut down. Of course, the lights went off, the inflatable started deflating and all the movie equipment powered down. I don't know what they did, but in about 30 seconds we were back in business--6:30 came and went, though, and the line at the inflatable was still going strong. The movie finally started about 6:50. Later we found out that the DVD player completely locked up when the power went off. It wouldn't power back on and it wouldn't eject the DVD. Jeff had to dismantle it to get the DVD out and send someone from the church in Lourdes to get a new player!

With the power and technical problems behind us, the rest of the evening went well. The youth drama, "Everything" was powerful and, as usual, the very large crowd drew in closer so they could see. "Pastor Phil" Neighbors, from Bakersfield, CA, gave the message and the response was awesome. We won't know the actual number of decisions until this evening, but we are confident that many people made professions of faith--the follow-up will start tomorrow night.

The team will join us for church at the hotel this morning. We will even get to hear "Pastor Phil" preach in English! Service should wrap up by 12:45 when we will rush home to see the Chief's game.

It's great to be back home and about our Father's business.

No more cold

Hurray, we're back in the land of warm weather! The pilot said that it was 77 degrees when we landed in San Salvador last night, and we knew he was telling the truth as soon as we stepped into the jetway. It was just after 9:00 p.m. when we arrived at the terminal last night. We were through immigration and customs in a little less than thirty minutes.

William Flores (our worship pastor) was there with the church van to pick up Jeff, Paula and us. When you have 12 bags, you need a big vehicle! After a stop at On the Run (think Quick Trip) for milk, we walked into our very clean house (thanks, Roxana) about 10:30 p.m.

We couldn't face the unpacking last night so, except for essentials, the bags were untouched until this morning. Everything in our luggage seems to have made it without a problem--so glad the vinegar and oil (thanks, Jan) from Heavenly Olive Oils and Vinegars made it safely back. What a mess that would have been! My sewing machine box was still in one piece and although I haven't opened it, I believe it will be fine. I can't wait to get started on several quilting projects--how long after a December wedding do you have to get the gift started/finished?

We've got to make it to the grocery store today; except for the 16 ounces of milk we bought last night, there's not a thing in our refrigerator. Shopping will be tricky, though! We leave for Costa Rica for six weeks on Saturday, January 15, so we only need food to last for a week or so.

The first mission trip of the year starts this Saturday. Please pray for the team from the states and the team from San Salvador--we want the things we do in 2011 to make a difference for the Kingdom.

Time to go

One of the great blessings of being in Lee's Summit is getting to go to the Kingdom Seekers class on Sunday morning. Pastor Steve's lessons are a great way to receive the spiritual food you need and the fellowship with our brothers and sisters is amazing. Since there isn't a Sunday School for adults at Vida Nueva (there's just not any space,) it's one of the things we miss most. Last Sunday's lesson was about "Redeeming the Time" and now that our 27 days in the States are drawing to a close, I'm more convinced than ever that time actually flies. Looking back on these days, though, I know that each of them contained 24 hours and that for good or bad, I lived each of the hours. (This morning it definitely feels like I didn't sleep enough of the hours.) We have had the privilege to spend time with so many dear friends (most of them over a meal or dessert) and I wouldn't trade those hours of sharing, laughing, crying, etc. for anything in the world.

As I mentioned in my FB status last night, the word for yesterday was bittersweet--leaving friends in Lee's Summit and heading back to friends in El Salvador. (I'm NOT going to miss the cold weather.) Fortunately, it doesn't end there--following God's plan for your life is SWEET! So, whether it's hard to leave or whether we're ready or not, when we step on the plane today, we are going home.

Thanks so much to every one of you who stopped by the blog this year. More than anything else, thank you for your prayers in 2010. Please keep them coming!

Happy 2011

On January 1, you hear people ask, "Where did the year go?" This year, for the first time, I can look back on 113 blog posts and see "where the year went." Even so, it is still surprising to see what a difference a year makes. Last January, Stephen was in his 29th year at the bank and I was traveling all over the country for Blackboard. We were also wrestling with the life-changing decision to leave everything behind and move to El Salvador. Of course, the question of whether to go arose many, many months earlier and we had already been on a survey trip and were working with a Spanish tutor by that time. It would be another month or so before we had our "final answer."

Looking back it is so much easier to see God's plan--don't we wish we could fast forward several months/years into the future before we make a decision just to see if it's going to work out! We can tell you unequivocally that God knew what he was doing and we are so glad we followed! If you've kept up with the blog (or my Facebook page), read our newsletters and/or prayed for us this year, you've been a part of our lives and our ministry. We recently read the year-end newsletter prepared by Steve Kern (missionary and senior pastor at Vida Nueva Baptist Church in San Salvador) and his wife, Pam, which indicated that in 2010 more than 11,000 individuals made professions of faith through the ministry in Central America. How blessed we are to be a very small part of the work.

What's up for 2011? We wrap up our time in the States and fly back to El Salvador on Tuesday. Saturday, January 8, a team arrives for our first mission trip of 2011. On January 15, we will fly to Costa Rica for a 6-week intensive Spanish course at the Spanish Language Institute. Please pray for us as we make "Spanish" our only priority. We will be living with a Costa Rican family recommended by the Institute--it will be complete immersion! We spent a week in Costa Rica in November and had the opportunity to work with Vida Nueva Baptist Church, San Jose, and get to know Pastor Rodolfo and his wife, Rocio, his daughter and son-in-law, Natalia and Roger, as well as others members of the church, so we are looking forward to making it our "home church" for six weeks.

There's even more to come in 2011--mission trips back to Nicaragua and Costa Rica before April, the arrival of a new grandbaby in June, a trip to California in July and a new school year at New Life Christian School in August--so stay "tuned."

I'm committed to keeping the blog going because next January 1, I want to be able to look back over the year and see just how far God has taken us! Please continue to pray for us and the people of Central America, and thank you so much for your willingness to come along with us on this exciting adventure.