Beautiful Stanford Campus

We took the kids, bikes and a stroller up to the Stanford campus.  It's a great time to visit because the students aren't yet on campus for the fall trimester, which means the paths are empty so the kids have a great, safe place to ride, while the adults have lots to look at, as well.

There were also some great trees to climb.

Here's some of the beauty of the campus that the adults were able to appreciate.

Four boys at the Giants Game

Daniel's work had baseball tickets so the four boys went to the Giants game on Thursday.  It was quite a game which included a grand slam and a Giant's 9-1 win.  Please note that when at a Giant's game you still have to represent the Royals!

Crazy Day

Sometimes the day before you leave the country is a bit crazy.  Today was a classic, crazy day--lots of projects to finish, last minute errands to run, last minute laundry and all that and more while trying to work around the schedule of a painter who was repairing a couple of cracks in the bedroom wall.  

We managed to get everything done and I finally started packing.  Airport pickup is at 9:15 in the morning, so at least we don't have to get up at the crack of dawn.  

 

New recipes this week

I'm sure it's not the first time that I've mentioned that I like change--quite the opposite of most people.  It's true in almost all facets of my life--what I read, what I study, what I do; but no where is it more true than with regard to food.  

I'm completely bored if I eat the same thing and prepare the same thing over and over.  Because I cook everyday (can't change that) I compensate by changing up the things I cook.  As a result, I'm always on the lookout for new recipes, most of which I've been finding by following several "healthy eating" bloggers.

I usually sit down once a week or maybe a little more and plan out our main meal.  Because we have some many evening activities (this week we had evening events Monday through Thursday), we normally have our main meal at lunch time.  The menu never includes breakfast and rarely include our dinners, unless we're going out or hosting people in our home.  There's usually at least one family favorite recipe during the week, like tacos, spaghetti, meatloaf, etc.  After I've planned the menu, the next step is the grocery list.  For some reason, going anywhere here in El Salvador is more of an ordeal than in the states.  Everything takes longer and there's no just "running to the store" to pick up a few things without dealing with traffic, parking and lines.  So, the fewer trips I have to make, the better for me.  (Because we're leaving next week and I'm trying to clean out the freezer, this weeks menu had fewer new recipes than normal.)

Menu (salads/sides aren't listed unless it's something new)

• Monday--tacos
• Tuesday--Garlic Mustard-Glazed Chicken Skewers*
• Wednesday--Homemade chicken noodle soup/BLT's
• Thursday--Turkey zucchini burgers, strawberry cucumber salad*
• Friday--Sweet/Spicy Tilapia*, baked parmesan pesto tomatoes*
• Saturday--out for dinner with friends
• Sunday--spaghetti
• Monday--meatloaf, light mac and cheese*
• Tuesday--fiesta of leftovers
• Wednesday--fly to US

*New recipes we enjoyed this week:

Main dish:

http://preventionrd.com/2015/06/garlic-mustard-glazed-chicken-skewers-weekly-menu/

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-spicy-citrus-tilapia

Side/salad:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2015/07/strawberry-cucumber-salad.html

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2015/08/pesto-parmesan-baked-tomatoes.html#more

I follow the recipes when possible, but, for example, we don't have a grill.  

Seminary Conference

Our church, Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva, has an accredited seminary.  From time to time, the church asks a  professor who is here to teach classes if they will offer a three-night conference for the congregation.   

Through this seminary program, last August we were fortunate to attend Dr. Ken Sheppard's three-night conference on Biblical geography/history of Israel.  Tonight, we were blessed to hear Dr. Phil Roberts sharing his expertise with regard to religions and other sects/cults. Tonight his theme was:  Unmasking Mormonism, tomorrow he will talk about Jehovah's Witnesses and Wednesday he will finish with the philosophy of salvation taught by the Catholic church.

Compared to the amount of material he shares in the seminary class, the two-hour conference agenda focuses on the big picture, rather than all of the details.  In addition, translating from English into Spanish also reduces the amount of material that can be covered.  Nevertheless, it was extremely interesting and we're excited to go back tomorrow night.  

Dr. Roberts enjoying pupusas with his host family.

Let's Go Royals

It's been a long time since we've been able to watch Royal's baseball on TV.  However, tonight and tomorrow, Fox Sports is broadcasting the Royals/Angeles games.  We've gotten

We're thoroughly enjoying watching the pitching, hitting, sliding and more.  

WIN!

What's in a Nickname?

Pastor Julio is preaching a series called "Transformed Identities," which highlights characters in the Bible whose names were changed.  There are the obvious ones we all know like Abram/Abraham and Saul/Paul.  However, not only are there more than I realized, but the reasons for the name change vary and the person doing the name changing might be God, someone else and maybe even the person himself/herself.  I would have completely missed the following trivia question:  

What was Joshua's original name and who changed it?

Answer:  Hosea and Moses.

Last Sunday, Pastor Julio's sermon talked about "nicknames," which are usually loosely based on a person's temperament, character or personality.  A nickname may be an exaggeration, it may be unfair, it may be humorous, but somewhere in the midst of all of that, there is probably a morsel of truth.  Jesus gave Zebedee's sons, James and John, the nickname--Sons of Thunder.  I don't think I'd ever thought about the significance of the name, but Pastor Julio's explanation made it clear the nickname was less than flattering.  In fact, these "hotheaded" brothers needed to change in their identity.    

 Jesus wants us to make a comprehensive change in our identity.  

The sermon caused me to ask the question: What nickname would Jesus give me?

Would it be "wicked and slothful servant" or "good and faithful servant"?
Would it be "one who walks by sight" or "one who walks by faith"? 
Would it be "hearer of the word" or "doer of the word"?
Would it be "proud" or "humble"?
Would it be "lukewarm" or "zealous"?
Would it be "ashamed of the gospel" or "a worker approved by God"?
Would it be "lover of self" or "loves like Jesus"?
Would it be "looks just like her Father?

I found myself asking God's forgiveness because my temperament, character and personality often reveal my sinful nature and cause me to fall short of the new name he wants to give me.  Only by appropriating his grace can I be faithful.

Click HERE to listen to my favorite song on this subject . . . . let God transform your identify so that you can hear him say he is satisfied with you.





  

Costa Rica in Pictures

"I'm three; I can help with the inflatable."

Ready for her Sunday School class

Most talented balloon artist I've ever seen

Our wonderful team this week

This was the bridge we "couldn't cross when we got to it."  

Hayden and his "friends" at the school

Three beautiful stained glass windows at the hotel.

They don't have to cut the grass, just prune the vines on the front of their houses

Modern art in front of the Museum of Natural History

Mural on the wall of the artesan market in downtown San Jose

Family Festivals in Costa Rica

Yesterday's blog post was about the schools in Costa Rica wouldn't allow us to distribute tracts or Bibles, but how God was still able to use the spoken lessons, testimonies and gospel presentation to bring many students to a saving faith in Jesus.

We had six family festivals while we were in San Jose--four in private apartment complexes and two in open neighborhoods.   The festivals included the inflatable, clown, games for the kids, drama and the gospel presentation.  

We were able to share door-to-door in the open neighborhoods, but in the apartment complexes we could only knock on doors and invite the families to the festival in their park.  We couldn't be prouder of this team, 3 from Rock Harbor Church in Bakersfield, CA; 15 from First Baptist, Murrells Inlet, SC and 10 from Faith Baptist Church, Youngsville, NC. They faithfully followed the rules and sought out and shared with people who came to the park.  It was awesome to see more than 100 people make professions of faith even with restrictions.  

Please pray for the follow-up team as they contact each person who made a profession of faith and invite them to one of three receptions the church will be holding over the next two weeks.