A Fish Story

While vacationing with my family on Table Rock Lake over the 4th of July, I had the opportunity to revive an old practice. I've been trying to fish with my kids this summer, but this was the first chance to fish...by myself. The lake was high, and lots of trees provided both challenges and opportunities. When you fish, though, you don't think about that, you just fish. I finally caught a little bass on a beetle spin, and thought maybe things were looking up. As I worked my way around a point, I got my spin caught in a sycamore tree, no more than 4 feet off the shore. The beetle spin now had added value, so after I exhausted my un-snagging tricks and broke the line, I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my jeans and started to wade toward my little purple bass-slayer. One step led to another, the water got deeper, and in a flash I was at that place where you decide whether getting really wet is really worth it. I got wet. I clutched my beetle spin (my precious-es...) and started thinking about how to appear back at the cabin, wet and yet wise. My aspirations to a fishing sage-like reception evaporated (the water didn't) as I suddenly felt my wallet in one pocket....and my smart phone in the other. Dang.

Long story made medium, Chrissy didn't laugh at me, and suggested 1) a hair dryer and 2) prayer. I got the hair dryer out, mostly to humor her, since you could see the water in the display! The next week I left it in a ziplock bag with a couple of silica gel packets (Chrissy's next idea), the ones that come with your shoes and you shouldn't eat. When we got back a week later, I popped in the bat'ry, and enjoyed my PDA revival. Oh sí, el teléfono vive aun! (the phone still lives...) Chrissy nonchalantly remarked, "I prayed about it..." But I realized I hadn't. I wonder why I didn't?

I think it comes down to this. If one of my kids, or a friend had done the same thing, I think I would have been sad, but thought to myself, "Well, that's what you get." And essentially, that's how I felt, that if I was idiot enough to walk into a lake with a phone in my pocket, I didn't deserve to have one. And, ergo, I didn't deserve to have God resurrect it for me. But is God like that? I've accused Him of being that uncaring and callous, but He hasn't given any evidence to support that notion. To the contrary, that's the whole glorious point of His love in Christ, that "deserving" isn't in the picture. It's just uncomfortable when I see that motive in my own heart. I guess if I'm going to wait to ask God for help until I deserve it, I'll be waiting a while. But hey, more time for fishin'....

Chatted With Edwin & Jessenia

Chrissy and I had a good chance to catch up on some news from Costa Rica. We talked with our co-workers Edwin & Jessenia Guerra for about an hour. Jessenia shared what's going on with worship in the church at Tres Rios, and she seemed encouraged that the musicians and singers are improving in their technical skills. She's planning to have them all over to her house on Friday to just be together and talk a little about where they find themselves as a ministry. Jessenia also mentioned that she taught last Monday at a ladies' get-together. She said it was a challenge, but I know she did a great job. Edwin told us about a little Mother's Day bash (Mother's Day is August 15th in Costa Rica) at which the men served the ladies. The great thing about this occasion, though, was that a large number of men/husbands helped out that don't usually attend, or have only shown minimal interest thus far. Many of those men then have showed up at church on Sunday. It's only been 5 months since the Institute phase of the project finished, and so that's really good news as the congregation is gaining its own identity.

Dominican Students...Rest of Story

Our students from the Dominican Republic, 7 of them, didn't actually arrive and begin classes until May of 2008! Talk about riga-ma-roll... It's all about who you know, or don't know in Costa Rica. We knew the right people (I mentioned the diputado, or legislator), and they knew the right people... but they also know a lot of other people, and they all have something to do with who calls whom, and who signs off on what decisions. It's a small country, more like a huge family, and we're not related to anyone! We got the Dominicans in, and they were with us for the rest of the Institute, and legally! But they couldn't leave during that time, on pain of not being allowed back in. That's because their status the entire time was under review, and still is for the one Dominican, Edward Rosario. He's part of the team that stayed on with us for the next couple of years (pictured above). As things stand now, a new law was passed that makes specific provision for religious workers. The same diputado and some other brass worked to get it passed, and now we all have a real option at being able to acquire residency in Costa Rica. (Residency isn't citizenship, but rather the luxury of not having to leave the country every three months.) We've spoken with one of the immigration lawyers that helped frame the legislation, and she seems to be the real deal. How do I know that? The price was right, and you get what you pay for in the professional arena! Anyone have around $6,000 they're not using?

Filling In the Gaps

Furlough is going well. We've had some marvelous opportunities to reconnect with some people. Some of those we planned to visit, and many of those we have run into by "coincidence". If we haven't run into someone, that wasn't planned, it was probably just nearly impossible. I would imagine that most expatriates experience that during a visit home, because you can't see everyone in such a short window.

Some people may not know just what a furlough is. It's a military term actually, and for people who do any kind of work in another culture outside their own, it can be a very exhausting experience. And so another word for furlough is "rest", though one can only take so much resting before you get the jitters! Our rest has been a combination of reporting to churches that help support the work we do in Costa Rica, and spending as much time as possible with our families. Summer has been a great time for both. Now we're preparing to begin the school year (we'll home school our kids for a semester) and I hope to take a class also, if possible. Some travel still awaits us as we continue the work of telling all that we have seen God do, and some more good times with family are in the offing. But I'm confident that when December arrives, we'll be ready to "get back to work", i.e. return to Costa Rica and keep working there.

When you're on furlough, you hope to regain perspective on what you do and why. You also may have opportunity to do some work that you can't in your overseas routine. One thing I've been at work at lately is revamping our communication system, i.e. how we communicate with friends, family and churches so they can remember us and even pray for us. I hope to be able to not only do that, but to also perhaps revisit the last year in a sort of review. I didn't write much last year about what was going on, but maybe I can do that soon.