A Tornado, Watch Out!

As hard as it is to believe, it's still the truth: the V-Team has been in Costa Rica for almost two months.  In some ways it seems like it has been a year, and in others ways it seems like yesterday since we boarded the plane and said, "Good-bye for now" to North America.

I know, and now believe more than ever before, that God has called us to San Jose, Costa Rica (for this year); more specifically, to Instituto de Lengua Espanol (Spanish Language Institute).  I am truly excited and invested in this year of learning and being stretched.  I also know and believe more than ever before that part of God's plan still includes Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.  I am thoroughly excited about all of the possibilities that God has to use our gifts, talents and hearts in those countries.

Often times when a storm comes that produces a tornado, there is not much time for preparation.  The effects of the tornado can sneak up on you and before you get a chance to get to a safe location you are experiencing the effects of the tornado winds and forces.  

I have been sensing a tornado of emotions lately.  I am so excited about learning Spanish.  It was wonderful to be in Nicaragua for a couple of days and to dream about what the Lord may have for us there.  I have fallen in love with the Latino culture, again.  

However, in the process of falling in love with this culture I have been reminded of the people that I call family, the people that I call friends, the people that I call teammates, the people that I fell in love with in Guatemala...and I miss them.  Yes, I deeply miss them.  

In some ways I sense a grieving for those relationships and yet a strong peace that the relationships that I am building here are just as important.  It seems so crazy to have these emotions that seem so opposing.  It feels like a tornado of emotions raging through my life.

And yet, as the tornado of emotions is spinning around happiness, sadness, laughter, crying, joy, sorrow, grief, freedom, loneliness (and many more in my life), I am reminded of what Hebrews 13:14 says:

One day I hope to be reunited with all my family, friends, teammates and all the friends and people the Lord still plans to have join my life in the same place for one gigantic, eternal "get-together."  And to think we will be joined by the one-true God...that is enough to start another tornado of emotions...

He (God) Still Parts the Waves

What a whirlwind the past week has been. We drove to Atlanta last Friday for Christy's weekend speaking engagement; from there the boys and I drove on to Mobile, AL. We reunited Sunday evening in Atlanta in order to fly out Monday morning (special kudos to Christy's dad and step mom for all they did to help us in that adventure). We arrived to Costa Rica around noon on Monday and haven't stopped since. Parent orientation for the boys started Tuesday morning and our own orientation has been the rest of this week. The boys start school Monday and us on Tuesday following one more day of orientation. Phew, are you tired yet?

In all of that, I wanted to share these words with you in the 30 minutes of internet time I have left (we still haven't been able to get it set up at the house and we have 2 more meetings coming up still today).

As you know, thanks to God and His people, we saw 44% of our budget raised in the final 41 (of 45) days that we were in Virginia. It previously had taken us over 16 months to raise the first 56%. There are many specific things e can point to as to why we believe it was finally God's timing for our family (and perhaps we will in a separate blog). For now, I just want to remind us all of this simple, Biblical truth - God still parts the waves.

If you're familiar with the Exodus story, you know the mighty miracle God performed for the Israelites as they fled the Egyptians. While I'm no Moses and we're not the Israelites, this is very much the same miracle we just witnessed in our own lives.

There we were, on the way to the Promised Land (our mission in Central America). All around us we were surrounded and hemmed in. In front of us were the finances (or lack thereof - only 56% July 7th). Behind us were the comforts/trappings of our former life beckoning us "home." To the left and right were the mountains of fear, doubt, and uncertainty. And in the midst of that storm and trial God uttered these words to our hearts, the very same ones he uttered to Moses, found in Exodus 14:14 -The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Wow! The Lord will fight for us! We continued being faithful to the task before us, but all of a sudden the pressure to perform; the pressure to make our budget by August 24th had been broken from our shoulders. This was God's battle and His to perform. And boy, did he ever fight for us.

As I've already pointed out, you know the financial miracle he provided in order to ensure that I could be writing this right now from San Jose, Costa Rica as we're preparing for a year of language school to be followed by several more years in our field of service.

On that Tuesday evening (I think it was) when we knew we surpassed 100%, it was as if we had literally and finally crossed that sea on dry ground and as we turned around, the enemies we once saw we never saw again. It was as if, God split our financial sea, for us to cross and caused it to come crashing down on our fear and on our doubt and on our uncertainty; as well, never again would we return to our former life.

We're so excited to be here in Costa Rica. The transition has been an extremely steep learning curve. We have lots of stories already so just ask (Wi-Fi, taxi cab, Price Smart, etc). Yet, we'd have it no other way than to be here, directly where the Lord has placed us, exactly in His timetable. We're thankful for His continued provision and for your continued partnership and prayers!

Look forward to hearing more from us once we get this whole Wi-Fi thing figured out. Until then, know we're thinking of you and thankful for you!

We love you,
Barry

God's Perfect Timing

This is not exactly the blog I thought I'd be writing this evening, but sometimes life's events and circumstances have a way of forcing things upon you. Then again, maybe it's not so much about life as it is about God, using His ways, to get our attention.

This afternoon, while finishing off my lunch, I had a very peculiar and interesting thing happen to me. As I was taking the last bite of my sandwich (actually I was finishing Seth's), my top left front tooth fell out of my mouth. I know, "nasty, gross, thanks for sharing." Good thing I didn't share the picture with you, I guess.

Here's the interesting tidbit: we are presently 5 hours away from home on a Partnership Development trip. We've already shared time with two pastors this week and have one more visit tomorrow as well as to a church tomorrow evening. Perfect timing you say?

Actually, outside of the immediate "I can't believe this just happened" (although I've been somewhat expecting it for two years) and the occasional chuckle (of love I'm sure) from those closest to me, it's really not been that traumatic, painful, or emotional. It is definitely a God thing, but almost immediately God began to reveal how perfectly timed this incident really was. You see, although we're 5 hours from home right now, we will be home for 2 days at the end of this week where I will be seeing my dentist. Come Saturday, we are out of state (more than 14 hours at one point) for those next three weeks.

There have been some who have suggested that perhaps this was an attack of the devil since God has been moving so miraculously on our behalf these past couple of weeks (in relation to our family and Partnership Development). The more I processed that, the more I came to the conclusion that this was not an attack at all by anybody. I truly believe that God is using this incident as another sign that He is preparing to release our family to Central America on August 24th. In this regard, He is allowing me to receive the utmost dental care at a place I trust from a man who we hold in high esteem. Can you imagine if this would have happened five short weeks from now; who knows what kind of "emergency" dental care I could find.

God continues to reveal His prefect plan, set upon His perfect timing. There have been so many things lately that would indicate to us that God is "preparing the way." From our support level (number of monthly/recurring financial partners) jumping 17% in just over a week (now at 75% raised); to Barry III and Austin's amazing God encounters at Teen Camp two weeks ago (if you haven't seen the video of them sharing, check out Christy or my wall on Face Book from July 14th); to now this, we are convinced in our hearts, even though there is still a God-sized miracle in front of us, that God is preparing to release us for this next phase of the journey come August 24th (keep believing and praying with us).

I want to challenge you to look around in your life. What examples are there of God working out His perfect timing? You might have to take a second look (or bite) but it's there.

With love,
Barry