The Janzen Update

November is the month of change.

2011-11-14T13:28:00.003-06:00

Well after a very long and stressful few months we are finally in our little house up on the hill. While it sometimes feels like camping in a house it is now beginning to feel like our home. We moved everything up the hill after the rainiest week of the year. Two days before the move Jeremy slid right off the driveway and through a barbed wire fence. We ended up running over two trees and ruining about 60 ft. of the neighbors fence getting the car out :-/ At the same time we found out that due to the change in climate any pine wood molded within a week. This meant tearing out all of the kitchen cabinets again to re-seal them as well as painting all of the furniture. Needless to say it was a few days of craziness.

Now that we're in (even though it's not all finished) we are really enjoying the fresh air and space that we have. We wake up at 6:00am to the birds, parrots, and the sound of the river and around 7:00am the sun finally crests the mountain to our east. It's definitely cooler as we're no longer surrounded by concrete and are about 300ft higher up the mountain. The kids are loving the outdoors, playing in the new chicken coop, and just running around in the mud. November is also the month that it stops raining and gets colder. We're looking forward to a few more dry days and getting more done on the house so it's not quite as dirty.

The next big event in life will be the birth of "baby J." We still don't have a name for him but I'm sure it will come in the next few weeks along with the baby:) Erin is always pushing to get more done on the house to be ready for him but as we've heard from many people, "you're never really ready."

Thanks to all of you who keep up with our story. It means a lot to have you all involved in some way. Remember that facebook it the best way to keep up wit daily life!! Blessings and thanks for reading.

Just Being Real, From a Mom and Wife's Perspective : )

2011-10-11T10:39:00.005-06:00

Well as most of you all know our family has been in process of building our house here in Costa Rica. If any of you don't know the history of this wild ride, I'll fill you in on a few details.

Almost a year ago now Jeremy and I were in a place of unrest in our home that we'd been renting (still renting through the end of Oct.). Things were breaking, leaks were appearing overnight, and we wanted badly a place

where our kids could run and be kids. After a long time of searching, literally spending hours as a family driving down roads that led to who knows where, and trying to find a place that not only met our needs, but fell into our price range, we entered a season of fasting and praying. We just couldn't get past this "thing" in front of us that was making us feel unsettled. God had proven himself faithful time and again so why not now? After a series of phone calls and meeting a family that would later become our friends through this process, we began to see God's hand move in this request of ours. Things just began to fall together and after returning back to Costa Rica after Christmas in CA, we made the decision to purchase a property and begin building. Why is it that at this point, after praying for so long for something, we begin to doubt what the Lord is doing?? We began thinking, "Is this really what we should be doing??" "Did God really answer our prayer?" We had to believe that he did indeed! So began our journey that has taken up every spare moment we've had this past year.

So here we are now. In our last 2 wks. in this rental and finishing up the things that absolutely need to be finished before we can move in. Will it be 100% done? Not even close. Will we have what we need to get by until it is. Yes. : )

After making the decision to start building and having some things planned out, we found out I was pregnant with #3. This threw a bit of a wrench into things seeing that we were planning on building a very small 2 bedroom house that would later become a rental while we planned the next phase of building on the property.

Fast forward to today. 8 wks. away from my Dec. 2 due date and can I say this year has brought some emotions I didn't plan on! Bear with me while I expose what this process has brought out in me as a wife and mother expecting another. Like I said before, every spare moment has been spent on this place. Literally every weekend, unless their was something planned that we had to go to or a few spur of the moment Saturdays at the beach because we had to take a break, we're spent working. I can say I've learned how to do a lot of things, because, well no one else was around to do them! Humor me while I list a few: the ratio for mixing concrete, how to lay concrete, how to use a spray gun, make mortar and build cinder block walls, drive 4 wheel drive vehicles (this has come in very useful), build a fire every day for our lunch, tape, apply joint compound, and sand wallboard joints. Sure it was kind of fun, I even told Jeremy one day, "I think I like this! How many girl general contractors are there, I think I could do this!" I'm sure he was just happy I wasn't complaining and just getting the job done. ; )

Besides all this, there are some other things that I've learned or was reminded of. The first thing, I have an amazing husband. I'm not sure how many times I thought or said to someone, "I couldn't do this with anyone but him." He works hard all day, is an amazing dad, and will serve me to no end if I ask him to. I learned that as a team (he and I) we were made for this sort of thing. This process, as terrible and stressful as we could've made it, has been relatively smooth. Maybe it's more our reactions when something did go wrong. Normally it was out of our control so it didn't make any sense worrying about it. The 3rd thing I realized and was reminded of is that we have great kids! Every weekend while mommy and daddy worked they ran around outside, rode bikes, played in the mud, : / and just enjoyed being outdoors and not behind bars. Sure their were meltdowns, but through all of it they have been champs. They love to help where it's needed and like knowing they're needed. We've said time and again that we hope when our kids look back on this time that they would have good memories of building the house with us.

I'd be lying if I said it hasn't been hard. If their weren't moments that I just curled up in a ball and cried my eyes out because I was so physically and emotionally exhausted and couldn't see an end in sight. This has tested my (our) faith and made us fall into His arms when we could do nothing else. At times I just wanted to be done and felt like I was dragging myself up there to work. I wanted to just relax, bake cookies, play games with my kids, instead of constantly thinking of the next thing we have to finish. Then I would be reminded of what we prayed for when searching for this property. A place our kids can be kids. A place we can enjoy each other and enjoy the breathtaking beauty around us. A place we can have friends and staff over to enjoy un-rushed time. So after this reminder I'd see the goal again and pray for strength to get through the day. God's been SO good to us and so patient with my frustrations when I can't see what's ahead.

This process has brought out the best and worst in us, but I think the most important thing to look back on is our response in those situations. I am resting, leaning, pressing into the Father to find the strength to finish the job ahead. Baby won't wait to come when it's convenient. Things won't just "get done" without us there. Life will go one one day at a time and I am so thankful we serve a God who is concerned about the end result and all these adventures and mountains we climb are to bring us to a greater understanding of Him and the great care he has for us.

A Bit of Our Summer

2011-08-12T10:33:00.004-06:00

We have had a whirlwind of a summer. Well, it's really been your summer, our winter/rainy season here! There has been a constant flow of teams, most weekends packed with work on our house, school presentations, and mid year vacation for Ella and Judah. We always think life will slow down just around the corner, but if I could peak around the next few corners, it doesn't seem to be the case : ) Thankfully God's grace has been, is, and will be sufficient for all that life brings our way. This video is just a small glimpse of how life's been around these parts. We apparently didn't take too many photos in the last 2 months but please feel free to find us on Facebook and you'll get a better taste of the happenings around here. Many students take lots of photos while here and tag Jeremy/the wood shop in them so you can see some activities that the teams participated in. Enjoy!

The summer's over...

2011-08-02T22:16:00.002-06:00

Well it's been a wild one. Full of teams, construction, rain, and some incredible surfing (one day of it at least.) Things were really moving with the teams and really in transition with the tico students. The summer was full of amazing conversations with the north american students about life and everything under the sun... Bottom line that God was continuing to point out... How can we glorify Him more through our lives? It was really made clear to me this summer as we studied first John, that it's all for His glory. We as Christians get so wrapped up in church or theology or just "what we should do" that we forget why we were created... To glorify God! To worship and fellowship with Him! A lot of times we do really well at playing church, even praying for people and doing what we're supposed to do. However, many times we forget that it's really all for God's glory! I want to Glorify God at all times. Sometimes even in my prayers to him I'm seeking to glorify myself or the church. I want to build myself a platform in the community, all good things... But God says if I lift him up and glorify Him then He'll draw men unto himself... Wow! I'm tired of trying to glorify myself and what I do. I want to glorify Him!

So I mentioned that we're in the middle of some transitions. Obviously our family is Building a house and expecting a baby... Need I say more about that?... In the shop we're transitioning to some older students and focusing more on teaching woodworking as a skill not a hobby. On the 16th of august we'll be starting the new classes but we don't know yet who will be involved. I only know one student, Alexander, who I may have mentioned before. Alex is about 34 years old and has been an addict for the last several years of his life. Since we opened the shop I've had the opportunity to build quite a relationship with him. He's a believer with an incredible knowledge of the bible but lacks the community and the self-control to stay clean. This last week he came running to me as I was leaving and told me a very sad story which almost moved me to tears.

Alex, about a week ago smoked some crack... He knew it was sin but couldn't fight off the cravings. He spent about two days hiding out because he didn't want his landlord to know that he had fallen. (The landlord is also the owner of the shop and has given Alex a room for free and just has Alex clean to repay him) For the last six months or so Alex has gone off and on to a small church down the road so as he came down off the drugs he wanted to go to the morning prayer meeting and repent. After the meeting he went forward to ask the pastor a question and the paster said, "get out of here, you're not a sheep, you're a goat!" Alex being very angry told him that if he was a true pastor he would have left the 99 to come after the one... And then he stormed out.

It's about three blocks from the church to my shop and Alex said he knew he just had to get to me. He had ¢600 colones in his pocket ($1.20) and as he passed his drug dealer he knew he could buy one rock to smoke for ¢500 but he stayed strong. Just as I was leaving he came up to the gate and told me what had happened. I spent about forty minutes with him telling him that God hadn't forgotten him and that the pastors words were not godly at all. He felt better after listening to the scripture that I could ramble off from memory and knew that what was done to him was not of God...

As I drove away I was thinking, "our churches don't always glorify God!" Obvious, I know. But in that moment I realized that a lot of times even in the midst of prayer meetings and Church fellowship... In preaching and teaching even in our giving, we're glorifying the organization of the church more than God... Is God glorified when I give to the church cause i have to? or if it's an obligation? NO!! He's glorified when my heart is to give of whatever I have to love others because He loves them too. Is God glorified when someone is healed? Sometimes it's the place that's glorified... It's a "hot spot of the healing"... Why does God take back seat? Is God glorified in our meetings when the message is to "do" more for him? I He glorified when we bring people in and get them to attend regularly? All of these things are good but it's our hearts that will glorify God through the acts... If we aren't glorifying Him it's just another philanthropist organization. We are set apart from just good deeds by the glory that is given to God. Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. It's not just Charity work. It's giving the glory to God... If we take the credit for the first part we've been polluted by the pride of the world. It's when we seek to glorify God in it that people can see Him through us.

So anyways, I'm committed to walk with Alexander for the next season. I'm committed to seeing God be glorified by how I live and how we walk together. Sorry I went so long on that. It's really something that God is pounding in me right now.

One last thing, and it's kinda funny coming after all that I said before. We are really needing to raise our support level to continue on here. We have never been over 85% funded since we came and have been losing some support over the last few months. I want to be really bold and ask you all to consider helping us to glorify God here by giving financially. It's obviously not an obligation and I know that times are hard but we are looking for God to come through for us financially. We have 350 emails that we send letters out to every so often... If each one would commit to give from an average of $1o a month we would be fully funded. Maybe all you can give is $5 a month. Well if there are 10 people in the same boat that's significant for us! We are needing to see God come through for us in a big way here really soon and I pray that you might be part of his provision for us. Above all else Glorify God!! Whether in giving or prayer let your heart seek his glory over everything else.

Blessings on you all,

Jeremy for Erin, Ella, Judah, and Baby J.

P.S. Id you want to talk about the financials email me or leave a comment on this post. We're an open book and wont be offended by any questions :)

really quick

2011-07-11T22:49:00.004-06:00

So just a quick post because we haven't been very consistent this year. We're still pluggin' along at the house. The celling is in and almost done, the bathroom is close, the doors and windows are on and it looks like our move in date will be the end of August... Hopefully. The kids are doing great! Ella and Judah continue to surprise us with their spanish and are doing great in school. Erin is now 5 months along with our 2nd boy, baby J for now. I'm burning the candle at both ends in full swing at the shop with students from the US and also working on the house as much as is humanly possible. We keep saying it's just a season... Oh Lord I hope so! One thing is for sure, God is great in the midst of it all. He never fails us even when we totally forget about him. He is all that's keeping me going.

So I'll leave you with some photos of my guys in class C. They just finished their medicine cabinets and seem SUPER excited! It's really great to be able to send them home with something that they can really be proud of. This week they start the same project but in reverse. (they're starting with the door to practice their measurements) Should be fun! Be praying with us as we're looking to make a simi-major change at the shop and start 1 or 2 more classes like class C with some older guys from Los Guido. A few of them have been in prison and have no options left so what we offer could really make a huge impact in their life. Please pray with me for safety and wisdom as we dive in to this newish project.

Here's the pictures of the guys as promised... Blessings and thanks for reading.

Is one worth it?

2011-06-22T16:54:00.006-06:00

So it's been a little over a year since we opened the shop. We've had around 80 kids come through and have had to change things a few times to accommodate them... It looks like we're gearing up for another change here in August. The fact is that the younger kids are losing interest. I have a few kids that keep coming but the days of 45 kids lining up to get in are long gone. The local school has started a soccer team, there's a pastor who's hosting games and giving out candy (the games I can compete with but the candy sends him over the top:)) My class B all went to high school and now have no time to come... It seems like we're in need of a change.

Well before I tell you about the changes I'll tell you about the good things that are happening! My class C, the apprenticeship program, is going really well! I have four guys that are fairly consistent and have learned all of the machines in the shop. We spent approximately 2 hours per machine in the classroom learning about safety and how the machine works and then another hour of hands on "heavily supervised" practice. The guys are all pretty confident with the machines and are actually learning a good skill. Their first "solo project" was actually a test. They were required to go to there house and find a spot to put a medicine cabinet. They had to measure it and then do a 3d drawing to scale before actually building it... It's been almost a three weeks and one of my guys (Daniel) has actually finished. :) They're all turning out pretty good they're just behind because they got suspended for lying. :( Now they're back and at it again! Sorry I don't have pictures... There might be some on my facebook page.

Another thing that has happened is that we have met a bunch of guys who hang out next to the tutoring center and they can't get work. Some of them have been in jail, others can't get experience. The idea we're tossing around now is to expand our apprenticeship program with these guys and cut back the class for the younger kids. It's another change but I think it's for the best. I'm actually pretty excited about the change. While the younger class is beneficial I think it's more like a place to hang out... With these older guys and my class C it's an opportunity to really impact their lives by giving them a safe place to learn and real life skills that they can hopefully use in the future. Be praying with me as I start to write up a program that will be sufficient to teach them all that I can and also for a way to build relationships with them and eventually share Jesus with them openly.

Oh! One more development is that we are starting the accreditation process for the program as well. There is a government run Tech school that may be able to validate our program so the guys leave with an actual certificate that's backed by the government!! Pray with us for this opportunity as well because it is really amazing that it could even be possible!!!

In other news We now have 2 pinball tables in the shop! One was created by 2 students from the San Francisco area in Ca (pictured below) And the other has been a collaboration of many people who have come through the shop this last few weeks.

The other event just happened today! We had a guy come to our gate and needed a door trimmed... I usually don't do any work for the people of the community because it's just a gray area with the money, where does it go, we're a school not a business etc... However, today only Daniel could come and I thought, "poor guy, he can't cut his door cause he doesn't have the tools, I can't do it... but... Daniel could!" So I had Daniel talk to the guy and explained to him what could happen trimming a hollow door. The guy said if he ruined it he wouldn't make us buy him a new one and so I said ok! It was a great time where I got to teach Daniel not only how to cut a door but (which he hasn't done) but also how to come up with a fee and how to value his work and how to make sure your customer is happy. We cut the door together and I walked him through it step by step... Then we charged they guy ¢4000 colones ($8). It was great to see the wheels in Daniels head start turning... He just made almost half a days wages for 20 min of work! (min wage is $1.50) so here he is below with his door, nice and cut, waiting for the guy to come back and get it. For me it was great to see how we can be a service to the community with what we do and help the kids that we work with at the same time. Lets pray for more of that.

So if it was all just for Daniel would it be worth it? I think so!

Big developments make for a really busy life!

2011-03-02T21:21:00.004-06:00

Well it's been a while since we've updated anyone with any information. Needless to say we've been super busy with life here. Sorry that it's been so long since we've updated you all but I hope you'll understand here in a second.

After we came back from our Christmas vacation in California we got right to work. The first week back we hosted a small team of men from Visalia who came to help us get the tutoring center remolded. The trip was great and everything turned out wonderfully. Next I helped Dustin move the Photo site into the shop. We made my storage space into a classroom and made a small hall type space into a darkroom. Now we have two sites right next to each other and things are going great.Feb was the beginning of school for Ella and Judah and I started classes again at the shop. It's been a little slow but we're getting back in the groove. Also Judah turned 4 on the 13th!! had a lot of fun at his Batman party. The week after that we hosted the women's trip which was also a ton of fun.

So now for the big news and probably the thing that's taking most of the time. This last year Erin and I started to feel very restless in our house that we're renting. After having someone break in, other things get stolen through the gate, and a TON of things breaking we started asking God for somewhere new. I started a fast and began believing God for a place of our own. Every day I'd look online for houses to rent or buy and I'd try to take new roads home every afternoon in order to find something... and then we did!! I sent an email to a lady about a large plot of land up in the hills about 10 minutes from our current house because the price of the land was about 1/4 the price of anything I'd seen. She didn't get back to me so I called her. It was probably about the fifth time that I left a message that she actually called me back to tell me that she'd sold the land... But her sister had one right next to it and she wanted to sell too! It was just days before we left for Christmas that I went up and walked through it with the owner... It was pure Jungle on a 45 degree slope... Not really what we wanted but we were willing to think about it. While walking around on the lot the owner (Ricardo) kept offering me fruit and I kept telling him no... He finally asked me why I wouldn't eat and so I told him I was fasting and praying for a new place to live... It turns out that they are Christian also and really wanted to help us out!

So now, in order to save time... cause I know most people don't want all the details, I'll summarize it all for you. They had a different lot and wanted $40 per square meter... Not happening. He said they'd give us a deal... Through an email while we were in Ca he said $13 per mtr!!! We said OK!! We asked some supporters for a loan and they said yes!! We agreed but then found out they meant 13,000 colones ($26).... No go.... They lowered it to $20 and we said yes again...

So we are now in the process of buying a plot of land that is about 11,000 sq ft. We have some great new Christian friends who will be our neighbors. We live outside the city in the mountains.We have sloths and toucans on our property. We will save over $100 a month paying a loan rather than rent and we'll have something to show for it in the end. We started building the house yesterday and the walls and floor should be done by Saturday. We now have another story to tell about Gods faithfulness and how he answers prayer...

So there you go. That's about as short as I could make it. I work everyday till 4 and then go up to the lot and work... Erin is still being mom but now without my help. She's already packing boxes getting things ready to store. Oh yeah... the house is only going to be 625sq ft... So we

have to store a lot of stuff away until phase 2... We'll let you know about that later. So it doesn't really suffice to say we're really busy! Please pray for us. We are trying to get all of this done without having to take time off so that the shop doesn't suffer. Also starting tomorrow I will be camping out up there to make sure that no one steals anything. Pray for our stress levels and that God will continue to show his provision through this process. Pray also that everything goes smoothly so that we can finish before the rain hits... If the rain comes we may have to wait until november to finish:( Thank you all so much! We appreciate your support, both financially and in prayer. Know that you are one of the ways that God is able to bless us and the people we work with here. Blessings,

Jeremy for Erin, Ella, and Judah

Christmas 2010 in California

2011-01-08T23:34:00.002-06:00

Another picture collage by Smilebox

Thank you to all of you who made this holiday season full of memories for our family! We had a great time in California visiting family and friends and arrived back in Costa Rica yesterday. The time flew by going from house to house decorating, baking, shopping, and playing games. Our kids did exceptional considering the business of it all. They would have preferred to stay outside the entire time, but the almost constant rain kept them in. When the sun did break through, they enjoyed going to the park at Nana and Grandpa's (Erin's parents) and zip-lining in Meemaw and Papa's (Jeremy's parents) backyard. For a few days we got to go to the snow and stay in a cabin at Hume Lake (Thanks Dentons!). This was Judah's first time and Ella's since she was very young. We built a fast sled run and spent almost all day in the snow. It was a lot of fun for us as a family and we know the kids did not want to leave!

We hope you all had wonderful holidays with family and friends and are looking forward to this new year. We are and and are also excited for all God has planned! Blessings in the new year!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2010-12-10T10:23:00.001-06:00

Free newsletter generated with Smilebox

Coming to a Close

2010-12-01T21:50:00.004-06:00

Here we are the first of December and the first full school year is coming to a close for Ella and Judah. This has been a year full of firsts for all of us and a lot translating on my part (Erin) of homework assignments. There really is no better way to learn than to crash and burn I've discovered. Countless times I've arrived at an event to find out I obviously didn't quite understand what my kids were to be dressed in. So frustrating for me, Jeremy can attest. As a mom trying to figure it all out, I've laughed, I've cried. I keep telling myself, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter : )

Jeremy and I sometimes think about when we arrived in Costa Rica and how we felt so sad when we'd go to the park or McDonalds and saw the look on our kids faces. They were in the dark as to what was going on around them because of the language. Now, it literally takes maybe one minute and they've made new friends, it doesn't matter where we are! It makes my heart so happy that they've adapted. I don't know how many times I've heard someone say to Ella, "Wow, you speak better than your mom!" I roll my eyes and smile politely : / Ella doesn't cease to remind me of that either, how sweet she is. But seriously, they are doing amazing in their Spanish and Ella has just loved school. She effortlessly joins in with her friends and always has stories to tell us. Judah always tells us about his friends Eduardo, Camila, and Oelia (sp?). And then there's that kid, Samuel, the biter. Seems like every schools got one. I always ask Judah what he does afterward, "Oh, nothing." Bless his little heart. Funny story, his teacher told me one day there was a boy in his class that was biting (mordiendo). Sad thing is that I heard that there was a kid in his class that was dying (muriendo)! I said, "Oh, no, how awful!" Then I realized when she showed me the bite mark on Judah, things weren't so bad.

So to wrap up their years, I'll be baking some cookies for the 4 teachers my kids have. People here LOVE gringo cookies. It's a foreign concept to them I think. Baking, cookies, and things that we make in the states on a regular basis are not the norm here. Most people use their ovens just to store things in. So I don't think I can go wrong there. I'm happy for vacation time, un-rushed days with my kids, baking (and taste-testing) together, Christmas songs, and hot cocoa. Now if this rain would just stop and let us take a nice walk to the park, that would be nice. Hope you're all having fun preparing for the holidays. Be blessed!!

Is it that time again???

2010-11-03T10:14:00.003-06:00

These last 3 months, I don't really know where they went!! I can't believe it is time yet again to leave the country for our visas. The guy at the bank the other day reminded me while checking my passport to pay a bill, that I had 10 days left before having to leave. I found it funny and odd since I was just there to pay a bill. Oh well, guess he was just looking out for me. We've weighed our options and we'll be going to Panama like last time. We'll be waking up around 4:30 Fri. morning to catch our bus around 6:00. The bus ride is around 7 hours? Last time it was a blur of people getting on and off, trying to entertain my kids (or force them to sleep ;), and also trying to not give them too much to drink since their is one stop 1/2 way through the trip. Yes, no bathrooms on the bus. Besides all of this, it is nice to not think about driving and to just enjoy the view. I'm always trying to remind myself (as if I forget) where we live and the beauty that surrounds us. This bus ride gives me PLENTY of time to take that all in.

Having been to this place just 3 months ago, it's fresh in my mind the things I'll be doing differently this time around. One being we've borrowed hiking packs to haul our things around instead of our normal traveling luggage. This proved difficult crossing the bridge at the border. I really wish I had a photo, but imagine if you will: Massive, old railroad bridge, full of holes. It's now used for cargo trucks and other vehicles to cross so they've covered up the rails with slats of wood to make driving across it possible. With two little kids in tote, backpacks, rolling luggage (didn't roll so well on bridge), and pillows, we slowly made our way across. Thanks to our friend Cailah who helped us, I would've been much more stressed out had she not been there. Now we know, luggage on our back will make for smoother and safer travels. We just keep saying, it's another adventure, it's another adventure. More stories to tell. We've rented a one-bedroom studio in Bocas del Toro, so we'll see how it measures up. We'll let you know. If it was just Jeremy and I, we're fine staying and relaxing at the house. With the kids, we'll be looking for a place to let them run in the sand to enjoy the time. Hopefully everyone gets a little of what they want : ) Does life slow down? Will it forever be speeding up? I sure hope not. Please pray for us that our travels are safe, our kids are healthy and happy, and that we can extract all things good from our 3 days there.

Till we return, hope you're enjoying fall and the beauty and abundance it brings.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thess. 5:16-18

Elvis Update:

2010-10-21T19:41:00.002-06:00

Update: Elvis came to class this morning and stood outside, too embarrassed to say anything. He just waited thinking I couldn't see him. I told him I was really glad that he came back and I needed to talk to him. When all of the guys came in I asked them what we should do... As a group. They agreed that our first consequence wasn't really fair so we'd let him back in but only if we made a contract that we could all follow. I re-explained the benefits of living in community and being "on a team." and then we listed some specific things that would hurt our team in the shop then we came up with consequences. I think we took a huge step forward as a group! They are really understanding why we need to be together! thank you all for your prayers! I was so glad that I slept all through the night without being worried about the whole situation. And although Elvis never said anything I could tell that he was very repentant and wanted to make things right.

So after that we skipped the lesson on the router and talked about "us" and then I taught them the standard measuring system (inches/feet) which led to fractions... It was a really great day.They are all at least 14 yrs old and haven't learned how to add or subtract fractions but after today I think they might get it! Oh and Elvis broke three rules today and had to do 30 sit-ups =)

Discipline

2010-10-20T17:34:00.003-06:00

I guess it's all part of the deal. When working in a place that doesn't have much structure, where the teachers in public school just don't show up, where kids get most everything that they want if they whine, I'm gonna have to be the one to put some sort of structure in place. I mean who's going to teach these kids about the real world? Who's gonna help them to understand the value of punctuality, or respecting the property of others? Who's going to give them second chances? To say sorry and help them understand the tough love? I mean, there's no love coming from your boss when he fires you, right? Well today I had to discipline one of my students who hasn't really ever done anything wrong. Here's the situation:

I now have three classes in the shop, A, B, and C. A is open to everyone so it's just basic following the rules. B is a set group so I am trying to teach them about the effects that one persons misbehaving can have on the entire group. For example; Rule #1 is to arrive on time. I give them five minutes after class starts to arrive. At five minutes I lock the gate. Well this last week a kid came 45 minutes late and wanted to come in. I asked the class if they wanted to let him in and they said yes. I then explained to them that his punishment was to be shut out and if they wanted to let him in we all had to "pay" something. We decided that everyone would do 20 push-ups and he would do 30. It turned out to be a good experience and now we are beginning to work and think as a group. For the first time I had someone say they didn't want to pay for someone else's mistakes... That's huge in a culture that doesn't say anything against anyone else to their face! Anyways it gave me an idea. I decided to make the same kind of "deal" in group C as well!

Group C is full of my older kids who mostly have decided to drop out of high school. Their friends and mothers call them lazy and good for nothing.... They might not be too far off of the lazy part. They do something until it's hard and then go back to sleep. Anyways, in my class C we have a problem. They always throw the tools on the ground. I think you can understand why that's bad so I wont go into it. So just yesterday I confronted them, told them that we needed to come up with a consequence for leaving the tools on the floor that we would all pay, including me. I explained to them the concept of being a team and how we look out for each other. I told them to pick up after each other because they're invested in the team. I told them that they needed to learn what it is to help each other out in order to help themselves and how we can't do everything on our own in life. It went well and they seemed to respond well. I told them about the other class' push-ups and they said that was a good idea. Then I said, " well what happens if someone wont do it?" they responded by saying that they couldn't be a part of the team... Seemed reasonable to me. After all, they're all friends, they can pressure each other into doing the right things. Right?

Well today as I was walking around I found 2 clamps on the floor... at first it was funny. I was kinda laughing and telling them I needed to see them do the push-ups etc. None of them moved!! I reminded them of the consequence for not doing the punishment and they all started to move... You need to understand that To be kicked off the team is to be kicked out of the shop until January ... Well Daniel did his but the other two couldn't do more than 2!! It was crazy! Ella can do more than that!! They whined and cried fro about ten minutes until the end of the class... So I said," you have two minutes and if you don't do it... See ya in January!" At this point I was still thinking they'd do it... Well Bryan decided he would.. It took him another ten minutes to do it but one-by-one he got them done... Then there was Elvis... He whined and cried, said he couldn't do them, said he'd do sit-ups, but he never moved... I reminded him that it wasn't my rule... They made the rule together and now we couldn't break it... It's a contract! The end of class came and went and Elvis just sat there... The guys started poking at him verbally and I told him I'd count to 5 and if he just started we'd wait for him to finish (it's the softy in me i guess) So I counted... really slow.... Then at three I said he'd have to leave when I got to five if he hadn't started... Well I got to five and told him to leave until January.... Oh crud!! This is one of my kids that probably needed this the most. He isn't a bad kid! He's probably the poorest in every way you could think of! And I just kicked him out! I still feel really bad about the entire situation. I never thought we'd have to kick someone out!

I guess this blog is a prayer request for Elvis and me. For Elvis (or Mono as we call him) That he wouldn't be bitter and he'd get rid of the stubbornness that he showed today. For me that I can let it all go and actually sleep tonight. I don't know how I could have avoided it. Would it be acceptable to let him break the rules knowing that now they'd never take my rules serious and they'd never learn about the team concept? I don't know. I keep thinking it over in my head and I can't make it go any other way...

The only saving grace will be the other guys.... I told them about how the other class chose to pay the price with their friend in order to let him back in... True, in class B it was just a day, this is the entire trimester, but I told them if they each did another 20 and he did 40 he could come back.... I just hope that overnight he'll change his stubborn heart and come back repentant... What an opportunity for me to tell about how Christ took our place and how we are to be to each other!!

Thanks for reading! Sorry, I just needed to vent and ask people to pray. Please comment if you read this and pray. I just feel so sad for Elvis and want Jesus to touch him through what I'm doing. Have a good evening =)

This Thing Called Parenting

2010-09-30T14:10:00.004-06:00

HE never told us it'd be easy. HE never told us we'd get enough sleep or never cry. HE also never told us we'd do it alone. PHEW! Such a good reassurance that when raising children, it's by the grace of the almighty God. Every day is an adventure in our house. Sometimes it's a roller coaster of emotions with the kids, sometimes it's care free and kicked back. We are in the midst of raising a 5 yr. old and a 3 yr. I love my kids. They make me laugh till my belly hurts and I'm on the floor. They say the craziest things, sing the best songs, and dance to any tune they hear. I love to climb into their beds at night and re-tuck them in and give them one last kiss. I love their innocence and faith when they ask questions about God and how He lives in our hearts (or to Judah, our belly buttons). I'm so blessed that they are ours and that God has entrusted them to us. That aside, it's not all the fun that zaps most of my energy, but the training and consistency that does. Our 3 year old Judah is ALL boy. He loves soccer anytime he can get his hands on it, superheroes and bad guys, jumping in the mud, launching cars off of anything, and just being rough (which most of the time includes Ella). He's the most tender hearted boy whose teachers always would tell us how compassionate and caring he was for others. He loves hugs and kisses and just loving on people. Saying all of this, you'd wonder why this same boy, at times, makes me want to pull my hair out! I choose to say that I have been blessed with the opportunities to fall back, time and time again, into the gracious arms of Christ. I know that God gave this precious little boy to me, and for a mom, I'm what he's got! I also have priceless things to teach him and love to give. I know it's in the moment of a tantrum when my head could begin to spin and I don't think so clearly, that God reminds me of his amazing love for us, for Judah. How privileged we are to have children, and raise them in the ways of the Lord. How powerful is our prayer when we've run into a wall and don't know what else to do. That is where I keep finding myself. Everything I need is in me to raise these children. At times I feel lacking, but it's because I've forgotten where my source comes from, and to tap in. We've been living lives of amazing transition here and can't expect our children to always "go with the flow". With not as many resources around, friends and family to help out, we've got to get creative. They've done remarkably well considering. It's on days when crankiness begins at 6am and doesn't end till 8pm that I'm learning it's not about me, it never will be, and the sun will go down and come up again : ) Ahhhh, lean on Him.

Life after teams...

2010-09-17T18:54:00.005-06:00

Wow! How did it get to be september? I'll give you a rundown of what has happened in the last few months.Since July and the robbery, we had classes as usual in the shop. Thanks to some great supporters of SI and our team personally we had enough money to buy new tools. Because of our hiccup with the robbery, and the time we had without tools, we also expanded a little bit into playing soccer which is a blast!! The kids love to do whatever they can with the students and me which is a great sign for me. I now know that they're not in it just for the projects or to learn woodworking, they're in it to make friends=) (check out the new slideshow on the right side of the blog to see all of the pictures from this summer in the shop)In July We had the Janzen/Frederick clan down for two weeks to visit... Wow!! While it was a great time, 11 people in a 3 bedroom house is pretty tight! We made the best of our time here and, while I still had to work during the week, we were able to share some of the sights here in Costa Rica. They went zip lining, white water rafting, to the beach, and to La Paz waterfall gardens. It was really a blessing to have our family here after being away for so long.

August was full of milestones for al of us here with SI Costa Rica. On August 2nd we officially welcomed our first "Tico Staff," Luis Diego and Cindy. Diego has been a draftsman for several years but has left his job to serve the communities that we work in. He is currently on the community board and is opening a sports site in several different places that we work.

Later in August we added our first Nicaraguan staff member Maria. She and Cindy will be working together in micro finance with some of the ladies in our communities. (sorry no picture of Maria yet=()

August 8th completed our first full summer with teams from the states. Oh man! It's busy with so many people around. Over all it was a great success. (To all of you who are reading this, the kids talk about you all of the time. They say to tell you all that they want you to come back next year!! They continually read the names on the wall, and look at the armpit picture[Nathan Pace] And talk about you all) We'll incorporate some new things next year like a hike into the coffee fields to look for wild fruit as well as some new types of classes=) August 8th was also the day we left for Panama to renew our visas... Some would call this a vacation... But it's not! Think stress times two and that's what these short trips are... We made the best of it and saw a little bit more of the world while sweating profusely and getting eaten by fleas or bed bugs =/ This picture is when Erin lost her flip-flop in the water and then had to fish it out form the back porch.

On August 20th we completed two years of living here in Costa Rica! Hard to believe it's been that long. Needles to say, we're NOT fluent in spanish yet but we are getting acclimated to life here... It's not nearly as scary as it once was to live or just to be in certain places. We are finally getting into a groove and figuring out what we need to do to make life work here. One "life" thing to pray about is for a better living situation. Erin, being at home a lot with the kids, is realizing that without any space for the kids to play they really have a hard time. Plus our master bath is leaking through the celling and has created a huge mold spot in the garage, the celling of our back patio collapsed from the huge leak in the roof, the water goes out daily which is hard to work with because we can't do laundry or dishes when it's out. Also when the water is out we have to pump the water from the tank to the house which is very expensive!... So, while we don't want to move again, we are currently asking God to drop the perfect situation in our lap! A decent sized house with a yard to either rent or buy SUPER SUPER cheap=) How's that for a request!?

Well September has brought us more life... We shut the shop for 3 weeks for improvements. We'll start with classes again on tuesday. Ella danced in the independence day parade on the 15th and is about to lose her first tooth. Judah is continuing to learn more spanish and is super funny with all of his language questions. We had my mother-in-law here for 2 weeks, which was wonderful, especially for the kids, and now... life continues!

Again thank you all for your support! Thanks for reading! I'll leave you with this... God has called us to be happy! To be joyful! Not stressed. I have found that it's my own pressures... My own lists that rob me of my joy... Live each day without being worried about the next. Jesus said it in Matt 6 and I think he means it. Don't worry about tomorrow!! Do you remember that Jesus said,"I only do whet I see the father doing."? Well I don't think we have to be any different. I think that if; 1 we saw what he was doing and 2 we did ONLY that we would have a lot more joy and a lot less stress! He says, "come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

May Jesus, himself, give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so you may KNOW HIM BETTER!

The robbery and the war

2010-07-08T19:58:00.003-06:00

Well I wish it had just been a great move of God that caused me to write today. Erin and I have been trying to find time to tell you all about the great things that we've been doing in the last few months, such as the classes at the shop, my parents and Fredericks that are currently here now, having interns, etc. Unfortunately what has driven me to the computer is to ask you all to pray! Last night the shop was robbed. It could have been a lot worse but I believe that God was watching out for us. They cut one lock on the front roll-up gate and then broke the metal that held the other. When they got inside the gate there's another gate that swings like a door. they cut out a bar and squeezed in. They took all of my clamps and the new ones that had been donated to the shop, they took all of the hand saws and hammers, my orbital sander, the shops jitter bug sander, and two hand planes that were just donated a few months ago. The good part was that they didn't take any of the machinery or the scroll saw that was left on the table over night. They must have been in a hurry because they didn't even take my ipod that was on the wall! I don't know a lot about the spirituality of events like this but I am convinced that whether the enemy was responsible or not he will try to use it to scare us or attack us in some other way.

When I drove up this morning the kids were all waiting outside. As soon as they saw that my window was down they were saying, "sorry Jeremy, bad news." After we got inside and found out what was taken I had to tell the kids that we couldn't have class today. Obviously they were bummed but a few of them asked to learn english instead. I didn't know how the day would go so I told them we'd see but they should come back after lunch. (2 points here, I was glad they were there and concerned and I was really glad that they just wanted to be with us, not just make things:) ) Most of them left after a while but there were four or five who hung around. Jeff and I were busy figuring out what to do and making a list of what was taken and while I was walking by the door one of the kids got my attention. I went over to the door and he said, "so now what? are you going back to the united states tomorrow?" The thought hadn't even crossed my mind! I found it very interesting though that it would cross theirs. I told them no and said that we'd just have to figure out what to do next. I assured them that we'd be here doing something for a long time. I got to thinking about that one statement though. How many times has that happened? A missionary comes and because of something that infringes on their own property they leave. I never expected God to protect all of my stuff. I don't even know if I expect him to protect my life. If loosing my stuff or my life will show these kids that they're valued and loved that's ok. Take it. God uses all things for the good of those who love him. I am convinced of that. And if he wants to protect my stuff and life, all the better. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

So because of all of this, I believe that we are at war. We are at war with the enemy in his territory for the lives of these kids. We are at war with the enemy over the community of Los Guido. I know that the enemy is trying to use this already to cause fear and insecurity in me and the students. Will you stand with me in prayer to take back what the enemy has stollen? Will you right now pray for Los Guido? For our shop and the kids that come? The enemy struck first but I believe that through prayer we can push him back and claim more of the community for Christ. Pray with me for all of these things and for the future of the shop and our family. We want to see Jesus proclaimed to these people who live in fear everyday of having their stuff or their lives taken.

I will write more soon. I promise! I have a bunch of pictures to show too.

May the Lord give you a spirit of wisdom and understanding so that you would know him better.

The newest developments.

2010-05-29T10:08:00.011-06:00

Well it's finally open! After many months of theorizing and speculating, looking and listening, cleaning and preparing, we finally opened the wood-shop in Los Guido!! Many of you saw the pictures of the shop that we rented on February first, and the amazing transformation that was started with the JMU (James Madison University) and Jupiter Christian groups in March. Since they left I have been frantically working to build sturdy shop tables, stools, and lots of other things to prepare the shop. Normally it wouldn't have taken me a month and a half to build, but I had to build everything out of pallet wood.

We have a company that throws them away and has agreed to call us whenever they have enough for us to take. It's been quite the experience trying to utilize this scrap wood and turn it into something usable. This is also the wood that we use for all of our class projects! I have really enjoyed the process of experimenting knowing that I will be able to teach these boys to use "trash" to make something beautiful and possibly make money with it.

On May 17th our first group of the summer arrived and while they were in orientation on the 18th, we officially opened for our first day! I had approximately 25 people come and ask about the classes the previous 3 days and so I had no idea how many kids to prepare for. I only have tools and space for 12 kids per class session and right now we have two classes per day. In the very first class we had four boys which was absolutely perfect. The class in the afternoon had four more. The next day it expanded to 14 over all and by thursday I had to turn kids away. I believe that after two weeks we have had 38 kids come and finnish at least one project! Our first project was a very simple shelf that required the boys to use hand saws, screwdrivers, hammers and a lot of sand paper. They also got a crash course in staining. Over all it was a big hit! Check out some of the pictures below.

These boys all returned to do project #2 which was a very small step stool. For this one they had to cut some curves and learn to use the coping saw. The younger boys just want to get on with the projects so they don't look all that great, but the older boys really excel and make some really nice projects! It's amazing already to see the boys opening up to me. I have already been able to share with a few of them the reason that we're here doing what we're doing. I shared with some of them, just this last Thursday, about how God has been faithful to me and loves us all so much. I know that in the future we will be able to get so much more in depth and really be able to share the love of Christ in different ways. Please pray that God will continue opening doors for me to speak into their lives. Pray also that God would bring those that really need to be there in and the rest would fall away. With only 12 spots in the class we really need God to be choosing who is there. It is always so hard to turn them away, especially when I can see the disappointment on their faces. Pray also for wisdom about how and when to expand. There are so many kids and so many more adults that would like to come and learn that I could literally have full classes 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This could get really draining on me and the family. Pray for me that God would show me exactly what my responsibility is and how to guard my time with my family.

Thank you to everyone who has come to help and all of you that support us financially. This is really an extension of your gifts! I pray that God would bless you all as you live your life and give so that we can see Him work through us here. Finances are a big thing for us but we know that God is bigger. If you'd like to give towards our need here or towards the shop you can contact Students International through the "contact us" button at www Stint.com. As a family we are still about %15 short of our goal and we are also needing to find people who'd like to support the shop in the future. Right now the shop is funded through August, but has a monthly expense of $700 for rent, utilities and supplies. Again thank you for your support of what God is doing!

Quick trip to Nicaragua

2010-05-08T22:03:00.002-06:00

Can't believe it's really been over a month since our last post! For some reason to me, time seems to go ever so quickly here and doesn't give me fair warning of it happening. We've had a busy month of things like pajama parties, staff meetings, getting things ready for the wood shop to open, staff retreats, school field trips, and the normal every day happenings around here. When do things slow down?? And do they ever?!? My guess is not. The beautiful month of May brings Mother's Day, our anniversary, Erin's birthday, and 3 more birthdays of teammates! Whew!

We have also hit that lovely 3 month mark of having to leave the country again. Tomorrow we head to Nicaragua with the family and our friend Cailah. We're due for visa renewal once again. On one hand we look forward to these adventures, not too much is ever foreseen, but on the other hand, can we just get done with it already!! The logistics of these trips are time consuming and money consuming and sometimes come at inopportune times. At least now we'll make it through summer and teams before we have to leave again. Hopefully this will be one of the last times and that we'll have a more permanent status in the country soon.

Please pray for safe and fun travels for us. Crossing the border and coming back can be a timely process and at times stressful. Pray that we have smooth sailing through customs. Our son Judah as well has been battling some sort of a cold. Yesterday complained of a sore throat, today he broke out with a fever and has a swollen right eye. As I write, he is with Jeremy at the doctor (yes, at 10:20pm someone's open!) and being diagnosed. The doctor said he has a throat infection and is having some trouble breathing apparently because of that. They're checking him as well with a breathing device to help him. We'll see soon what needs to be done. Either way, we're headed out of town for 3 days tomorrow : ( We we're recalling the last time Judah was sick was 6 months ago when we were headed to Panama for a visa renewal as well. Please pray for our little guy that he recovers quickly and sleeps a lot in the car while we travel. God bless these little ones for putting up with the things we have to do sometimes. Our kids are amazing travelers and are always excited for an adventure. Let's hope that is the case early tomorrow morning! Blessings and thanks for praying!

Plans

2010-03-24T21:09:00.007-06:00

Judah fell asleep playing one day

Grandpa and Judah reading Curious George

Ella and her friend Ethan. When asked who he'd marry when he grows up, his response was Ella. No pressure Ella. ; )

Judah about to dive into the presents

The superhero party was a success!

So as you might know, we moved into this house we're currently in last December. Before that, we were literally two doors up renting a house for more and with a landlord who could care less about helping us out with things. We like this place and I must say sorry for we haven't posted pictures of this house yet. I keep saying when I get a room clean I'll take a photo and eventually have a picture of each room of the house. I keep forgetting and only have a few photos so far! So the other day, Jeremy received a call from our new landlords (who are great by the way) asking us if we were interested in buying the home. The wife's father, who lives in the US, is needing desperately to sell this property because of money situations he's having. They knew we were possibly interested in eventually buying property if we can, in order to be responsible with our money, so they were offering it to us first. Otherwise they will be taking an ad out. Who really knows what's going to happen, and do we continue on with some projects around here that need to get done, or do we not? We want to be good tenants, but I also don't like sitting around waiting for someone to tell me what's going on.

On the flip side of things, our home in CA recently became rented again, yay! That's always a relief for us. We're not really the stressing kind, but it feels good not to worry about that. We've been thinking a lot also about that house and what an awesome blessing it would be to have it rented. We don't like being "tied" down to a mortgage payment, but selling the house in this market is impossible. I think I struggle a bit with thinking that we're over planning things. We really have no idea what the next 5 years will look like, so trying to plan for that seems ridiculous at times. We also want to be wise with the resources God has given us. When do we put down our agenda and just lay our lives in His hands? So many times I have it worked out. Is that really what He wants? At times the things He wants us to do look ridiculous, but that is right where He'd have us. Please pray with us that He would make it clear what we are to do. Do we look into buying a house here and pay a mortgage instead of rent? Do we try to sell the house in the states? He has a plan, I am thankful. James 4 has struck me anew lately. In v. 13-15 "'Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'" It's so comforting to me in a life of faith. God never said we'd be bored, that's for sure! Just when we think we got something figured out, the phone rings. Ha! I think God laughs a lot! Here are also a few photos, just because : )

January, the car saga, and the first team.

2010-03-10T18:40:00.003-06:00

So I realize that it's been a little while since we updated our blog, we're gonna get better I promise!! We have plans to write once a week or once every other week at bare minimum. I think we've begun to settle into a rhythm with life here. The visit to the hospital is done, the kids are in school, I have a shop (i.e. a permanent place to work) and we're finally semi- done with the car saga.

Well first thing's first. I received an email this morning saying that I was acquitted of all charges relating to the accident in Limón. Apparently, now we have to wait for a second judge to review the case and make his verdict as well. The lawyer says that it all looks promising and that I shouldn't worry. If nothing else I have made friends with the lawyer. He seems to be a solid christian man who is very involved in outreach to the poor and in his church. At first I questioned his motives and wondered if he was sincere, but after spending two days together I believe that this relationship may be one of the fruits to come from this ordeal. On the way to our last court date he was encouraging me with Luke 18... It says," ⁶And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"" While we were driving I told him that I was worried about the corruption of the courts. He told me to listen to this verse on my ipod to make sure I understood what it said. It was so encouraging to have a brother beside me who could point me to scripture while I was stuck in my worry and disbelief.

Well the other bit of news is that we have our first team of the year here this week. I have ten students at the shop with me, double our normal capacity. Other than wondering what we're gonna do the rest of the week, it is going wonderful! The first day we painted about a third of the shop, started on a sound wall, and cleaned the bathrooms with some type of acid. Since then, we've almost finished painting, put up most of the wall, cleaned, received more wood, and finished all of the upgrade in the electrical for the back half of the shop. It looks wonderful! I am so pleased with the team and all of the work. It really is such a blessing to have people from all over the states who want to come work with me in things that they may never do again. Hopefully in the future we can put them in areas that complement their calling, but for now it's great how it is;)

Thank you all so much for reading, praying and your financial support! We wouldn't be here without you!

Beginnings

2010-02-04T20:10:00.005-06:00

Well today was a day of firsts for Judah and I. Today was Judah's first day of school! We have been a little worried about how he'd handle it, but lets just get right to it... HE DID GREAT!! We had been talking about how he needed to be a big boy and not cry, he knew that he wouldn't know anyone he knew that people only spoke in spanish, but we didn't know how it would go. He woke up and was excited as I've ever seen him. He was excited to get dressed in his school shirt (kids wear uniforms here... I kinda like it;) He was excited to ride the bus (car's in the shop) He was excited to walk from the bus stop to the school... And then he was gone! Just walked right inside! The parents can't come past the gate so when we got there he just waked in, grabbed the teachers hand and was gone! Never even said goodbye. And what was the only thing he had to tell me when I came home at 6:00?... That he fell of the swing. Ha.

Today was also my first day of cleaning in the new shop! WooHoo!! Here is a picture of how it looks now.

This past monday Jeff and I went to look at it again and had decided on a price that we would pay. We didn't even have to "work him down." He lowered the price almost $200 dollars for us and gave us february free to clean and do repairs. So this morning I borrowed a pressure washer from our new landlords and went to work... More pics...

So I washed and scrubbed and finally had to buy some sort of acid and a big pry bar to chip the stuff off of the floor. Disgusting!!! There had been a mechanic in this shop for the last six or seven years. They had used the back corner and the back bathroom as storage for greasy parts and the used oil bin... It would have never happened in the states... The oil (and whatever else) was like concrete and took a lot of muscle to get it off. There was also paper, rags, paint, and the occasional nut all locked together in the blackness. After about 5 hours of work this is what it looks like.

Now all we have to do is: clean some more, put up a sound barrier for the apartments behind, build a security gate, build a locker for our tools, move the tools in, build a sliding wall, build tables, chairs and cabinets, invite kids and we're on our way. (it's really not that much)

So for all of you who pray, pray that God would dwell in this building, that kids would come, and that God would open the doors for me to build some great, lasting relationships. Also pray that our house would rent... It's really getting old having to worry about it.

Holidays are over... now what?

2010-01-03T21:28:00.003-06:00

So we are through the holidays and have begun a new year... This year, like the past few, will be a year of new beginnings. My job this month (more or less) is to find a suitable facility to house our wood-shop. I will be heading out to explore Los Guido, and the surrounding areas, while seeking to maintain relationships and look for other opportunities that God may have for me (and SI.) Ideally, we would like to build a shop to house this ministry site and leave room for future expansion, however I think it is wise to "try it out" and see if it is really where God would have us be. For me this is the start of what I have been waiting for. It's a chance to really build relationships that could lead to discipleship. Until now I have been somewhat of a "floater". I have worked in Los Guido and Las Fuentes but have also spent a lot of time in the house doing the practical, "needed" things like building bookshelves and tables. Now I will be in one spot (for the most part) with, hopefully, a regular group of youth who want to at least pass their time doing something constructive. I am also excited to have a more focused prayer life. Now I am working within everyone else's sphere of influence. I definitely have things to pray for, but I continually add to the list and really forget the significance of what I was praying for because I've lost the personal contact.

In addition to my new beginnings, Ella and Judah are going to begin school in February! Ella is going to a school called Santa Maria, which yes, is Catholic. The religion is limited to once a week and Ella will be spending "alone time" coloring or reading (hopefully soon) by herself in a different classroom. Apparently it's not uncommon for children to sit out during these times so maybe she wont be alone. Judah will be in a preschool called Osita Panda (little panda bear) for a few days a week. We would really like for Erin to have some alone time with Judah even if only 2 days a week. At Osita Panda Judah will be learning basic preschool stuff as well as Taekwondo. They are both looking forward to meeting new friends and learning. Erin and I are looking forward to taking advantage of this awesome opportunity to teach our kids spanish without having to teach them spanish ourselves;) While preschool can be good for kids, we feel like often times it is more to enable parents to do what they want. I don't want anyone else raising my kids for me, and I think that I can sufficiently prepare my kids for school while spending focused time with them. We are not sending our kids to school to be in "ministry." So while we are very excited for our kids to make friends and learn spanish, know that it will be hard for Erin and I to give up this chunk of time. We have always said we are here, following the Lord, for the benefit of our children, and we always pray that God will lead us in the best way to do that. Although we would never consider this option in the states, this is what we feel we need to do now. So if you think of us, please pray. We want to experience all that God has for us while continuing to accept His protection.

So in short, we are excited!! I feel for the first time as if I'll be doing what I came to do. There are a lot of unknowns and a lot of problems hidden within them. I don't expect this year to go super smooth but I do expect to see the Lord in new ways through the situations that come up. Please be praying with me for a fruitful year, grace for the new beginning of the wood-shop, and grace, unity, and peace for our family. I hope to be overjoyed at the opportunity to share of Gods goodness and faithfulness, here on this blog, throughout this year. May Jesus Bless You All.

And just to have some pictures... Here are some pictures of how we "rang in the new year." The people you don't know are our beloved neighbors and their family.

2009-12-18T11:08:00.000-06:00

This one’s a bit long so hold on… There’s a lot to pray for if you would be so kind;)

So, many of you have heard a little bit about my most recent stresser, but I doubt many have heard the entire story. So here it is to ease minds, tell you a little bit about the culture and hopefully get a glimpse of what God is doing in my life at the moment.

It all really began on the 9th of June when we bought our 4runner. It was a real deal at nearly half the price that we had seen others for. It was missing a door handle but didn't have any other large problems. Here buying a car is like buying a house in the states. You go see the lawyer, he documents everything, then he has to log the documents in the national registry, they check the records to make sure everything is ok and then they send you the title... Well we had a small problem... The previous owner painted the car a gray/blue color... It took three to four weeks to get that figured out but by the time we did that we were so busy with life that I never went to check on the title again. When we finally did, the lawyer saw another problem. There was a lawsuit against my car in a city called Limón which is about 3 hours east of us.!! I had never been to Limón and it wasn't on the title when I bought the car, so our obvious thought was that the previous owner sold the car cheap to get rid of it fast and get rid of the liability for whatever happened. I spent the three weeks following our trip to CA (Aug 26th-Sept 25th) calling him every chance I got. He seemed willing to help at first, but then I told him the incident was in Limón, he told me he had never in his life been to Limón and then every time after that he hung up on me.

So at this point here's what we knew:

1) for some reason there was some kind of lawsuit against my car

2) The former owner wasn't going to cooperate.

3) If the lawsuit was won, they could take my car from me

4) the something that happened was in Limon

Here's what we didn't know:

1) When

2) what

3)how

4)who

5)Why

The lawyer, knowing we didn't have a lot of money (He's actually a christian) gave me a deal. For around $150 he would go with me and find out what the problem was. So about three weeks ago we drove to Limon to see what this lawsuit was all about. Come to find out, there was a hit and run accident the night of August 17th and the owner thinks he saw my plates. He had no vehicle color, model, or any description, but somehow he came up with my license plate number. We got copies of the entire case against my car and made our legal declaration saying that I had never driven this car to Limon and that we would permit an inspection of the car to prove it. Well, I was quite nervous but the lawyer thought that it was all great. He said we made huge progress and he was sure that it would all blow over... Well it didn't.

The other thing that happened was I gave my email address to the court so they could contact me. Well they, for some reason, can't send email to AOL accounts so I had to create a Hotmail account. The only problem with that is that I had to go back to Limon to change the email because they don't permit anything to be done by phone.... I never thought anything would happen so quickly. After all, ticos are known to be late and take a long time for any formal process. I was wrong... Yesterday, as we were just finishing moving all of our new tools for the wood shop, I got a call from someone. He said, (Translated) " Is this Mr. Jeremy Janzen? You have an appointment to have your car inspected at the transit office in Limon at 1:30... Are you coming?" It was 1:39!!! I said," What!?!? Wait... Who is this!?!" HE proceded to tell me that he was a judge and I was going to lose my car if I didn't show up... I told him I could leave right then but I would need 3-4 hours to get there... He was nice enough to say he'd wait but by then the stress was overwhelming.

We jumped in the car ( jeff, myself and our newest staff member Dustin) I dropped Jeff off and Dustin and I were off to Limon. Now get this, Erin and I have just moved into a new house, (stress) we have no phone yet (stress) the car had just broken down and been fixed last week (a lot of stress) We had just come back from a staff retreat (not stressful but in the midst of other stress it was stressful enough) two weeks ago we picked up and went to Panama for Visa stuff (stress) ad we have all been sick for two weeks (stress) So we go with all this stress to Limon. We, of course hit a lot of traffic on the way (stress) and finally arrived at about 6pm. The offices had closed at 4:30 so the judge and the owner of the car that got hit had been waiting, a long time. The entire thing was a bit confusing. There were random questions about the incident and about my car but the majority of it was this man, who said I hit him, standing behind my car and describing the car that hit him... While looking at it!!! So it went like this... "Uh, I remember this (while pointing) and this and the tires and this and, well, yeah, this is the car that hit me." NO physical inspection. no questions directed to me... Just a "remembrance" of the other guy. Here is his story. He was stopped at a light facing south when this car came out of nowhere and side-swiped him turning him so he was facing west. He looked up in the dark immediately after and saw the license plate, again in the dark on a speeding car, and wrote it down...But it was too dark to see the color. Right, like that's possible. Also there was a taxi driver who saw the same # and came back to tell him. Taxi drivers don't help anyone!! So anyways, I spent all day today driving around getting receipts from mechanics, my car was in the shop 2 days after the "accident", making faxes, trying to do everything I could to prove I'm innocent. The thing is; the week before and the day of the accident, were the only times in the entire summer that I had nothing on the calendar. So now we wait. The gov. offices are closed until the 4th of january, so until then there's nothing.

Now the good part. God has really been showing me, through this and just all of the stressful things that have happened recently that I shouldn't be stressed!! Stress is the opposite of the fruits of the spirit. It robs my joy, it is literally the opposite of peace, I'm not kind when I'm stressed.. You get the point. The thing is. If I lose the car, or have to pay a bunch of money, was God not there? Does he not have a plan? Did He just take a break for this one? Does He care about the other guy more? NO!! God is in control!! If I could just grasp that... Really grasp that, then I could have that peace that passes understanding. You see my stress is an indicator. It's telling me that I'm relying on myself. I'm doing it myself and I am not trusting God. It's saying that I'm not in close enough relationship with Him. It's saying I'm bearing my own burdens. You see psalms says, "do not fret, because it leads to evil.” How true is that!? When I fret (stress) it leads to evil. That could be, anger, lust, lying, or anything else. For an addict it would mean relaps. Stress is not good!! We as Christians can have a peace that passes all understanding. That means when the world is falling down around us and we have every reason to panic or be stressed… We are calm, resting in God’s peace. Resting in the fact that He can handle it all, that He wants the best for us, that He will use whatever happens for our good… WE can have peace cause HE is in control. The only thing is we have to KNOW HIM!! Learn to trust Him… I’m in the process… If you’d like to be too, let me know…we’ll do it together!

All of you if you can just say a little prayer for us right now. 1) that God would teach us more about Himself in this process.

2) that we would live stress free

3) And that He would take care of this problem in Limon

Thanks for reading!!

May Jesus Bless You,

Aaaah, a moment to breath...

2009-12-06T13:36:00.004-06:00

Judah enjoying his "copo" in a Panama park

Ella cooling off after playing in the park

Our view from our apartment window in Panama City

Painting over the hideous green in our new house

Thanksgiving dinner with team and friends

So once again, a long time between posts. We'll get the hang of this blogging thing someday! Between the last post and today, so much has been happening and continues to happen. Besides the day in and day out of every day life, there has been a few "happenings" worth mentioning! During Thanksgiving time we had a team here from Wasco, CA. We had a fun time getting to know each other and working together. They were an awesome team that actually brought down 2 turkeys for our Thanksgiving feast. Our team here in Costa Rica was thrilled since turkeys are around $70 here! Not an option for us. Jeremy worked on a street in Los Guidos with his team of guys. There were bumps in the road (no pun intended), but the work week was very successful.

Jeremy and I have decided on schooling for our children Ella and Judah. They will both be starting in February, the new school year. They will be going to different schools for a couple of years due to the fact the one Judah will be going to has the option of only going 3 days a week. I like that because that gives me an opportunity to spend one on one time with him, while Ella is in her school. She'll be going M-F, 7:30- 12:30. She is SO excited and talks about all the things she will learn and the friends she will make. We are glad the decision has finally been made and that we don't have to keep looking.

During the week that the team was here, an opportunity came up to move from our house. We have been in this location since April, and really like the neighborhood, the people, and the location in general. We didn't like the fact that we felt we were being taken advantage of in our monthly rent, knowing there is probably something else out there cheaper and more or less the same. We didn't like the idea of possibly having to move away from friends we've made either. Well a house literally 2 doors down became available. We spent time talking and looking at it with the owners, and left wondering if this was an opportunity for us. There were definitely pros and cons and we were trying to weigh them out. The first night after we presented to the owner our price we were willing to pay, we both woke up in the middle of night, nervous and hoping we were making the right decision. We just started praying and asking for a peace and assurance we were making the best decision for our family. Also that we weren't jumping the gun with this, but that it was really God's timing. We both fell right back to sleep and woke up in the morning feeling completely different. Needless to say, we have spent the last week painting and moving our things into this home. We have a deadline of when we need to be out of our home, the 15th! It seemed like all would be fine in the timing, but put on top of that a staff retreat to the beach and leaving the country for visa renewal. We - have - been - BUSY! I am currently writing you from Panama City because cheap plane tickets came up on Friday to leave on Saturday! In the midst of our moving, this was an unexpected thing. Now we will return on Tuesday night, I'll have 2 days of more packing, unpacking, and cleaning, then we leave on Friday morning for our staff retreat. Then I'll have one more day before we absolutely need to be out of our house. Moving 2 doors down is not really an event like traditional moving. We literally just walk boxes down, or load up our car and drive it down. We are now taking some time to rest being here in Panama, knowing the craziness is not over yet. We'll be walking and taking buses to see what we can see the next couple of days. The kids definitely go with the flow, but with all the walking, it'll definitely take a toll on them. Pray for our continued sanity the next couple of weeks and that we get through this time well. On top of all this, it's Christmas time! We don't want to neglect this important time of year or the joy our family finds in it. We'll let you know how everything pans out this month.

Working... or not

2009-10-27T07:42:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone, Jeremy here again. Well not much has been going on of late but we've just been plugging away. It looks like we're still gonna move forward with the Furniture shop/wood shop/apprenticeship program. The Idea would be that we start with a wood shop. It would be to create interest and a clientele but mostly to effect the lives of young boys in the area. We'd begin with 2-3 days a week where we'd be open for whomever wants to come. We'd do small projects like bird houses, step stools or small trinket boxes. The boys would learn basic skills but for the most part just hang out and have opportunities to hear and experience the good news. Later once we have some of them that want to move on we could take on some larger projects that we could do on our two "days off" during the week. These boys could become apprentices and begin a formal program that we could start down the road. The possibilities are really endless with this idea, which is why I'm so excited. We've had nothing but good responses from everyone who works around Los Guido. they all respond with,"Oh my, something like that is really needed."

So for now my work has been research and development... Which I HATE!! for all of you who spend your day behind a computer, or just inside.... You must have the grace of the almighty God all over you. I would much rather come home injured after having worked 36 hours underground than spend a few hours a day behind desk. 8-0 Actually it hasn't been all bad. I get to spend a lot of time with my kids, which I haven't really ever been able to do. I get to experiment a lot with ideas, some of which don't go so well. And then I get to go out and meet new people too! When I was going out to research some plastic options I ran into a great opportunity for our future endeavor. While I was waiting to talk to the salesman I noticed some workers taking a huge load of wood outside. It was pallets that they had broken down and were going to throw away. I ran out and asked if they were throwing it away and if I could have it. They looked at me like I was crazy so I told them about the idea we had to work with boys in Los Guido. As it ended up they were very impressed with the idea and said they'd be calling me when they had more!! So if you saw the new doghouse I built (or kids house as it appears in the pictures) That was all free wood. Actually it was about 1/15th of what I got.

So recently I've taken 2 classes. The first was a hydroponics (gardening) class and the second was about child abuse and the process to go through to report it. The first was really fun and inspiring, the second was... well, heavy to say the least. I learned a lot in both classes but the hydroponics has given me some great ideas for micro businesses and future projects in Los Guido. I am currently experimenting with: hot peppers, bell peppers, tomatoes, celery, basil, squash, lettuce and two types of basil. I have seedlings growing in a hotbox and a bunch of other stuff all around the house. I hope that maybe with the wood shop we can build special planter boxes and then we can start a program to help women grow their own vegetables to consume and sell.

Well I think that's enough for today. as you can tell, while the work is boring, there's a lot of great opportunities around. I leave you with this thought. We only use what God has given us so that other people see Him. While we are not always talking about Him, we need to always demonstrate His character through our actions. The only problem is that we (christians AND SI) are not the peace-core, we're not a humanitarian aid group. While we whole heartedly believe that we need to help peoples situations, that is only a means to an end... We do our "job" and wait for the perfect moment to share about the reason we are doing it. It's not cliche, or lame, to say we're doing this for Jesus. True, people all over the world say things and don't really mean it. Jesus is our excuse when we're embarrassed or when we really are striving to be something important by what we do... those circumstances have made it lame and cliche... The reality is that these situations have lulled us christians into thinking we need to just be like christ and never say anything... To just be a living witness. ABSOLUTELY TRUE!! But we need to make sure that we enter into true evangelism. And that's not standing on a soapbox or humanitarian work. True evangelism is discipleship. It's the example of our lives coupled with the evangelism that is discipleship...and THAT makes a difference. It's not a one or the other thing. Word AND deed... Faith WITH works. So many times I can only focus on one or the other... We need the complete gospel, not only part of it.

Lazy weekend, good times

2009-10-18T22:30:00.003-06:00

Our family has had a good and lazy weekend to end our busy week. Our week was filled with a birthday party for Aiyla Shockency, then a farewell dinner for her since she traveled back to California after 9 months of being here, then a weekly staff meeting at the Dixons. Don't get me wrong, all these things are great, just a lot of late nights with kids make the following days preeeetty miserable for everyone! So the weekend was calling for some relaxation and kid time.

On again off again we have problems with our two cars that require Jeremy's attention and time. I'm always amazed at his skill and determination to get something fixed. My neighbor once told me when she saw one of his many projects, "He can do anything!! What a gift." I agree. It surely helps to have someone around that knows how to fix even the small things that in this country could take a long time to repair. The list of things to do never seems to end, but at least when one things breaks, another starts working again. I choose to believe these small things are ways Jesus is telling us he's watching out for us and knows what we need. It's in the little things of life where I see God the most.

So after working on one car, Jeremy began building a dog house for our dog, which we should be getting at the end of this month. The kids enjoyed this project and think for right now it's a little play house. The measurements I gave Jeremy for the house will leave the dog with PLENTY of space, so much that Jeremy and the kids all climbed inside! What can I say, I wanted him to be comfortable! After this project was finished we decided to have a movie night with the kids and enjoy Kung Fu Panda, which I've never seen in it's entirety, and popcorn for dinner. It was very fun to pull out the couch and enjoy some time together.

This morning, Sunday, we went to our friends house next door for a typical "Tico" breakfast. My friend Gabi officially taught me how to prepare "gallo pinto" (beans and rice dish), something I've tried many times, but couldn't get it quite right. We also enjoyed scrambled eggs, fried plantains, fresh corn tortillas and bread. We had a great morning talking and getting to know each other even more. Around noon they decided they wanted to take us to a favorite restaurant of theirs "El Boyero". Every Sunday this place has a clown who walks around making balloons for the kids and a nice lady named Cindi that paints their faces. Well our son is deathly afraid of clowns and clung to us for dear life the entire time. I did convince him to get his face painted like Spiderman. That he liked, thank God! The food was delicious and can definitely be a place we put on our list when we need a splurge. Gabi and Vini also treated us to lunch which was extremely generous. We are so enjoying our growing friendship and Gabi and I might start exercising together, which is a big deal since I've done very little of that since arriving in Costa Rica. We know it would be good for both of us. Our only time, besides in the evening, is 5am, which might just be the kick in the rear I need in the morning! I'll let you all know how that goes! Accountability is a good thing, I guess even with exercise!

So off to another week and more things to do. It's a good thing we don't rely on ourselves but on the One who sustains us. More and more He is teaching us as a family what that looks like. We can't control our circumstances but we can control who we run to in times of testing.

So much to catch up on!

2009-10-06T22:02:00.004-06:00

Our lives our getting back into the swing of things here in Bárrio María Auxiliadora. Jeremy has been occupied with writing up proposals and budgets for future projects while I've been taking care of life around the house and kiddos. We've been having beautiful weather here right now, and had no problem adjusting back to the breezy days and cool nights. While we were in CA, friends here told us it had been very dry without much rain, very abnormal for this time of year. Lucky for us, the rain returned with us, and we've been enjoying the clean, crisp air it brings with it. Jeremy called me outside the other day and said, "You smell that? There is nothing like the smell of a Costa Rican rain." It's a good smell, he's right, but I was reminded of us driving through Tulare, CA a couple of weeks ago and him telling me the same thing about their dirt. I guess it's good to have things you value in all parts of the world! Anyhow, it's good to be here taking walks to the park with the kids, letting the lady at the corner store know what we've been up to and why she hasn't seen us, and catching up with neighbors/friends. Lots of little things I missed while in the states (and yes, there are things we miss while we're here as well!) Just to name a few for your information: My clothes line - I don't know why, maybe I got this from my Mom, but I love to hang things on the line in the sun! I love the smell, the freshness, and the non-rushed time it takes.
**The people I see walking all the time - maybe it just reminds me that I don't always have to be in a hurry. Maybe I can walk or take the bus instead of just jumping in the car. More than once in CA I thought, "If only they had a bus system like in Costa RIca, it'd be really useful right now!"
**The feria (farmers market) - Every Sat. our family goes and we load up on fruits and veggies for the week. It's very cheap and the kid like eating the craziest tropical fruits we can find. In my opinion, some shouldn't be called fruits, they're just plain weird!
**Costa Rican driving - I know, call me crazy, I find it entertaining, amusing, exhilarating all at the same time. What people will do sometimes just blows my mind!
**And lastly, SI Cost Rica team time. I enjoy just sitting around, hearing ideas bounce across the room, what's happening at the different sites, or what we could do different next time. We have a great team to do this.

While we were gone our neighbors next store, Vini and Gabi, who have also become our good friends, watched our house for us. We came home to a freshly mopped and dusted home with some new plants in the front yard. Have I mentioned they're awesome!! They are such a blessing to us and we hope we can be to them. We had them over the other night for coffee and cookies just to chat and catch up about life. Their son Daniel and our kids are becoming good friends as well. I had a humorous conversation with Gabi when we returned about the Costa Rica's obsession with locking everything up so securely. She couldn't believe that our house wasn't locked down 24/7, even though we have 12 ft gates and razor wire surrounding the place. So I don't think I'll tell her the events of today. I decided to get the kids hair cut today at the mall in Desamparados, about 15 min. away. Jeremy drove us and stayed for the event, Judah's first haircut in over 2 1/2 years! Yes, I was tired of the matted, tangly long curls that were occurring too frequently. He was a trooper and of course I saved the cut locks. The hairdresser said he had curls of gold! I agree. After that we celebrated with a food court lunch and frosty's. Jeremy left to go work and the kids and I took the bus home. Our bus drops us off about a block 1/2 away from our house. Super close and convenient. We enjoyed our walk home and as we approached our home I saw to my dismay our garage door/gate had been left open for the past 3 hours! I quickly looked around and everything was left as it was. Our front door had been locked by Jeremy, probably thanks to the recent talk with Gabi, but I didn't have that key. Thankfully Judah's window was open and I sent the children in. I closed the heavy gate while some neighbors looked on probably fully aware of what had happened. Do you know how many people pass our house in 3 hours?? ALOT! It is by the grace of God that nobody took the kids bikes, scooter, Jeremy's tools, ladder, just to name a few. I find it absolutely amazing and completely comforting knowing my God is looking out for the everything. Needless to say, I don't know if I'll pass this story onto Gabi. It might give her a heart attack.

So please enjoy the snapshots: Giant Hulk hands (Judah's favorite to beat us all up with), rainy day fun, and todays haircuts.

The Long Awaited!!! (Sorry)

2009-09-30T16:46:00.002-06:00

Well We're back at home in Costa Rica. Trying to get back into the swing of things. It's been a while since we've blogged so let me get you all up to speed. Summer was busy, lots of teams. August we went back to the states , might have been busier. We saw lots of people, had good food. Jeremy gained 12lbs and Erin is as gorgeous as always. (This is Jeremy writing) Got a lot done but never got the VISA figured out. We're back at home now on a tourist VISA which means we'll have to leave the country every three months. We've been back for almost a week and have just gotten settled back in.
Well there's the LOST style update for you. Hope it lets you know what we've been up to.
We are going to be trying to get a routine for updates which will hopefully narrow the gaps. Erin will probably be updating you more than I will. We are currently researching the possibility of opening a furniture shop here in Costa Rica. We would supply low cost furniture to needy families and I would begin an apprenticeship program to teach young men to work with wood and possibly metal. Please be praying with us as we do our research. We would be looking at a possible start up cost of $50,000-$75,000 that we would have to raise before moving forward. It could be a very exciting thing to do. Most every Costarican that we've spoken to loves the idea but we still have a lot of leg work to do before we even begin.
Blessings,
Jeremy

As promised... I was healed!!

2009-07-27T08:09:00.004-06:00

So here it is as was promised to my facebook friends... But first a little background for those of you who are completely in the dark. A year ago from this last June I was in a motorcycle accident on a friends bike. It was a solo accident and I think I hit some sand and went down. I was going about 45-55MPH and fell straight on the left side of my body. My face and my left wrist took the brunt of the fall and then I slid on my forearms for 44 feet. The doctors couldn't immediately tell but I broke my wrist in the fall. It was put in a brace for a few weeks and after the brace came off I realized that my wrist no longer bent back like it should. The doctor prescribed physical therapy to stretch it out but by that time it was two weeks before we left to Costa Rica. Since then my wrist has hurt too bad to do push-ups, hand stands (with Ella) or even push myself u off the floor. It must have really been a sight to see me have to roll over on my stomach get up on my knees and then use only my right hand to get up. Well not any more!!!
So the other night I was on facebook just peering into other peoples lives (creepy I know, the whole concept is weird) when I came across this video posted by my friend lindsay.After that I just flippantly said "Erin, pray for my wrist." Erin prayed and immediately my wrist felt a little better so I said, " It feels better. Pray again." She must have prayed about 4 times and then I got down on the floor and did a push up, which I couldn't have done moments before. It didn't feel 100% so i had her pray again...and again...and again. all the while i was pulling on my wrist and trying to see if it hurt. Finally I went in the hallway and did a hand stand...Healed!!! I can now do handstands again!!! God is so amazing!! the only thing now is that when i do handstands both wrists hurt. Probably cause I'm out of shape... Maybe we could pray that God takes off all the fat too;)
May Jesus Bless You All,

Photos of our home

2009-07-02T10:14:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone! Just wanted to post a short slideshow of our home, including our new family car. Hope you enjoy!

So much to say

2009-06-30T21:14:00.002-06:00

Well a lot has happened since the last time I wrote a blog. It's kinda hard to remember. Time has just seemed to fly by since we graduated from language school. So where should I begin? Well we moved to Asserí after searching just about everywhere. My parents were here to help us move and we spent some time on the east coast. It took us almost two months to feel at home but in the mean time we had to buy appliances, furniture, a car, and everything else one needs for life. We found a store that imports used appliances and got a decent deal on: a fridge, a washer, dryer, and a stove. We also bought a table with chairs, an entertainment center, and bookshelves from a place in Sarchí. We found a '90 4 runner for really cheap and are looking to sell our little blue car so I can buy a work truck.
So besides that we had our first group come to the city. They were great. My group worked on remodeling a bathroom, installing a small eve to protect the patio from rain, and we re-finished a table. It all turned out incredible. The lady that lives in the house is a great woman and really serves the people of Los Guidos. She helps single moms with sewing classes and teaches bible studies. She is also a missionary with Food For the Hungry. She is a great help to us as we begin to work where she has lived for quite a while.
The second team came and I went to the jungle with them for the first part of the trip. I always love going to the jungle but this time it was a bit different. While I love going and I love the people there was just to much going on back in the city that caused me to not enjoy it as much. When we came back to the city all of the plans had changed and we were working on a street I had never been to before in Los Guidos. It's just up from where we worked on the house but the people were all new to me. Even with all of the other complications everything went great. The kids I had with me were amazing and worked their tails off. We had some great normal work and then some extreme sights (we got to see the water company cut into a live 2" water main and then not be able to shut it off.) It was very interesting.
When the teams aren't here we have plenty to keep us going. All of our other staff members have every day commitments to teach, help at day cares, etc. But I get everything else. I have built tables, book cases, shelves, and playgrounds. Anything we need to help the ministry sites out. This next week we'll be looking at starting a large retaining wall. the work just keeps on coming!
Even with everything going on, and all that we have accomplished, the thing I am most excited about is that people are starting to know us. I have some people I can go talk to and I run into people in the streets. I have people who care that I'm here and are thankful for what we do. All of the work and everything we do is just so people can get to know us and give us a platform to show them who Christ is. It's so easy to let the work be the main thing, but the main thing is still Jesus. We are doing all of this just so HE can be known. We're just the middle man.
There are still some things that we are needing prayer about. 1st. that Jesus would draw us into Himself. That we would continue to grow in Him. 2nd. that we would find a home church. Imagine trying to find a church in a country you don't know, with no one to make recommendations, with services in a language you don't fully get, With the possibility of not having child care and having a 2-6 hour service. That's where we are. So pray. 3rd. That we would make good friends. Our neighbors are great and seem to want to be best friends, but they work a lot and there's just no time to do anything with them. We need good Christian friends. 4th. That we would find a good school for the kids but still be able to be with them enough. We don't like the idea of letting someone else parent our kids in these important years but it's necessary for them to learn spanish. 5th. That God would continue to find a place for us and SI here in Costa Rica. Although it's been close to a year we are still finding our place. We don't know what it could look like in the future because there's just so many unknowns.
Thank you all for your prayers. We are really loving it here. It's more and more feeling like home. Even with the bars and the traffic and the crazy fireworks all night long. We are continually reminded of how blessed we are to be able to serve God here. Every time I drive up the mountain to go home and see all of the beautiful lights, I can't help but say thank you Jesus. And thank you to all of you who are believing in what we're doing and giving financially. With out you... I guess God would have to find another way;)
Jesus Bless You All,
Jeremy
For Erin, Ella and Judah

We're finally reconnected!!

2009-06-16T08:21:00.003-06:00

Thanks to everyone for hanging in there while we were without internet for awhile! Like we've said before, things happen in Costa Rica slowly, and apparently getting hooked up for internet too. For those who don't know, we moved ourselves into our new house at the end of April with much help from parents, Doug and Debbie, who were here visiting. Thanks again!! In the process of unpacking we found out it could be up to a year before our internet could be hooked up at our new location. I don't understand all the details, but needless to say, we were pretty bummed! And so was our Skyping family. Long story short, a new company was now offering internet to our area, and after their 3 attempts to come and install it, we are finally online! Thank you Cabletica! I think Jeremy and I agree we are feeling quite cozy in our new home. We have acquired most of the furniture that we need and have a great welcoming family next door. Their names are Vinicio, Gabriela, and Daniel (4yrs). They have invited us into their home to share meals, gifted us with small "welcome" gifts, and shared tamales through the gates. Her parents own one of the first tamale factories in the nearest town to us, Aserrí. Did I mention I love tamales! It has been fun getting to know them and also fun for Ella and Judah to have a playmate come over and practice Spanish. I'm sure they're not worried about the practicing Spanish part, I just enjoy watching Judah say, "Daniel, venga aquí!" Over and over he'll say it. It means "come here" in Spanish.

We feel like we're are now getting into the swing of things with teams beginning to come down.

With the last team, Jeremy had 3 people helping him at a home in Los Guidos. Our new friend Isabel teaches sewing classes in her home for young mothers as a way for them to hopefully turn around and make a living. She also leads Bible studies in her home as well. Jeremy's team completely redid her second bathroom that she uses for the ladies, it had many problems. They built a new eve on her home to act as a shield from the rain for the place she teaches the sewing. They also refinished a large table she had that she also needed for her classes. She was extremely blessed by the team. She told us the neighbors were watching what was going on all week and said they noticed something different compared to other "missionaries" that have come through. I know that was a big encouragement to the team. We're here to love the people of Costa Rica. We're here to serve and be a blessing in what ways we know how. It's not a big production or show. That is what I love about SI. Hopefully people will be encouraged by our lives and seeing our love. We don't want this to ever be about us and what we can do. It's Christ living in us and through us!!

Jeremy and our teammate Cailah will be returning from the jungle today bringing a group of young high schoolers from the states. They've been there since last Wed. It's kind of exciting to see the tired faces that come back, but to also hear what has impacted them the most so far. They will have a few days with us here in the city working at the ministry sites as well. So much going on here and it seems their is always something new to write about. I almost forgot to mention that we purchased a second car for me, Erin, a couple of weeks ago. It's a '90 Toyota 4runner that will be our family car. Jeremy is still looking for a work truck because of all the tools and materials he will be hauling around. We will then sell our ever so faithful 80's Nissan that humbles me every time I drive it. That cars been great for us. Quick funny note, someone actually asked me once if we brought that car from California with all our things. I just started laughing, it was hilarious!

So after all of this, God is good! He's been faithful and is faithful! We don't know what tomorrow holds, but we're excited! Thanks for listening, supporting, and praying!!

T-6 Days

2009-05-26T12:51:00.003-06:00

The "summer push" is here!! Right now our first official team is heading for the jungle and will be back in the city in 6 days. We have been learning spanish, making contacts, and praying now, for 9 months. It looks like our first summer of "ministry" will be a full and interesting one. We have four ministry sites up and running and we are ready to bring in students. As for me, I met with a lady this morning whose house we will be working on this coming week. She is a missionary working with Food For The Hungry and holds sewing classes and bible studies for the poor ladies of Los Guidos. We will be extending here roof about 3 feet and remodeling here bathroom. It's plenty of work to keep us busy and believe me... There's plenty more.

Those of you who are praying, continue to pray for Gods hand of blessing and protection over what we are doing. The enemy is always out to destroy us. Pray also that God will continue to give us wisdom as we work here and that He alone will receive the glory. We want to be a light in the darkness and only want to do His will.

Note: We should be getting internet soon. hopefully all will get back to normal after that. Thank you to all of our supporters, new and old. We wouldn't be here without your obedience.

Until later...

2009-04-20T12:01:00.002-06:00

Well, We're in our house now and it's lovely. We've got a few problems but they'll be worked out soon. Hopefully next time we'll post some pictures. The point of this is really to let you all know that we're going to be without internet for a while so we will also be out of contact. If there's any problem that we are needed for contact the Dixons and they'll get word to us.

Thanks and God bless you all.

Ella's 4th!!

2009-04-14T18:33:00.004-06:00

Well after procrastinating for a week here are the pictures from Ella's birthday. Thanks to all of you that came, and all of the rest of you who would have if you could have. Ella had a lot of fun! It's so amazing that she's 4 already!!

Jungle pictures!!

2009-04-11T20:44:00.002-06:00

http://public.fotki.com/ThirdElementStudios/costa-rica-10/

So here's the link to our pictures of our trip. Enjoy!!

Trip to the jungle!!

2009-04-04T13:55:00.003-06:00

Well it's been a week and I've been putting this off in order to find a house... We still haven't found one (so keep praying) but we have some possibilities. I figured that I better tell you all how my week was in Talamanca so here we go:

Well we picked the guys up at the airport on sunday morning, there were 20 of us. Lee, Forest, Gail, Mac (Dave Mcmahon), Beak (Bill), Dr. Dan, Luke, Seth, Dale, Doug, Hud, Bob, Jim, 2 Jeffs, 2 Daves, 2 Mikes and Me. We all jumped on the bus and drove all day to the south eastern part of Costa Rica to a reservation called Talamanca, in a town called Shiroles. We did a lot of work over the five or so days we were there, but that wasn't the best part so I'll just list it off. Together we:

Dug Leach lines, poured a slab for a shower and toilet, and emptied an 18 year old septic tank (yuck)

Helped plant plantains.

Laid a lot of brick to finnish a dorm.

Poured a concrete column for a gate.

Started a patio cover.

Hauled dirt to fill below a future foundation.

Laid large drainage pipes for rain water.

Helped in a medical clinic (Only Dave, Seth, & Dr. Dan but we all still get credit)

Helped with some teaching (Jim the retired 5th grade teacher)

re-finished a dresser.

Put up a clothes line.

& had a lot of fun!!

It was great. We all worked really hard and had a great time doing it. The best part for me however was the "bible studies" in the morning and night. We got up every morning around 5A.M. and read a chapter from Ephesians and then discussed it. We had some great conversations. Our facilitator was Gail, a great man of God, and he kept bringing us back to the fact that it's JUST all about Jesus. It doesn't matter about theology and denomination, It's just all about Jesus.

In the evenings we all took turns sharing about our lives, past present and future, whatever we wanted to share. It was a good time to get to know others and see that we all have stories to tell of what God's done or how we need Him.

For me the whole trip was great because I got to be around godly men who I could really understand (cause they spoke english). I really got to just glean off of their lives and they all encouraged me.

After 5 days in the jungle we left. We went to a beach Cauhita to spend an afternoon on the way back. We did a canopy tour and white water rafting, and then got to shop before they left on sunday afternoon. (Don't expect all of that if you come on a future trip... Remember, we're working in the city now and it's all gonna be different) Over all I had a wonderful time. I was really encouraged to memorize more scripture and spend more time getting to know Christ personally. It's not about all the "do"s and "don't"s but it's all about Him.

So there you have it... I'm hoping to go to the jungle at least one or two more times this year. We'll see what happens.

Thanks for reading. Jesus Bless.

Pictures to come later....

Oh yeah! Ella turns 4 tomorrow!! We'll post some video if our camera works;)

Stop everything and pray!!

2009-03-31T19:57:00.002-06:00

Well, very soon I will be writing a blog about my recent trip to Shiroles, de Talamanca with the mens trip. I am just waiting to get the photos from one of the men. In the mean time we are requesting that everyone drops everything and pray with us. Right now we are in transition again. We ned to be out of our house, here in San Francisco de Dos rios, by the 20th of april. So far we haven't found a new house but we really need to find one... yesterday. After we find a house we need to find used appliances and purchase furniture. So we need God to come through for us very soon.

Another prayer request is for our house in Visalia. We were advised by people at S.I. and our missionary training to keep our house as an investment and also as a place for our kids to call home. The problem is that we have been without renters for two months now. Needless to say, that puts a huge financial burden on us. We are praying that a nice family that wants to rent long term would find our house and love it...very soon.

We thank all of you for your prayers and welcome any encouragement via e-mail. I always forget that when I ask God for something He takes me pretty serious. I have continually asked that He would put us in situations where we would see His faithfulness... Well this is one of them. We know he will never leave us or forsake us but now to see the practical application in our lives.

Thanks for everything... Praise report coming soon!!

My Turn!

2009-03-23T21:11:00.002-06:00

So now it's officially MY turn to watch the kids for a week without my other half. Jeremy left on Sunday for the jungle to help lead a team of men from the valley on a "vision" trip. He'll be gone till next Sunday. Sunday started out pretty good with Jeremy continuing his Sunday morning tradition of strawberry waffles. Yes, even though he was planning on heading out, he still wanted us to have our waffles. So great. After he left, the kids and I played at the park until we all officially needed bath #2 for the day. We later received some gifts from my mom (Nana) and my sister (Auntie Antz) that made their way to Costa Rica c/o some men who were coming to the jungle. The kids were extremely excited and immediately started playing and wearing their new gifts. Thanks Nana and Auntie Antz! Later on I decide to make some pasta sauce that would be for spaghetti Sunday and pizza Monday. I had a couple more tomatoes to chop and put in when I decided to check how big my dutch oven pot was. I wanted an idea of about how much I already had in the pot. So I lifted it up, the rim then somehow hit and got stuck on the hood above the stove, and it all came tumbling down. You know that sick feeling you get when you're at a loss for words, that's how I felt. If it was a jar of Prego, no problem. But the fact I just spent 30 min chopping and sauteing and was 3 tomatoes shy of a yummy sauce, wasn't okay. I think I tried hard to hold it together until Ella asked what had happened since she was standing right there. I just cried, just being frustrated and tired and now not knowing what to do for dinner. Luckily, there was my daughter who tells me, "Mommy, I can make you feel happy." And she just held on to my leg and then gave me a hug while she swayed back and forth. It was just what I needed and I told her so. Luckily my teammate Tracey mentioned earlier in the day I was welcome over for dinner that night. At this point I changed our plans and gave her a call. I knew at this point I just needed to throw in the towel and not try anything else. Thank goodness for friends and open invitations!

Today we didn't have school. Instead they had "culture day" and I decided to stay home with the kids. I figured I don't get to see them enough anyway so I'd take the opportunity. I'm hoping to stay on task this week and just enjoy time with the kids in the evening. If you've made it this far in this blog, please pray for motivation for me. I'm really feeling ready to be done with school and be with my kids more. Behaviors they're displaying make me want to be with them more often to correct, and not being able to is tough sometimes. So, yeah! Only 5 more weeks. Let's pray I (and Jeremy : ) make it through strong and learn everything we can. Although I'm not so sure how much more my brain can hold!

We're also in the process of looking for our more permanent residence, a home to rent. Not being familiar with the areas makes it hard, so we're really believing God to help us find one. He knows our desires and our concerns, and knows what's best for us. Please pray with us that His direction in this would be clear. We want more than anything to be in His will. Thanks for reading!

The report

2009-02-27T21:15:00.003-06:00

Well, here's a quick run down of our lives. Erin and the rest of our female staff here in Costa Rica has been in Guatemala for the last week which leaves me and Jeff home with the kids. It really hasn't been that bad but the dishes tend to pile up quick.

So every day we've still gone to school (except I was a little sick thursday) And then the kids come home and take naps, then we play at the park, eat and play a little after dinner then it's off to bed. It's not so bad. Ella cries every night for about 10 minutes for her mom but other than that they've done great. I printed a few pictures of Erin and we taped them to the wall. tonight while putting Ella to sleep I jumped on her bed and laid against the wall. Ella immediately started crying cause she wanted to "lay next to mama". So cute... Then she got up like she has most nights and gave the silliest picture of mama a kiss. Erin will probably cry when she finds out. It was adorable.

Well other than that there's not much to report. School is going well. We have a wonderful teacher who is very very gifted. I have a class in which I go out and just talk to people about whatever I want to learn. It's been good to learn not only language but culture as well. We have come a very long way in the last 7 weeks. I feel like I know so much more than I did at Christmas time. We now have 86 ways to use every verb!!! 86!! It's pretty hard to remember exactly how to use each different tense. Here's a quick example. feel free to skip it.

Present tense Caminar (to walk)

There are 6 "people"

Camino Yo (1st person)

Caminas Tú (you informal)

Camina El/Ella/Usted (3rd person singular or 2nd person formal)

Caminamos Nosotros (1st person plural)

Camináis Vosotros (I don't really know cause I never use it plural something)

Caminan Ellos/Ustedes (3rd person plural or 2nd person plural)

Then past has all the same "people" but I wont write them with the root "Camin" and endings

Camin---é/aste/ó/amos/asteis/aron

so in those two forms, present and past there are 12 "uses" for one verb... Well then there are 12 more tenses... Each with 6 "uses" imperfect preterite, conditional, future, PPC, Plusc, perfect preterite, future perfect, conditional perfect, Present perfect subjunctive, past perfect subjunctive, future perfect subjunctive. I dont know if I got them all or what.... Horrible, But we're learning.

So besides that... We're here. We've never doubted that we're supposed to be here, never wanted

to leave. We're just trying to live life and really figure out how Gods gonna do what we think He wants

to.

I leave you with a little video love Ella and Judah.

Sorry It's been so long... (this one's kinda just to get it all out there)

2009-02-27T20:32:00.003-06:00

Well to be honest, I've been a little under the weather. Physically, emotionally and spiritually (if you even can be). I think that God has been exposing a lot in me that I have never seen before and I am realizing that I am really not such a great person. (Not a new revelation but just expanded in recent weeks) Also I've been pretty lonely. It's really hard to make friends when there's a language barrier of any kind. I can speak and understand 95% of what I need but wow... that 5% really puts stress on a relationship.

Twice now I've had to talk about when my friend Rich left after the last trimester, and twice, in the middle of class, I've choked up and had to stop. Really, we weren't like best friends or anything. True I will always remember him, and always consider him a friend, but really... Choking up in class, I didn't cry much when leaving California. (only a little but not as much as one would have thought)

I think that we are still adjusting to life here in Costa Rica. It's rough some times, and we expect it, but walking it out is still hard.

All of this to say two things: 1) Please pray for us! We are always in need of your prayers but right now I would really appreciate them. 2) When I feel like this it's really hard to write about life here. For those of you who don't know me well, this is me... I wear it all on my sleeve. I don't really mind if you see me in my weakness cause I'm just like you...

So anyways... Actually I'll write another blog to split it up a little

Judah is 2

2009-02-15T19:45:00.003-06:00

So Judah turned 2 on the 13th of feb. He got a small piece of cake with some whipped cream for breakfast and... well you can just watch the first few moments of him being 2. If we're counting hours too he was actually 1 hour shy of two in this video. We had a birthday party for him with the rest of our team and then the next day had some fun with the decorations. I forgot to put a picture of the cake Erin made in the video so I'll add that later. We miss all of you and wish we could have shared this experience with you in person. Also...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTER JENNIFER. WE LOVE YOU!!!

Here's A video I made for Bethel... And you too!!

2009-02-11T20:31:00.000-06:00

¡Demasiado Español!

2009-02-10T09:47:00.002-06:00

Okay, we've had family asking for an updated blog... and to sum up how we're feeling right now... overloaded! Jeremy and I were talking last night about our grammar class and all the tenses and conjugations we're learning right now. We did the math, and by the time we learn all 14 tenses in Spanish, we'll be able to conjugate a verb around 84 times, mas o menos. This is ridiculous, we said! For some crazy reason I enjoy the challenge in class when our teacher says "Erin, give me the verb "oir", in "tú" form, all nine tenses." (I am translating it for you :) I think this is as many as we have had to recall at one time so far, but tomorrow, we add 4 more tenses! Something in me strives to get every one right. I told Jeremy, by the end of this trimester, I want to be able to conjugate a verb in every form and every tense. I think he just rolled his eyes at me. So our brain is full. Sometimes we can't sleep at night because we have conjugations dancing around in our head! So please keep us in prayer that we'd keep our sanity and that we'd sleep too.

Outside of Spanish, we're branching out in relationships with neighbors around us, and I've finally gotten enough Spanish under my belt to step out and invite some locals over for dinner. This is a HUGE step for me. This and driving around San Jose. One more milestone for me! I finally conquered the dreaded Costa Rican rotundas (at least they are in my mind), this past Sunday. My husband made me, yes, made me, go to Hipermas (kind of like a Wal-Mart) and get over my fear. I've been dreading driving there because I'd have to go through 3 rotundas. We set a time for me to be home, since we have no cell phones to call, so he'd know I was alright. Well...I was 30 min. late and when I got home he told me he pictured me driving around and around the rotunda, crying hysterically not knowing which exit to take. On the contrary I told him. I conquered them like a pro and was quite giddy when I got home because of it, but had lost track of the time! He just thought I was strange. So I am quite proud of myself for the new-found freedom of being to get myself around. Now to tackle downtown rush hour traffic... : (

what happens when you get your hand kicked while playing soccer?

2009-01-24T14:16:00.004-06:00

This does...

It's a little hard to see but there are 2 fractures in my 4th metacarpal. I play soccer once a week at school and lately I have been playing keeper. (thus the hand injury) I was going after a ball and there were a bunch of people around. I grabbed the ball just as someone went to kick it and...CRACK!!!! I felt/heard several cracks. It didn't hurt like it was broken just like it was kicked (obviously) I kept playing keeper until my knuckle disappeared under the swelling. I switched to forward and finished the night. (after all with only 3 hours to play a week. injured or not I had to take advantage of the time.) So I talked to a doctor about it at school and he said I needed x-rays... Nice huh?

Well here's the good part. We had some bad news about our house in Visalia a few weeks ago and it looked like we couldn't rent it to cover our monthly payment. We started praying and said that this would be Gods first opportunity to show us His faithfulness financially since we got here. Well we've cut back and had nothing but veggies for the last week and a half. We were thinking we'd have to cover some payments from savings and then out of our budget. Well God had other plans. While the house still isn't rented, we have a rental co. that says they can get enough to cover our payment. Praise God #1. Then Erin finally went to the doctor and had to spend $160 between the visit and meds. Then this with my hand. Praise God #2 is that He put us in a situation where we felt like we had to save money so we did. Even though it wasn't the financial trouble we thought we'd be in He in essence provided the way for us to have the money...God is Good. So after a few hours and a few hundred bucks here's my hand.

More to come on the house... we're still living as frugally as we can but I have faith that God will provide. If He doesn't it's only to expose something He wants to fix.

Here's a question for all of you reading... Make sure to comment with your short answer. Leave an email address so I can respond individually if needed. If God is going to provide, do I need to cut back on my spending? We don't live extravagantly, and it's all His anyway. Is my act of faith A) simply believing that He's going to provide and not changing how we spend our money?

B) changing and bracing for financially hard times, but still believing He'll come through for me in the end?

It's actually a good question and I honestly want to hear what you would do and why....

Have fun with that and I'll talk to you soon.

liguistas pequeñitos !!

2009-01-14T19:29:00.006-06:00

Well I learned another lesson about Costa Rica.... the street venders start at more than double the cost of any given thing and will fight to the death. I worked long and hard to buy some soccer jerseys and shorts of the most popular teams here for my niece and nephew (we love you Miah and Teeney, and Micah too sorry there wasn't one small enough for you buddy) Anyways, I got the lady down from 10 mil to a little over six...($20 to $12) and felt like I won the battle of the price war... Come to find out I lost... I just found the same outfits for 3 mil ($6) at a small shop. I bought them for our kids and they wore them out on the town to Pricesmart and McDonalds tonight. We got quite a few looks and comments. Everyone seemed to think that they were very cute. Anyways, here are some pics...

The other team is purple and white. They're called Saprissa and are actually a better team. When choosing the team that I would cheer for 1)I couldn't bring myself to wear purple and 2)I couldn't jump in and cheer for the best team. That would be like all of the people that liked New England only after they won the super bowl. Or maybe like the people that switched their team to the Cowboys in the 90s. I'm still a Saints fan... even when they are terrible... Therefore I have no problem waiting for La Liga to get better.... Sorry for those of you who don't care about any of this at all. Just enjoy the pictures... Until next time.

Thank you to all of you.

2009-01-11T09:23:00.002-06:00

To everyone who has supported us in our transition this year, Thank you. We are extremely grateful that God would impress it on your hearts to be so generous towards us. It is only because of your obedience towards God that we are able to be obedient to Him as well. We were all created to praise and worship Him. Our praise requires different aspects of life from each of us to accomplish the goal which is that all those in the world would see how great He is through our lives.

I made this video as a thank you to all of you. Feel free to send it to everyone who would enjoy it. It is just a few minutes of how and where we are able to praise our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And now back to.... What ever ....

2009-01-09T07:50:00.005-06:00

Well it sure was great to have my parents here these last nine days. We had a lot of fun and the kids know their Papa and Ninaw a little better (Judah can say Memaw but instead he says Ninaw) We had a great time showing them where we live and what we do as well as seeing some beautiful places. We went to La Paz waterfall gardens (thanks Robin) and to Playa Hermosa for a few days. We visited Manuel Antonio, a national reserve, and saw monkeys sloths and baby sea turtles that had just hatched and were making their way to the ocean. (see the pictures) It was great to see the country but it was even better to just be with family. We're in a bit of culture shock still and things are feeling rough. Sometimes it's hard to see the good things that we have here. I made the comment to my parents that if it wasn't for Gods call I don't think I could live here. I don't know that it's entirely true (due to the culture shock) but at the moment it feels true. It was good however to have people agree with us that cheese is way overpriced, and that the food isn't anything to write about. In a way it makes me more comfortable being here. I don't know why but it just does.

So we have the weekend to get back in the groove and we start school again on monday. New teachers and new classes will probably be a little difficult but I am definitely looking forward to being able to communicate better and get into actual missionary work. I don't know that I've posted much about what we are in for, work wise, but I'll post again later with all the details. For now... Thank you all for your support. We wish you could all come down and visit us for a while. I'm sure there'll be plenty of time later. Remember that you're all missionaries where you are and you already know the language. Look for God to move daily and if it seems that He isn't ask Him why... then ask Him to make Himself alive to you and those you're around. Here are some more pictures of where we were. Click the picture of the leaf then click side show and watch it for a while or just check out the ones you like.

Our trip to La Paz and Manuel Antonio

Mom and Dad are here!!

2009-01-02T19:51:00.002-06:00

There are different levels of peace that you have when you're living in a foreign country. It's one thing to not have to stumble over your words or wrack your brain to recall the translation and just be able to speak in english, but it's a whole other thing to know people really well and spend time with them in the country that you just never feel 100% at home in. Needless to say we are very happy to have my parents here after 4 months of being apart. It's not only that we've missed them (and all of the rest of you) we didn't realize how hard it is to have nothing around you that is familiar. The friends we have here we now know, but not like the people in the states. We know the ingredients in the meals but not the tastes. We have enough familiarity to feel ok but not enough to truly be comfortable. Now that my parents are here it's just that much more familiarity to make us comfortable. I don't know if I make sense but I just wanted to try to relay what I'm feeling to you all... It's pretty strange.

Thank you to all of you who sent a note with my parents to us and the Dixons. (Saviors family) we haven't had a chance to read them all yet but it is such an encouragement to know that you would take the time to write to us. More on this later......

I don't know why I really want to say this now but if any of you see Steve Haston, tell him that he's been on my heart recently and that I really miss him. Thanks.

Thanks for reading and may Jesus Bless You All.

Christmas Morning.

2008-12-25T15:59:00.005-06:00

Merry Christmas to everyone. Here's what we did. There's a lot so don't feel obligated to watch it all. I'll be posting more as they load throughout the day.

It was all around a good day.

2008-12-16T20:55:00.002-06:00

Brace yourself it's a long one!! If you don't have a few moments to read it come back later. I think what God's teaching us here is soooooo important for all of us to understand.

So today was the first ever Costa Rica staff training day. Yippie!! It was actually very fun and informative. We had an amazing guest speaker via Skype (that's for you if you're reading Janice) It was our beloved president of SI, Dave Hansen. We went over possibilities for ministry here, the vision and mission of SI, and just had some time to worship and pray. For our next year (and hopefully forever) our theme will be: Who we are is more important than what we do. It was confirmed in all of our hearts because we had all prayed it in some way before Jeff told us. A few days ago I was reading in James 4 and I read this: 1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Now when I read this I asked myself, "what are the right motives?" I began praying and I felt the Lord tell me that sometimes, even though what I want is good, i.e. miracles for other people, abilities to help the poor etc., it's not with correct motives. Everything I do in my life should come from the motivation that I want to know more of God. No matter what I'm doing, my priority should be to know God better. In Matt. 25 (goats and sheep) the goats have done so much for God. They may have looked like perfect missionaries, but they didn't know God. Therefore, whatever I do in my life, whether I think it's the right or wrong choice, whether I live in poverty or wealth, whether I am comfortable or uncomfortable, the goal is to know more of God, both through my circumstances and through the the times of reflection over a period in life.

I had just had all of this run through my head and then I read this a few verses away: 13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. Now this, after my little revelation, made me think about my time that I have been given here. First, If I know the good that God has given me here and choose not to do it, I sin. Obvious. Second, if the goal is to know more of God than I don't need to worry about tomorrow or where God will take me. Tomorrow is simply a means to an end. It's just to let me know more about God. Sure that will allow for me to work for Him and do the things that He's called us to do. That just means that you wont hear me say I'm going to be a missionary, or a pastor, or a gas man, forever. That's simply not the goal. All of those things are good. All of those things are also just tools that God can use to show me more about His character.

OK, so back to our meeting... It was just so good to know that God had already been talking to all of us about the same thing. We need to focus on Him before our ministry. We could "do" ministry without knowing God, but really what good would that do us. We'd just be working... Just gritting our teeth and working. THE GOAL IS TO KNOW GOD!!!

I pray that each of you that read this would have a new or revived passion to know God. Everything you do is simply an opportunity to know more about Him. It's so backwards from how we think but it's really the way it should be.

More Later... There's still another day of training tomorrow, and I didn't even write about our nice dinner with our phonetics teacher, her family, and a bunch of friends.

FIesta De Los Niños.

2008-12-13T06:55:00.002-06:00

I had the wonderful pleasure of being able to help at a Christmas party for some very poor children yesterday. It was so precious to watch them open presents, or not open presents because they wanted to wait and do it with their parents. We had kids from age 2-12. Each one recieved a ham and cheese sandwich, soda, a ballon character from a clown and one (age appropriate) gift. Some kids tore right into them, some wouldn't open them at all. Others took 30 min. to open theirs. I often wondered what they were thinking. Were they just happy to receive a toy? Did receiving a toy make them realize how poor they were? Were they sad that they couldn't share the experience with their family? Were they happy to receive a toy and sad that their family didn't gat one? I wonder. One boy took so long to open his toy truck that his friends got upset and wanted to open it for him. Another boy opened his toy and folded the paper and when he thought no one was looking stuffed the paper in his bag to take it home.

It was very fun being able to give this experience to these kids and especially to be able to share with them about Jesus' birthday. I hope that we will have a way to effect these kids in the future. I'm going to try to upload my pictures so I hope you enjoy!! http://picasaweb.google.com/erin.janzen/FiestaDeLosNiOs#

WoooHooo!!

2008-12-08T19:59:00.000-06:00

We got our car today!! It's as much of a beater as I remembered. I went to the guys house and met with him and the lawyer. It was a very easy process but it's strange that we needed a lawyer. The best part of the night, however, was when I pulled up to our gate in the car and was waiting for Erin to unlock it. Ella ran out and yelled, "good job getting a car dad!!" She's too cute. She's finally getting the appreciation thing down. She says thank you for everything. The other day she said, thank you so much for getting me water daddy, that was so nice of you." Don't you wish youd get that response for every thoughtless thing you do throughout the day? Tonight I ate late since I was meeting with the lawyer and I made myself some kung pao chicken, I shared one of the peanuts with her and she said, "well thank you for sharing daddy." I don't know what was better tonight, buying the car or thinking about how cute my daughter is.

I hate goodbyes.

2008-12-02T21:06:00.000-06:00

I really hate goodbyes... I think that's all that I have to say right now :(

Thanksgiving, (dia de accion de gracias)

2008-11-27T15:33:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! We don't have Thanksgiving here in Costa Rica but we're still gonna celebrate it. We have chickens and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pies (turkey would cost me my left arm so we'll just do chicken) Our friends are making other stuff so we should have a lot of fun!! We made a small video of Ella saying what she's thankful for. Check it out on youtube. The video should be posted sometime today... It's uploaded but needs to be processed. Click the family videos link on the right side of the blog and it will take you there. I'll make a link later for those of you who can't find it. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! We love you all!

Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MACDNkOvE4c

uuuhhhhhh....

2008-11-21T17:23:00.000-06:00

Well it's colder here, not raining as much but cold. Erin and I have both been sick this last week and we're just feeling out of it. It's been just over 3 months and I think we're experiencing a little bit of culture shock. (more Erin than me but the "we" makes her feel better) It's just hard. If I could tell you how we feel it's just a long uuuuuuhhhhhhhhh. Not bad but not good either.

Don't get me wrong, we still love Costa Rica and are excited about being here, but we are just now understanding the sacrifices that we've made.

For 1) You don't come to Costa Rica for the food. If you know me and my family you know that we like to eat... and we like to eat meat... That's not really an option here. The food is mediocre at best. The food in restaurants is ok but we can't eat out all of the time. Meat is tough and has no flavor. We miss other types of food too. They have some of the same brands as we do at home but it's all double the cost and it doesn't taste the same. Food we miss: Black olives, Good chocolate, asparagus and BBQ steaks.

2) It's hard being the "rich" in a culture that you want to make an impact. The people here are so poor that we are rich. Everyone expects a handout from North Americans because we can, and people before us have given to them. I was standing on the street talking to Jeff and these kids walked by and said in english "give money please." It's hard to say no to the giving money thing and still let them know we care and want to help. I want to "teach them to fish" though, not just give them one.

3) We miss our family and friends. On top of that, we are constantly making friends and then they leave. MTI was great but we made friends and then left them. We'll probably never see most of them again. It's the same here... We have friends at school but most of them will leave either in December or next May. It gets kinda hard and just piles up after a while.

I guess I really needed to just vent a little. Also, we would really appreciate your prayers as we continue this transition. I don't think that anyone can ever really be fully prepared to make a large transition in life like this. When you pray ask God to give us peace and joy. Also ask that He would draw us in closer to Him. The natural tendency is that when life gets tough you slip in areas of discipline.. true for us right now. Pray also that God would continue to increase our ability to love and be loved. Sometimes we just want to stop loving because it hurts to loose it... But God is in the love... and the loss. We need to experience both.

I can't say enough that we appreciate all of you who support us by reading our blog and those of you who support us financially and in prayer, but WE APPRECIATE YOU!!

Thanks for reading!

How do you know if your kids miss home?

2008-11-17T19:33:00.000-06:00

Well it's really easy for us to know that Ella misses home. She takes a nap every day in our bed since she and Judah share a room. We walked in one day and here's what we found.

Sorry Mom and Dad (Doug and Debbie) we don't have a picture of you guys to frame... Maybe you should fix that.;)

A little friend for Ella (not Judah)

2008-11-17T19:20:00.000-06:00

As I was coming out of the bathroom today I saw something moving on the floor. It was a gecko i think. I quickly called the kids to see it and then caught it in an old lid for trash can. Ella loved it, she's our dare devil. She touched it and held it by its tail. She rubbed it and screamed when it jumped on her. Judah however screamed and ran back inside. He wanted nothing to do with it... Here's some pictures of Ellas little friend... with and without all of his tail.

New Kids Video...

2008-11-12T19:27:00.000-06:00

Here's Ella Elizabeth (as Ella) and Judah Michael (as Judah). Kids are a lot of fun and sometimes they're just crazy. In the beginning Ella sings on of her songs in spanish, then she just gets silly. Go to the follow the link to see our video...http://www.youtube.com/user/Jerinjanzen.

This is how we roll... Don't be jealous;)

2008-11-04T13:34:00.001-06:00

Any 15 year old kid would love to have this car if he didn't have any friends, had very high self-esteem, or was very very poor. Well we aren't 15, can't consider ourselves poor next to a lot of the people here, but we have high enough self-esteem to buy this car. It seems to be a good deal and it will allow us to get around without using taxis and busses. The costs will all wash in the end but it will allow us to save some time which could open new worlds to us. It's a 1986 nissan that runs decent, and it has a manual transmission. The car, all the legal paper work, and insurance for six months will be around $1200. It's a great deal considering that you can't really find cheap cars here. Normally if someone has held onto a car like this it's cause they can't afford to sell it and buy another. We don't want to buy an expensive car and we will most likely be able to sell this one for a decent price after we find one that we will need. We will choose that car depending on what we're doing in ministry. This one just seems to make sense. Now I almost didn't want to post a picture cause I didn't want anyone getting jealous but here you are. Have fun!!

Dry!!

2008-10-30T06:32:00.000-06:00

Well It's spiritual emphasis week here at our language school and the speaker that is here as great. It's some good, solid, Christ centered teaching that has really convicted me and spurred me to get back to the Lord in prayer. This week also seems to be the beginning of the dry season and the weather is gorgeous. It has rained a few hours all week and the view of the mountains is fabulous. We are continuing to pray for all of you In Saviors (our home church) that God would meet you during this time of corporate fasting and prayer. As we enter the dry season here we are praying that this spiritual season would be one of flooding. We pray that God would flood our hearts and minds, cities towns and countries with his presence.

Hope you are all doing well.

May Jesus Bless You Today.

Just Flowers

2008-10-23T20:11:00.001-06:00

So I bought Erin a bouquet this last week... It was for $3!! Here are some pictures... Also other plants we've found around.

A few fun things from Costa Rica

2008-10-23T19:37:00.000-06:00

This last monday we had the day off and we went to Poaz Volcano. We had a great time. We had a great view of the crater where the steam from the heat of the lava comes out of the volcano. We also were able to see the lagoon on the top of the volcano. It was all very beautiful.

The country on the way to the volcano was spectacular. The entire countryside is covered in coffee plants and ferns. It is absolutely breathtaking looking out over the coffee fields.

We were also able to go to the ox cart factory. The ox carts are only a traditional thing now but the factory still makes them and hand paints each one with spectacular designs.

Hope you enjoyed some sights of Costa Rica.

New phone #

2008-10-19T22:35:00.000-06:00

For anyone who would like to speak to us on the phone, we have a great new gadget. We have a way to talk to you and it's just like a local phone call for anyone in the 559. I don't want to put the number up here but you can email me and I will give it to you... Don't be shy, we'd love to have some short conversations with all of you. For specific info go to: WWW.magicjack.com

It's a great deal to eliminate long distance fees and all you need is high speed internet.

Glad to have been of service!! (Gas Co.)

2008-10-19T22:08:00.000-06:00

Well, as most of you know I worked at So. CA. Gas Co. for the last 8 years (give or take) and I really enjoyed my job. We worked in the streets and basically I dug holes and filled them... Every day. This wasn't a bad thing though. I learned a lot about soil, and compaction, and I found out that no matter where you go there's a whole other world underground. Needless to say that is true here in Costa Rica as well.

The other day on my way back from the meat market, I walked up on a group of people frantically trying to stop traffic and block off a main bus route with caution tape.

As I came closer I found that there was a good reason for the panic. In a 4 way intersection about 3 blocks from our house there was, and still is 3 days later, a huge hole in the street. By huge I mean 5-6 feet in diameter at the top, 15-18 feet deep, with a bottom diameter of 8-10 feet.

If you can see the red thing in the bottom, that's a full sized grocery bag. It's a huge hole. Now due to my experience with digging holes I can tell you exactly what happened, (for all of my gas co friends, the rest of you may get bored with this so I'll put it in italics and you can skip it) They installed a storm drain at 20' and probably filled the hole in the rain, which means, in clay, the moisture was to high and failed to compact correctly. They should have used sand. Over time the water soaked in through the seam at the edge of the patch and washed the loose and wet soil further down the hill leaving a large hole beneath the pavement at the highest point. Over time the pavement began to sag due to 20-30 busses driving over it every day, and it eventually broke exposing the gigantic hole that had most likely been there for months or years just waiting to cause a lot of damage. (it rains a lot so the time could vary widely).

So anyways, the police came and brought a stop sign and some dead trees and a lot of wood to block it off from traffic, and now it sits... Who knows when they'll get around to filling it. There are smaller holes on about every other street that have been there as long as we've been here, so who knows. Costa Rica is definitely a good place to be a mechanic. The roads are horrid and the cars get trashed from all of the pot holes.

Anyways, Thanks Gas Co. for all of the education. I like knowing why things are the way they are, and maybe someday I'll be able to help fix some of these problems. To all of you that hate the moisture meter and powder puff... Don't let this happen to your bell hole. LOL.

Thanks for reading.

Time is flying by

2008-10-10T07:17:00.000-06:00

Wow... It has been over a week since my last blog... sorry. Erin and I were talking the other day and just realized that it's been 7 weeks since we came to Costa Rica. Time sure is going by fast. Our days go by a lot faster here than in the states. I guess cause things take longer. (Refer back to http://thejanzenupdate.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-is-life.html) Right now Judah has been sick for a week. I took him to the doctor yesterday and he has an upper respiratory infection. I have a feeling that Ella has the same thing. It costs $28 to go to the doctor at the school and medicine is relatively cheap. At least there's something that is cheaper... I just wish it was something that we needed more of.

Well I think it's time for another paper update to go out to everyone. If you've been reading here there's probably nothing new in it but I have a feeling most people on our mailing list don't check in regularly. Well thanks for all of you who continue reading regularly.

Soccer, twins, & cheap ice cream

2008-09-28T14:25:00.000-06:00

Saprissa vs. La liga.

They are the two biggest teams in Costa Rica and they played each other last night. I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy possibly the biggest game as my first here in Costa Rica. If you've ever seen the craziness that happens at football games and got scared... Don't go to this game. It was madness!! And it was Awesome!! We had a blast. people from one end of the field threw so many rolls of paper (like out of a cash register) that it covered the goal. when they pushed it back off of the field it was probably 2 feet tall the entire width. Amazing!! We weren't allowed to bring any coins in, apparently because of people throwing them. Every time the ref made a call a sign would go up on the big screen saying Remember, No violence!! It's nuts. I do however feel like I need to know about it and experience it in order to fully understand the culture. One missionary who has been here for 40 yrs or more said, " choose your team soon and stick with them." Implying that it's important in order to be immersed in the culture. It's a good thing I like soccer, cause this aspect will be the easiest to assimilate to.

Well sundays are always a nice day for us. We haven't found a church yet so most sundays are just a relaxing and enjoyable family day. Today I spoke to Jose for a while. His wife had twins yesterday. It is very odd to me but he had to come to work... I spoke with him yesterday and he seemed to be crying, probably just excited to be a dad. Anyways, he works from 7am-5pm, 365 days a year. So while he was at work his family was with his wife in the hospital. She went into labor at 3am and had the first baby at 3pm and the second at 3:15pm on yesterday. They are healthy and their names are Georgia and Georgina. Georgina is his mother-in-laws name and Georgia is the name of the daughter of the family that lived in our house before us. Apparently Ken, the father of the family, made such a huge impact on Jose that Jose wanted to name his daughter after Kens. That is quite an honor. He is very grateful for everyone being so concerned for his family. He said all day today people have been coming up to him, just like I did, saying congrats and asking if everything is alright. He said that when his wife has recovered she wants to come to our house, meet us and show us the babies. He really wanted to take pictures of them so he can show them to Ken via the internet, so I loaned him an extra camera, and hopefully he can take some nice pictures of his daughters to send to his friends and family. I hope the camera comes back, but if not... it's Gods anyway.

So after speaking with Jose we strolled to the park and on to Pequeno Mundo, a Big Lots type store. On the way we decided to splurge and eat out at McDonalds... For those of you who know us well, push your jaw closed. I know... It's very sad that I have to compromise my morality (eating ad McDonalds) to be a missionary. The kids loved it. I think it was like eating back at home... Besides all of the staring at the cute little gringo kids (people stare at us all the time, but it's not an awkward stare, they just think little blonde kids are cute. Everybody from women of all ages to older men to teen aged boys walk by and say, "Que linda" or "Que lindo" which means how pretty.) So we ate our burgers and fries and then Ella and I got 4 ice cream cones... SPLURGE TIME!!! It was awesome though... We spent less than $2 for all of them. Now you have to understand... In the states it would be a good deal, but here it's awesome. A half gallon of ice cream in Costa Rica is over $7!!! So to get a cone for 50cents is awesome. We haven't had much ice cream since we got here (and that's huge for Erin) so now we found a place to get decent ice cream for cheap. Sorry for all of you who think I'm making a big deal out of this, but to us it's pretty sweet to find something that tastes like something from home and is reasonably priced...

Ok well I've rambled enough for today... We love and miss you all.

May Jesus bless you,

Story time with Judah

2008-09-26T19:51:00.000-06:00

As promised... Here is Judah with his favorite book. He's always saying dum dum dum. www.youtube.com/watch?v=axTMgXUOVb4

Jesus Bless you,

Rainy day fun...

2008-09-26T17:28:00.000-06:00

So I ran home from school with the two kids, Knowing that the rain was coming. (Erin has a study period at the end of the day so she comes home early) I stopped for a minute to tell Jose hello and let him know that I remembered his twins would be born tomorrow at 7:00am, when thunder crashed right over our heads. It was so loud that it set off all of the car alarms for a block. I said goodbye and ran because I could hear the storm and the metal roofs about two blocks away. I began to see hail, a first for us here, and yelled through our gate for Erin to help me 'cause I knew we were in for a good storm... Unfortunately I grabbed the camera just after the thunder past us but here is 5 min of the kids playing in the rain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jQ5G0Q9TNY

I'm glad that the rain here is not depressing and the kids can enjoy it without being scared... Thanks for checking in. Also Check back for Judahs story time... Thanks Bentons for the Dr. Seuss books, Judah loves Hand Hand Fingers Thumb. He walks around saying "dum dum dum dum dumdumdum.

New Friends...

2008-09-24T17:26:00.000-06:00

I am very proud of myself for actually maintaining a decent conversation in spanish. I have made my first native friend here in Costa Rica. There is a very nice man who seems to be about my age who guards the street that we live on. His name is Jose and he is from Nicaragua. He has been in Costa Rica for ten years and hasn't seen his mother since he moved here. He works 365 days a year and works 12 hours a day. He will even be working this saturday, the day his wife will give birth to their first children, twins! He told me about his need to go back to see his mom because she is very sick. He also needs to leave the country so he can be legal again and then his daughters can be citizens which will allow he and his wife to be as well. My heart goes out to him and his family. He lives with his father, sister, sister in-law, wife and soon two babies. Their house is smaller than ours and all of them probably make less money than a high school kid working at a pizza place. My immediate reaction is to offer money or help, even though we have been warned not to. Please pray for us as we walk this fine line. We want to help but really we only want to do what God would have us do. We know that we aren't here to fix the world, just to direct people to Jesus. I want to know more about how to do that. I want to understand what people truly need and when I can help their circumstances. Well I guess today it's just a journal of my thoughts. Don't be afraid to think with me and let me know what comes up. I will do my best to get a picture in the next few days and tell you more about my new friend, and hopefully soon, friends.

May Jesus Bless You all,

A few sights.

2008-09-18T18:11:00.000-06:00

Here are some random pictures:

Nice tree flowers. This is a common walking hazard. Don't fall in, they're really deep.

A small part of what we see daily.
A small store. It's actually a house and a store.
A carnecaria, this one is accustomed to gringos so it's expensive.

This is the Catholic church in Desaperados. Desamperados litterally means forgotten or abandoned. This is a shot from just infront of our house.Here's the shot without telephoto. That's my lovely wife on the way to the store with the kids. Notice the bars. Everything has bars. Every house... Window... door... Everything is locked and double locked all the time. If it's not... It's free for the taking. Crazy. I don't think they have this much razor wire in all of the prisons in CA.
Yet another Shot of the road.
Ella has a Hercules beetle, Sorry you cant see it.
Here's a nice plant of some kind...
Thanks for checking it out.

Jesus Bless you,

Costa Rican Independence

2008-09-16T06:38:00.000-06:00

So yesterday was a holiday here in Costa Rica. It's their independence day. We walked down to a school where they began the parade and watched for a while. Basically it's a lot of school children drumming really loud with one general rythm. It's kinda crazy. Families walk with the parade down the street, as if they only care about their son or daughter. I think we were some of the only ones to stand in one spot and watch. For some reason the video wouldn't load on the blog so I posted it on you-tube. Here is the link to the movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUc7KY0G3wE or use the Costa Rica video link on the right side of this page. The video is Parade.

Thanks for reading.

May Jesus Bless Each on of You.

The ride of the day!

2008-09-13T19:42:00.000-06:00

Our washing machine is out of balance. Sometimes it moves about 3 feet to the other wall. It shakes a ton but we found a good use for it. We put the kids on it. It's really technologically advanced, I know. Here's the pictures

Our Stuff is here!!!

2008-09-13T19:25:00.000-06:00

Disaster area!!! Oh goodness, there's not enough room. Our crate came on thursday (thanks Zann) and we have all of our stuff. It's like christmas in september. We get to open all of the boxes that we packed and discover what is in them. When we packed our boxes and sold the rest of our stuff we felt so good. We felt like we had simplified our lives drastically. Well now that it's here it feels a bit overwhelming. We don't have room to store everything. It's crazy. Heres a few pictures from our day.

(above)

This is our friend Nathan. He and his family came to help us unpack. Of course when we started to unpack it started to rain. Isn't that how it always works...

Jeff is an athlete. He's actually jumping up into the crate backwards. (That's my boss;)

And here are two of our teachers:

Elena is my language teacher. She is possibly the sweetest lady I've met. Fransisco is our grammar teacher. He is awesome. I've learned as much in two weeks from him than 2 years of high school.

What is life?

2008-09-09T17:48:00.000-06:00

Some of you are probably wondering what our life is like these days. Well I wish I could say that I am evangelizing the streets of San Jose and impacting students lives through the practical application of the gospel but I can't. Our life will be pretty simple until we finish language school. It is amazing how hard it is to communicate. I thought I was decent at speaking spanish but I am realizing that I can only understand what I initiate.

So here's a taste of life. 5:30am we wake up. 7:05am we walk to school. (see map) It takes about 15 minutes to walk there so there's your scale for the map. We get out of school at 1:00pm and usually walk home in the rain. 1:30pm we put the kids down for a nap and do homework or rest. 3:30-4:00pm we walk to the store/stores. We have a small fridge and the ants eat everything we leave out so we literally go to at least one store every day. Today @ 4:00pm I walked to the supermarket. (one that's not on the map but it's between the panadaria and the carneceria on the main street) From the market I walked to the Carneceria, and the back past the market to the Panadaria, and on to home. I got back at about 5:15pm. That's an hour of walking just cause we don't have storage space.

(note: in Costa Rica it is cheaper to go to the bakery or meat market to get food than to get food at the grocery store. It's the opposite of the states) So we will eat at about 6:15 and then put the kids down between 7:00pm & 8:00pm. Erin and I will finish homework and try to be in bed by 8:30 or 9:00pm. And that's a day in the life of the Janzens.

The moral of the story... Appreciate the luxury of convenience. It is something that we don't have very much of here. I can definitely see why the poor have a really hard time getting ahead. You must pay for convenience & inconvenience takes time. It takes time to make money. It's a catch 22.

God is really increasing my compassion for the poor here. Because of normal life and circumstances they are trapped in their situations with no way to get out. I pray that as you hear this you realize that we don't have the answers like most of us think we do. The problem is not as definable as us "Americans" (Costa Ricans are americans too) like to think it is. Our job is not to fix their lives or even their situation but to care for them as Christ would and lead them to Him. Because, as I say quite often these days, I don't want my circumstances or situation to define who God is. God is God no matter what. He gives joy to the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, the educated and uneducated. We as christians don't need to fix the situations because the situations may be ordained by God Himself. We need to show them who God is and that no matter what their circumstances are God loves and cares for them.

Thanks for reading. Dios le bendiga.

Mailing address!

2008-09-08T21:18:00.000-06:00

If you would like to send paper mail (no boxes please customs could charge us a lot of $$) or address is : Jeremy Janzen

Instituto de lengua espanola

apartado 100-2350

San Jose, Costa Rica

America Central

Also if you haven't received an email from us please send your email address to:JerinJanzen@att.net and we will make sure to put you in our address book. We will still send out paper mail but we don't really know how it will all work yet.

Thanks

miscommunication. We're in His hands!

2008-09-08T21:03:00.000-06:00

Ok. Well I know my ability to convey thoughts isn't the greatest but I thought I was clear enough.Obviously not though. My family wrote and was very sad that we lost our camera to thieves, and a friend was offering to fly down and "regulate" for us. No need. My intent was to tell you that I am smart enough to not take my camera out when things are busy because of the possibility of being mugged. Costa Rica is safe as long as we are smart about things. We don't carry cameras or electronics and if we do they are in grocery bags so nobody knows. We don't let our earphones dangle around our necks because then thieves will know we have ipods. Ect.. Thieves know that as North Americans we have more than they do, or at least access to more than they do, therefore we are, and always will be a prime target for muggers. Don't worry though, San Francisco de dos rios is the safes part of the city if you ask some people. The worst if you ask others, but here's true hope... We are surely undisputedly moving to a more dangerous part of San Jose after language school. So rest assured, we are more safe now than we will be later.HAHA. In reality we can never be more safe. God, ultimately, is responsible for keeping us safe. Therefore, our location, situation, even our actions do not assure safety, we can only truly be safe as we obey The Lords will for our lives. The safes place to be is right where God has us.

Thanks for reading, Dios le bendiga.

Quiet sunday. Muy Tranquilo.

2008-09-07T19:24:00.000-06:00

Well ,we haven't gone to church here yet, the language barrier is a problem. We are looking forward to the day when we can understand enough to maintain relationships and understand sermons in spanish. So for now we just enjoyed our sabbath day rest. The kids and I went to the park across from our house while Erin got herself ready for the day. The kids went down for a nap around 10:30 am and when they woke up around 1:30 we went for a walk. We walked to a store called Pequeno Mundo to look for some containers that would keep the roaches out. We found out that a small plastic drawer (one) was 5,000 colones which is about $10. OUTRAGEOUS!! In the states we can get 3 for $7. And this store is like a Big Lots. It's crazy what people pay for stuff here.

So I don't have any pictures for you today because of the theft problem. Sundays are very busy around town. All of the families go to the parks and fly kites or play games. It's amazing that no one comes out during the week but sundays are crazy. So anyways back to the theft. apparently it is common to be mugged or have your purse/wallet stolen here in San Jose. We have received many warnings from the language school about how these people will rob us "gringos". Students have had three men drive up in front of them and two jump out with guns take your stuff and then speed off. The whole thing is over in 40 seconds. They also drive up behind people and lean out the window and grab bags off of peoples shoulders. Often times the person is dragged for blocks before they fall out of the strap. The other thing that just happened recently is that two men will be on a motorcycle, jump the curb and ride right between two people. The guy n the back will grab at bags and if they don't get it they stop and fight with you to get your purse and wallet. The guy that this happened to snapped and used a sapling to beat the guys off of his wife and they left with nothing. (that's not recommended) Anyways, walking around on a busy day with a camera is not recommended.

One day I will hopefully take a picture of the walking bridge that we took across the freeway. It is a small Golden gate but it's painted blue. It's quite fun to walk across. I didn't think about it until today but we live in San Francisco de dos rios, a southern suburb of San Jose. Thus the reason for the Golden Gate copycat.

Thanks for reading!

God is good!

2008-09-06T22:02:00.000-06:00

So I realize that I will probably not do this again(three posts in a day) but tonight I was realizing that I have seen God in the small things and have not told everyone about it.

In the last weeks of living in Visalia we pushed hard to get all of our home improvement projects done. We finished installing baseboards, cabinet doors, painted, and many other things. During this time I learned two simple, but new, things. 1 I learned that painters caulk is great to fill gaps and makes base boards and trim look much nicer. 2 I learned how to take apart and fix an old style of door knob. Well it was no coincidence.

When we moved into our new home here in Costa Rica, we quickly found out that we had roaches and ants. Not just a few ants either... there are lots, and coming from inside base boards, door jams, behind loose tiles, everywhere. There were so many ants climbing the wall of our bedroom that they left a dark line where they walked. They had built an ant hill in

the base board and climbed the wall through the trim around the ceiling, into the attic, and then back down the other side of the wall. Well guess what... If I hadn't learned just weeks before about painters caulk, I would still have a whole lot of ants. I caulked all of the gaps around the trim and the base boards and got rid of the aunts. The same in the tile, trim, and random holes to nowhere throughout the house.

About two days into our lives here, the bathroom door wouldn't open. The door knob was busted. I really think that I can fix almost anything so normally it isn't a problem. In times of high stress however, I can get quite upset with little tasks. Thankfully God, knowing me and my stress level, had already equipped me with the necessary abilities to take care of it quickly. It was the same old type of door knob I had just learned about. I took it apart and found that whoever installed it did so incorrectly, thus the result of it breaking. I simply fixed it and moved on.

Well all of this long story is to say that God cared enough for me to teach me two little home improvement skills that would help me here. He knows what He's doing. He cares about the little things. It's our job to see how He's cared for us and give Him the glory. It may seem small, but He cared enough to give us what we needed to be a little more comfortable. Glory to God, for He has created all things, and He cares about the smallest of them. He is always good, always faithful, and always God.

Ah the sweet life.

2008-09-06T10:17:00.001-06:00

Here's what it's like to be 19months old on a saturday in Costa Rica.

For the rest of us here's our day so far. Everyone woke up about 5:15ish and then I got lucky and went back to sleep till 7:00am. Now that's lucky. (did you know that ticos (Costa Ricans) bathe their children in cold water at 5:00 AM every morning... Then again before bed at night. They're very clean people) So I got up at 7 made the bed and then made breakfast. I made a potatoe, onion, sausage, and egg scramble thing which we eat with corn tortillas. Breakfast was done by 8:15 and we were off to clean. I cleaned the kitchen and entertained the kids while Erin cleaned the floors and the bathroom. I put the hammocks up and let the kids play until Judah fell asleep. 10:30 am Ella and I are reading books and Judah is still asleep. Erin went with some new friends to a fabric store and to the lady that makes clothes. It might be a good option since clothes are double the price here.

Later we'll probably clean some more, have lunch, read my spanish dictionary, and then we have some friends coming over for pizza around 5:00 pm. Pizza is about $14 for an extra large. (not everything is super expensive... just most) Thanks for reading! Send us an e-mail some time. We'd love to hear what's going on with our friends and family in other parts of the world.

Oh, the sweeter things in life.

2008-09-05T18:18:00.000-06:00

Man, there are definitely perks to being a missionary in Costa Rica. For one... These sweet chairs. You can't even buy things like this in the states.
Most houses here come fully furnished. Whether you buy or rent, like we are, the house has at least the bare minimum. In our case we have more bare than minimum. We received these four lovely chairs today because four of our six "normal" chairs were broken. We are really looking forward to our crate arriving. It is really difficult to cook with no utensils. I flipped pancakes the other morning with a wooden spoon. Later that night we served chicken soup with that same spoon and a coffee cup(1 of 3 total) We have 3 plates, 3 bowls, 7 plastic cups, 4 knives that wont cut butter, and some really old pans (guess how many...3)

So tonight we had pasta with salchichon (sausage, and I don't know where or how to put an accent yet) So here are a few pictures of our dinner. I took the pictures and Ella didn't want hers taken (thus the pics of Judah and Erin)

This week was also the first week of school. It seems to be review for me although I have learned a little. Erin has already been frustrated with it all and would really like prayer for her ability to retain Spanish. Here's a few more pictures from the first week of school... Just cause.

Thanks for reading.

Communication can resume!

2008-09-01T14:05:00.000-06:00

in the airport.

Ella & Judah playing in our yard (yes that's the whole thing)
Wow!! There's way too much to tell you all about. The really big thing is that just a few minutes ago we had our internet and cable hooked up. Yeah!! We have no T.V. yet but that will come soon enough. We are looking forward to watching lots of cartoons in spanish (it's a good way to learn the language)

So we arrived on the 20th of Aug. @ 10:00pm Costa Rica time. We were greeted by our big brother who had arranged for us to be picked up and taken to our new home. We got, in looked around, and then went to sleep. Since then we have unpacked and tried to make this house our home. We moved a bed and bought 2 coffee cups and some glad storage containers for food but other than that we have what we need. (I use need in the real sense, like need... not want.. there's a lot to want) Overall the house is nice. It has plenty of room and is in decent condition. The only real drawbacks are the termites, ants, and roaches. I've been chasing the ants and roaches trying to find out where they come from but to no end. I bought painters caulk and have been caulking every little hole in every room of the house.

The weather is wonderful. It is usually sunny in the morning from 5am until around 2-3

pm when it starts to rain. The first few days it rained about an hour... Now it seems to rain from 2-9pm every day. It's alright though, we bought a large umbrella that keeps our heads dry. (if you're walking in the rain everything else is wet.

here's our front driveway. (everything has bars)

We are officially starting school tomorrow. We have had orientation for the last 4 days and it has been long and boring. I am looking forward to actually learning spanish. So here's a taste of our days. We get up at 5:15 (4:15 in CA) and Erin makes the kids lunches. Ideally this will be when we pray and read the Bible as well, but we haven't gotten that in the morning yet. We get the kids up around 5:45 or 6:00 and get them fed and ready so we can leave for school by 7:05. We have about a 15 min. walk from our house to school so we get there drop off the kids by 7:20 and then our classes start at 7:30.(orientation started at 8:00) We will have 3 classes daily: Grammar, language, phonetics. it works out to about 4 hours a day but then we are supposed to do homework. I don't know how much we'll have but everyone else says it's overwhelming.

So anyways... that's enough for today... I'll write more soon... the afternoon is naps... bible...dinner... and bed by 8:00pm.... there's a lot of details but you can ask about them.... So far we are loving it but we still ask that you would pray for us to learn quickly, and for continued financial provision. We made our one time goal (Thank Jesus) but we are still lacking in monthly support.... God is good all the time.

Thanks for checking in.

We made it to Costa Rica!

2008-08-21T20:54:00.000-06:00

Well we made it!! We spent our first day unpacking our bags and walking around with our big brother and sister from the language school. We have no internet service in our house so I am writing from the Dixons apartment. We will do our best to keep you all informed about our journey. God is always good. He's faithful and He knows what He's doing. More to come soon.

He has a plan!!

2008-08-07T11:00:00.000-06:00

It's coming fast. In less than two weeks we will be in Costa Rica. We are still frantically packing and trying to get ready to leave. I have a half day at work tomorrow and then I am done at the Gas Company possibly forever. At times it seems crazy that God would keep me there so long only to move me. At other times it makes me stand in awe of how He orchestrates our lives. There is no other way that I could have grown in the ways I have these last eight years. I have been shown so much about myself, true ministry, evangelism, and perseverance. I have been truly blessed with this job.

I know that we are in an unsettled transition phase right now. I can feel myself slipping into old habits and patterns of life due to the stress that I'm under. Erin, at times, seems on edge and the kids are pretty cranky and a little irregular in their activity. It is odd feeling so rushed and so stressed but knowing that God is conducting the choir of our lives right now. When I stop to think I keep going back to His great faithfulness and goodness. He knows what He's doing. He knows how we feel and how we'll react. It's so comforting to know that no matter how fast the world spins around us, He is never moved or changed by it. He has a plan!!

God is in control!!

2008-07-25T19:47:00.000-06:00

Here's a taste of our lives right now. We're scrambling like crazy to get things done.We need to move out of our house by august 1st so we can find renters. In the last 3 days I've put base boards in, put drywall and shelves in an unfinished closet, rebuilt a gate that had fallen apart, and started work on our patio cover. It doesn't sound like much but I've been running myself ragged. We also designed new support cards, made a powerpoint presentation, fixed my truck, spoke at a youth group, had my birthday party, posted adds on Craigs list, and got ready for a huge yard sale... all while taking care of two kids.

Now all we have to do is: pack, finish roofing the patio cover, paint the patio cover, stake some trees up, prune some other trees, finish installing the edging in the back yard, find a rental agency, paint the entire house, stain the cabinet doors and install them, finish a brick walkway, speak at a church this sunday, caulk the crown moulding and base boards, sell what doesn't sell at the yard sale, move into my parents house and still take care of our two kids.

I hope you are all encouraged to move out of the country. Or just move quickly. It's odd though, with all of this going on, and there's even more I'm sure, we aren't stressed. For some reason I know that even though our list is huge and our time is short God has a plan. Really He could make the days longer, or the sun reverse direction in the sky. He will get it done, or help us get it done, on time. There's no question that we're in His will therefore there's no stress or worry. After all, Matt 6:34 says,"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Isn't it great to know that God is in control!?!

Settling in- Getting ready to go.

2008-07-20T16:42:00.000-06:00

Wow... We had a long trip home. 22 hrs in the car with two kids. You can imagine. Actually it wasn't that bad, the kids did great and it seemed the farther we got from Colorado the more they became normal again. At least Judah. He's happy and bubbly, loud, and he slept all through the night last night. It was hard on him being away from both Erin and I all day. He was attention deprived, so it's good for him to be home in the routine again.

So we're home for the moment but by the 1st of August we intend to be done packing, fixing our house and moved in with my parents till we leave. WOW!! CRAZY!! Be praying for us. We both have seen the value of the sabbath and have wanted to make it a priority in our lives but with so much to do we could feel like it's impossible to set that time aside. Pray also for our continued fundraising. We have enough to scrape by and will be leaving no matter what but we still need to have more $$ to be residents and to be able to afford, maintain, and insure a car.

To all of our brothers and sisters from MTI we love you and miss you. I was just telling Erin that I just want to sit and talk with you all. I feel all sappy like a girl but I think I am taking this harder than I should. I truly miss all of you.

don't hide from love.. or the pain it brings

2008-07-17T22:44:00.000-06:00

Three weeks has come and gone... We have had a great time. We came for the training and Got more than we expected. We are still amazed at the depth that we were taken to, the way it was incredibly revealing, and the confirmation that God has given us. However, I have been taken off guard. I did not realize the depth of relationship that can be built in just three weeks.

I have never felt this... This feeling of love and pain so interwoven in the depths of my heart. Then again I have never had to leave anyone I love. These people... the ones that I have come to love... I may never see them again. It's as though we are all going off to war and know that very few of us will ever return. We are all carrying the gospel of Christ, our Lord, to the ends of the earth, bound together by a common purpose... torn apart by distance and time. All of us are preparing to enter the unknown... preparing to exit all that we have known. We share a bond that others don't understand... and a love they wish they had.

I truly have loved... and loved well. One of our trainers said "I hope it hurts a lot to say goodbye. That means you have loved... and loved well." I would not trade this pain... I would do it all over again... I was loved and am loosing love in a way I never have before. I know that as we return home for a few more weeks we will be saying our goodbyes to our families and friends. The pain is something that I hate but cannot do without... I cannot leave without bearing my heart and letting my love flow out. I will see my friends and family again. I have a hope for the future with them. We can maintain a elastic friendship that will stretch over time and distance but eventually spring back. Though I never want to let these bonds break with my friends here at MTI, I know we are all plowing different fields. My love will never stop for these people. My heart will always long to see them again... but for now... I will just let the pain sit... I will not hide from love.. nor will I hide from the pain it brings... They will know us by how we love one another.

We're here!!

2008-07-01T14:51:00.000-06:00

Well, we took three full days to get to Colorado, and wow, it was a beautiful drive. We took it really slow and stopped at some museums and drove through Colorado monument state park..It was beautiful. The kids did great, thanks for all of the prayers, however Judah has developed a fever and is quarantined in our room until it clears up. That means one of us has to sit out of the class to stay with him. Erin and I switch off watching him and we listen to what's going on through a baby monitor. Over all things are great. It is always good to be able to hear from people who are experiencing the same things as we are. We have already been blessed by just the overview of the program and are looking forward to learning about ourselves and how God views us.

I hope you can enjoy some of our pictures. Please continue to pray for our support... Even though we are going in August, we are still in need of quite a bit of monthly and one time support.

May Jesus Bless You All,

Jeremy

And we're off!!!

2008-06-26T23:17:00.000-06:00

It's thursday night, we've been going non-stop for quite a while now but it's gonna slow down soon. Tomorrow I go to work while Erin packs the suitcases and the car... Our great friends, Chey (shy) and Bugs, are watching the kids for a while... when I get off at 3:30 I will rush home to find my family strapped in the car, already singing songs, and we will be out of the driveway by 4:00!!

Ok maybe not, but Erin is packing, the kids are being watched and we are leaving as soon as we can after I get off work. hopefully by 4:00. We're going to Colorado to MTI (missionary Training International) where we will be until July 20th. We are praying that it is a relaxing trip and that God will refresh and prepare us for our departure to Costa Rica in august. It's all but official... I mean... it's official we just haven't booked our plane tickets yet. But that's in the works.

GOD IS GOOD. I never want to be caught asking "if God will" again. I only want to ask When and How will He do it? He has set it up so that we can fully depend on him. He designed it to be that way. To say If God will, when talking about His provision, must be out of a wrong perspective. He will always provide.... Maybe not how or when we want but He will always do it. He is continually showing us that. Oh God forgive us of our unbelief... Anyways.... these are the ramblings of a man who is falling deeper and deeper in love with the most high God who has loved me longer than I could ever comprehend.

So we're off... We'll be back for a month... God is good.... That's the summary. More to come soon!!!

May Jesus bless each of you,

Jeremy

A decision has been made!

2008-06-17T18:40:00.000-06:00

Well it has been a difficult road for us. This fundraising adventure we took on has been full of ups and downs, and ultimately, stays and goes. We have finally come to a decision though. We are going. Although it's still not 100%, I would say its close to 80% sure. We have decided that we are going to leave the USA on a partial budget. We are currently at about $2,000 a month if everyone who has told us they will give begins in August. That means we are about $1,600 short monthly. However... We Have been informed that some other missionaries in Costa Rica are living on far less than $3,600 monthly. We have again looked at our budget and it is indeed what we need if we are seeking legal residency. So basically we will need to continue fundraising until we get to our goal. The new development that I want to tell you all about is this... While we are in language school we will be on student visas... That allows us to be there without the government required budget. So if we can get to between $2,200 & $2,500 we will go in august!!! I am very confident that we can reach our goal and leave as we first intended!! This development has created a lot of excitement in our house and we have begun selling and packing all of our belongings. Please pray with us that this last little bit will come in soon and that God will continue to prepare us to leave and start a new life in Costa Rica. If you want to be a part of what God is doing in our lives and through us in Costa Rica, go to WWW.Stint.com and click on the DONATE tab. I recommend that all of our supporters look at the EFT option. (Electronic Funds Transfer) This is an easy way to ensure that you are always a part of what's going on.

Thanks for reading and Jesus Bless You,

Jeremy

DVD info

2008-05-21T17:53:00.000-06:00

Hello all! We have sent out the first of the DVDs in the past few weeks and I am hoping that we are getting new visitors to our blog. For all of you new folks....Welcome!! Some other important places to visit would be Myspace and Stint.com. We aren't on stint yet but they are supposedly re- doing the site and we will be on the new one. For anyone that wants specific info, comment on a blog or email me @ jerinjanzen@att.net.

May Jesus Bless You All,

Jeremy

It's been a while...

2008-05-09T11:24:00.000-06:00

It has been a while since we updated you all. I was in a minor motorcycle accident last friday and have been nursing my road rash for the last week. It wasn't too bad, I was up one moment and down sliding the next. All things considered I came out pretty well.

So we are still in the middle of our fundraising to go to Costa Rica and we've reached 35%. we still have quite a ways to go but God will be faithful. The other night I was talking to Erin and was overwhelmed with the fact that I really want to go in august. I know that things would be easier if we waited but I get a sense that God wants us to go in august as well.

I have been preparing a DVD to send out to churches and friends that may help us in our fundraising process. We are looking to have opportunities to speak to churches and share our needs, so if you think your church would be willing to have us check out this video. If it interests you and you think your mission board or pastor would be willing to have us send me an E-mail and I'll give you more details.

Jesus Bless You,

Jeremy

March letter to you all!!!

2008-03-25T19:38:00.000-06:00

Here is a text only version of our letter for those of you who couldn't get it from the e-mail.

Page1

Janzen Update

December- February 2008

Ready to do whatever God wants us to do!

Before Anything Else

Since our letter went out in late December we have had great responses from you all. We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You are all very special to us. Your support has been a great confirmation of what God has called us to do in this season. We are privileged to have such a great Base of friends.

Christmas at a glance

Our family spent the holidays in Visalia and Hanford with close family. We enjoyed each other very much and especially watching all the kids. This was Judah’s 1st Christmas, so he thoroughly enjoyed the boxes and paper! In all the busyness of the season we were able to reflect on the faithfulness of God to our family and not taking for granted the time we have left before we leave.

Judah Turned One February 13th!!

Our son, Judah, turned one on February 13th. We have so enjoyed watching him grow, learn, and be “all boy.” His first year has gone by quickly and we try desperately to keep up with how he is changing and growing. Where does the time go? We always hear that and it is absolutely the truth. To remember where the time went, Erin made a video of Judah’s first year to show friends and family. You may view it on our blog listed at the bottom of the page. Sometimes we have to just sit and savor the preciousness of this age and innocence. Although we’d be lying if we didn’t say that as Judah has turned the corner of the “Big One,” he’s definitely begun to strongly express his opinion about life. We daily are dependent on God’s wisdom and grace to raise our kids as He desires. It is a job we wouldn’t trade for the world, but it’s something we cannot do alone.

We Are almost 25% of the Way!!!

Since our last letter in December we have had a GREAT response. We are building a strong base of prayer supporters and our financial supporters are truly a blessing. As most of you know, we have two separate accounts that we are funding. One is for pre-field expenses such as: language school, M.T.I. (Missionary Training International), our moving expenses, and possibly a car when we get to Costa Rica. The other is for our monthly expenses when we are there. For example, rent, utilities, food, etc. We need to have $20,000-$25,000 in our pre-field account and $3,600 monthly. Those who are supporting us monthly right now are helping us to build our pre-field account and will continue to help us as long as they are able. Currently we are close to 25% in our pre-field account and people have “pledged” to give monthly about 25% of what we need.

We Need Your Help

God has brought some great opportunities to raise some more support outside our small church. Erin and I both attended Master’s Commission in 2001-2003. I just learned that I am only one class away from receiving my license through the Assembly Of God (AOG) denomination. This could be a great source of support because the AOG is very supportive of missionaries. I also have developed a great friendship with some of the pastoral staff of Tulare Bethel AOG. They are a great blessing to us and have already begun their support. Although we have some great opportunities to raise money through some great sources we still need you! We need you to pray, give, and help! We need people who would like to help us raise support both pre-field and monthly. One way that you could do that is to hold a dessert or dinner for us and invite your friends who might like to help us financially . It’s one way to get outside of our circle of friends and let others help as well. I am becoming more and more convinced that as we give God will pour out on us in return. All of us can’t leave to spread the gospel but we can support those that do. When we support those that go, and as you support us, I know that some of the blessing He will give to us He will also give to you.

May Jesus bless you abundantly,

Jeremy, Erin, Ella, and Judah

To Give: Send Checks to SI -PO Box 2733 Visalia, CA 93279 (Ph)559-627-8923 or Students@stint.com

make all checks payable to SI or Students International

Weekend at the Beach

2008-02-29T15:56:00.001-06:00

The kid's, Jeremy, and I went over to Morro Bay on Friday the 22nd. The weather was predicting rain, rain, and more of the same! I questioned going, but realized, do my kids care? No! They just want to be at the beach. So on Friday I decided, packed too much stuff, and we left that evening. Being the smart mom I am, I let Judah take a nice long nap just before we left. I guess I didn't think that through too well. He was ready to play and let loose until we strapped him in that car seat for a "not so fun" car ride to the beach. Yep, he's a screamer all right. At least all the way to Kettlemen! I remember thinking when Ella was a baby, "Where are the earplugs when I need them, and are they illegal to wear while I drive?" They would've come in handy at times... many times. So we are telling ourselves we are preparing for our trip to Colorado in June. Jeremy says we just need to take Judah on some more short road trips before then to get him ready. I say no sleeping for a week and then maybe he'll just crash out the many hours it takes to get there! All that aside, we had a fun time at the coast. Jeremy's family has a place at Morro Dunes park for a month so all the family rotates on who goes when. Jeremy was there from Fri. - Sun. night and left with his dad. I stayed until Tues. morning with the kids and took our mom home too. The rain was off and on so when we had the chance we took the kids out to look for rocks and play in the sand. Ella loves the water and pretty much anything to do with the beach. She had a great time. This was Judah's second time and he liked crawling in the sand, eating the sand, and watching the waves while riding in the stroller. On Sunday we drove around to some different beaches and there was no beach! The surf had come up so high, and the sea was so rough that there were severe weather warnings about going in the water. People that lived there said this was a once in ten years phenomenon. It was pretty crazy. Jeremy, Ella, Doug, and Debbie were walking on a beach and at one point in a matter of seconds had to run up a hill to where the highway was just to get away from a wave that flooded the place they had just been. A surfer came running because he saw the wave come and thought they were gone with it. He's was ready to jump in the water after them!

Monday was a beautiful day and we got to spend a lot of time on the beach just playing and having fun. It ended up being a nice little get away. We'll see if we can make it again before their month is through there.

Why we Know...

2008-02-09T17:40:00.000-06:00

Well I said that I would let you in on why we know God has directed us to go to Costa Rica. Well, if you didn't read our first posting on the blog you can check that out for how God changed Erins' heart about it. That in itself was a huge event. Other than that our whole life has led up to leaving. For me it started when I was about six. I began collecting change and sending it to a missionary in Costa Rica as often as a young kid could. I guess you could say I have been sowing into the country for a long time. Erin and I have been married for almost seven years. In that time the only thing we have purchased besides our home was a kitchen table and a computer desk. It has been very odd that everything we have has been given to us. Erin has asked several times to buy furniture but we never felt like we could afford it so we never did. So really, we have nothing to leave behind. Erin has always said that she knows she'd move away but never known where to.

Another huge sign has been my job situation. I have always felt drawn to ministry. I was a youth pastor for a short time and have looked into other types of ministry opportunities but nothing ever felt right. I always felt like there was something else. Currently I work for So. CA. Gas Co. and I love certain aspects of the job but still I feel like there is something more for me. S.I. provides an outlet for ministry as well as utilizes my strengths in construction. for the first time this opportunity seems like it could fit. There is more that God continues to show us in this process. It is very encouraging when we are questioning if we made the right decision and He shows us another thing He's done to prepare us.

Thanks again for reading!

Jesus Bless You,

Jeremy

2008-02-09T15:07:00.000-06:00

Judah will be one on Feb 13th. Happy Birthday Judah!!

25% yippeeee!!!

2008-02-07T20:45:00.000-06:00

Well hello All! I hope you are all doing well! We are all very well and seem to have missed the sickness that's been floating around, lucky us. We are busy, as always, but enjoying the season God has us in now. We're in our birthday season for the next few months. My nephew, sister, and Judah all have birthdays in February. My niece and a close cousin are late March. Ella and another cousin are early April, and my sister, Jennifer is expecting her 3rd beginning of May. Then on to our anniversary, which is on Mother's Day, and Erin's birthday at the end of the month. It's a lot of parties let me tell you!

Well, we are still in the process of raising funds to go to Costa Rica but as I was running some numbers this evening I saw to my amazement that we are already 18% of the way. Even better is that if everyone who has told us they will give monthly does we will be over 25%!!! That's exciting. This however brings up a good question that some have expressed. Some have wondered if we are for sure going and what would happen to their moneys they have given if we don't go. Well, short of a death or invasion or God audibly speaking, we are intending to go as soon as possible. The only hitch is fund raising. If we aren't fully funded by May or June we will have to push our departure time back to January of '09. If we aren't funded by then it'll be pushed back until May '09. past that I can't say because I really believe that God will get us there by then. Our hope however is still to leave in August of '08. We are attending MTI (Missionary Training Institute) in June one way or another so we will be prepared to leave as soon as possible after that. As far as what would happen to the moneys if we didn't go, as unlikely as it is, all moneys I believe will stay with SI to fund the ministry they are a part of around the world. That is still a good enough cause for me but don't worry, we are going.... as soon as possible ';)

Another question that has been asked is, "Why give now if we aren't even leaving yet?" We actually have two accounts with SI. Account 1 is for our monthly living when we are living in Costa Rica, that one isn't being filled yet. The other (account 2) is building funds now in order to pay for our moving expenses, language school when we get there, to get legal documents for living there, and anything else to "Get Us There". In other words, it's a one time expense. All contributions we receive now, monthly and one time, goes into this account until we are actually living in country. In order to leave we must have enough pledged monthly to live on(account 1) as well as enough to get us there(account 2).

Through all of this I am at times worried but then I remember... this wasn't really our idea. God has called us to go and He will be faithful to get us there. Actually.... I think I will write another blog right after this one to tell why we know it is God directing us. Anyways, I know deep down that we are called to go and it is a great peace to us to know we are in God's will for us right now. He will do everything in His timing and we can rest in that. Like I said, at times the enemy tries to take that assurance from me, but I know the truth and I can always fall back on that.

Again I thank you all for taking time out of your day to read about our lives. It means so much to know you all support us. If you would like to support us in any way you can send all donations to Students International P.O. Box 2733 Visalia, Ca 93279. make checks payable to Students International and to make sure they get to us Write "Janzen" in the memo. Also if possible send a note to let us know if you are committing to monthly support us or if it's a one time gift. All contributions are tax deductible and very appreciated. Remember, you are all a part of God's work, find your place and thrive in it. If it's giving give. If it's going go. Thanks a lot and Jesus Bless You All,

Jeremy Janzen

2008 will be great

2008-01-10T23:24:00.000-06:00

Cheesy title I know but I am serious. We had a great Christmas and New Year with our families and hope that you all had as delightful of a time as we did. We also had the pleasure of going on a cruise with my dads office this last weekend. The best part was it was free. Coming in at a close second was the great food and third was that Erin won a 4g ipod nano in the arcade. We ran into some rough waters on Sunday and I got sick with sinus infections but it was all worth it. It was also our first time leaving both of the kids with Erin's parents. It was a good break for us, and the kids had a great time.

This last wednesday I had the awesome opportunity of leading worship for the youth group at Tulare Bethel Assembly of God. I will be leading worship there until we leave for Costa Rica, Lord willing in August. While I am there it will be my intent to raise up a new worship team from among the youth so that when I leave they will not need a "leader". We will also be a face to a mission. They will be monthly supporting us as we leave for Costa Rica. The hope is that it will excite them for missions and giving, and give them a better understanding of how our giving of money can effect the world . Anyways, I am very excited for what God is doing this year already.

I was speaking to a friend this last week and discussing all that has happened in '07. It seems like things have been shaken, marriages, jobs, and our own lives have felt all shaken up. I have been thinking that it is all just like the Bible says it will be "all that can be shaken will be shaken". God has been testing us all. He may not be done but it may be over. We may be on the edge of a great out-pouring of the Holy Spirit or it may just be more of what only God knows. Either way, this year I will be ready. I am very excited that we are moving closer to what I feel God is calling us to. I am also excited for this year and I hope you are all getting glimpses of what God is doing.

Thanks for checking in and Jesus Bless you,

Jeremy

letter page 1

2007-12-22T12:43:00.000-06:00

Sorry it wouldn't work

2007-12-22T12:33:00.001-06:00