. . His plans, not ours . . . .

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Okay chicos, We have a request to ask of you.

Many of you know we have been asking for prayer for our visas to arrive in time for us to make our planned trip to Mexico. And they did - or at least the paperwork - yesterday! However, there is a slight hitch and this is why we are asking for prayer. We received the paperwork we needed in order to go to the Mexican embassy here in Costa Rica and receive our FM3's. Travis was looking over our paperwork and noticed the one very important thing that was incorrect -
the visa paperwork was supposed to say: . . . this is a contract between the embassy's in Mexico City, Mexico and San Jose, Costa Rica. . . ." but instead they said: ". . . this is a contract between Mexico City, Mexico and SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA. . . . !!!!!!!" AAHHHHHHHHHH

Dear amigos, please pray for us as we figure out what needs to be done to resolve this situation. We are praying for an arrival date in Mexico City of August 15th at the latest. We know God holds the ultimate plan but Mexico City has been on our hearts for almost a year now and Mexico City is where we want to be.

Dios los bendiga,

Travis y Daniella

. . . Amazing Creator . . .

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

Isaiah 40:28

This weekend, Travis and I had the opportunity to take some time to relax before we began our trip to Mexico. We visted a wildlife park and were able to see several beautiful waterfalls and animals. My favorite part of the trip was the butterfly exhibit.

Whenever we were in the butterfly exhibit, I couldn't stop thinking about how these beautiful little creatures and their life cycle compares to our own lives as Christians.

When a butterfly is first created, it is nothing more than a plain old caterpillar. After an amount of time, the caterpillar sheds its skin and transforms into a beautiful butterfly. Our lives before Christ were very plain - not just plain - almost ugly. We lived life, we did as we could and we inched our way through little by little. With Christ, we undergo a complete transformation. Everything about our old life has passed away and we become beautiful and new creatures in Christ.

Another exhibit that I just loved was this adorable little baby sloth that I affectionately named "Sammy." He was SO cute climbing all over his little cage - I was so sad he had to be in there. I tried to talk Travis into letting us take him home but I didn't succeed!

Travis and I "oooooeed" and "awwwweddd" over the beautiful colors of the different animals and the amazing beauty of the trees and waterfalls.

We couldn't stop talking about what an amazing God we have who created all this that we are able to enjoy.

. . . downhill slide . . . .

Well friends, we are on the downward slide towards the end of our language study here in Costa Rica. We have had a busy past couple of weeks.

Two weekends ago, Travis went on a paseo with the men's group from our church. They hiked through a cloud forest to see an inactive volcano. He made some new hispanic friends and had a great time in fellowship with them.

That same weekend, some of the girls got together for a surprise birthday party for a very special lady. Her name is Mrs. Connie and she turned 63 last week. God has blessed us with a relationship with her and her husband Andy. They have been here with us the entire time in language school and in a few weeks are headed to Chile. They have been like second parents to us since we have been here and we call them some of our heroes. We were so happy to be able to celebrate her special day. If you think about them, please pray for them this week as they are preparing to leave for Chile.

Travis and I have also been busy lately with our Bible Studies and various IMB meetings and activities. The countdown until we leave is down to less than a month. Please continue to pray for us to finish strong in our language studies as we are slowly but surely getting "over" school.

Chao chicos!

Travis y Daniella

The little adventures

I was sitting in the den of our apartment while Danielle prepared supper. I smelled a little smoke and looked up to se that the entire kitchen behind Danielle was covered in smoke. I could see smoke billowing from the stove. I told Danielle and she turned and saw the problem. You see, our stove has little to no markings on the nobs or anything. No temperature markings, and not clear markings to distinguish between wich nob does what. Danielle had accidentally turned on the wrong burner and in doing so melted a plastic cooking spoon. The whole apartment filled with smoke. It was really quite funny. And If you are wondering about the horrible sound of the smoke detector, there aren't any, anywhere. Anyway, just wanted to share a little story of life in Costa Rica. In just a few short weeks we will be sending storied about life in Mexico.

. . . oh the small victories. . .

Today I went to the doctor - and the visit was completely in Spanish. However, I did what I had to do and switched my brain to Spanish. She talked. I understood. I talked. She understood. No stress. No confusion. No language barrier induced panic attacks. I left with a smile. I was proud.

. . . I am pretty sure the way I felt when I left the doctor's office today was much better than any chocolate or coffee induced euphoria I have ever encountered . . .

. . . oh yes, I did just say that . . . . .

The opportunities we have...

But the one who recieved the seed that fell on the good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Mathew 13:23

As many of you might know, on Mondays I go with a group of guys to The House of Restoration. It is a halfway house for guys with addictions. I have been going there almost every Monday since the middle of April. The first few weeks I met a guy named Andres. I started to talk to him about my homework. Every week I tried to build a relationship with him. We really started to become friends. He told me that he wanted to practice his english with me and I could practice spanish with him. Well anyway, time went by and we talked about more serious , personal stuff. Well, last week after the session he stayed sitting in the back of the room when everyone else left. I walked back to talk to him and he asked about my homework. We started to talk like we normally do. But last Monday on the way there I prayed that God would give me the opportunity to talk to him about th gospel. We share it with them in the sessions but I wanted to talk to him personally. Anyway, as we talked about other things the conversation changed. He told me that he had been baptised a few weeks earlier. I asked him to tell me what that meant because I wanted to understand what he believed. After talking he explained that he wanted a relationship with Christ and the he made a commitment to God. He also told me that it had been three months since he did any drugs. I was so excited. We talked more and he started to ask me alot of questions about demons, and the end times, even about what happened to people that didn't get to hear the gospel. We ended up talking for hour and a half, me in spanish and him in english. It was a really great experiance. I was so greatful that he had made the commitment. I was excited because even though I hadn't lead him to Christ I was able to help him to grow by sharing what little knowledge I have. I left last week so excited.

Well today I went to the "house" as normal. When I got there I didn't see Andres. So after it was over I asked one of the guys where he was. He said that last Friday Andre left and that we wasn't coming back. I never understood exactly why he left but just that he left. I was a little sad that I didn't get to see him again, when I left last week I told him to write down anymore questions that he had and we would talk about them again. But he was gone. As I walked home I thought about the fact that when I talked to him last week that I had no idea that it would be our last time together. I was so greatful that God gave me the opportunity to hopefully build on what he already knew. I was greatful to God for the opportunities that he gives us and how we don't know the importance of them. I don't know if my conversation yielded anything. I pray that I was able to clarify some things for him and give him a security in his new faith. I pray that the words that I shared will be helpful to him and that they can find someone else to talk to about such things.

. . . a love that we cannot comprehend . . .

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8: 38 - 39

This Thursday, I was able to share with the ladies Bible Study I help with at the "House of Restoration". I think I have mentioned this before but these ladies are all in this "House" because of some former addiction such as drugs or alcohol. We were talking about abundant life in Christ and how Christ forgives us of all our sins and there is no condemnation in Christ when we are in Him. I was so happy that the ladies had some questions and comments to make during the study. One lady, who recently became a Christian, gave an example of two sins and kept asking me which one was worse. I told her they were both the same and then she had several other examples and she kept asking me several more times: "But if I were to do 'this or this other thing' which would be the worst?" I kept telling her it was all the same and tried to use myself as an example. Another lady that helps with the Bible study reminded us that for some sins there might be greater consequences than others but that God looks at all sin the same regardless. I think this sweet lady really understood that all sin is the same in the eyes of God but she wanted confirmation from someone else. I could almost see the relief in her eyes when I think we finally convinced her that all sin is the same. I imagine it is possible that when she looks at herself, she sees her past with what I think includes prostitution, drug and alcohol addiction, and perhaps robbery. But, I know that when Jesus looks at her He doesn't see anything but a slate wiped completely clean. I want so badly for these ladies whom have recently come to Christ to be free from the self condemnation of their sin.

During the study we were looking at John 17:5 and discussing about how God gives us protection from the devil when we are His children. One lady spoke up and told the group that God protects us more if we don't sin. I had to gently tell her that no that was not true that God is always with us even when we sin -Nothing can separate us from His love and nothing can snatch us from the palm of His hand.

God absolutely broke my heart that day just through seeing the confusion about forgiveness and God's love that these ladies feel. I imagine some of them have never had a real father figure in their life and it might be difficult for them to comprehend this loving almighty God. I often forget that God has blessed me tremendously in my life in that I grew up in a loving Christian home in church and have always know about the things of God. The small things I have taken for granted because I have just "always known about them" these ladies may not be able to comprehend like God's self sacrificing love that doesn't remember our wrongs.

No one came to Christ that day through my lesson but it was such a blessing to my heart. It touched me so deeply to hear the ladies asking questions about sin and God. I pray that somewhere within our lesson, a seed was planted. I want these ladies to know that they are worth Christ's love and they are worth His death and nothing they have done or will do can ever take that away from them.

. . . 'nothing' will be able to separate us from the love of God . . .

. . . Fourth of July Party . . .

Even though we are living in another country, we felt like we couldn't let the day go by without having some sort of celebration of our day of independance.

So, we had our very own cookout in the local park . It was a fun time filled with good food, fellowship, prayer time thanking God for our country and praying for our leaders, and lots of play time.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

. . . the time has come . . .

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven . . . . " Ecclesiasties 3:1

Wow! We can hardly believe how busy these past few weeks have been! Our time has been spent going to school, practicing our Spanish with language helpers and people on the street, helping with the House of Restoration Bible studies ( Travis led one completely in Spanish for his first time a couple of weeks ago!), and enjoying time with my parents and youngest brother.

It is so hard for us to believe that we are about to complete almost 8 months in Costa Rica and that the time will come in 6 weeks and we will be headed to our home in Mexico City. We are so excited to be headed to the city where we feel God has called us.

We cannot tell you each how much your prayers and words of encouragement have been to us over the past 6 months. We ask that you continue to pray for us in the following ways:

- Please pray for us to have patience and flexibility as we wait for our visas and experience more changes to our previously made out plans

- Pray that we would have wisdom and peace as we pack our belongings yet another time and as we seek God's will in medical care and treatment for Danielle

- Pray for us to have joy as we prepare to say goodbye yet another time to beloved friends whom we have come to care for as family

- Pray that God would send out groups to work with us in Mexico City. We still have many open weeks next year that we need to fill.

- Pray that God would help us build relationships with nationals in our new city and that he would give us multitudes of opportunities to minister to His children.

We praise God our Father for each one of you . . .

Dios les bendiga!

Travis ( Trah - bis ) y Daniella ( Dahn - yel - ah)