. . . 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)

Week of Blessings . . . .

Thank you so much for all of you who prayed for me this past Thursday as I led my first Bible Study completely in Spanish. I don't think I have talked about this on the blog before but each Monday Travis goes to a halfway house for men with drug and alcohol addictions and helps with a Bible Study there and every Thursday I go to a halfway house for women with the same addictions and help with a Bible Study. This Thursday was my first day to lead the Bible Study all by myself!

Obviously, the Lord wanted to work on Thursday because Satan tried so hard to attack all the ladies who lead the Bible Study. Right before the time to meet for the Bible Study, it began to pour buckets of rain. All of us ladies had to each walk about 10 or 15 minutes to the bus stop which made it difficult for us to want to leave the house. I was in tears right before just because I was tired and so discouraged after already having a very long week and not sleeping well for several nights before. Also, two of the ladies were approached by an armed robber on their way to meet the rest of us. Thankfully, the ladies only had bus money and so the robber ran away but they were still very discouraged and shaken. However, they did not let this deter them from the Lord's work and still came to the study. I spent time telling the ladies about Jesus from the book of John. We talked about how Jesus is God's son, the savior of the world and the only way to eternal life. I believe that the ladies understood what I was saying and I understood what they were saying. Hopefully, seeds were planted in some of their hearts to know more about Christ.

We praise the Lord this week that he is giving us more and more opportunities to practice our Spanish and tell others about Him. A couple Sundays ago, a lady passed me a note in church to ask if I would be interested in helping her with her English and in exchange she would help me with my Spanish. Praise the Lord - I had been praying to God and asking for a language helper and he provided! I was able to meet with this sweet lady last week and we had a wonderful time together!

Also, we were able to meet a couple that has been living here in Costa Rica for the past several months while the husband attended graduate school at the University of Costa Rica but they are originally from Mexico City. We were able to have them over to our home this weekend to play games and eat lunch and we had a wonderful time. They are moving back to Mexico City next week. We are so excited because we have our first friends in Mexico City and we haven't even been there yet!

Please pray for us as we continue to study Spanish and as we are counting down the days until we arrive in Mexico City! Only 8 weeks left and counting ! ! ! !

Dios los bendiga!

Travis y Daniela

Story of the week . . .

Travis has a new favorite story of the week and so I thought I would share it with you . . .

Saturday morning, we awoke and when we got ready to take showers realized that the water "se fue." We had plans to go downtown for the day but with no water, we didn't want to go out stinky. So, we hung around the house for a while and just relaxed. That evening, we had plans to go to dinner with friends. Our friends had already found a babysitter for their son and we were so excited about getting to spend some time with them but as it was getting closer and closer to time for us to go out we still had no water and there seemed to be no evidence of it coming back any time soon. We wanted to go but didn't want to go smelly so I decided to take a "bucket shower" in our bathroom. We have a five gallon jug that we use for drinking water. So, I had Travis repeatedly fill up a pitcher so I could pour ice cold water over me as I lathered and rinsed. After taking my ice cold "bucket shower," I was happy to be clean and began to finish preparations to go out and to be the "water runner" for Travis as he took his "shower." A few minutes later, I heard what sounded like running water next door. I ran to the faucet and there was water! Right after I had finished my "shower" and was beginning to blow dry my hair. Since the incident, Travis has said over and over: "Remember that time you took a shower with the bucket and then the water came on? I like that story . . . . "

Prayer requests for the week:

- Danielle is leading her first ever Bible study ( to hispanics ) in Spanish on Thursday. Please pray that God would give her the words to say.

- That our visas come in right on time so we can head to Mexico!

- Travis and his Monday Bible Study

- Continuous growth in language study

Vamos Gringos!

Last night, we had the priviledge of attending the U.S. vs. Costa Rica World Cup Qualifying game with several Gringo and Tico friends. We had a wonderful time!

Even though we lost ( badly - Costa Rica:3 ; US:1), we still enjoyed our time with the chanting and screaming Costa Rica fans. It was so fun to see our normally very composed teachers from school shouting, screaming, and jumping up and down each time Costa Rica scored. Costa Ricans are proud to support their country and they love "futbol!" It was really neat to see the way so many came out to support their team.

We are proud of our team also - even though they did not do as well as we might have liked this go around, they are still doing well in the World Cup standings. One of the most awesome experiences was to be able to sing our national anthem with other "Estadounidenses" . It was neat to see the respect. Even though during the game we were "enemies," during the anthems there was a respectful silence from the crowd. Although we were just a small group of gringos we sang as loud as we could. It is strange the small things that you miss when you live away from "home."

I feel like this post cannot possibly give justice to the very nature of the game . . . the stands were packed out - picture everyone ( and I do mean everyone ) around you dressed in red and blue ( Costa Rica's colors) with flags, noisemakers, balloons, and homemade signs; singing, chanting, and doing the wave all in unison. The crowd jumped up and down with such force and unison that the concrete bleachers were bouncing up and down. To see the passion for their team and their country was amazing. They were throwing toilet paper rolls and balloons on the fields, sprinkling confetti and just generally getting in the spirit of the game. It was truly an experience to be had - it was like nothing we'd ever seen before at sporting events in the states. At this stadium, because so many people "get into the game" they did not allow change ( yes, I do mean coins), batteries ( they made us through the ones in the camera away but we had an extra pair that we were able to smuggle in), water bottles ( they didn't even sell water because they said you might throw the bottle at someone), or umbrellas. Luckily, we did not witness any "violent" displays of energy only lots of fun among all!

Here is our revised version of a song they chanted many times during the game only they didn't say "Gringos" but instead "Ticos."

Vamos vamos los gringos esta noche tenemos que ganar!

Praise the Lord for fun times with new friends!

Watch for us tonight!

You may see us tonight if you watch the U.S. / Costa Rica World Cup qualifying game. We will be there! Keep your eyes open and root for the U.S! WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! We will give you the inside scoop directly from the field when we get home!