Costa Rica in 2011

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you have all had a blessed year in 2010. 2010 was an awesome year for us and Lord willing we are looking forward to another year of blessings beyond measure. It has been a while since we posted anything so I thought it would be nice to give everyone an update. We have been doing some research on possible travel dates to return to Costa Rica. Prices for flight will more than likely determine the time we travel since they fluctuate so much and we obviously want to get the cheapest rates. Right now it looks like the cheapest tickets we can find are during the first 2 weeks of May. The best we can find is around 300 per person from Dallas to Costa Rica those first 2 weeks of May. If anyone out there knows of any way to obtain cheaper tickets please let us know. Between now and then we are going to be talking to our contacts in Costa Rica and working on possible plans while we are there. As we know from our last trip, God has a way of changing our plans and we will be more than happy to be flexible as needed. A couple things that we would like to do is visit the community in Alajuela that we visited during our last trip as well as visit the Orphanage in Atenas that we did not get to the last time. We are going to be looking at some things that we could do to provide for the needy and let you know what we have planned so that anyone that wants to donate to help has a good idea of where the money will be going. We would like to have some "projects" planned and you will be able to specify what you would like to donate for and 100% of your donation will go directly to the needs of the people. We still have a lot of planning and praying to do but I thought everyone might like to know what is coming up. Please keep us in your prayers and Dios les bendiga.

-David

Down by the river

Here is a slideshow of the homes we visited in Alajuela Costa Rica.

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Lord Give Me Neither Poverty Nor Riches

One of the verses that comes to mind when I think about what happened to us while we were in Costa Rica is this.

Isa 42:16. And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

We have explained to everyone the sequence of events that led up to this point and I still get goose bumps thinking about how God works in our lives. Our plans made sure we made it to Costa Rica but from that point all those plans went awry. But he took our misfortune and turned it into a blessing. He took this group of blind people with good intentions and showed us a better path. He showed us possibilities and gave us hope in a very powerful way. He led us down paths that we did not know. He made a seemingly complicated task simple. He just laid it all out there right in front of us ready for us to grab hold.

Lead Me, Guide Me - Part 1

Jeremiah 10:23 - O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

This verse is so loaded with meaning. But its meaning is so much clearer when you are in a difficult situation. We were reminded so many times during our trip that the Lord is faithful and that he is a very present help in trouble. But it wasn’t necessarily our trouble that was used to remind us of this.

When we arrived in the town of Atenas we settled into our accommodations and went out to find something to eat and explore the town. Atenas had not been on our original list of places to visit so we knew nothing about it. (Actually there were a lot of things that were not a part of “our plan”.)