"Princess Lil" went out to play in the mud.
She was twirling around when.....
She found a special escape route!
"Princess Lil" back in the "castle" and quite proud of her accomplishment!
In the beginning of church last week, Linnea asked me if she could go back to our apartment to get her crayons, so she could give some to Jesus. I let her go and get them.
As church ended, Scott got out the tithe box, we prayed, and he set it aside. When church was officially over, I saw Linnea crouched by the tithe box. She was stuffing her crayons into it, as her tithe and offerings. I gave her time alone to finish, and when she was done, I brought her home and tucked her into bed. For those of you who might be wondering, we have church Saturday nights, not Sunday mornings here:)
I went back to the church side to do some follow up clean up, and grab the rest of her crayons, books, etc. I found her crayon holder laying open next to the tithe box. In it were 4 crayons...each of which were broken!
That really blessed me, and was a great lesson. First, she came to church wanting to give something to Jesus. The second thing was that she gave God her best, not her leftovers. What a testimony!
The next day, we were cleaning off the table to color. Linnea was very aware that she no longer had any crayons. As I prepared, she said, "Mom, I don't have any crayons left. I gave them all to Jesus. I was not jealous, and I don't want to be greedy. I am going to be thankful when we color now though. I can still use my markers and colored pencils, and I am thankful for them."
So much we can learn from little people.
"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content."
1 Timothy 6:6-8
Linnea was playing on the elliptical rider. I asked her what she was doing, and she replied, "Mom, can't you see? I am dying on the cross!"
While we were in Minnesota and resting, I had called many friends and family and said that I just couldn't meet with everyone, because I needed to not be on the road all of the time. My sister Sharlotte, and her husband Steve, were understanding about that, and also asked if they could drive from Eau Claire, WI to Cold Spring, MN to deliver "something."
The girls and I were quite excited for the opportunity to see them, as we LOVE to spend time with "Uncle Stevie and Auntie Shar" (as Linnea calls them).
When they arrived, they had with them some special gifts for the girls. They had brought some wonderful learning materials.....and.....can you believe it.....A BARBIE LAPTOP COMPUTER! The computer actually works too! It has a screen, a mouse, it talks, and it has learning games on it.
The girls absolutely love the computer! Now, Linnea can work in the office with me. She loves to send emails and work on her computer. Lil also joins in on the fun playing with the laptop, and Linnea frequently teaches her how to do it. Lily also will join us in office work by writing in her journal and working on her own little projects. We have quite a blast working together these days.
Below are some pictures that Steve and Shar took that night. We had a great time of fellowship, and they captured some sweet pics of the girls.
This is Lil working in the office on her old computer that Linnea had set up, and also pictures of how she likes to write in her journal and do office projects with us.
Linnea and Lily and I had a nice time resting in the US, while Luke worked on some termite projects....and chummed around with the guys. The pictures tell it all, they had a very sophisticated time, haha!
We spent most of our time at the home of our friends, Minsan and April Sauers, and their 3 children. I enjoyed the time of fellowship throughout daily life with my friend April. Linnea loved seeing her friends Clarisse and Duncan too! And Lily, well she got a chance to not be the baby, and to learn how to play with other kids. I was also very blessed and thankful for the Sauers hospitality. It truly was a great place to just relax, and not have to worry about anything. It was fun to be the house "helper" instead of the planner. April and I work together well, and enjoyed it too! Praise the Lord.
We also stayed for a few nights with our friend Beth Buse and her 3 children as well! That also was a great time of fellowship, and the kids had fun playing together. Beth's husband, Grant, was in Africa for a wedding of a young man he had led to the Lord. It proved to be a unique time to visit, as we were both separated from our husbands for a few weeks! One night the Grandmas had the kids, and Beth and I spent our "free" evening, talking until the wee hours of the morning. It was a blast!
Beth also threw a surprise birthday party at her house, to celebrate my 30Th birthday. That was a good time of fellowship with some friends and family. I also enjoyed a nice pedicure the next day, thanks to some wonderful and thoughtful friends:)
It was nice to not have a crazy schedule. My hardest work there, was laboring to enter into my rest! That verse made alot of sense to me during that season. It was hard to not get all scheduled, and to hang low. However, I knew the Lord had me there for that purpose, so I could get rested and restored, in order to return to Costa Rica running on all cylinders. It was a time of much revelation as well. As I have more time, I will share testimonies on this blog about some of these revelations and the things the Lord did while I was in MN.
While the time in MN was relaxing, and a huge blessing, I was glad to come back to Costa Rica and get back into action. I came back with new vision, passion, and great anticipation for what the Lord will do this year!
