Be anxious about nothing

Things in San Jose are warming up a bit. Normally it begins to warm up the middle of Feb and continues to get warmer until the end of April. With us moving to a much warmer climate in the Dominican Republic the last week in April, God has once again supplied us with another answer to a prayer that we didn’t even know to ask for, a way to gradually get used to the warmer climate in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic.  School is going good this second half for all of us. The ESL classes that Janae and I are helping with are also going good. The lady that was leading my class had to leave early so I will be finishing those that run through the end of March. It is a lot like leading the Junior Achievement classes that I was a part of at Westview and Lakeland the last 8 years or so. The students that I have are in the lower level of English (which is a great fit for me wouldn’t you say?  J).

                We had a pleasant surprise on Monday of last week with an email from a friend at home saying they may stop in later in the week for a quick visit since they were flying into the San Jose area. As we looked forward to that, it began to look like that opportunity would not actually happen, with them losing electricity for a short time in Indiana and then our internet being down at the school most of last week, the communication between us basically stopped after that first email. However on Friday afternoon while I was doing homework at the park with the girls, here they come walking up. Larry and Dot Chupp along with Steve Schrock. 

We quickly found them a place to spend the night about 4 blocks from our apartment and then enjoyed the rest of the evening with them talking about old times and catching up on each other’s lives. During the evening we were able to SKYPE my folks in Texas so they could also enjoy our visitors. Technology has allowed our time here to be a much smoother transition with being able to have that contact with friends and family. Saturday morning I had the opportunity to walk with them downtown to look at some of the places they remembered when they had all three been here over 30 years ago. Soon after lunch on Saturday, we said our good byes as they headed to the airport to pick up Paul Kurtz from Ohio to begin the activities that actually brought them to Costa Rica. Thanks to all three of you for sharing that day and a half with the U’s. It meant a lot to us.

                As far as the title of this post: During the message on this past Sunday morning I was as discouraged as I have been for a while as far as understanding Spanish goes. As it seemed like that particular morning, nothing was making sense and I was really struggling to understand much of it at all for some reason, I had to think during the service that “we have been here for exactly 6 months to the day now, and this is all I am picking up out of this message?” I was missing the bible texts and several other points. Anyway, I found it interesting that close to the end of the sermon, the pastor said “convertir a Filipinas el capítulo 4 versículo 6, Por nada estéis afanosos; sino sean notorias vuestras peticiones delante de Dios en toda oración y ruego, con hacimiento de gracias” (Philippines 4:6  ) and I heard that like it was said in English, “In nothing be anxious, but in everything (even Spanish) by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God”.  I needed that reminder to not try so much on my own works and desires, as much as prayer, and thanking Him for the Spanish that we have learned so far. Thanks to all of you for those prayers that you have sent our way. If it were not for those prayers we would not be near as far in the process as what we currently are. Thank you for that.

                We have 5 weeks of classes left before the Spring break then after a week off for Holy Week, we have 2-1/2 weeks of class left before we move to the DR. Continue to pray for us as that we would all finish strong in our and that  that we can stay focused in our studies rather than anticipating the next step for our family. Also pray that the girls would be able to finish their academic school year even though we will be moving before their school year is actually over. Blessing to all. The U's