Well, it is the holidays again.....
This year Thanksgiving was pretty easy, but Christmas has not been so easy.
I have tried to make it more holly jolly, but with little success.
I am lonely.
I feel lost.
Money is tight.
I feel like a hamster on a wheel. spinning and spinning and going no where.
There are days.....well, there are days.
I know I am not the only one who has a hard time during the holidays--I did when we lived in the States as well. But it just seemed easier with the comforts of home, friends and family. But now, Costa Rica is my home. I am thankful for that. I am thankful that God has provided a family here and friends here--just wish he could hurry up on the language thingy so I feel more at ease and not so tired--ALL THE TIME!!!!
In this little explanation of my life, right now, I ask for prayer. God knows what I need--I don't even know what I need--but thankfully HE does.
We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! And take time to reach out to family, friends and missionaries who are not near this holiday season--Believe me--it makes a difference!
Love to all,
Angie
Monday, December 23, 2013
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Our Trip to the States- Part 3- West Liberty, KY
On Sunday, September 29, we woke up early to travel to West Liberty, KY. We were going to church and worship with West Liberty Christian Church that morning. This church has been such a blessing to us during our time here in Costa Rica. They have supported us and all we wanted to do was worship with them. But, Bruce was actually given the whole service to share the Word and talk about Costa Rica, The Abraham Project and what God is doing through us. It was such a surprise and such a blessing.
After church, we walked through downtown West Liberty to see how they have been rebuilding after the devastating tornado in March of 2012. It was my first time to West Liberty, but Bruce had been there many times on clean up teams and rebuilding teams. It was really a blessing for him to be a part of it, and he met so many neat people during that time.
Here is a short video of the history of West Liberty Christian Church:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5qJX3m4d9k
After walking around and talking about the rebuilding, we went with Matt and Amy Daniel and their kids (our gracious hosts) to the infamous Sorghum Festival in West Liberty. We ate lunch, then walked around the shops and finally saw how Sorghum is made. It tasted a lot like Agua Dulce here in Costa Rica. The process was pretty neat!
After the Festival, we headed back to Matt and Amy's house and hung out, watched TV, napped a little, and waiting for the evening festivities to begin. They invited the youth group over for a cookout and bonfire. They kids had a NERF gun war and the adults talked about everything under the sun. They kids really had a great time, it was such a blessing to just let them loose, and the youth kids were so good with the little ones. I think Leyton gave the older boys a run for their money with those NERF guns.
At the bonfire, the youth prayed for us, our trip, and our ministry here in Costa Rica, it was such a blessing.
We were completely blessed by the words of encouragement, the donations, the prayers, THE FOOD (thanks AMY and MATT), and just our time with the Daniel family and West Liberty Christian Church.
Before church that morning, we visited with Henrietta and Ova May who live next to the church and their house was damaged by the tornado. Our home church, Southside Christian Church took up the task of rebuilding their house for them. Henrietta and Ova absolutely fell in love with Bruce and Emme the time she was there. She remember replanting a bush in their yard. We were able to spend a little time with them before church and just to get to talk with them. While we were there, Ova, was having a pretty good day (he had been battling cancer and dementia for a couple of years). That day, he remembered Bruce and interacted well with me and the kids. It was an absolute blessing to have been able to spend that time with them. After we returned to Costa Rica, we learned that Ova passed away on October 25. It was sad to learn of his passing, but so blessed to have spent time with him. We know he is in Heaven now with Jesus free of sickness--what a blessing!
Here is his obituary:
http://potterfuneralhomeinc.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=2298195&fh_id=10723
All in all, the trip to West Liberty was a huge blessing for us and our time in the States. We wish we had more time to spend with the Daniel Family and WLCC, but know that we will be back hopefully sooner than later.
Thank you to everyone in West Liberty who were such amazing hosts for our family!
Here are a few pictures of our time there:
After church, we walked through downtown West Liberty to see how they have been rebuilding after the devastating tornado in March of 2012. It was my first time to West Liberty, but Bruce had been there many times on clean up teams and rebuilding teams. It was really a blessing for him to be a part of it, and he met so many neat people during that time.
Here is a short video of the history of West Liberty Christian Church:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5qJX3m4d9k
After walking around and talking about the rebuilding, we went with Matt and Amy Daniel and their kids (our gracious hosts) to the infamous Sorghum Festival in West Liberty. We ate lunch, then walked around the shops and finally saw how Sorghum is made. It tasted a lot like Agua Dulce here in Costa Rica. The process was pretty neat!
After the Festival, we headed back to Matt and Amy's house and hung out, watched TV, napped a little, and waiting for the evening festivities to begin. They invited the youth group over for a cookout and bonfire. They kids had a NERF gun war and the adults talked about everything under the sun. They kids really had a great time, it was such a blessing to just let them loose, and the youth kids were so good with the little ones. I think Leyton gave the older boys a run for their money with those NERF guns.
At the bonfire, the youth prayed for us, our trip, and our ministry here in Costa Rica, it was such a blessing.
We were completely blessed by the words of encouragement, the donations, the prayers, THE FOOD (thanks AMY and MATT), and just our time with the Daniel family and West Liberty Christian Church.
Before church that morning, we visited with Henrietta and Ova May who live next to the church and their house was damaged by the tornado. Our home church, Southside Christian Church took up the task of rebuilding their house for them. Henrietta and Ova absolutely fell in love with Bruce and Emme the time she was there. She remember replanting a bush in their yard. We were able to spend a little time with them before church and just to get to talk with them. While we were there, Ova, was having a pretty good day (he had been battling cancer and dementia for a couple of years). That day, he remembered Bruce and interacted well with me and the kids. It was an absolute blessing to have been able to spend that time with them. After we returned to Costa Rica, we learned that Ova passed away on October 25. It was sad to learn of his passing, but so blessed to have spent time with him. We know he is in Heaven now with Jesus free of sickness--what a blessing!
Here is his obituary:
http://potterfuneralhomeinc.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=2298195&fh_id=10723
All in all, the trip to West Liberty was a huge blessing for us and our time in the States. We wish we had more time to spend with the Daniel Family and WLCC, but know that we will be back hopefully sooner than later.
Thank you to everyone in West Liberty who were such amazing hosts for our family!
Here are a few pictures of our time there:
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| Leyton in the MONSTER TRUCK (rock crawler) with Mr. Matt. He was in heaven!! |
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| And Leyton got to ride on a TRACTOR (lawn mower)!! |
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| Deep fried OREO....can you say yum!!?? |
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| Leyton taking on all the big kids in a NERF gun war |
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| All smiles from those boys!! |
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| And from the "grown up" boys |
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| Of course to keep with tradition, we stopped at Doughdaddy's before heading to W. Liberty |
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| First time seeing and sitting in the MONSTER TRUCK |
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| getting ready to take it for a spin! THUMBS UP!! |
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| The bon-fire at night..... |
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| The fire still going the next morning! |
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| Emme in Mr. Matt's hat....cowgirl in thought! |
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Our trip to the States Part 2-Kentucky
There really are not many pictures that we have, most of food, because that is what we did. We were blessed to have dinner with friends almost every night we were there. Here are some of the pictures:
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| Bruce getting settled in...we were blessed to stay in an apartment in KY--Thanks Ronnie and Tammy! |
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| Kentucky River, so pretty in the fall. |
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| The Beautiful landscape of Lexington--Horse farms! |
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| PINCHOS!! With Marcus and Audra and family and friends! |
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| And s'mores afterwards--GOOD TIMES! |
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| These two little cuties--Leyton and Amaya |
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| Getting to worship (in English) at our home church! BLESSED! |
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| Leyton working on his MC skills |
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| Totally felt this while we were in the States! |
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| Leyton getting his cotton candy on at the church picnic! |
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| Emme playing with friends in the jump house at the church picnic |
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| Michael taking Leyton on a go-cart ride--he even got to drive it! |
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| These two stooges in the go-cart |
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| Yes, they BARELY fit!! |
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| Watching a movie with the Whiz kids |
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| Lunch with Sara at COPPER RIVER!!! |
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| Good home cooked food with the Jewell family-mmm mmmmm! |
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| A typical foggy morning in KY |
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| I found Cadbury 'Screme' eggs. Same as normal Cadbury eggs, except the yolk was neon green... nom nom! |
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| Emme got to go to a friend's birthday party! Happy 8th birthday Savanah! |
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| We got to visit with our cat Nicky. Our friends are taking wonderful care of him. He will be 17 years old this year! |
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| Hanging out with the Waddell kids! |
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| And a bonfire with Micah and Sara! |
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| Dinner with the Whiz family! Bruce had meat, with a side of meat and meat for dessert! |
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| Leyton got to see and hold this snake!! It was a good day! |
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| Trying on a halloween mask! |
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| Tire swing at the Whiz house! |
Although these pictures do not do justice of our time in KY (because I could not remember to take pictures until AFTER the night was over!) we were so blessed with our time in KY. Seeing friends, church family and hanging out with all of the different families for breakfast, lunch, dinner or coffee--it was amazing and overflowed our cup!
Thank you to everyone who supported us in any way. The prayers, financial support and of course the time that you took to spend with us!
We were truly blessed!
In HIM,
The Crawfords
Friday, October 18, 2013
Our trip to the States-Part 1 Bossier City, LA
First off, I should say hello! It has been awhile since I have updated the blog. During our time in language school, the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of a computer and try to type what our days looked like, but now that school is finished, I hope to update this blog a little more often--no promises!
We just returned home (Costa Rica) from our first trip back to the States, 5 weeks, 4 different states and can't even count how many miles by air and car. It was a whirlwind trip, but it was really good. We were able to be a part of our church's Missions Conference, eat, hang out with friends, meet with supporters, eat, worship in our home church, eat, spend time with family, eat, and just relax--oh, and eat! (Did you notice a recurring theme?)
We started out in Louisiana spending time with our friends Josh (Big Dirty) and his wife Diana and their new son Judah. It was hot there, but it was a really good time. We were able to share at their church in Bossier City, LA, Church@Bossier City. We were able to meet several new friends and just enjoy our time there in a new city. Here are a few picture of that time:
Well, this was our first few days in the States. It was really nice. We are so thankful for all of the people in Bossier City and Church@Bossier City who are now praying for us and doing what they do best--loving the Lord. A big thanks to Josh and Diana and Judah for allowing us to crash at their house and interrupt their new life and family in Bossier City. They were great hosts--and especially to Josh who had to drive us to and from Dallas airport twice--a saint!
After this trip, we boarded the plane to Lexington and stayed in KY for 13 days. More pictures to follow.....stay tuned!
In HIM,
The Crawfords
We just returned home (Costa Rica) from our first trip back to the States, 5 weeks, 4 different states and can't even count how many miles by air and car. It was a whirlwind trip, but it was really good. We were able to be a part of our church's Missions Conference, eat, hang out with friends, meet with supporters, eat, worship in our home church, eat, spend time with family, eat, and just relax--oh, and eat! (Did you notice a recurring theme?)
We started out in Louisiana spending time with our friends Josh (Big Dirty) and his wife Diana and their new son Judah. It was hot there, but it was a really good time. We were able to share at their church in Bossier City, LA, Church@Bossier City. We were able to meet several new friends and just enjoy our time there in a new city. Here are a few picture of that time:
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| Selfie time...Emme and Baby Judah |
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| Emme's first (of many more) Taco Bell chicken burrito |
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| The big planes in Bossier City |
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| Boardwalk at night |
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| Our first engourging....Buffalo Wild Wings....let's just order 100, it will be cheaper....oh my! |
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| No match for us! |
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| Leyton and the boardwalk |
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| Downtown at night and the river |
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| A picture of where the trolley drives at the boardwalk |
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| First bath in over a year....in a real bath tub! |
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| Got to play rook with some new friends |
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| My first pumpkin spice latte....mmmmm |
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| Downtown Dallas on our way to the airport! |
After this trip, we boarded the plane to Lexington and stayed in KY for 13 days. More pictures to follow.....stay tuned!
In HIM,
The Crawfords
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