Hello California, Goodbye California in 48 hours...

  Nathan and I with my brother at his ordination

    So this past weekend we were able to go to California to see my brother, who is a new pastor, be ordained. It was a wonderful time to see he and my parents. We did not arrive until late Friday night, and we left early on Monday morning, but the time with them was great. It was really encouraging to see the church where my brother will be the assistant pastor. The Lord has done tremendous things through him and we were so honored to be there.

My brother giving his ordination vows

    One other great part of going to the States this weekend was that we were able to renew our tourist visas to be in Costa Rica. The country requires that you are only permitted to stay for 90 days if you enter as a tourist. After 90 days, you must leave the country for 72 hours. You are then allowed to enter again for another 90 days. So for right now, we are legal foreigners for another three months. In February, we will probably have to take a trip to Panama or Nicaragua for the weekend.

    School is going pretty well. We are getting ready to finish up in about 2 1/2 weeks for the semester. As I type this, I cannot believe that school has flown by so fast. At times though, it seems like it is creeping at a very slow pace. Nathan has advanced well and is speaking much faster and smoother. I am not nearly as fast or smooth, but I am able to say and understand a lot more than I could in August. Some days it has been a struggle, as I am seeing how impatient I am with language learning. The Lord keeps reminding me that His timing and ways are much more perfect than mine (although, often I like to believe that I have a better plan).  Right now, Nathan leaves in about two weeks to go to Kenya to do ophthalmology, and I will be staying in Costa Rica to continue studying Spanish. The Lord has provided a really sweet teacher for me for the weeks in December. I am excited to get to know her better.

   Thanks for your prayers about Nathan's finger. He is doing better and it looks like he should have no problem operating in December.