Our Top 20 List of Unusual Things..................

 This is just a "For Fun" list of our top 20 things we had to adjust to here in Costa Rica. I thought that this would be fun to share since we only have 7 weeks left here before we move. Some of you will probably not get some of these but to us it was pretty strange at first to get use to. The kids had a part in helping create this list too.

#20 Seeing mopeds deliver Pizza, Burger King, McD's and other fast foods
#19 Ice Cream made from vegetable oil
#18 Taking a taxi, bus or walking everywhere we go
#17 Not having a big yard to enjoy
#16 Milk in a box
#15 Not being able to walk places at night
#14 Listening to preaching in Spanish
#13 Being woke up by cats fighting on your roof when you think that it is someone trying to break-in
#12 Watching for "Gringo traps" or  open storm drains
#11 Earthquakes (our biggest was a 6.2)
#10 No Hot water in the kitchen or any sink
#9 Rain ALL THE time
#8 NO RAIN AT ALL
#7 Watching your step..so you dont step in dog poo on the sidewalks
#6 No Front Door on our house
#5 Having to take keys everywhere you go to Open and Lock all the gates behind you

#4 A Man in his car driving down the road selling eggs, screamming Dos Mil por 30 huevos

#3 Cat poo on your roof.....everywhere...,

#2 500 colones =$1US

#1 No toilet paper in the toilets

These are just a few of the things that we had to adjust to living here in Costa Rica...We thought that we would share them with you to give you a little laugh and an insider view of our daily lives. Hope that you enjoy reading.

A Little Seed...with BIG Rewards.......

Here is Costa Rica we have a local "Feria" or "Farmers Market" as we call it in the states. Every Saturday venders line both sides of the narrow street near the park where we live. It is about a 10 minute walk or so and we take the same path everytime we go. One Saturday in early December Mark and I were walking and noticed a tomato plant growing beside a light pole near the street. Mark said, "Would you look at that". Someone must have tossed a tomato by the road or a dog tore into a trash bag. Never-the-less a nice tall tomato plant had begun to grow. Mark has a love for outdoors just like his momma and could spend all of his time working in something whether it were a garden or just moving leaves a debris to burn. A few weeks later we saw that someone had chopped the plant down leaving only a tiny little sappling. After we finished our shopping, Mark said, "I am gonna pick it and try to root it and see what happens". So we came home and he put it in a glass with water and placed it in the window of the kitchen. It was less than a week later that we noticed it had roots and was ready to be planted in the ground.

While Mark's parents were here his momma started a compost pile in our back yard. This was a great idea for us since we had a lot of fresh fruit and vegetable peels that could go in it. She worked everyday on it while they were here and even had Josiah and Hunter cutting the peels into the dirt to make a nice rich soil. When they returned to the states we went for a surprise visit ourselves sad to go beacuse there would be no-one to care for our little tomato plant that had started to grow.

 We were so surprised and excited to find the little plant had doubled in size while we were away. Now the plant is at least 3 feet tall and has "5" little green tomatoes on it. WOW! How exciting to see. I do however hope that we get to eat them before we move in 8 weeks. Not only do we have the nice tomato plant that he started but we have "5" new baby ones, as well as "5" potato plants that just popped up from the peels that we threw out. All, because we put them in the ground and watered it trying to make compost. Had we tossed those things out with the trash we would only have the one little plant that Mark nutured back to life.

This story is much like our role as a Christian. When we pass out a track or visit someone to share the Gospel we are planting the seed. However, sometimes many of us let those seeds like that little tomato plant grow by the wayside and forget that they are there until someone "cuts" them down. The important job that we have is to continue to share with others and let them know a tiny peice of our testimony. Just like in my last post about putting verses to memory this will help in the process to continue to share the Gospel. We may not always be able to see the end results of planting that seed but I know that the Bible says we will all have rewards in Heaven if we continue to share our faith. You see, the person who tossed out that tomato has no idea that we have a large plant with baby tomatoes ready to mature but we will reap the benefits from it. In Galations 6:7-8 it says: Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Also in Psalms 126: 5-6 the Bible says "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Once we are in Honduras we not only plan to have a garden with tons of fruits and vegetables to help with the food supply....(plus the weather permits us to have a graden year round) but we plan on planting the seeds of the Gospel within the hearts of the little children that will be in our care. Once we are more established we will teach "our kids" to go and plant seeds within our community by passing out tracks or holding Bible clubs on local soccer fields. It all goes back to the verses of the Bible "You will reap what you sow" and I don't know about you but I want to be able to say that I reaped for the Lord.

Some of our little "potato plants"

Reglas, Reglas, Reglas...........

Who knew that there were so many "reglas" or rules in Spanish. I thought that English was tough. We are currently working on subjunctive and there are like 15 different rules each with their own rules and exceptions. We have now learned reglas 1,2, and 4.  At first we thought "what is up with all these different rules?" I have no problem going out on the street and communicating my thoughts and needs with the people that I meet. I can ask for things, and go places and even talk small talk in a taxi. But after talking with one of our teacher's she explained that what we know now.....without subjunctive is equal to "Tarzan's Language".....lol.....For example it sounds like this..."Me Tarzan and you Jane". The words come out but you need the connectors to help everything flow and make you sound a little more educated. 

As, I was sitting and thinking of the importance of how we speak and sound to others I began to think about my daily life as a Christian. It also made me think about the lives of others that claim to be Christian. Do we sound educated when we talk about Jesus? I know that we are not gonna know and have the entire Bible embedded into our memory but do we have key verses that we can share with others on the spot. If an issue comes up with a friend or co-worker do you know your Bible well enough to guide the person in the right direction. I can say that I have had times where I have verses and "I know what the BIBLE" says about that topic but I still need to get all the passages written down to go back and share with the person later. We need to be more educated in God's Word and the only way that we can be more educated is to study it and put it to memory. I am going to try to memorize one verse a week but I am also gonna try to memorize it in English and in Spanish. I challenge all of my readers to do the same thing but in 1 language(LOL). It only makes sense that I learn both....but if you are feeling a little more inspired then you can try one in Spanish as well. :) I would love to hear what verse you have decided to memorize this week and with sending me a note about it...I can help hold you accountable for that verse...to see if you are holding to your decision to become more educated in God's Word.

I am gonna to work on Philippians 4:7.....

Purpose in Your Heart

A week or so ago Mark was listening to one of Brother Jonathan Blankenship's services online and he was talking about picking a book of the Bible and reading it over and over again. So, during one of our family devotion times Mark made a challenge to us all that we would pick a book and read a chapter every week. But we were to read that chapter every day and at the end of the week we would discuss what we had learned. The kids picked the book of Daniel and so we started our study. Tonight, we had our first discussion on chapter one of Daniel. One of the key things that we all learned was that even before Daniel was offered meat from the king's table....he purposed in his heart not to defile himself.  WOW! Even before he was offered he made up his mind.  You know this brings up the thought to us Christians today.....do we purpose in heart not to conform to the things of the world. Do we already have in our hearts and minds what our standards are on Biblical truths? Do we know and stand true to our feelings on music, dress, and other areas of controversy?  If we know what we believe and we purpose in heart to hold true to those things then the Lord will help us and our testimony for HIM will be easy to let others see.  We challenge you to do this same study and see what you can learn from God's word.

Thought of the Day



Mi vecina en su jardin

 Today as we were walking home from an enjoyable time at the park I noticed two of our elderly neighbors in their yard. We stopped and chatted with them and watched to see just what they were doing. Many times I had noticed them from my "high rise" bedroom window(LOL) and saw that they were sitting on the ground within the gates of their yard. However, I had no idea what they were doing. Today as we stopped and chatted with them, I noticed that they were single handedly plucking each weed from their beautiful carpet bed of grass. It may sound funny to refer to grass like that but here in Costa Rica you rarely see grass other than on a soccer field. With that said when you do see grass it is nothing that you would wanna take your shoes off in and run barefoot on. Each lady looked hard to find and only pick out that which was not grass. When we expressed how beautiful we thought the yard was and admired their hard work they had this to say....it helps to take their minds off of things and gives them something to do with their time. Also, they take pride in their lovely yard and want to keep it beautiful. As we walked on just a few shorts steps to our house I started to think about just how content those two ladies were with sitting on the ground and taking extra special care to only take out what was in fact not a grass seedling. How many of us would have done that? I know for a fact...that I have seen many people with a bottle or two of good ole "Round Up". However, the problem with that is you can kill the grass just as easily as the weeds. When I first started thinking about those two ladies the first thing I thought of was how content they were to do this time consumming job. However, now that I have put much thought into it....it really comes down to how much care and nuture they are willing to put into making their patch of grass be the most beautiful grass on the block. That triggers the thoughts of how much Jesus loves us and cares for us. Everyday he has to pluck away the bad(sin) in our life, but yet he is so willing. While we still must ask for "forgiveness" he is there eager and ready to pluck it away and tend to our hearts and minds just like those two ladies in their yard. We should take the same steps towards "cuidar" or care that the Lord Jesus does for us for others that we know. If we see our brothers and sisters in Christ struggling we should be the first to lend a hand, stop and pray for them or simply have an ear to listen. Of coarse we should do those things for our brethren but we should also be willing to share the gospel and hope for those who have not put their faith and trust in Jesus. So, with that said, don't be content in your ways if they are not productive but reach out and be willing to help pluck one "weed" or in this case a "soul" from the flames of destruction. I challenge you all this week to seek out someone who made need a little extra care, whether it be extending a hand to a fellow Christian or sharing the Gospel with a lost soul.

Joy in the Simple Life

We had a wonderful surprise trip back to North Carolina. While there we were able to spend time with family and friends and visit with Hilltop our home church. It was so nice to be able to see all the faces that we have missed for over a year. When we moved to Florida to train at Hope Children's Home the last time we were in N.C. was December 2010.  So, while on this visit we were able to eat at some of our favorite places including the most famous "Bojangles" for some chicken and biscuits. While this is a place that brings us much JOY....   we all quickly found how much we missed our new life in Costa Rica. God was preparing our hearts for the mission field by giving us JOY in other things. We love the simple life of no cell phone and at times even a car. It was weird to have a phone, which Wendy let us borrow. First, of all it took forever to learn how to use it and make a call. Second, we laughed at the fact that we had spent more in gas in 1 week than we had on bus and taxie fare in 9 months.    WOW! How we love the simple life.  Walking into stores where people don't greet with a smile while on the same shopping aisle or are always in a constant rush. I must say that on our first trip to Target, we felt like we were foreigners and that for once people were starring at us as if we should not be there. WEIRD!! However, in reality , no-one was even paying attention to us as we just walked the aisles in awe at all the things that were around us. I am thankful that when God calls you to do a certain job or go to the mission field he changes your heart and fills your longings with new kinds of JOY! The Bible says in: Psalm 126:2 "Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue filled with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. While we were sad to say our goodbyes to friends and family we could find comfort in another verse. In Psalms 30:5 "......Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning." I am so thankful for the JOY that the Lord has given me. Not only the joy that I have from knowing that I am bought with a price and have an enternal home in Heaven, thanks to my Savior Jesus Christ but also the joy that I have in my heart for doing and obeying HIS WILL.  Please remember us in your prayers as we go back to school on Tuesday and finish up the 2 and 1/2 months left here before we make our home in Honduras. Until next time...may you find Joy of your own.

Mark and the kids sitting on the porch of Nanny Bugs old barn.

A Reflection on 2010

As we look back on the year of 2010 God has allowed us to have and see many blessings. First, of all we started out the year living at Hope Children's Home in Tampa Florida where God really laid upon our hearts the ministry of children. We fell in love with all of the kids at Hope and staff that we shared our daily lives with. Not to far into the new year was a time where we needed to pack up our belongings and start to pack and prepare for one of our biggest moves in our lives. In late April, we packed up 13 suitcases and 4 back-packs and headed to the airport. We would begin our new life in just a few short hours in a new country. A country where we had no friends, could not speak the language and had no clue what to really expect. However, with bad weather somewhere in the US...lol the Miami airport canceled many flights out of their airport and we had to stay the night in a hotel. But bright and early the next day we made our way to San Jose, Costa Rica. We were greeted at the airport by our "big brother", Carla Ackerman and her daughter Madie. I can honestly say that I do not remember much about the car ride to our new home other than it was raining. The next few days and weeks we would get adjusted to our new home and it's surroundings. Now for us it seems as if we have always been there, and we actually miss our small little world of Costa Rica.

In August, we had the pleasure of guests when our director Pastor Mike and his son Ryan came for a visit. They brought with them some comforts from home and we were so excited to see the contents of the four suitcases that they brought along.  In late September, we took our second VISA trip so that we could renew our 90 day Visa's. We packed up and headed out with the Ragland Family to the country of Nicaragua. It was only a few short days after our return from that trip that we discovered we were expecting BABY # 4.  God has allowed us so many blessings and also allowed us to make many new friends. One of the most important things is that we have been able to pick up the language. We are now more than ever ....ready to hit the ground in Honduras. Due to the arrival of our little one in late May we are leaving Costa Rica in late March instead of late April. We also had a wonderful Christmas gift from a couple that supports us...they purchased airfare for us all to fly back home and spend Christmas with our families. It was a surprise for them all because no-one knew that we were coming home. We were also blessed with many care packages and many special monetary gifts this Christmas. It is such a blessing to know that we have many who not only take the time to pray for us but send our family and our kiddos gifts. They have enjoyed them all.

While in North Carolina we have enjoyed many comforts from home including some Bojangles Chicken and Biscuits, Chick-Fil-A, Max's Pizza and other places. We were even able to see SNOW!!!! Josiah had a blast playing in the snow and did not even want to come back inside. We say goodbye to the year 2010 and welcome 2011 and pray that we are blessed with another great and wonderful year. We want to thank you all for reading our newsletters and updates, supporting our family and most importantly praying for us.
We love you all and WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Sincerely Serving Him,
The Coats Family