sex sells and people sell out

the boys watch a lot of music videos here and one day i caught a glimpse of britney spears on a video. dany changed the channel pretty quick but she appeared to be wearing nothing but lace. she may have had talent but she sold herself out for sex. maybe because she didn't really have talent, i don't know. it used to be young girls that wanted to listen to her music but selling sex to young boys and men brings in more dollars i guess.

tv programming here

everything is so blatantly sexual. maybe it is everywhere and i have just missed it because i didn't watch a lot of tv. there is one local entertainment show they watch. they have scantilly clad women gyrating throughout the audience during the entire show. they have other half naked men and women dirty dancing on stage and in the audience, more skin is shown than is covered, they serve alcohol and at the end they pray. i don't know about you but there's something seriously wrong with that picture.

chico

one day you think you're 16, the next you find out you're almost 21. chico went to nicaragua to find out who he is, what a surprise to find out you're 5 years older than you thought you were. you're too old to be adopted but he still wants to change his names to be the same as the family here.

he has had dreams of being a pastor and playing the keyboard and singing in church. he has separate bible study with the pastor here but he only has a couple years of schooling and would need a lot more to be a pastor.

the new keyboard cost 104,000 col (about $285), chico gave 65,000 for it and wanted to give more but dany told him no because other people had to give too.

dany told me that chico wants to be a police officer, then he could earn enough money to study to be a pastor.

the starting wage for a cop here is really good money. he would make $415 - A YEAR! if he could get more education he would get an increase to 200,000 colones a year - $554 a year. they work 15 days a month, working 24-7, and have 15 days off.

i'm guilty

of judging others. i condemn others when i am upset with them. when i said i wrote it for people here i think i wrote it for myself. i have yet to show it to anyone other than the pastor but i am reminded of it frequently.

when we say someone is lazy, inconsiderate, impatient, it may be true but it's not my place and it's not your place to judge them.

are we blind or what that we cannot see the log jam in our own eyes.

are you a christian, are you walking the walk, or are you just talking the talk. judgemental talk, condemning talk, criticizing talk. before you want to throw stones, or gossip, or condemn - look in the mirror. then ask for forgiveness because none of us are without sin.

shoes

the school year starts 7 february here. almost all kids walk barefoot. i have seen some kids walking pigeon-toed wearing shoes that don't fit them. they don't complain, they just curl their toes up. for 5,000 colones, costa rican currency, you can buy a pair of school shoes for a boy or girl. depending on the exchange it's about $14 cdn. 8,000 colones if your feet are bigger. if you don't have a uniform you don't go to school. if you don't have money to buy a uniform you may get one that's been passed down til it's worn thin. at christmas when they were interviewing kids on tv and asking them what they wanted for christmas most said shoes and-or pants. most people i know wear second hand clothes but it's tough to wear shoes that have already been worn and molded into the shape of someone else's foot.

instead of buying a 7th pair of shoes how about buying a first pair of shoes for a little boy or girl in costa rica.

tica

the family dog was murdered last week along with 8 others dogs in amparo. the family thinks it was one of the town drunks but i guess it's hard to prove. the dogs were poisoned and or shot or both. the police are investigating but i think pretty well anyone can become a cop here with very little, if any, training. at one point i saw one of them with his gun in his pocket. if he tripped and fell he could shoot himself i'm sure.

anyway there had been one puppy that they had not found a home for so now they will keep him. his name is smeagle.

coral snake

got up a couple of days ago to learn that a coral snake had been found inside the house. patricio had found it in the middle of the night on his way to the bathroom and cut it's head off. i am so-o thankful i didn't find it. my biggest fear is spiders but that does not mean that i am not afraid of snakes. dany was kind enough to explain the blood stain on the floor and show me the remains. it was about 1 1-2 feet, about as big around as a finger but as dany explained very dangerous.

there is a hole in the floor to drain the water out of the bathroom when the roof leaks - it has since been stuffed with a mat.

hanging in there

i'm reading that moses persevered, he endured because he saw the culmination of his efforts and God's purposes. it was credited to him as faith.

is that what it is?

should i stay or should i go

the personal conflicts, the constant noise, loud music, no quiet solitary place to be alone with God. each time i'm ready to pack up and go elsewhere because i need a break from all the noise i talk to God and He changes my mind. why? i want to spend more time reading His Word so why shouldn't i go. is He keeping me here because the more i am frustrated the more i seek His face? or am i growing through it? am i more hungry for the Truth when i am in need compared to just reading it like a book? am i just impatient in seeing Your work in me?

new keyboard

jose has been playing it all day and when he isn't somebody else is. i went to the church to do yard work thinking i'd have peace and quiet - no luck. right now eitel is playing the stereo, meffi is playing the keyboard, dany is teach math, mimi has a friend over and patricio is singing. argh!!!

and a short while later, mimi has her tv going, the boys have theirs and jose is playing the new keyboard.

there is nowhere to hide from all the noise.

puppies

i hate the way they treat animals here. thankfully there are only 2 left but patricio kicks them. i can always tell when he comes home because the puppies are crying and i hear him yelling at them. when i looked out the window 1 is running away with his tail betwen his legs and dany said patricio had kicked it.

keep reading

i have read the bible a couple of times and i've never got as much from it as i have in the past few months and i rarely have the peace and quiet here to read. but when i have questions, when i have doubts, when i am struggling, i talk to God and He opens my eyes to the wisdom and truths in His Word. when i need answers He shows me where to find them and helps me to see.

He is so amazing!

lending

luke 6.34,35 'if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment what credit is that... love your enemies, do good to them and lend to them without expecting to get anything back'

don't know about you but i needed to hear that.

hotmail

came to san carlos to email and hotmail isn't working. i'm not ignoring you but i can't read or send mail.

going to alex's to have lunch with him today. i asked if he'd make his pancakes that i love.

mail

i got mail! it was exciting to get mail from home. the family was almost as excited as i was. it was like a treasure. i had read most of my books so a new one was very cool. it was mailed from mission dec 11, received in los chiles dec 30 and received in amparo jan 11. amparo is 1 to 2 hours away, depending on the number of bus stops and whether you are walking. at least i didn't have to go to san jose for it though.

thank you so much for it.

liars

rev 21.8 THE unbelieving, THE murderers, THE sexually immoral, etc. and ALL liars will be in the fiery lake... sometimes i can't believe how dense i can be. how many times do i have to read something before it registers. as i pondered the significance of ALL liars it finally dawned on me. because Jesus is the Word of God and the Word of God is the Truth anyone that is a liar is not of God because they are speaking the opposite of Jesus.

and yet how often am i guilty. we tell ourselves it's only a little white lie. i once heard in bible study that God doesn't see in colours, a lie is a lie is a lie. do we tell a lie so as not to hurt someone's feelings? is it ok to tell a lie if it's not hurting anyone. is it ok to tell a lie because we don't want to share the truth with someone.

i don't know what your bible says but mine says ALL liars will be in the fiery lake...

snake

when i got home the other day there was a 3 foot long snake draped over the barbed wire. eitel had seen it in the back yard and killed it with a machete. meffi was showing it to me and it had 3-4'' fangs (that's three quarters not 3 to 4 inches but i can't find the slash). i got the shivers now just thinking about it. even though the boys laugh at my fear of spiders they were very serious in telling me how dangerous the snakes are here.

there was a spider on the wall last week that was as wide as the span of my outstretched hand. needless to say i freaked.

judging others - parte dos

i had to run to catch the bus so i didn't have time to finish editing something i had written 5 weeks ago. i had titled it 'loving others'. it was written for people here although it's applicable for everyone. how can we love others if we are racists and is classifying one group of people as bad not racism. i wonder what i am seeing here. is it the different culture or is it the same as racism all over the world.

as much as it's about loving everyone, it's also about judging everyone and as i write i wonder how often i am guilty of doing just that.

if we say we love everyone but we don't the unspoken word is still a lie in our hearts and God knows our hearts.

judging others

one sunday in church scott said that if your car is broken don't
take it to some one just because he says he's a christian. (forgive me scott if i have misquoted you - it was a long time ago) some people that profess to be christians do not live lives that bring glory to God.

the greatest commandment a christian has is to love the lord your
God with all you heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and
with all you strength. everything we have is from Him, we owe Him no less.
His second commandment is to love your neighbour as yourself. if you really love God with all your heart this will be how you live your life. we have all sinned and when God gave the 10 commandments to moses ex 20.1-17 He didn't say that it was a worse sin to murder or to steal or commit adultery. a sin is a sin is a sin. and God hates each sin equally. but he does love the sinner. he loves each one of us equally.

i went to a church in san jose in october. the pastor asked if
there was anyone there that hadn't been there before to raise their hand. then he asked where everyone was from. there were
people there from honduras, el salvador, columbia, bolivia, brazil,
nicaragua y chile. people from different nations and races all
together under one roof for one reason, to love and worship and
praise god. and God loved everyone of them equally.

it is not up to us to judge anothers sin. God will judge each one
of us rev 20.12. mat 7.1-5 but for the grace of god i could be a
prostitute dying of aids begging for money, but for the grace of
god jose could be a beggar sitting on the streets of san jose, but
for the grace of God danny could be a hungry alcoholic watching
others eat but unable to buy food himself because he's spent all his money on booze, but for the grace of God pastor jose could be a drug addict laying in the street. you don't know my past or my sins and i don't know yours. it doesn't matter because i am not qualified to judge you and you are not qualified to judge me. what's in your heart and how you live your life is between you and God, but don't be fooled into thinking you are righteous and holy if you are not living your life according to the 2 great commandments Jesus gave us. you may be kidding yourself, fooling others but you are not kidding God.

when Jesus commanded us to love our neighbour he didn't mean just the sweet little old lady that lives next door or the nice family down the street or the hard working man that worships beside you in church, He meant everyone.

God loves everyone and 1 tim 2.3-6 He says He wants ALL men to be saved and we don't know the circumstances of their life that may change and the prostitute, alcoholic, beggar or drug addict may become beloved children of God, passionate disciples serving Him and tellling others about Him. 1 tim 2. 5 and 6 Christ Jesus who gave Himself as a ransom for ALL men.

God wants you to love everyone as you love yourself. He made us all different. how boring life would be if we were all the same but He gave us all the same capacity for loving Him and others. if
everyone obeyed these 2 commandments there would be no wars, no racism. love your neighbour whether they are panamanian,
nicaraguan, honduran or guatemalan. you never know if one day they may be your pastor.

1 john 4.7-12 and 19-21

luke 10.25'37 love the lord your god with all your heart, soul,
etc. here tells of the good samaritan it is significant that the person that Jesus commended was neither the religious leader nor the lay associate, but a hated foreigner. bitter hostility existed between jews and samaritans in Jesus' day but Jesus asserted that love knows no national boundaries.

1 john 2.4-6 the man who says 'i know Him' but does not do what He commands is a liar and the truth is not in him. but if anyone obeys His word God's love is truly complete in Him. this is how we know we are in Him. whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.

1 john 4.7-12

prayer request

nelson - a 14 year old boy - for salvation. his mother was murdered, how long ago i don't know. he has such a look of emptiness, lifeless, soulless, emotionless.

bread

we gave out bread at church on sunday. pastor jose and patricio went around to the poorest families in town and invited them to church. only a couple of people came instead of the numbers hoped for so we had bread in church as well as people took some home. yesterday jose and i went around to the families that were invited but didn't come. i have been to homes that are made of bamboo, with no doors and no windows and walls that are made of black plastic. although jose referred to the area as the ghetto these houses at least were made of wood and had doors. the look on the woman's face when i gave her a bag of bread was priceless. tears welled up in her eyes. our message was that we would have bread in church and we wanted them to come to church. she said she would. the other families thanked us for the bread but did not indicate they wanted to come to church. we still had bread left so dany and i went back later and gave the first lady another bag of bread. she had a look on her face like you've already given me bread and could hardly believe that we were giving her a gift of another bag of bread.

although our intent is have people come to church for the bread, that way they get the sermon as well, will our actions say more than our words if we continue to take the bread to them.

floods

we are having abnormal amounts of rain. there is a lot of flooding in limon province, on the caribbean side, people swimming the street, houses showing only rooftops. fields around amparo are flooded but nothing like i finally saw on the news last night about limon and sri lanka. incredible.

rain

ok it's doing the raining for 40 days and 40 nights in 24 hours again. danny and i are in los chiles and have to walk home - if this rain keeps up like this the road might be flooded again. it's definitely an experience. and i wouldn't miss it for the world.