“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.-Mark 16:6
Holy week is a week of remembrance and celebration. In Latin America, specifically Costa Rica, it is a week of vacation, family time and even a national holiday on Thursday and Friday when most shops are closed down. It falls between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday though in Costa Rica neither of those days is particularly celebrated. Schools are closed for the week; almost everyone gets a long weekend off of work; classic movies like The Ten Commandments, Spartacus, and The Passion of the Christ play all week long on local channels; and families gather together and enjoy traditional dishes together.
The easter bunny is virtually non-existent. The same applies to dying eggs, easter egg hunts, and waving palm branches in church.I really appreciated Holy Week. I was able to see a completely different way of celebrating this season and came away with my own perspective. I initially viewed Holy Week as just another religious observance that I had never taken part in before, but I definitely came away with a new mindset. It was refreshing to spend an entire week meditating on Christ and His sacrifice for me. But not only is His death important but also His resurrection and future return. His triumph over the enemy. His humility. His love.
Let that sink in...Speaking of blessings, I was blessed to have my family come visit me in March! My parents, three out of four sisters, and my brother-in-law came down for a week and spent some time in the beautiful country that has been my home for the past nine months. I was so happy that they could come and we could spend that time together. We had a crazy adventure in a rented house in the jungle by the beach. We could hear howler monkeys all the time, and we battled cockroaches for sleeping space in the bed. We bodysurfed and surfed kayaks. We identified poisonous bright-green frogs and other birds and reptiles. We survived the first night then learned how to be one with the jungle, and it turns out we really had a lot of fun.
My dad stayed five days longer than everyone else, and we definitely had our own set of adventures together. I now know from personal experience what the trek up to the summit of the highest mountain in Costa Rica is like... It’s hard. But I enjoyed every minute.
Being together.
That thought makes me happy. Another thing that makes me happy is the fact that our brochures finally arrived. !!! Yay!!! Their sweet faces on the front almost make me forget how they behave sometimes. Haha. I’m mostly just kidding. I really do love them, and that’s a good thing because I spent last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday helping watch them all day. I had a lot of fun, and it was very rewarding. The four new siblings ages 11 to 1 ½ are adorable and endearing. (But don’t tell their house parents I said that. They came with an interesting set of challenges to work through that has not made their transition the easiest.)Memorable Moments in March:
-I ate my first whole fish--head, tail, fins, and bones intact and on my plate. It was surprisingly delicious!-Summiting the tallest mountain in Costa Rica at 3820 meters, just over 12,500 feet.
-Saw a smoking volcano, from a distance of course. It was truly a column of smoke.-Seeing my family when they walked out of the airport.
-Spending nine hours shopping in the biggest mall in Panama with two awesome girls.Not-so-memorable Moments:
-Arriving at the top of Poas volcano and peering into the crater and seeing only clouds. Bummer.-First night at Cielomar vacation home... cockroach crawling on my neck and waking me up in the middle of the night. *shudder*
-Saying good-bye to my family three separate times because some of them left on different days.
Prayer Requests:
-Along with the previous request, please pray that I am not distracted from thinking too much about returning home. I still have a lot of time left in Costa Rica, which I want to spend wisely and productively.
-I am praying about an exact date to return home as well. I'm thinking about sometime in August.PS. I'll post some photos this weekend. Check back later!
