We made it!!!!!

Well, after a very long day of traveling, that began at 1am on Wednesday morning, we made it safely to Costa Rica yesterday around 1pm. I was amazed at how smooth everything went. I had shared with a few of you how anxious I was about the traveling part, but I know you must have been praying because it went seamlessly :) The only thing that was a bummer is that Tuesday night I started getting a head cold and my head and ears felt like they were going to burst during the take off and landing. The second plane ride was so bad that I probably spent most of the ride crying....my ears stayed closed until last night around 7 when they suddenly popped open as we were buying some groceries at Mas y Menos (the local grocery store).

I knew I would experience a "what-the-heck-are-we-thinking" moment...but I didn't think it would come as soon as I opened the door to the condo we are renting. To say it is small would be an understatement. I was prepared for small, but this is teeny tiny :) Just to give you an idea, when all of our luggage was brought in, there was literally no room to walk. But, after unloading and shoving all of the suitcases under beds, miraculously, everything had a place and we were able to walk around again. After walking to Mas y Menos and getting some food for dinner and this morning, I pulled out the 2-burner electric range (it is portable :) I had another quick "moment" but in the end, 1 & 1/2 hrs later, dinner was ready....and it was good!!!! I learned a very valuable lesson about cooking here, start a few hours earlier than you actually want to eat :) We all showered and literally fell into bed. All in all it was an awesome day and the kids did amazing with all of the traveling and the extreme change in temperature. It is the middle of the Dry Season here in Costa Rica so the temperature ranges anywhere from the mid 80's to the mid 90's. Quite a change from the snow we left on the ground in Wilmington!!!

This morning, Joel, I and the kids (minus JD who was sleeping off his migraine) walked down to the Christian Surfer's property and we had a meeting with some of the staff here in Costa Rica as well as Cal Fisher, who runs all of Central & South America. It was great to touch base with them and hear their vision for the ministry here in Jaco as well as share with them what God has been putting on our hearts. These are exciting times here in Jaco with lots of awesome stuff happening! We will be meeting with some of the board members here in Jaco who run the ministry on Sunday afternoon. These are the people that we would be working closely with. Please pray for that meeting and that some of our questions will be answered. We are going to April's (she is the Mission's Coordinator that has been here for the past 1 & 1/2 years) for dinner tonight. She is very nice and has gone out of her way to make us feel welcomed.

I will post some pictures of our condo and our little "stove" either tonight or tomorrow. I am going to go and try to get some rest before going for dinner tonight. Thank you for all of your prayers so far, they have been felt! Please continue praying for us as we settle in here and meet with people who are working hard to share the gospel with this dark city. Also, please pray for continued good health for us while we are away.

A Dios sea la gloria!

Kelley (& Joel)