rainy days & rainbows

Today has been a sad day. We sent off our first visitor this morning and we have all been in a funk all day. Jason’s sister Andrea came to visit us this past weekend, and we had such a wonderful time with her. We did a little souvenir shopping, jumped with the waves at Punta Leona (a beach on the Pacific about 2 hours from our place), got a little sun, took a billion pictures, watched nearly every Costa Rican fall in love with Shelby, received all my Target purchases that Andrea did for me (it was like Christmas!), heard updates on the family, watched movies, ate pizza, experienced a little wildlife (raccoons and coatis trying to eat our food), stayed in a suite with an incredible view of the Pacific, laughed with and at Shelby, among many other things. We finished out our time by watching a slideshow of our time together last night before going to bed. It was such a wonderful weekend! Why do such wonderful things have to come to an end?

Shelby really enjoys her aunt! Andrea taught Shelby how to clap on Saturday, and now Shelby does it regularly. Shelby laughs and smiles easily when her aunt is around, and I attribute the funk she was in today (she was kinda fussy and more clingy today) to Andrea’s departure. It’s hard on the whole family to say another goodbye. We miss you Andrea! Thank you so much for taking the time and spending the money to come see us and our Cost Rican life here. That meant the world to us!

There is something that was stirred within us when we said goodbye to Andrea today. We arrived here in Costa Rica about 2.5 months ago and although we have missed our closest people, that hasn’t affected our emotions too much. However, today we were teary, clingy, a bit depressed, and basically had a pretty good case of homesickness. It was as if Andrea represented in some way, our people, and her leaving made us very aware of how we are so “locationally” distant from so many that we care so deeply for. It has hit us in a new way today that we miss our family and friends, and that makes us sad. We feel sad and a bit lonely.

Thankfully, although today has been a bit tough, it’s also had a few bright moments. We have really come together as a family today. I think we are are more aware than before what a blessing it is that we have each other. We’ve given and received more hugs today than usual, and that has helped a bit with the sadness (and the loneliness). Also, we’ve asked God to join us in our day (maybe days) of sadness. We’ve invited Him to meet us in our tears and asked Him to be our Comfort. And He has, and is. We are reminded by funny emails from friends, good food, music, kind Costa Rican choir members (yes we joined our church’s Christmas choir), and each other, that God cares about us… all of us, the little things along with the big things. He wants us to let Him into the sad places and allow Him to meet us in our loneliness. How amazing He is! The God who spoke the world into being, wants to hear about my heartache, and about how I feel lonely and out of place in this new country.

I am also reminded of how thankful I am for those of you that read this blog. Thank you for caring about us and our lives here in Costa Rica. We are humbled by your concern and love.