Stuck "In Between"

People often ask us great questions like “Aren’t you so excited to be home on furlough / home assignment (whatever they call it these days)?” Or “Don’t you just love living in Costa Rica?” I have struggled to put into words what I’m feeling but my sister-in-law, Maggie (who is also a missionary), hit the nail on the head. We are living in the “in-between” and the longings of my heart are contradictory.
             Furlough has some great perks: 1) getting to see family, friends, supporters, & churches whom we love deeply, 2) shopping trips to ALDI, 3) speaking my heart language and being able to fully understand Sunday sermons! I love shopping with my mom, laughing with my dad, watching our kids play with their cousins, the meals we share with my brother & his family, getting Dunkin Donuts coffee with my mother-in-law & seeing my father-in-law play with the grands!
            On the other hand, Costa Rica is our home for this season of life. Our rental house, dog, ESEPA seminary, the kid’s school, current church home & the dear friends we’ve come to know over the past 5 years are in Costa Rica. Our hearts yearn to be there doing what God has called us to do. Costa Rica is a beautiful country! I love the year-round warm weather and the predictability of the sun’s rising and setting at 5:30 each morning and evening. I love the insulated-less (may I make up my own word?) tin roofed houses – rainy season is SOOTHING to my soul!
             However, life there isn’t paradise. I continue to work on my Spanish, but I still have a really hard time communicating. I long to speak fluidly, to grasp sermons & fully take part in conversations! I miss Dollar Tree, well really all things discounted and clearance, ha! So, whether we are in the States or in Costa Rica the truth is we live in the “in-between,” and that’s difficult. God has used the missionary life to make us keenly aware of the truth that this earth is not our home!
              You don’t have to be a missionary to experience the “in-between.” I imagine many of you, if not all of you, experience the “in-between” and conflicting longings just like we do. I just wanted to share a little bit of what is swirling around in this head of mine.
               Finally, the answer to the above questions are: yes, I love being on furlough and I love living in Costa Rica, but my heart is conflicted with in the “in-between.” How about your heart, can you relate? If so, may we find joy together in following Paul’s example to, “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14). When Jesus returns, there will be no “in-between” and that’s something to rejoice about!   

Junior Vols

We took advantage of being here in Knoxville to check out the Tennessee Volunteers at their annual spring game. Ann Renee and Bryan were impressed with Neyland Stadium although, to be fair, they had never been in any stadium before. There were lots of questions about which team Daddy was rooting for, orange or white, and more than a little confusion at the idea that both teams were Tennessee.
               In the end, it was fun experience for all of us. We walked around the stadium, waited in long lines for concessions and climbed to the upper deck to see the view from a higher perspective. What we did least of was watch football. We are glad to have had the opportunity to introduce the kids to some of the things that contribute to who we are today: churches, family, friends and yes, even Tennessee football!

Support Raising

                 Support raising continues to move forward. I was in Virginia two weekends in a row and then South Carolina and finally North Carolina. I had some visits with some new potential supporting churches and the chance to catch up with some supporting churches that we hadn't yet visited.
                We are still short of our monthly goal by about 50% and we have received about 10% of our one-time goal. We received word from a church this week that they would not be able to support us but we are still under consideration by two other churches. We would appreciate your prayers in this area as we seek to return to Costa Rica in mid June.

Prayer and Praise

How you can pray this month... 
- Pray for our continued efforts in support raising, specifically that God would provide for our remaining need and help us not to get discouraged.
- Pray for wisdom as we start thinking about the various steps involved in returning to Costa Rica.
 
Praise and Thanksgiving this month... 
- Praise for safety in Andrew's recent travels.
- Thanks for God's provision of support to this point.

Much love,
Andrew, Julie, Ann Renee and Bryan