It’s Saturday and we have had a wonderful and restful day in many ways. We woke up a little later than usual to Mike’s call to join him for breakfast. Instead he and I drove over to a little “pulpería” or mini-market to grab some milk, etc. On the way back we stopped off at one of his favorite hangouts - a small bakery run by a Colombian couple. We picked up some fresh baked bread and had it cut, and we added a cream cheese-filled twist loaf and a cinnamon roll for extra measure and returned to the house to enjoy it with Shellie.
After a bite, we started in what seems to be normal Saturday chores - washing clothes and straightening things up. Shellie got caught up on her part of the blogging and I began to review my notes for tomorrow’s sermons. I was going to do my sermon on Jabez, but at the last minute felt led to focus on Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday), so I switched to Matthew 21:1-10.
After a couple of quiet hours, Mike needed to take his son Jonathan, a sophomore at a boarding high school in Southern California, to their Korean church to meet friends. I offered to go with them, so I left Shellie to rest and drove the 25 minutes down to the church. What another culture shock! As soon as we got to the gate people’s heads were bowing a mile a minute. I don’t think I’ve given my neck such a workout in years! The people were very warm, gracious and kind, even though I couldn’t understand one single word of the Korean in which they were speaking. Mike introduced me to the new pastor, a nice guy who, again, couldn’t speak english or spanish, so we were left to bows, smiles and Mike’s interpretation. It is obvious that Mike is highly respected among all these people!
It was great to watch Jonathan’s reunion with friends after a semester away. All the kids in the youth group ran and bowed first, then grabbed and hugged him. After leaving Jonathan off at the church, Mike and I decided to eat lunch at a very non-traditional Costa Rican restaurant, Los Arcos Dorados (McDonald’s). Like every other McDonald’s in the world on Saturday I suppose, it was crowded! The food however was completely predictable and the conversation even better. We began talking about what’s next for Mike in ministry. We talked over several interesting options for him to carry in prayer on his upcoming 3-week trip to the U.S., then japan, followed by Korea (to stop off at his small 40,000 member church), and then on to China to see his sister. I look forward to talking when he returns.
Saturday afternoon brought both Shellie and me much needed naps! At around 5:00, Mike again came to the door and invited us to join him for dinner. We went into San José to one of his favorite Chinese places and we had a decent meal. It seems like the meal however took a back seat to our conversation about love, potential wives for Mike and his future ministry. It occurred to Shellie in the day that a gal we love and who served on staff with me in Monterey might be a pretty good match for Mike. We’re going to work on that one!
We didn’t stay too long at dinner and returned to the house to get ready for tomorrow morning. I made a few phone calls to arrange for tomorrow’s transportation all over town and to alleviate our schedules a bit on Monday and Tuesday, still allowing us to meet and spend a bit of time with all. Everyone is so understanding!!! If I haven’t said it enough yet, we have great people in Costa Rica!!!
Our evening ended with “The Three Musketeers,” a Disney film, which energized me for tomorrow. It is so beautiful right now, that our french door and windows stayed open all night to let the breeze caress us to sleep. Thank you Lord for a day of rest and friendship!
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