Well, these next couple of posts are a little late, but I don't think posterity will mind too much!
Because all of our visa forms were lost or stolen, we had to stay in Costa Rica on tourist visas instead of student visas. Which meant that we twice had to leave the country for roughly 72 hours. I have an earlier post of our first trip out that we took to Panama.
For our final trip, we decided to head north to Nicaragua. Some dear missionary friends, the Johnson family, that we went to school with had recently moved to Nicaragua. We would be able to visit with them, stay in their home, and see the work that they are involved in.
We took a pretty nice bus that had a working (albeit, stinky) bathroom that we were very grateful for. At the Costa Rican border we had to get out in the rain and stand in a line with our luggage for 3 1/2 hours. With four children, you can imagine what I was thinking about this situation, but instead of complaining, I decided to pray that God would use this circumstance as a way to strengthen our character (which meant I definitely had to keep a cheerful disposition for the sake of the children). The way Devon, Colleen, Scarlett, & Mary-Esther responded to the challenge can only be called a miracle. I am eternally grateful to God, and so proud of my children for the grace in which they comported themselves.
We were so excited to be back on the bus after waiting for so long, and proud of ourselves, that when we drove for 5 minutes and then had to get off again at the Nicaraguan border and wait another hour, it was almost too much. I compare the experience to giving birth to Devon. How I was happy that the whole ordeal was over, only to be confronted with afterbirth pains. I just wasn't prepared for it! I guess we shouldn't take anything for granted, or get cocky.
We found out later that the Johnsons waited 4 hours on the side of the road for us so that they wouldn't miss us. We didn't have any way to communicate with and tell them of our delays. I am so humbled that they cared so much for us that they gave up their own comfort confined in a van (due to the rain) beside the bus stop.
We immensly enjoyed our time with them and seeing the work that they are doing, but all too soon, we were heading back to Costa Rica. Thankfully, the wait at both borders was less than an hour. Praise the Lord. Our next trip will be to beautiful Mississippi!
