Seventeen months in, and we’re still in transition. Transition is roller-coastery with its ups and downs, highs and lows. We’ll start with the highs.

Highs
Our dear friends Fred and Jolyn Zeiset (and fam) visited us over the new year. Our hearts were warmed, and it made the world seem just a bit smaller. Singing our devotion to the LORD with them around our fire on the last evening of 2020 was soul-invigorating!

Our kids continue to grow in beauty - in stature, academics, maturity, understanding, and music. We’ve always sung a lot as a family, invariably in harmonies, but the oldest two are showing remarkable talent on instruments as well. Aspen mastered the ukulele in the last two years and has added guitar and even piano. I’m amazed at his musical intuition and sensitivity. He’s a joy to play and worship with. Clementine has picked up the violin (her Christmas gift that the Zeisets delivered for us) and shows real promise! Louis closes his eyes and puts his all into drumming, longing for a drum set. I remind him we live in a 700 square foot apartment. He also excels in drawing. Juliana sings sweetly and tenderly as we worship and is developing her artistic skills. Huxley also drums (in rhythm!) and plays his little keyboard that his older brother made into a keytar by hot-gluing a rope onto it. :) And Caspian is always singing and dancing, even insisting on doing our little prayer jingle "Jesus help us hear You while we read the story" before having a book read to him.

I (Heather) and the children have established a welcome routine of education and adventure. We’ve joined a homeschooling co-op filled with people with all sorts of unusual life experiences but who share a Jesus-at-the-center commonality. Having fellowship with others makes life "a go" - we’re so thankful!

For a long time, it felt like I (Dave) was working in the USA and living in Costa Rica. I’d spend my workdays on my laptop connecting with my coaches and churches in the States as if I’d never left. But in the last several months, local ministry opportunities are opening up, and I’ve begun to form relationships with the Heredia and San Jose YWAM bases, leading worship there regularly. I’ve also been leading worship occasionally at the Union Church, including teaching for their youth group. I’ve led fewer worship moments for VidaNet over the holidays, but expect that to pick up again soon.

We’re leading a small group with our Tico friends from our church, Monte de Dios. It meets every other week, and on the opposite weeks, we worship with a small group of English-speaking missionaries and ex-pats. We’ve begun talking with Daniel Hazelwood about bringing his Texas-based worship initiative called NOW to have an outdoor worship event here. And we’re planning to host our first Worship Leader Retreat (called OASIS) in January 2022.

Lows
"Costa Rica stinks! I wish it would all disappear, and we’d wake up back home in the States. I hate it here!" - several of our children have occasionally expressed similar sentiments. It’s been hard. Leaving all things loved, known, and familiar takes its toll. The kids miss their friends, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. And snow.

Parenting has been extra challenging with our kids who are feeling such big emotions in this transition. We’ve been bewildered (and at times exasperated) by their erratic behavior when we forget "they’re not giving us a hard time, they’re having a hard time." By God’s grace, we are learning to feel their losses with them and feel our losses as well. To walk in open trust - conversing about hopes, disappointments, and always the goodness of God and His sovereignty.

The two properties that we had our hearts set on sold before we could find the finances to purchase them. We have stopped actively looking at properties and are waiting until the LORD shows us that it’s time to do so.

Things are beginning to pick up financially, but because our sole income is from coaching churches in the States, things were quite tight - many of who were shut down and weren’t thinking about training much of 2020. Our savings and the US government’s help were ways that the LORD provided for us.

We continue to mourn with our friends at VidaNet, who lost their founder, DeLynn Hoover, in July. And too, anticipate with excitement the new interim executive directors, Wendell and Melanie Nofziger, who will be coming here soon.

Grounding
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
  because the LORD has anointed me
  to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
  to proclaim freedom for the captives
  and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
  and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
  and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
  instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
  instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
  instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
  a planting of the LORD
  for the display of his splendor.
Isaiah 61:1-3

Growing
Holding nothing back.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart - lean not on your own understanding - in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5)

What is Jesus’ heart to reach those around us?
He was moved with pity - they were bewildered like a sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So pray to the LORD of the harvest to thrust laborers into His harvest. (Matthew 9:36-38)

His eye is on the sparrow.
Lately, when I’m (Heather) in deep questioning of God’s care for us, I’ll look out the kitchen window, and I’ll see this little hummingbird (tiny even by hummingbird standards) sitting, not in the hidden, leafy parts of the tree, but out on the bare branches. Even though it seems to be in a more vulnerable place, the Father cares for this little creature. And how much more...
Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s leave (consent) and notice. But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, then; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)

We have a mailing address and we love it when we find letters in it! It is:
Apartado 147-3009
Santa Barbara de Heredia
Costa Rica

You can currently support us financially in two ways:

Tax-deductible through ACTS (but we pay income tax on it)
Tax-free by check or PayPal directly to us (as a gift, there’s no tax to pay, but you don’t receive a deduction for it)

You can send checks to:
Ad Lib Music
679 Hilldale Road
Holtwood, PA 17532

Our first fire on the beach! (on Dave's birthday, January 8)

This time of year there are many reminders of God's promises

Birthday celebration for Louis (11) and Clementine (13)

Love,
Dave, Heather, Aspen, Clementine, Louis, Juliana, Huxley, and Caspian

Highs And Lows

Pools

Bits and Pieces - COVID