First week at ILE

Our first week at ILE is in the books!  We really enjoyed our time at the school this week.  We got to learn a lot about ILE & the culture here in Costa Rica.

View from the school

Tuesday night, we were all exhausted after our first day at ILE & tried to get to sleep early.  As we were winding down for the evening, we noticed that Macie, our dog, was showing signs that she was in labor.  We knew we were in for a long night!

Around 10:30, she started delivering the first pup!  She suffered a lot through it but within a few minutes (that felt like hours) we had our first little baby!

Every 45 minutes or so after that, she delivered another puppy.  Daniel finally went to sleep around 1am thinking that she may have been finished with just 3 babies.  I tossed & turned all night as I could hear them whimpering off & on.  The last time I remember seeing on the clock was right before 4am!

First sweet little pup!

At 5 am, I got out of bed (not even sure I would say woke up) and went to check on her.  To my surprise, there were 7 puppies snuggled up to her nursing!  I noticed that one of the towels we had laid out was pushed off to the side away from her.  So I picked up the towel to move it closer & found one of her babies underneath it.  I guess it didn't make it & she knew it was best to nudge it away from the rest of her babies.  Broke our hearts!

Our day at school Wednesday was exhausting.  After being up most of the night with Macie & still adjusting to our new schedule, we were both really tired.

We had our placement exam & oral interview that morning & then appointments with the director & school chaplain that afternoon.  We also had sessions about different types of visas available for the time that we are here in Costa Rica, housing, and what to expect in our classes.

When we picked Josie up that afternoon, we had to run to Walmart for a few things.  We were dragging our feet through Walmart & both agreed that we had not felt that tired in a long, long time.

Walking to school

Posing with Daddy

First Day in Uniform :)  

Walking into her classroom

Playing as soon as she gets there!

Snuggle time :) 

On Thursday, the school spent time pouring truth into our hearts about moral purity & aligning our behaviors with our beliefs.  We have really been encouraged to see how much emphasis is on our spiritual development as a family while we are here studying at ILE.  This is truly such a beautiful ministry to missionary families!

Walking to school on Thursday 

Pouring truth into our families ... thank you ILE!

Josie girl waiting for dismissal :)

Friday was a lot about the culture here in Costa Rica.  We heard from a panel of both Ticos & former ILE students that shared insight into cultural differences that we may experience while we are living here.  We also heard from a local pastor about the current state of the Latin American church.  We really enjoyed the sessions on Friday & the skits put on by ILE students/staff to demonstrate the cultural differences were hilarious!

Josie tried TaeKwonDo class on Friday after school.  She was SO tired from being in school all day and was the youngest kid that signed up for the class.

Daniel ended up going out with the kids to try to encourage  Josie to participate but it turned into her resting on the mat & him doing all of the moves.  I was entertained, for sure!

Overall, we had a great week.  It was super tiring with having to process all of the new information, adjusting to our school schedule, & embracing our real life "puppy surprise".

But we are really thankful that we made it through the week as well as we did considering everything we are going through at once!

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One thing that really stood out to my heart this week during all of our sessions & trainings is the importance for us to remember that we are here to learn Spanish so that we can communicate the language of LOVE.

We are not here just to master Spanish.

We are not here to "ace" our tests or "make the mark" according to anyone else's standards or our own expectations of ourselves.

We are not here to strive to gain more knowledge so that we can boast about it because of our own abilities or strengths.

We are here to learn more about HIS language & HIS culture.

My prayer for us this year is that we will be constantly reminded of that.

Without understanding & embracing His steadfast love for our own lives, walking daily in it as a family, & embracing the opportunity to grow in it while we are here, we will never be able to communicate that love in ANY language.

Lord Jesus ...  Fuel our hearts with a desire to be more like you in all that we say & do so that your steadfast love becomes the language that we are MOST fluent in.