Pictures from Cartago, Women's Retreat, and my Birthday today!

Me in Cartago among a Bamboo forest and the same forest pictured above. And also some pretty waterfalls from the Lankaster Gardens in Cartago, Costa Rica.














Several of the women from the church on the women's reteat this past weekend: Cristina, Bethany, Margo, Jennifer, and Sindy.
Birthday celebration at the Mexican restuarant with friends, Howard and I with my cake trying to pick out the candles that melted the whole way down to the icing!!!, Rachel and Helmer, Nichole and I, and finally Howard, Me, and Helmer (I am wearing my new necklace too!).
Well today was truly a wonderful birthday...one that I will always remember since I celebrated here in Costa Rica! The day started out with all the students in my classes singing happy birthday or "Feliz Cumpleaños" to me in both grammar and culture. In culture class we also had some strawberry cake. Then I went to check my mail and was overwhelmingly surprised to find 8 greeting cards for me...all had arrived today! How neat that all of them managed to come ON my actual birthday...it was really special. After class, my tico family greeted me at home with many versions of "Feliz Cumpleaños" and hugs and kisses and a nice gift of an apron with a scene of a Costa Rican house, women, and even a little recipe for "gallo pinto: desayuno típico" (typical breakfast of Costa Rica: rice and beans), printed on the side of the apron, so I can always remember my tico family here and what I ate with them nearly every day:) Someone tonight asked me if I had gotten any special meals made for me today by my family and I answered, "of course, rice and....beans!" I've grown partially fond of this common dish.
Tonight then Howard got a bunch of people together to go out to eat at a Mexican restuarant and then have some cake and ice cream afterwards. We had a good time at the restuarant, and then afterwards with some delicious cake and really good ice cream. Rachel gave me a neat little present bag full of goodies, like hair clips, bracelets, lip balm, and lotion...all things any girl loves to receive! And then Helmer surprised me by giving me a really pretty necklace, it is a beautiful little heart on a silver chain...Howard said he picked it out all by himself and was very proud of his good taste. I will wear it tomorrow for sure. It was just a really neat night spent with some good friends here, which I am so thankful God has given me these close friendships here...it makes days like birthdays very special. Thanks guys!

The weekend here was one of many blessings that I am anxious to share. On Friday afternoon, I headed off to a women's retreat with 12 other women from my church. It is so neat to be part of a church that is from so many countries. The 13 of us represented the USA, Canada, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru, and Colombia. We had a really great time of fellowship at a church camp just outside the city. We had fun using the swimming pool, having many sessions in the chapel, and just laughing and getting to know one another better in the cabin. It was a really nice and relaxing weekend away from the city. It was also a real neat experience to get to know the other women of the church better; now I feel like I really have bonded with many of the people I only previously knew before by saying goodbye or hello to each Sunday. Our church is starting up a women's ministry, and I think it will be a really neat opportunity to start to get to know more of the women at church. There are some pictures above.

The other major blessing this weekend was that, even though Helmer and Howard were out of town at the beach, his brother Juan Jose and sister in law Marjorie still came to church. They were really listening and attentive to the entire service and we need to be praying daily for their salvation. I am sure God is working in their hearts as it is so evident in their new desire to come to church and learn more about Him. Please pray they will accept Christ, and fully understand the gospel message, and be able to understand God's purpose for their lives more and more each day. In addition to this, we also still had our discipleship cell group at Howard's house and we had a good show with Sabrina, Angie, Johnny, Jaime, Rachael, and myself. We had a really neat discussion about the important of being a part of one another's lives as brothers/sisters in Christ and going to a church and having regular communion and fellowship with other Christians. It was so incredible to see that concept sink in. Our first week doing this group about 2 months ago we talked about the need for accountability and fellowship and support among fellow believers and it seemed to not make sense to any of them or sink in at all...and now 2 months later this same group was talking and openly stating how necessary they see it is to have this support from each other as believers in Christ! They are all growing a ton in their new faith and its exciting to see. Please pray for all of the names mentioned above. Also pray as we will be taking a special retreat this next weekend and focusing on Mathew 13 and the parable of the sower. We will be gone on a retreat with this discipleship group Friday night through Sunday evening. Pray that they grow and take the time to seriously analyze their relationship with Christ, and also that we'd just get to know one another much better.

Well enjoy the pictures!

Thanks for all who made my birthday really special! ~Bethany