where we've been....

(the team at Christmas)

It's been a while.... a month actually and I'm amazed at how quickly time flies. Christmas came and went and in 2nd year Panama stint tradition we made a turkey and headed to the beach on Boxing Day. Christmas seemed really special this year as we went to a Christmas Eve service and even throughout Christmas Day we took time to pray and read the Christmas story. It was a great time of simply being together as I was reminded of how special Christmas is all year round.

From there I was blessed to be able to head back to Canada.... the land of crazy snow this year. I had a great time reconnecting with everyone even if it was freezing. I hadn't thought I was going to be able to go home and so every moment was special as it was an unexpected blessing to be home.

(back to snow in Canada!)(My dad, brother and I at home in High River)(Costa Rica... back to the sun!)

I flew directly into Costa Rica last Tuesday and the team (+ Mackenzie and Mark, Steve's friend and brother) had a great 5 days. For me it was a blast to reconnect with the team and have some good time to simply catch up and hear how everyone's time off had been. The weather wasn't great by any means but we made the best of it and spent one afternoon renting bikes and biking up the coast watching surfers and getting caught in sudden outbursts of rain. The 13 hour bus ride home on 3 buses was kinda a bummer but we made the best of it and arrived in Panama at 5:15am in good spirits. Crossing the border in itself was one of my favorite moments as we simply walked over a single lane bridge, got our passports stamped on both sides and we were good to go. Not a lot of security and the bridge itself was looked like it had seen some better days.

(crossing the border)

As I was waiting for the rest of the team to come through customs I had a chance to chat with some little boys, two brothers that worked cleaning shoes and watching suitcases and cars. They were in a great mood even though they were in such need. They put a smile on my face as they asked me how to say some things in English and asked about a Canadian nickle that one of the team members had give them. I think more than anything they reminded me how we need to be open and willing to take the time for the people that can surround us but that we sometimes don't even see.