Okay, so what did we do to celebrate Easter? We gave Brooklyn a small Easter basket complete with stuffed bunny and jelly beans sent from the United States. We went to church. We had an Easter Egg hunt. We ate at "Denny's".......
"Denny's" on Easter Sunday? I know, it sounds horrible but you have to understand. First of all, because it is kind of far away, we never go there. Second, it's as "American" as you can get - something we all crave being so far from home on this special holiday. Third, they give you free refills (completely unheard of in most restaurants in Costa Rica). Fourth, there is no way I'm cooking when we're in the process of sorting, pricing, and selling just about everything in our house. So, "Denny's" it was. It was a very good meal, by the way.
I'll admit that I would have rather been sitting around Mom's big dining room table eating ham, potato casserole, layered salad, deviled eggs and homemade rolls. Mom usually invited old family friends or neighbors over and we'd all spend hours talking around the table. It would be getting warmer outside, Dad would probably saddle up Camper and we'd take turns riding the horse around the lot. If we did an egg hung, Jake the dog would be right there with us nosing around the yard for one of those stinky hot pink eggs. We'd lay around on the nice, soft sofa. Maybe take a nap. Later we'd warm up the left-overs, make a small ham sandwich with a homemade roll and a small slice of ham.
Of course, Mom and Dad are actually in Kansas (I wouldn't mind being there visiting Grandma, either, by the way). Jake is now in doggy heaven. It's probably still too cold to ride a horse anyway. And I really never was a huge fan of ham either. And, Mom told me she got rid of that nice sofa I was thinking about taking a nap on.
I'm probably more sentimental about not being home for this day than I have been about any of the other holidays that we've spent away from "home." That is probably because this is our second Easter away from home (last year we were in California at MAF headquarters doing training - we ate at the "Macaroni Grill" last year)! Something about that makes it more real to me that we really have moved, that "home" is not Colorado anymore. We've been away from "home" for well over a year now - longer than we've lived outside of the San Luis Valley in our lives. "Home" is now wherever we are and it's our turn as parents to make family traditions that our children will someday remember. That is a fun aspect of where we are. To Brooklyn this is normal. She's going to remember some very extraordinary holidays in South America!
I don't want you to think that I'm sad or miserable! No, today was very fun and very special. We had a great time at church today. We worshipped in Spanish, we understood the pastor's message about the real importance of this day - the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and we have true victory! We can count on every promise in the Bible because He rose from the dead. We have hope! We're not slaves to sin, but we are free! We celebrated Resurrection Day in a language that is not our own but that is fast becoming a very dear part of who we are. We ate out with friends that we will have the joy of working with in Ecuador, people who truly have become our "family away from family." It is time for new traditions, new memories, new friends, and even a new language!
And it is almost time for yet another new home in a new country. We can't wait! Did you know we're down to 10 days before we leave for Ecuador? Our dream is very close to becoming a reality after more than 6 years of hard work. God is indeed very good!
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