A legal Costa Rican resident, finalmente!!

It's been almost a year and a half since I moved to Costa Rica, and this week, I got my official "religious resident" ID card!  This is a huge thing and means that I will no longer have to get my passport stamped as a "visitor" but can go through the "resident" line.  Praise the Lord!  And anyone who has going through the getting-residency-in-another-country process knows that it is quite involved.  I'm so thankful for those who have gone before me on my staff, especially my boss Jeff, and all the help they have given me to make this process happen.  I've had to wait in several lines before the sun came up, pay quite a bit of money, pay into the Public Health Care System (that I hope I won't actually have to use), and wait and wait.  This is the reality of living (legally) overseas, and I'm so thankful that this chapter has been turned.  

Going along with having my residency, goes the question "how long are you going to stay in Costa Rica, Tara"?  I can't tell you how many times I have heard that question in the last six months or so.  I realize that it is a valid question, as I signed up for a two-year commitment originally and have left friends and family and my former "life" in California.  My answer has been "I'm not sure, as long as the Lord would have me here," and that's what I think the answer will be for a while.  As I look back over the past year and a half, there have been many ups and downs, yay ducks and yuck ducks as we learned to call them in my missionary training I had before moving here.  There are times where I miss California and my niece Kate and nice roads and Thai food and Neighborhood Church desperately.  But as my mom told me not too long ago, I feel a lot more comfortable here now than I did a year ago or even six months ago.  And I'm so thankful for that.

So I don't really know how to answer that question of how long I'm going to be here.  I do know that I have a really cool job that I get to live out many of my passions and giftings, and that God has been molding and changing me in many areas as well.  One of the team leaders that was recently down here working us gave me a huge compliment in telling me that I am "so patient" in how I work with all the people that come in and out the doors of the Tutoring Center.  Patient is NOT a word that I would often use to describe me, but it really touched me to think that she saw that in me and blessed me by sharing that with me.

If you are on my prayer and or financial support team, if you have come down to Costa Rica with Students International, if you are my friend or family member who reads my blog every once in a while- THANK YOU!  As I continue to adjust to life here and learn what it is the Lord wants me to be doing on a daily basis, I know that I cannot do it without the support system that I have.  I am truly blessed and grateful. 

SI Costa Rica has a new blog, and I wanted to share it in case you wanted to find out more about our ministry as a whole.  You can find the blog here.
Finally, I am posting some pics of the last month or so to catch you up on what's been going on with me: :)

My friend, Erin, and I exploring Manuel Antonio National Park

Thanks for coming to visit me, dear friend!

Looking at a homework assignment in order to help team member Emily assist 2nd grader, Joyce.

SI CR staff, along with our team from the Well in Fresno and Belleve in Seattle

Sometimes we get to be "girly" in Friday's girls' club

Reading a biligual book together.  Love this.