The time that Mom and Mississippi and Arizona came

Two posts in one day, that's not really like me!  :)  But I thought I'd post a bit about what has been happening the last month or so in the ministry site as it has been quite the exciting time.  If you read my previous post, you will know that this weekend marks my 3rd anniversary of moving to Costa Rica.  It's hard to believe that three years ago I was practically a stranger at the Tutoring Center and to my SI staff.  Now I feel like I belong here, I greatly value my SI family and love all the kids that I know in the Los Guido community dearly.  

The past few groups that we have had serve with us at the Centro have been really special groups that have had a really neat connection with the kids that I work with on a daily basis.  A few weeks ago, we had a group of women, mostly from California, come for an outreach.  On that team was my mom and a good friend of our family, Karen.  My mom had asked me if it was okay with me if she was placed at the Tutoring Center for the outreach, and I was almost offended that she would even need to ask.  Of course I would want my mom to work with me and my kids for a week!  Having "Tara's mom" here was a big hit, and those who had met my dad in the past wanted to know why he didn't come too.  The other two women that were at our site were also wonderful helpers, one of which was a woman in her 70s who had been a missionary to the Philippines in the past, and the other a Visalia native who was a reading specialist.  And though you wouldn't think of it when you looked at them, those three ladies were AWESOME four square players and could hold their own with our students.

This past week we have had a group of high school students from Christian high schools in both Mississippi and Arizona.  We had a group of 5 junior and senior students, and they did an awesome job of using the little/moderate amount of Spanish they knew and connecting with our kids.  I think that the thick, Southern accents were a bit challenging for my kids to understand, but between smiles and hugs and tickles and basic Spanish phrases, communication was made possible.  These kids reminded me of myself in high school- in love with Jesus and wanting to see what He had for me in the future.  Insecure in many areas but sure of my love for kids and education.  I'm so thankful that they gave up a week of school and invested their time in the lives of my kids who will not soon forget them.  

Something that I don't always have the opportunity to do is to share my testimony with the groups that come, but I was able to do that this past week with the entire group of high school students and their leaders.  It can be a bit of a spiritual battle for me to share with them because I could easily feel like I don't have anything really exciting or "dramatic" to share with them like some of my co-workers do.  But God confirmed in me my story and my sharing when one of the seniors that worked with me this week shared that my story impacted her and encouraged her that she too could pursue being a single missionary woman in the future.  I was so blessed to hear that and know that the Lord can use any and all of our stories for His good, we just need to be willing and obedient to share.

Below are some pictures to highlight time spent with these two amazing teams:

Spending time with Mom at the La Paz Waterfall Gardens

Mom and the girls playing with our homemade playdough!

High school students doing a read aloud with a bilingual book about the 10 Commandments

We were at maximum capacity this afternoon- and all smiles!

Our sweet group of high schoolers spending time together at our Friday night banquet

 

Tres años en Costa Rica!!

March 8th marks my third year of living and working in Desamparados, Costa Rica!  Three years sounds like a long time and a brief amount of time at the same time.  In view of my third anniversary, I thought I would give you some "highlight footage" of some of the ups and downs I have experienced while living and serving here.

• A few weeks after my sweet Grandpa Roger passed on to be with Jesus and the same week that my first niece Kate Annmarie was born, I moved (with 5 pieces of luggage!) to Desamparados.
• Lived with a host family for my very first 10 weeks and shared a bathroom with a family of 5.  I unknowingly ate liver at their home, was spoiled by my host mom's care for me, and grew in my Spanish language ability.
• Survived 6 weeks of Spanish language school as the ONLY student in the school.  My grammar teacher was a bit severe and didn't have the best people skills, but BOY did I learn my grammar!
• 2012 had a full summer of non-stop, short-term outreaches, including 30 high schoolers from my home church- Neighborhood Church!  What a blessing to serve alongside my sweet, former youth group students and their leaders, my good friends.
• Got my license to drive soon after moving but bought my Suzuki Sidekick after 6 months of riding the bus everywhere.  Driving stick shift in Costa Rica = stressful and always an adventure to be sure!
• During Fall 2012 the distance of being far away from friends and family really set in and was a challenging time emotionally for me.  The Lord blessed me with the friendship of three single young women around my age who came to intern with us and I was able to spend some of my weekends and free time with them.  
• Spring 2013 was my first experience with the semester study abroad program in SI Costa Rica and we hosted the 12 FPU students in our home for "family nights" every Wednesday.
• During my parents' second visit to Costa Rica, we got to see the USA national soccer team play the Costa Rican national team.  Costa Rica won, as expected, but the other US fans at the stadium got plenty of "boos" and other negative words yelled at them.  That night sealed the deal that I am a fan of the Sele, or the Costa Rican team.
• I befriended and dated a nice Christian man for about 6 months that I met through church here.  I learned a lot and had a lot of fun, but in the end, we had too many differences that weren't going to work out for a long term relationship.  
• My youngest brother got married November 2013 and I flew back to CA for a super quick weekend in LA to celebrate with them.
• Spring 2014 brought a great group of semester student interns to the Tutoring Center, and I developed a strong relationship with the three placed with us.  They even wrote a song about me, loving called the "Taradactyl Song."
• Jose had to go to Texas for the summer months and I was quite concerned about what that was going to look like as me being the sole leader at the Centro during our busy team season.  The Lord provided the BEST intern in Alexis, a former student of mine from Neighborhood Church.  She stepped up to the plate day after day, and we had a great summer loving on our team members and Los Guido kids together.
• All 8 of us Frantzes had a dream come true vacation in November of 2014 together here in Costa Rica.  We had a house near the beach where we played and laughed and ate and just lived life together for a week.  I will cherish those memories forever.  
• November through February has been a challenging time for me health wise, and I ended up having an upper GI tract endoscopy here in a hospital in San Jose.  Medication and adjusting my diet for acid reflux and a hiatal hernia has improved how I feel a ton, and I'm praying that I am continuing on the road to 100% full and restored health.  
• And here we are, in March of 2015!  I am seeking the Lord about how long I am going to be here with SI in Costa Rica, and would ask those who pray for me and my ministry to do the same.  I want to do what is HIS best for me, and I'm not sure what that will look like for 2016.  Thanks, God, for all the good times and hard times.  You are working in me and growing me through them all.  You are faithful.