Habla Espanol?

I can remember what I was like when Faith and I were dating.  I must have worn people out with stories about my girlfriend.  Any one who would listen would end up knowing an interesting fact about Faith, her latest story, or what we had talked about the day before.  Whether I said it or not, everyone could tell that I was totally smitten!  

I could turn any conversation into an opportunity to talk about her!  It shouldn't be difficult to bring the object of my affection up in conversation, it just happens because I love her.  I still find myself talking about my wife in casual conversation because she means so much to me and want others to know how cool she is.  If we had only met today, it would be hard for me to last 10 minutes without saying something about Faith, Kaleb, Keziah, Annah Lucia, and/or Isabella. (Kaleb pointed out that we spelled all of our kid’s names wrong according to spell check.....)  I want others to be able to share in my joy about those I love!

Wednesday I paid a mechanic and a translator to drive to San Isidro with me in a rented car to look at vehicles as we are still searching for a good car to buy. (It’s harder than you may think to locate a reliable vehicle for a good price here!)  Long story short, we came back empty handed, but the translator needed to stay in San Isidro so I drove back with my mechanic friend Martin(MAR-teen) and a very limited vocabulary on my part.  

I hit all my normal phrases such as: “Much rain!”, “How old are you?”, “How many children have you?”, “Nice day!”, and “Isuzu Trooper no good!”.  So, after about two and a half minutes I was out of things to say even though I really like Martin and wanted to talk to him about life.... and God.  After sitting in silence and frustration for 20 minutes, I finally decided that I’d give it another try.  I think I may have asked him about what he thinks about God, and if he goes to church.  After that I am pretty sure I invited him to church and he seemed excited, but I guess time will tell if these are the things that I actually said.  

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long.  Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.  For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things that we cannot see will last forever.”   

II Cor 4:17&18

I am in love with God!  I have had extra time on my hands lately and have been trying to spend extra time in his presence.  I find myself falling deeper and more hopelessly in love with him.  So, it is frustrating not to be able to talk about him with my mechanic friend and only being able to hug orphans and ask about their names and ages.  

I know that others are supposed to be able to see God’s love in our lives even when we don’t speak, and this is what I am currently praying for.   I guess we thought that we would be able to use our online lessons, save a bunch of money, and catch on pretty fast, but that doesn’t seem to be working too well at this point.  We want to be sharp tools in God’s hands, so starting next week we will be starting some spanish lessons with an instructor.  

I remember the story of Moses and how he told God that he couldn’t speak well.  God made a way for him to do what he was called to do, and I know he will make a way for us as well.  Please pray that God helps us to learn the language as quickly as possible!  In the meanwhile we will continue to love on people and try to show God’s love through our actions.

In other news we are having a great time here in Costa Rica.  Since our last blog we have gotten to again hang out with some orphans at a pool party!  Talk about a good time!  Although wishing I could understand all that was said, we found that playing and fun are universal.  My whole family loves every chance that we get to hang out with these cool little friends!  When they must leave we each feel that a part of ourselves go with them, and can’t wait to see them again.  

Some of our friends after the pool party.

Faith is going to be taking a shift at our church’s clothing shop while our pastor and his family go back to the States for a month.  She is a little nervous about the money conversion but looking forward to meeting new people and helping out where she can.

We still have not found a vehicle.  We are trying not to obsess about this, but having always had one it is a big change to borrow a car every time you need one or walk to get groceries.  

We were praying about this yesterday morning and Faith told God that sometimes we just need things to be obvious as we may not be the quickest to catch his leading.  We also asked that God would use this experience for his glory.  Later that day we found a vehicle that seemed to match all of our needs, but it was in a town on the other side of the country.  In finding the town on a map with a friend we found that Esparza is also labeled and known as Espiritu Santo.  Espiritu Santo literally means Holy Sprit!!  (Is this the obvious sign that we were looking for?)

We then had a friend call to find out more about the vehicle and it sounds like what we have been looking for.   The seller also said that he needed to head this way soon, so instead of renting a car for $220 and driving across Costa Rica to see a car, he will bring it to us for $60!  It looks like this will have to be a “to be continued.......” story, but we are excited to see how God works out even the “small” issues in our lives!  

Again thank you for all the prayer support!  There are times when nothing seems to make sense (when we are missing friends and family) and we start to doubt, but then feel lifted up somehow and at peace with it all.  We know that this is the power of prayer to our Almighty God!  

We also want to send a big thank you out to those of you who have chosen to financially support us on this journey!  You have been a huge encouragement to us and answer to prayer in this scary and transitional time while we have no financial plan.  

We love and miss each one of you! 

The Ridderings 

P.S.  If you want to support our ministry, the easiest way to do it is via www.WorldOutreach.org/donations -  you can select Aaron and Faith Riddering from the list under the donate tab.  You can also set up automatic monthly Gifts with your credit card if you choose the "Monthly" option.  Or, simply mail your check to:  World Outreach Ministries, PO Box B, Marietta, GA 30061 and designate for Aaron & Faith Riddering #239

A view not too far from Uvita.

Lovin it!

Surf lesson!