Devotional Thought by Joshua: The Rip Current of the World

According to Wikipedia: A rip current, commonly referred to simply as a rip, or  "rip tide", is one specific kind of water current that can be found near beaches. It is a strong, localized, and rather narrow current of water. It is strongest near the surface of the water, and it moves directly away from the shore, cutting through the lines of breaking waves.

Rip currents can be hazardous to people who are in the water. Swimmers or floaters who are caught in a rip and who do not understand what is going on, may not have the necessary water skills, may panic, or may exhaust themselves by trying to swim directly against the flow of water. Because of these factors, rips are the leading cause of rescues by lifeguards at beaches, and in the US rips are responsible for an average of 46 deaths from drowning each year.

I got caught in the force of a rip current. It was last weekend and we were swimming at a beach in Manual Antonio. I had my boogie board and was enjoying big waves. Suddenly I realized that the rip current was pulling me deeper and deeper into the ocean. I was going farther and farther away from my family. My mom yelled for me to come in closer but I could not because the rip current kept pulling me out farther. I was so scared. My mom and dad realized I was in trouble and my dad swam out to help me. I was so happy to see him until we both were stuck. We kept trying to catch a wave that would push us back to shore but it was no use. Then a wave finally came and pushed me to shore. My dad was still far out but He was able to swim back in. Both my dad and I were so scared. 

I was surprised how quickly I got caught in the current and strong the pull was. This whole situation reminds me of the rip current of the world. The strong current is like the things of the world that pull us away from God. It so easy to get caught and pulled away from safety and protection of living according to God's word. In my story, my dad is like a brother or sister in Christ who go to help others that they see are in danger of being pulled away by sin and temptation. 
How can we avoid being pulled into the rip current of the world?
The Bible tells us to put on the FULL ARMOR of GOD!

Ephesians 6:10-1810 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes (THE RIP CURRENT OF THE WORLD!). 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

This week I am going to focus on putting on the belt of truth. The belt of truth is knowing and trusting what God's word says... and not getting pulled away by the lies of the world. 

#39 A flavor of Pringles that the US does not have....

Ethan and Josh say: These are the best.... we need them in America!

Devotional Thought from Ethan....The Dangerous Road

Give careful thought to the paths of your feet. 

Proverbs 4:26

This past weekend we were in Manual Antonio. On our last day, we were going to a beach that we had never been to that a taxi driver had told us about. My mom was driving. As we drove on the road it changed from pavement to dirt with lots of rocks and it was really steep going down to the beach. My mom asked my dad if we should keep going down. Dad said he would get out and look at the road. He thought it would be ok....but mom did not want to keep driving so they switched and dad drove. Just around the corner the road got awful with huge holes and ditches in the road. Mom didn't think we should go further and dad agreed, so we tried to back up.... but our car would not move. The tires were just spinning in the dirt. Dad went a little further down the road to try to back up in a different spot but it got worse. Next, Dad tried to put rocks behind the tires to help the tires grip something, but it still didn't work. We were all out of the car on the side of the road, praying that we could get our car out. Mom said we should just call a tow truck. But dad grew up on a farm and he doesn't like to call for help. He likes to fix things on his own. So, dad had an idea. He had mom, Maddie and I to get in the very back of the van to add weight to the back. Dad put the van in reverse and pushed the gas pedal all the way. The van started to back up! We were going so fast backwards, up the steep, horrible road and our heads were hitting the top of the van because of how rough it was. We almost went off the side of the cliff but dad just kept flooring it. He did a great job getting our van out. When we were at the very top of the road, Dad called Josh to start climbing the hill with Amelia and Mason. After that, we decided to go to a different beach. 

This experience has taught me a lot about being a Christian. As Christians, we need to be sure that we are going down the right path- God's path. Sometimes, we will go down the wrong road, like our family did. Sometimes we will get in a dangerous situation or get stuck. But, when we realize we are on a bad path, we can turn around and get back to God's path. 
This is what God says about staying on the right path. 

Psalm 119:32 I run in the path of your commands; for you have set my heart free.

Psalm 27:11 Teach me your way, Oh Lord. Lead me in a straight path. 

Proverbs 23:19 Listen, my son, and be wise. Set your heart on the right path. 

Proverbs 4:14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked, or walk in the way of evildoers.

Amazing Sunsets @ Manual Antonio

Danger!!! Crocodile on the Beach!

At the end of a beautiful day exploring the rainforest in Manual Antonio, we arrived at the beach in the park and were enjoying an amazing afternoon of swimming and playing in the sand. Suddenly, we began to hear a whistle and we saw a park ranger running along the shore telling all of us to get out of the water... because..... there was a crocodile swimming towards us! Seriously.... not a joke.  

Maddie says: It was such a surreal experience.... it seemed impossible that a crocodile was swimming toward us. I was actually very excited to see what was going to happen. I loved being a part of the crowd that got out of the water and was watching to see what the croc would do!

Ethan says: The reason you don't see me in these pictures is because I ran straight to the trail with our stuff and was ready to leave. I grabbed all our bags and ran, trying to force my family to come right away. But, some of them were so excited they stayed on shore and watched the croc. I was especially nervous for Mason because he was walking so slow and I did not want the crocodile to come ashore and get him. It was the scariest moment of my life... that I will never forget. 

Mom says: It was amazing to see each kid react to this situation. Ethan went into command and control mode, grabbed our stuff and started directing all of us to leave immediately. Amelia and Mason listened to him... (as did I!) but Dad, Maddie and Josh were captivated by the crocodile and stayed on shore (frustrating Ethan greatly!).  As Ethan left the shore to the trail, I was still on the beach trying to see if there really was a croc... when Joshua yelled, "there it is!" Mac replied... "No way, that is a piece of wood." And then the croc opened his mouth... He was huge! He quickly disappeared under the water... and I quickly joined Ethan on the path out of the park!

Josh says: It was AWESOME! I loved seeing the crocodile swim through the ocean. It was so exciting!

Amelia says: It kind of freaked me out and I was shaking when Dad took my picture by the sign.

Dad Says: I loved that our family was able to see a scriptural lesson from the eventful day.  The fact that danger is lurking everywhere in the form of temptation,  attracting the world was insightful for the whole family.  Just as the crocodile was lurking... More to come in future blog posts when we include parables from Costa Rica written by our kids.

The beautiful ocean we were swimming in....

This sign reads... "Danger, Crocodile on the beach. Do not swim"

The sign looks old... so we are guessing this wasn't the
 first time a croc has come ashore!

#46 Rainforest, #10 Sloth, #6 Squirrel Monkey, #7 Howler Monkey, #8 Iguana... and a few extra animals as well!

This past weekend we visited one of Costa Rica's treasures.... Manual Antonio National Park. It is an amazing place... teeming with wildlife... and amazing plants. With the help of an amazing tour gide, Dago, we had an unforgettable day!

The night before our tour we ventured out on our own around our hotel.
 Amelia spotted a whole group of squirrel monkeys.
 Can you spot it in the tree?

Here is a close up of one of the squirrel monkeys.

And another....

Four more monkeys.

We then went to the ocean. The kids conquered this rock. 

This is a picture of the three toed sloth we saw. 

A close up of a small crab eating on helicon plant. 

Capuchin monkey with a baby on her back.
We saw tons of these monkeys in the park.
One jumped right over Ethan's head and then ate his apple. 

A beautiful chameleon.

Where the ocean meets the rainforest...
we had the craziest experience here...
See our post about the crocodile to read more!

This iguana was about 4 feel long.

Joshua says: I loved being back in Manuel Antonio.[Manuel Antonio is a national park on the Pacific Ocean] I was in Manuel Antonio a year and a half ago for my tenth birthday. It was so pretty. It was so cool seeing all the animals. At the end of our time with our tour guide he asked me which time I liked better.  I answered, "Probably equal, but last time we saw a two-toed-sloth and a three-toed-sloth."He said,"Well let me look for a two-toed-sloth." He looked around and found one a few minutes later. Awesome last minute find!

Ethan says: I loved seeing all of the animals that I have never seen before. My favorite animal was the three toed sloth. I thought it was really funny when the Capuchin monkey jumped right over my head, then took my apple and ate it. I also loved the two snakes we saw... even though we didn't get a picture of them. One crawled right over our heads from one tree to another. It was a long green snake. 

I loved seeing and mostly hearing the howler monkeys make their noise. 

Click here to hear what the howler monkeys sound like.

Dad says: Robin and I came here for our 15th wedding anniversary a few years ago and since then Manuel Antonio has been one of our favorite places on earth.  God's creative creation is in full swing here....but best of all we were able to share it with our favorite people in the world...our kids.  

Mason's 4th Birthday!

Mason turned 4 on the 18th of August... Maddie, Josh, and Amelia decorated the house and the cake... We had so much fun celebrating Mason. He is an amazing gift to our family!

Thermal waters river!!!!!

At the base of volcano Arenal are natural hot springs, also called thermal waters. Many hotels have been built around these hot springs and they have created swimming pools and water parks all with the hot water naturally provided by the volcano. Some friends brought us to a sliver of the hot springs that are still left for public use (FREE!)... although we wondered where they were taking us when we had to go under a graffiti covered bridge and climb through a hole in a chain link fence... but once we arrived we found ourselves in a beautiful river with water as warm as a hot tub! 

Ethan says: I loved this river! It was so hot! 

Maddie says: It was very relaxing... At one point I thought I might fall asleep. It was so pretty and I really enjoyed swimming and having the rainforest all around me. 

Joshua says: It was so fun and relaxing in the natural hot spring river. There was one section where the current was really strong and it created a natural slide. It was awesome! 

Mom says: This river was absolutely beautiful! I felt like I was in the middle of a movie set... It just seemed too beautiful to be real. And it was as warm as a hot tub... I have never experienced anything like this before in my life! 

Persistence.....@ La Fortuna Waterfall

Mom's thoughts: This is a series of photos showing the boys trying to climb against the rapids... It was one of their many attempts. I wasn't able to adequately capture the force of the water but it was intense and quickly swept most people away from the rocks. I loved watching the persistence of the boys... especially Ethan who insisted on going straight up the middle, where the current was the strongest. It made me think of the very real "currents" they will face as they grow up, following Jesus, in a world that doesn't. As I watched I prayed that they would have the wisdom, strength, and faith to continue onward in spite of all that wants to sweep them away. 

And then... victory!!!!!!!

# 26 La Fortuna Waterfall

This past weekend we were invited to stay with one of Dad's co-workers here in Costa Rica at her cabin near Arenal volcano. This time of year the volcano is covered with low lying clouds so we weren't able to see it well, but we were able to visit La Fortuna waterfall right near the volcano... and it is number 26 on our scavenger hunt. The waterfall is over 200 feet tall... and we got to swim in the area below... the rapids were so strong created by the force of the waterfall!

You can se the waterfall in the background (above Amelia's head)

At the base of the waterfall... our new friend Juanita is in 
this picture with us. 

The strength of the water flowing over the rocks 
created a natural massage on your back.... but it was cold!

Joshua says: It was awesome to see the massive waterfall. It was so pretty swimming in the river while rainforest was all around you. It was so fun climbing the strong waterfalls.  

I loved it, although the water was very cold.

Maddie says: WOW! I don't have good enough words to describe this beautiful masterpiece. The power of the current is so strong- yet when I think about the force of the actual waterfall, the current is nothing compared to it. And then, when I think the power of our amazing God... The waterfall is NOTHING compared to His power. How great is our God! 
Ethan says: The current was soooooo strong! 
Amelia says: It was so strong but I loved it! I loved swimming in it! One time I got scared because I thought I couldn't stand up and I was getting tired of swimming... then Dad said... stand up! and I put my fee down and I could stand up really easy! This is a picture of me laughing so hard after I realized I could stand...