Online Friends

Hello from Costa Rica!  I love thinking of women in different countries all over the world reading this blog and hopefully gaining encouragement from the thoughts posted by other missionary women!  I remember first finding Ashley's blog Missionary Moms when we were relatively new on the mission field.  Reading the posts there helped me so much, knowing that a lot of what I was experiencing and feeling must be normal, because there were other women around the world experiencing and feeling the same things!  And, I love that Phyllis started this blog last year to continue that encouragement and blessing to missionary moms. 

While I have absolutely loved reading the posts on both of these blogs, it took me a long time to actually start commenting or being very active in the community provided here.  As I began to interact more with the community here, I was so blessed to start to feel like I was really interacting with these women and becoming friends!  While I still very much prefer face to face, heart to heart talks over a good cup of tea (really, here in Costa Rica, that should be a cup of coffee), I am thankful for the opportunity to learn more of what missionary life is like for women in different settings and cultures.  I love getting to know you all! 

A couple of weeks ago, I had the blessing of meeting one of these friends face to face.  From this blog, I learned that another contributor, Liz, also lived in Costa Rica.  In fact, my husband and I had even been to the camp her husband works at!  As we began to interact with each other online, we realized that we also had gone to the same language school, that she knew some of my teammates, and that our kids were relatively the same ages.  After several months of writing each other back and forth, we finally got together in person!  She and her family graciously drove all the way from their cool home in the mountains of the province of Heredia to endure a day of heat in our little coffee town in the province of Alajuela.  We enjoyed a lunch together and our boys had a blast playing with Legos on our front porch.  I loved that she jumped right in working with me in the kitchen and sharing mommy hearts and our experiences raising kids here.  It was so fun to meet an online friend in real life!  We're looking forward to getting together again!

Liz and I meeting in person

As Liz and I were talking, we wondered if there other missionary women in Costa Rica reading this blog.  If so, we'd love to meet you!  Also, we wondered if there were other women in other countries that could maybe meet through this blog and meet each other in person.  How cool would it be if this blog brought together real life communities of friends in various countries?! 

So, in the comments, please - whoever is reading this (even if you don't usually comment!) - let us know your names and where you are serving, if that is ok to make known online.  Maybe we'll find some new friends!  Also, does anyone have a fun story of meeting an online friend in real life?