A Smattering of Thanks

Continuing on with my "One Thousand Gifts, Costa Rica Style," I give you:

46) Worship Night... Dual worship with Di from across the room, harmonizing in English & Spanish

51) Hebrews 4:16, and the quote Evan sent me. "Lord, I crawled across the barrenness to You with my empty cup... If only I had known You better, I'd have come running with a bucket." -- Nancy Spiegelberg

58) THE MVCC TEAM IS HERE! Seeing people from home is balm to my spirit.

59) Setting up my massage chair

67) Van ride to the ocean on our free day... seeing crocs, loud music and so much laughter

69) Walking the beach -- watching the sun set -- falling asleep to the sound of the waves

73) UNO games so intense, they make you sweat!

80) Realizing anew that the armor of God is made specifically for me. I'm not a kid playing dress-up, I have the armor of a warrior princess

89) The breezes that sweep through this house when all the windows and doors are open

92) Looking around the room and being overcome with the feeling of how lucky I am to be serving alongside these amazing people

99) Evan's stability and the kindness in his voice when I call freaking out

104) An unexpected donation which will cover two months of my weekly tutoring, starting in January.

106) Watching fireworks through the kitchen window

111) Telling Jack, "I have a secret for you" on Skype, and having him yell "I KNOW!! YOU LUB ME!"

114) "God is plotting for your joy"

A Pictorial Post

Doing the tourist thing on our days off, this day we went to see The Basilica in Cartago 

 Stunning views from our table at Sanchiri Restaurant

 Eating homemade coconut ice cream! Les saw this and said, "Suffering on the mission field for Jesus, I see."

 Every Saturday morning I get a pipa, which is cutting the top off a green coconut, and drinking the water inside. Delish, and Way Healthy.

 Playing with the kids... sometimes using chalk on the ground gets boring. That's where gringas come in!

Some Costa Rican beauty to leave you with... Happy Thanksgiving Eve, precious friends!

An "Ouch" Moment

This past week we began two pretty intense Bible studies -- Beth Moore's "Breaking Free" and a VBI course on The Kingdom of God. Each one of them has had a lot of homework that involved chapters and chapters of reading various books in the Bible.

It was exhausting, and if you were here in the house, you may or may not have heard snippets of “Wow, this is a lot!” or “I’m tired of reading the Bible!”

This morning we sat down to do one of the studies and Diana asked, “So, how many of you were tired of all the reading?”

It was pretty unanimous. And then she said, “I was too, but then God convicted me. And I just want to read something to you.”

She pulled out a piece of paper and said, “Here is a list of the 52 countries where it is illegal to have a Bible in your possession,” and began to read name after name.

I was in tears by the time she was done. Millions of my fellow brothers and sisters are longing for a chance to read any word from a Bible… some risking their lives to own something that I have two of down here in Costa Rica, and several more packed away in New Hampshire. And I had been complaining about doing something that to them is inconceivable.

Sometimes I get so ashamed of how “first world” I have become. And then I remember that my feeling shame isn’t going to change anything. However, applying Hebrews 13:3 to “remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them” and praying for those who don’t have the freedom to read the Bible WILL make a difference.

Join me?

 

 

One Year!

(subtitled: Holy CRAP, all that can happen in 366 days??)

One year ago, on November 1, I was newly licensed as a massage therapist, had just left a job that I hated and was setting out on my own in my dream career. Life was going in exactly the direction I had been praying and planning for, for so many years.

And then I got the phone call asking if I wanted to take someones place on MVCC's trip to Costa Rica, leaving in two days.

I said "yes," Googled "Where is Costa Rica?" and life has never been the same.

(November 2011)

By the end of that trip, plans had already been made to go back in July, as a co-leader for MVCC's youth trip.

And before Christmas, I knew that God was asking for more than just short-term commitments. I filled out the application, had my "interview" with Les & Di, and said "yes" to a year of interning in Los Anonos.

The trip in July was confirmation that Costa Rica was where God was calling my heart, and I spent the time trying to wrap my head and heart around the fact that everything I was seeing would soon be my "new normal."

(July 2012)

And when I got home at the end of July, it was time to sort, sell and pack up everything, except for two duffel bags and one trunk, that came with me on October 9th.

I look back to that Tuesday morning, smiling that one year ago I had to Google where the heck Costa Rica was, and now... I'm living here.

God has done so much in my heart over this past year. In some ways, I am a completely different person, yet in many ways I'm just way more me than I ever have been.

The transition has not been easy, but He never promised that it would be. He did, however, promise that He would be with me every step of the way. And I've seen Him over and over again... in the good things and in the hard things.

(This morning)