I think too much. I was word vomiting to Renee the other night about this. It makes my head hurt sometimes. In her deep wisdom that has come with extensive life experience she told me that this tends to happen. You’re put in situations that leave your mind filled with deep, deep thoughts, ponderings, theologies, and ideas. Too much sometimes, it’s like a toilet that is stuck full of poo. You need time to break free and have fun sometimes.
The very next day I had bathroom duty…I wish I had had a camera too to share this moment with you. Anyways, as I was cleaning the bathroom I tried to flush the toilet to get it started. The brown water rose slowly to the top…no, no, no! (Yeah, you know what’s going on.) The toilet was full of poo and it needed clearing so it could do its job again. I shook my head, picked up the plunger, held my breath and started at it. I honestly had no idea what I was doing nor have I ever figured out what a plunger actually does to a toilet. A few short pushes into it and the poo went down and I was able to flush the toilet clean. I raised my arms and called out, “Freedom!”
There’s a point I promise…
Here are some bits and pieces of stories from the past best few weeks of my Race in Costa Rica. I don’t want to clog toilets with too much poo…
A good friend of mine from the states gave me the name of a city and church her dad worked with while he
was in Costa Rica earlier this year. That’s all the information I got so it turned out divinely appointed how we eventually met with the church and the dear women of one of their ministries. Kari shares how we got there:
Last Friday, Caitlin, Krystle, Jackie, Jeanette, and I headed back toward the woman’s drug rehab house to look for the church they are affiliated with. We got on the bus to Alajuelita and decided to take the route all the way around to see if we happen to see the church. We went half way up a mountain when the bus driver said we had reached the last stop on that route and we either needed to pay to go back or get off so we decided to get off and start walking. As we walked, the first guy we met along the street said hello in very clear English indicating he could communicate with us if we asked a question. We told him what we were looking for and he pointed down the road to where the church was. Only a kilometer or so away and we were there. God had taken us right to where we needed to be.
Traci reminds us to spend time alone with the Savior:
God has been speaking to me, and it hasn’t been as “still & quiet” as I’ve been used to. He wants me to be prepared for something big; He wants me to have my priorities straight and honor him with being, not necessarily doing. It is hard! It is especially hard knowing that I have people around the world wondering what I’ve been “doing.” Thank you for allowing me this time to be with my Savior.
Megan doesn’t believe our God lives in a box. And the work and ministry we’ve been doing cannot be limited to soup kitchens and construction. There’s more:
Can’t ministry also be hanging out with non-believers, going to a concert, surfing at the beach in Costa Rica, sitting at Starbucks drinking your soy, white mocha with no whip cream and some caramel syrup, hanging out at the beach, going to the mall, working at a restaurant, or sitting behind a cubical? Can’t it be walking in down town Manhattan or sitting in Dean and Deluca’s reading a book? Talking to your taxi driver on the way to the movies or an art museum? Getting a tattoo and sharing the love of Christ to the tattoo artist? Going on a road trip with a few close friends? Talking to your waitress at Chili’s?…Being Christ instead of doing Christianity. This is how I choose to live.
Since most of the other Racers have Spanish classes in the morning I got to hang out with a “select” few for a couple mornings. We had painting-the-office Church one day. Painting in itself is relaxing for me so it was great to add two sweet people to talk about Jesus with. They wanna go deeper into understanding a radical life motivated by love and faith. They’re pretty fabulous and so was the conversation.
Nine months in – enough time to make a baby – Aaron is birthing a great revelation for all of us: Cease to be amazed at the greatness of Who God is!
I want to be amazed. I want to always find the extraordinary it what seems ordinary. When we slow down and sit in the presence of our Lord, we hear his voice. We understand his grace. We can see it, hear it, and taste it. He wants to restore us. He wants to be the place where we find rest, why don’t we take him up on his offer instead of further busying ourselves? Study his world, slow down, be awestruck by him. Listen to him. If we understand his love for us, in complete awe and wonder, it prompts us to love others in greater ways. I have seen it firsthand with my teammates, with myself, and with people we’ve come into contact with. They are awestruck by God, how he moves, how he shows himself in the craziest circumstances. They can’t help but act on his grace. This is the greatest thing we could ever learn. To understand the love of God, to love him, and to love others in return. That is the gospel. That is Christ on earth.
Yes, we went roller-skating. And here they don’t joke around with it. Though some teens were there to have fun it seemed liked the majority of Costa Ricans are skilled roller-skaters and roller-bladers. They were in sync, choreographed, and speeding around turns. Um, I could go around in circles pretty well. We were celebrating Colleen’s birthday…
Heather recalls all the celebrations we had last week, including an all night Settlers of Catan game for Mark before he left:
yesterday was a celebration of a different kind, starting with an early morning. at 5ish sarah and i walked over to get colleen from her host house, and the three of us walked over to the base. there we met up with the rest of our squad to send our brother, mark, off in true family style. before we could get started, tho, sarah was commenting on how chipper the guys were. laughing, they said it was because they had stayed up all night playing a few games of catan (i had never heard of settlers of catan before the race, but in no less than two weeks, it was obvious that catan was more than just a game. sometimes, i think it’s more important to them than eating is…).
“oh, so you went to bed late then?” sarah asked.
“no, we finished putting it away a few minutes before you got here,” kyle said.
“did you seriously stay up all night playing?” sarah replied.
after a long pause, an innocent smile and a look that clearly confirmed her question, seth & danny just happened to walk into the room, one rubbing his eyes, the other yawning. in unison, we broke into laughter.
of course they had stayed up all night playing catan. they love catan. mark loves catan. and playing a new version of the game…twice…into the wee hours of the morning…allowed them to spend mark’s last night hanging out, uninterrupted by us girls, doing one of their favorite things. we laughed and joked about it during breakfast. we were still laughing about it as we earnestly thanked god for catan & catan-bonding-time, for our brother’s tender heart, curious, bold spirit and natural leadership, for his travels, for his sister & for his family.
We climbed a mountain and on the two hour trail were three crosses along the way. It was one of the most peaceful yet exhilarating days.
I think I’ve had the best days here in Costa Rica with the entire squad ’cause God allowed me to listen. Listen to the dreams and views of my teammates and friends. Listen to the stories and passion of the YWAM staff we’ve been staying with. Listen to how much God loves His people so individually and purposefully. Listen to the freedom He wants us to live in. Listen to where God is illuminating a vision of ministry for me back in the states. Just listening to others teach me more about how they desire to do this life thing in a real and engaging way. Even Gary shares with us about walking it back in the states:
It’s kind of like the “Prosperity” Message we have bought in to here… We have polished it, shined it up, made is sound so good that we have believed it. In Africa, if you preach about prosperity, they just look at you with confusion and grief. They are worshiping the Lord for what He provided today; food, a miracle, life.
Please hear my heart; I love my country and I am in love with the bride of Christ, the Church. I just have seen and experienced something that I am sure most of you have felt. How do we rise above the clouds and touch the garment of the creator, here, in America?
I have found myself falling back into a fog – looking for something that just isn’t there, or maybe something I just can’t see…
Overall that is our life theme. We all want something more than what we have settled for in the past. We are all eagerly expecting greatness out of ourselves and each other. We want to live loved and to live as lovers. Kyle has better words about this than I could even attempt:
There have been many times throughout the race when I think about coming home. Not because I am in a rush to get home, but because I want to be able to share what God has done during this experience with my friends and family. I want them to see what God has done in my life…and see the power of his love when you allow it to move in your life.
I want them to be touched by God…whether they have been or not…because He wants to do it…again and again. I want them to believe that God has something bigger and better for them in their lives…and I want to walk alongside them…through the pain and the joy…as they let go of the world and seek out OUR Father with all of their heart.
I pray that we would expect You to move in our lives…and that we would expect You to come into our hearts and lives and completely transform them…God help us to let go…and to let You come in and take over…consume us…God I ask that you would continue to transform me…God I don’t want people to see me when they look at me…I want them to see SOMETHING different…SOMETHING they can’t explain…and I want them to seek that…I want them to come after SOMETHING with their whole heart and lives…God use me…transform me…I want to be SOMETHING that you use for SOMETHING…SOMETHING amazing…SOMETHING real…SOMETHING big.
OK, so it’s lots of bits and pieces but I hope this doesn’t clog your toilet. It’s bits and pieces of the family that has taught me more about fellowship, love, and grace than growing up in church and attending a Christian college tried. It’s bits and pieces that keep me waking up knowing each day is going to be a different walk into Kingdom…no matter where I may be in this world.
