well….another month in the books. can’t believe seven is over. i’ve heard about the beaches of costa rica being amazing, the cities being a blast and the tourist attractions being worth it…and i honestly cannot vouch for any of those things. however, i can tell you the jungles are beautiful, the monkeys sound like you’re in the middle of planet of the apes, the tropical thunderstorms shake your bed all night, the rain on a tin roof is incredible and the people are sweet, hardworking and love well.
we have spent the past four weeks, all day, in a field, that seems to be about a billion acres long (i think it was actually only 3 or 4 acres, but still), pulling weeds from around vegetables. the blog ideas and sermon illustrations that i have thought of concerning weeds and sin and fruit and labor are endless. none of them original, i’m sure…but still, some of the illustrations of the Bible have come to life for me throughout this month.
i’ll spare you the classics of don’t let the sin over take your life because it will suck out all the good things just like weeds and just tell you that weeds are mean. they have thorns that get stuck in your fingers, they overtake the good plants, sometimes refuse to come out of the ground and i actually had nightmares about them for the past few weeks.
the work was not easy. people’s backs hurt. my hamstrings have never been tighter in my life. it rains A LOT and clothes never dry around here (try putting on wet leggings…almost impossible). we smelled horrendous 95% of the time. but i don’t know why…i’ve been so happy and energized all month. the Lord has given me so much extra grace this month for the work we were doing that i almost dont believe it. we had two or three days where we got to work with kids that gave us things to look forward to. we were able to play games, do skits, sing songs and share the gospel with them….and some even chose to begin a relationship with the Lord.
we also knew that the vegetables that we were weeding were going to be sold to help at risk street kids…giving us such purpose behind our work. another thing that helped was the appreciation shown to us by our host for the work we would get done – he would literally jump up and down, hands in the air, celebrating for the rows we finished of weeding.
evidenced by this month, i can confidently say that the Lord gives energy. he gives grace and good attitudes. he gives extra restful sleep and little blessings amidst hard work that can be found if you just look for them. i’m reading through psalms this month and there were a few times in the field when the monsoons hit that i remember jokingly yelling out like David – “my God, why have you forsaken us?!” but, in reality…He has blessed and given me so so so much this month. i am so grateful for the opportunity to so tangibly serve the Lord like this. a little hard work never killed anyone.
i say all this to say…ask the Lord for what you need. i asked Him for energy and willpower to do the work that seemed futile and He blessed me over what i could have anticipated…and honestly i don’t think i even expected much when i asked. ask for health, ask for wisdom, ask for energy, ask for grace, ask for whatever it is that you need and see if you’re surprised with how He blesses you.
august is gonna be a busy one. the first 18 days will be spent with two other teams thirty minutes outside the hottest city in central america, leon, nicaragua. (yay…more sweat!) (the boys from our team are going to a separate location than us for the first three weeks). as far as i know….we are living in a school, wearing skirts (ugh), teaching english and participating in food programs. then on the 19th MY MOM IS COMING FOR A WEEK! i don’t know what we’ll be doing…but, i am excited to see her and for her to join us in ministry. then the last week of the month, 25-31 is our last debrief until this whole thing is over. i’m excited for all the excitement of this month…i thrive off of being busy – so this month is right up my alley. it’s gonna be good…i’m excited.
