I am currently 7 weeks into my race! Hard to believe. The first month truly felt like a dream! Everything was new and exciting. Now I am finally settling in, not fully comfortable but by no means uncomfortable. And now I am ready to share a few of the amazing blessings the Lord has given me here in Costa Rica.
I look around at the beautiful world I am surrounded by and I truly could not feel more full of joy and blessings. I am sitting on the porch with coffee and bible in hand right now as I type this up and I watch the birds fly around and chirp from the trees! Their sounds are in praise to the Lord, their creator. I look to the mountains and see the clouds touching their surface and the sun beaming from above. There are thousands of trees, all resting in the peacefulness of the day. How beautiful.
Yesterday my team had a day of discipleship as we had our coaches speak to us about hearing Gods voice. We then practiced actively listening as the Lord spoke words of encouragement over our team through us. We then walked around with my team and asked the Lord who specifically he would like us to minister to. He gave us many clues as images of dogs popped in our head, places to go or even the clothing items people were wearing. Even in my doubt, he brought these things into action. We ended up walking to the dog park near our house and praying for a woman. She began to sob due to the recent anger she had built up in her heart from the death of her mother and husband. We prayed over this and her knee and joy lit up her face. She was most definitely touched by the Lord. We then encountered a man living on the streets struggling with a drug addiction. We prayed over this man that he would receive the strength to concur it. So amazing that even though he said he wasn’t ready to except the Lord at this time, the Lord will always be ready and have open arms. And he will always love him even through this addiction. So cool. Then lastly we chased this guy down on a red bike and prayed for him as the Holy Spirit asked. We prayed over his work here and his family that are currently in Nicaragua. He was very thankful. The moral of the day was to not give up on Gods people and to seek after those he highlights. We were chasing the guy on the red bike for quite some time but if we hadn’t been obedient to the Lords calling, he wouldn’t have taken us to the woman on the bench or the man on the street in the meantime. Thank you Lord.
I ride on the bus to ministry looking out the window as the breeze touches my skin and I pray for those I will encounter. I pray for the houses, the dogs, the people I see along the way. Nothing but a simple conversation with my Papa and a great awe at his creations. This is an everyday thing and a constant joy that fills my heart.
I arrive at ministry with a new adrenaline as I meet up with our Metro team. They are 4 German students our age all taking a gap year to serve as well and 3 instructors of the program. We head out into the communities and love on kids as we play soccer, (I’ve become a stud let me tell ya) sing some worship and do a teaching. We first go around to these kids homes and invite them and then walk them back to their homes at the end of the program. So many cool things happen each day as more kids and even families open up. One day a family cried in complete thankfulness as we brought them food when we visited their home. The mother said she only had 2000 colones (a little less than $4) to provide meals for her family for the week. The Lord literally answered her prayer and it wasn’t us, it was all the Lords work! The time at my ministry is also just filled with tons of community and an incredible amount of love! Metro is definitely becoming a family! Same as my home with 50 other students all eager to talk about each other’s day and the glory of our father. I am having a blast with my community.
I ride home at night often times sitting next to our lovely bus driver, Alfredo. As I sit down he quickly says “teacher!!” I say “estudiante!!” He claps and smiles a jolly smile. I ask him “how are you?” And he often needs to be reminded that it means “¿como estas?” He then shouts “bien bien!!!” He turns and tries to name everyone on the bus. He then asks how my family is and I often times teach him a few more phrases in English. We drive through the night and I see the city of San Jose all in lights. I see people bustling about and I admire and smile at everyone I see. I take it all in and I feel so much peace on this ride home after a long day.
How seriously blessed I am to be here. I am truly so thankful 7 weeks later to be in this beautiful country that most definitely has my heart. Thank you so much to those who have supported me and this amazing journey the Lord has put me on. But more importantly, I am so thankful to my Father. He is shaping my heart to live and love more like him everyday. What an honor it is that he chose me.
