Currently sitting on the upper balcony of our base 9:58 pm, Thursday night. Two days before we part from the 11n11 squad, big sigh, and sadness. I love just listening to the worship music that is going on below. These sweet moments are going to be some of the moments I’ll miss the most. Hearing 50+people worship is one of the most joyful sounds. I feel the Lord’s presence and love in these moments.
There is so much love, everywhere! We encounter it so much more than we think. If you know me, love is one of my favorite things to talk about of course! Especially the love from the Father. So I thought I’d share about how the Lord is showing me love through a little girl at the park.
Invu is the name of the park we’ve been painting and cleaning up for the last couple of weeks. Invoo is located in the middle of a neighborhood in Jaco. The first time we came to Invoo, there were only two girls there, Tiffany and Dira. Me and another girl on my team asked if they had any siblings or friends that we could gather a group to hang out at the park. They happily took us in and we strolled around the neighborhood, stopping at each home. Pretty soon we had gathered a little squad! 🙂
I’m going to talk about one little girl in particular. But each child at the park has taught me so much. Each child has shown me love, whether it’s through something as small as remembering my name or running to hug me when they see me. The Lord appears in so many ways and sometimes the Lord shows His love through people, and moments. Recently I’ve been working on opening my heart to see it, more and more.
Sofía:
Sofía is a little girl I’ve gotten really close with here in Jaco. Right away Sofía and I bonded, despite the language barrier. Sofía is 7 years old, she loves the color pink, she loves her perrito, she loves swinging, she loves holding my hand and loves her suckers. Sofía lives right next to the park where we’ve been painting. Sofía has a goofy personality, she loves to joke around with me and is quite sassy. She loves painting my nails and doing many, many designs on my hair (sometimes resulting in knots but I still give her 10/10) haha. I see the Lord in Sofía, and the love that the Lord has for me, through this 7 year old little girl.
Every morning when we get to the park she’ll run to hug me and then take my hand to go play, which makes me feel so loved. Or if I’m not there she’ll be asking where I am. I feel like the Lord chooses me, like Sofía chooses me. I know that the love this little girl shows me, is only a fraction of the love that the Lord has for us. To think about all the love that the Lord feels for us is overwhelming, and hard for me to understand. But I’m thankful I get to see just a glimpse of it through the love of a little girl.
A few weeks ago Sofía came to the park with something behind her back, in attempt to hide something from me. The first time I asked her what was in her hands. Sofía had the biggest smile on her face, she pulls out a doll and says, “un regalo.” Which means a gift.
Can you imagine if we all loved like Sofía did? She wanted to give me one of her favorite things, just to make me happy. I know this example with Sofía is a much smaller version, but God gave up Jesus because He loved us so much. Sofía gave up her doll, something that meant so much to her, for me. Sofía holds such a special place in my heart.
Then the next day Sofía again comes to the park, hiding something behind her back again. She then pulls out Colones (the local currency). She says something along the lines of, “compro, conmigo” meaning, I buy and you come with me. She said other things too but whenever I don’t understand I just say, “of course!” So we walk through her neighborhood to a little store and she tells me “espera aqui.” Which means to wait here, so I wait outside. She comes out with two suckers, one for me and one for her. You remember when you were a kid and your parents gave you hardly any money/allowance? The fact that Sofía wanted to spend the little money she had to buy me a sucker meant so much. What a way to show someone love. Sofía has shown me so much of the Lord, and I imagine Sofía loves me only a fragment of how much God loves me. It is such a joyful feeling. Thank you Jesus for showing me Your love through Sofía.
I have to say goodbye to Sofía in a few weeks, and I know it’s not going to be easy but I do know the Lord is working in her life and all the kids lives at Invu. I would love if you joined me in prayer for the Invu and for the hearts of the children surrounding that area 🙂
Hey God,
Thank you so much for being a good, good Father. Thank you for the kids at Invu and what you’re doing in each of their hearts. Lord, I pray you continue to water the seed planted in them. Lord I pray that Your presence will be felt whenever someone steps foot into that park. I pray each child feels so loved, like a waterfall of love! Lord, I pray protection over each kid, wrap Your arms around each one of them. We declare Invoo park as Holy ground, use that land as a safe place. Thanks Jesus. Amen.
Dira-13
Tiffany-11
Moises-13
Caleb-5
Sofia-7
Brandon-3
Ethan-9
Mathew-9
Nahomy-13
Kender-10
Kelanai-1
Here’s the kids and their ages at the park if you would like to pray for each one individually.
That’s all for now! Love y’all
-Kp
*this blog was written a few weeks ago, I just forgot to post*
Drawing that Sofía and I made!
