If I could think of a word to describe the past month, it would be simplicity. Life here is slowed down, little to no rush, and just plane simple. This month and a half has looked very different than the first month in Jaco. In Jaco I felt like the Lord was really chasing after me and it was just very fast paced. My faith grew a lot in the first month. Not saying that it hasn’t in Vigia, but the way that God has shown up has been very different. In Vigia I see God through relationships, through our ministry host’s love, through the quiet, through the kids, through vulnerability, through late nights, early mornings, hard work, blisters. He is everywhere! Vigia has allowed my squad to hit the brakes and just be with each other more. I’m learning how much I really enjoy relationships and just quality time (aka my love language!!)
Our ministry this month has pretty much been all manual labor. This has been hard for my squad, and especially on our bodies making it hard to get up and do what they need us to do. But it’s also been so sweet. I love finding the joy, in the midst of the difficult. Even when muddy sweat is dripping down our legs and the sun is killing us, we always find a way to make it fun. Whether that’s through random questions that we come up with. *question of the day* or dancing around, despite how tired we are. We always find a way to make it fun, and I honestly never dread having to do manual labor.
I know it’s been a long while since I’ve written a blog, and it’s because I thought I didn’t have as much to share here. But yesterday when my squad was doing our reflection of our time in Costa Rica, I went through all my pictures and journal and realized how sweet my time here has been, and how much the Lord was moving, even if I didn’t realize it.
I think about the people I’ve encountered here in Vigía and how much of an impact they’ve made on my life. There’s so many people I could talk about but there’s one lady in particular that is very special to me.
Juanita-
Juanita is a 90 year old lady, who absolutely loves my squad. It’s pretty hard to understand what she says most of the time, but she shows her love in many different ways other than her words. She loves blowing many kisses, and reaching her arms out to us. Juanita will laugh and smile non-stop. Her joy is so contagious. She’ll go on and on about how much the Lord has done in her life. One phrase I can understand when we talk is “gracious a Dios” and that is Juanita favorite thing to say. Juanita has not had an easy life, but she is so thankful for what the Lord has done. At 90 years old you can imagine the difficulties, physically that Juanita faces daily. She struggles to walk, or get up on her own. However, on Sunday, Juanita will still get to her knees and make her way to the front of the church to praise God. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve witnessed. Despite how difficult it is for Juanita to kneel and walk, she insists on worshipping God in any form she can. Juanita’s faith has been very inspiring to my whole squad. She brings such a presence of love, and I’m so thankful to have gotten to meet her.
I can’t believe we leave in Vigía in eight days!!!! The time here has truly flown by. My squad will be going to San Jose for a few days first to get Covid tested, then we go to Atlanta for a 2 day debrief!
We would love prayers for safety, with covid testing and travels! Thanks for all the support <3
See you all soon!!!!
Eeeeeek
