"Today we remember to live and to love..."

At the end of another beautiful week, I can hardly believe that we have completed a month and a half of our journey here. I apologize again that is has been a long time since I have had time to write... I am spending less time on my computer and more time with the people that God has put in my life.

We had another great week of our regular schedule of class and volunteering and it's becoming obvious that we have grown exponentially in our language skills. Lindsay, Cole and I were talking the other day about how for the first time we can just listen and understand the conversation without having to intensely focus and hang on every word. There is a certain exhaustion that comes from working to understand and comprehend the Spanish language, 24-7.

This week 10 new German students arrived. Needless to say, of the 30 students already at the school, 27 of them are German and so 10 more Germans was just icing on the cake. I would just like everyone to know.... WE DON'T SPEAK GERMAN. Try being in another country, where you already don't quite speak the national language, and then hearing yet another language that makes NO sense. It's rather comical most days.

I give God the glory though for how He has allowed us to learn and grow and the incredible ways that He has answered prayers. My American house sister Rebecca and I have been spending a lot more time out every night, getting to know some of her friends better and God has opened some beautiful doors. We sat in our neighborhood bar "Malibu" the other night and God provided two opportunities to share Him with folks around me.

I am continuously amazed by His faithfulness. I have also learned that I daily forget and fail to look for the ways that He answers prayers, which only further propels me into this place that I don't need to be, and so when I finally open my eyes to the light that has been illuminating the outside my eyelids the whole time, I realize that God has been working His good and glory here all along and I chose to be blind to it. In praying for community the Lord has begun to bring people into our daily lives, people that challenge me to plant my feet even more firmly in the truth that grows daily in my heart. I am reminded that living "in" the world, means constantly fighting against living "of" the world, with the world. There is a dissonant harmony that exists because we are called to love, but not to settle, to be sowers of peace and righteousness, but not to succumb to the lies of sin and human nature.

We also journey out this week to the capital city of San Jose for the opening night of the National Guitar Festival in Costa Rica. It was one of my favorite experiences here so far... reminded me so much of being back at Brevard at a concert, or in Winston in the Steven's Center. As we sat down and waited before the concert began, the audience was asked to stand as the President of Costa Rica was seated. The President was there!!! He sat up in the front and he even got up to speak before the show started. That in itself was absolutely worth going to the concert. However, the music was nothing short of spectacular and brought me back to memories of watching my friends at school last spring. The performer was Jose Luis Martinez from Spain and he arranged or wrote all of the music that was played. Accompanied by an ensemble of brass and woodwinds, I was in heaven. One of the things I miss most here is being part of a group of musicians, and being able to worship God through music. What a blessing that opportunity was though.

To conclude...

Pray and pray big. God lives within us and we doubt His ability to move and work and reveal His glory. It's not the other way around... He doesn't refuse to hear our prayers and then life doesn't work out the way we want it to. Not it. The beautiful reality is that He is faithful, despite our resistance and laziness. Even when we fall down on the job, He arms firmly lift us back up, and then He walks beside us as we remember what it means to use our legs and walk, and then run, in the light of the glory of God.

In the words of Christian worship band Superchick in their song "We Live":

"We live, we love, we forgive and never give up, cause the days we are given are gifts from above and today we remember to live and to love."

How do we live... and who do we live for?

A jumble of things

The longer I'm here, the more time there seems to be between the time that I write. Sorry for that! Life just gets crazy busy and then before I know it I find myself with a mountain of things to write about and the realization that I can't remember the last thing I blogged about. I'm working on it!

First things first- THANK YOU to everyone who has prayed and is praying. Your prayers are felt here and God is working. He has opened some beautiful doors to share His gospel with the people here and He has strengthened my spirit, which I know is in part due to the prayers of the Body. I pray for you all as well and trust that God is working where you are. That is the absolute beauty of the body of Christ, no matter where we are, we are still able to function when we answer the call to "spur one another one towards love and good works" and pray.

And on to the recent news here...

We spent last weekend in Tortuguero, an island about four hours from here. Because it's an island, we had to take a boat to get there and I have never experienced anything quite like it. There are no vehicles in Tortuguero, only bicycles, and so the boat we took was only transporting people... it was so interesting. After about an hour and 20 minutes we got there and it was as though we had stepped into yet another world. Imagine a place with no automobiles, lots of adorable little children running around, beach, river, and turtles. Friday night we went with a guide to beach to "try" to see some turtles. I was told by my friends that had been there before that this activity was a waste of time because they didn't see any turtles... however, God blessed us with the gift of being able to see a huge momma turtle laying her eggs. It was absolutely fascinating. We had to wait until she had created her nest, because as soon as the turtles begin to lay their eggs, they go into a trance and are not disturbed by any outside noise or noisy white people :] haha. We also got to see another turtle return to the ocean after laying her eggs, and the grandeur of such a huge creature being swallowed back up into the ocean was remarkable.

After such an evening, I was even more in awe of the work of the Lord. The very same God that created each of us, created those beautiful sea turtles and He displays His glory through them.

Saturday we spent the day hanging out, having a "Pura Vida" day as well call it. We decided that we would make lunch together instead of going out to eat somewhere, and so Cole, Linds and I hit up the grocery store and bought stuff to make our very own tortillas and Pico de Gallo. Using corn flower, Cole and I made hand made tortillas while Lindsay cut up tomatoes, cilantro and lime for the Pico de Gallo. We also love avocado and so you can bet we had some of those too. In the end, we more than enjoyed a homemade lunch, using our "tico" knowledge of their food... it was delicious and one of the highlights of the weekend. We spent the rest of the day napping and then walking through all of the little stores there. The word in Costa Rica for "stuff" is "chunche" and so we call all the stores "chunche stores" because none of them seem to be selling anything specific, just stuff!

Sunday morning we went to breakfast and as we sat down to eat, we experienced a tremendous Costa Rican rainstorm. It was beautiful and entertaining to watch people running through the rain, until it was our turn to go back to the cabins where we were staying... needless to say, with a 4 hour bus ride in front of us, "soakin' wet" was the LAST thing I wanted to be, and so Cole ran the grocery store and bought big trash bags which my friend Franka and I put over our heads and made a dash for it. (see my current blog picture for a good laugh)

God also blessed us with a beautiful new friend in a two year old boy named Joshua. We ate two meals in the restaurant that his family owns, and he accompanied us both times, making himself at home at our table and adding an immense of joy to our hearts. He has the tiniest most adorable little voice, and the first night he had a toy Pinochio that was attached to a long spring and he was bouncing it around... hours of endless fun for such a child. Then the second time we at with him, he pretend that his hands were little ants walking on the table. We laughed and laughed and laughed. What a precious child! God certainly reminded me of what it means to have a child like faith, because without even knowing it, that little boy blessed our lives, as we are called to live in such a way that automatically blesses others.

The weekend in total was fabulous, Glory to God.

This week has also been interesting. We had so say goodbye to Cole for a couple of days on Monday, as he experienced a death in his family and had to go back to the States. Please remember the Altizer family this week. The Lord is faithful and true and losing someone you love is difficult.

Also, Monday night, Lindsay, Rebecca (my friend from CA) and I had a girls night out. We spent the evening in the mall in Heredia and enjoyed some much needed time of talking and laughing. I am blessed to have Rebecca here and it's like having a sister living in my house. I can see how God ordained our friendship and there are days where loneliness might get the best of me if I didn't have her to talk to. Thank you God for wonderful (new) friends!

Otherwise the week has been really calm and I've had some beautiful time with my family. Rebecca and I took the little kids to the pool on Tuesday afternoon, in the sweltering heat and had a great time. Volunteer work on Wednesday morning was great and I learned how to make Empanadas, my new favorite food here. SOOOO simple! I also got to know some of the elderly folks better and I am loving more than anything forming relationships with these precious people. It was my fourth week there and I'm really learning this place, thank you, Lord!

Last night we went out to some of the bars here with Lindsay and one of Rebecca's friends and enjoyed just hanging out. It was my first experience in a Costa Rican "bar", a place I've always been hesitant to be in, firstly because lots of people with lots of alcohol makes me uncomfortable and secondly because I don't drink. But one of the things that I have been shown is that to truly get to know some of these people here, you have to go to their comfort zone, and that is how God sometimes opens doors to share HIS story. I felt like we got to experience a little bit more of Costa Rica and really was lots of fun.

This morning I enjoyed my favorite breakfast of Gallo Pinto (rice and beans cooked together, yum!) with scrambled eggs, tortillas and natilla (like sour cream), with Abuelo and Abuela. We sat around and talked about food and Denny's restaurants. ha. It was great. Then Lindsay and I went to work at the Comedor and sorted recycling for a couple of hours.

My love for Costa Rica is growing... and my faith is being transformed and renewed. The one thing that is inevitable is growth. It would be impossible for me to be here and not grow spiritually, emotionally, (unfortunately not getting taller... haha), and mentally. This is a challenge and a test and God is molding me to His image!

be blessed today dear friends! Christ be with you, and may His love surround and protect your hearts as your follow Him. :]

Today is the Day

At the end of our 4th week here, it's time to stop and reflect and then look forward.

It hardly seems that almost a month ago we arrived here in Costa Rica. My goodness the time has flown by! Every week has seemed to be a different stage in adjusting to and learning to love and appreciate this new life, not to mention learn more spanish and experience this country.

Every week we do something different, meet someone new, speak new words, grow and learn about love. It seems that no matter how much time you spend around someone, if you are daily making the effort to run after Christ, He will work through them in some way or another. I can't help but love these people more everyday.

So, in light of that... I seem to be asking myself- What have I learned so far that will affect how I spend the rest of my time here? Will I continue to make a conscious effort to live in the moment everyday and live to be a blessing in the lives of others?

It seems so easy to remain caught up in ourselves and focused on OUR daily needs, instead of the needs of those around us. I am no exception to that statement, especially in a place like this where there always seems to be a long list of things to focus on besides making the best of every moment. We live in a culture driven by the future, and we live in our tomorrows, and not in our todays. Think though how much we miss by doing this! We miss the beauty of being exactly where we are, glorifying God, and giving 100% of ourselves to the people around us, which is indeed what we were created to do.

God uses all things and all circumstances for HIS glory... and here is something else that is vitally important- we are reminded in the Word that even when life seems full to the fullest of difficult circumstances, we are encouraged, IN all things give thanks, even when we're not thankful FOR all the things going on. There is a difference. Just as happiness is temporary, while joy remains through all things.

Our joy increases daily, and God's sovereignty becomes our saving grace and our hiding place.

In light of that, today is the day to embrace living in the view of eternity, right now in this moment, loving others unconditionally and honoring God through all things.

A Week of Joy

It has been several days since I've had the time to stop and write and there is lots to share! God is faithful!...

The month of September here is the month that they celebrate their independence, and Tuesday was "Dia de Independencia". Myself and some of my family went to Heredia which is one of the bigger cities near where we live in Barrio Jesus. We got really lucky and got on the bus right before a huge crowd of students... it was insane, the buses were so packed! Usually in Costa Rica the celebrate Independence Day with lots of parades and parties, but this year the government cancelled everything to prevent the spread of the flu. BUT, it wouldn't be Costa Rica if they didn't have the parades anyway... When we got to Heredia, there were people everywhere. It was crazy!!! I really didn't know what to expect, but we started to walk toward the parades and began to hear the sound of music. There were children walking down the street carrying flags, playing drums, dancing, or playing bells. It was SO beautiful and reminded me of all the parades we marched in, in high school. I really enjoyed being able to see people in another country, participate in something that I have only even seen in my own country. The people here love their "mother land" (if you will) and they are all about celebrating extravagantly. The people of Costa Rica are also very passionate and it shows in the way they play, talk, drink, walk, everything.

I think the most interesting part of the day was trying to maneuver through the crowd. Insanity! There are some great pictures on facebook that will enhance what little I have tried to explain here.

Then on Wednesday morning, I had my second week of volunteering at the Elderly Home. It was my first day taking the bus by myself and I caught the first bus to Santa Barbara at 7:00. Needless to say, I was a little freaked out about going by myself, especially because I didn't know which bus I needed to take from Santa B. to San Juan. But as always, God is incredibly faithful and I found a nice bus driver that knew where I was going and reminded me when I needed to get off. I definitely looked like the white "gringo" girl, at 7 in the morning. When I got to the home, I helped the cook, Carmen, wash the dishes from breakfast and then we began to prepare lunch. I am learning to peel potatoes with a VERY large (sharp) knife. The first time I tried this, I got laughed at, but i'm finally getting the hang of it, and I haven't cut any of my fingers off (yet!) Just joking.

Many of the people that live there are very very old and unable to move very much. Because of this they sit for most of the day in the same spot, which just breaks my heart. There is one little lady in particular, named Luisa, that I just adore. She is 92 years old and sits in wheel chair, eyes closed and unable to move on her own. I had the absolute delight of sitting with her for a little while and holding a carton of apple juice for her to drink. As I looked at her and smiled, it was a though God was trying to remind me to love her the way I would love my own grandmother. It was beautiful. She was able to talk to me, which absolutely made my day, and I could tell that the longer we talked, the livelier she got. Praise God! Sharing joy is so humbling and God burdened my heart for these people before I even got to Costa Rica... I pray continuously for an avenue into their lives, and God has given me a peace that He is there and as my heart is opened up to love them, their hearts receive that love.

Yesterday (Friday) we spent the day in the capital city of San Jose, learning about the churches, the parks, and the homes, and shopping in the street markets. It was a lot of fun to be on our own in such a busy city and we enjoyed finding all sorts of neat things! For lunch though we decided we needed some American eatin' and so we ate at Pizza Hut. I'm not sure I've ever enjoyed the taste of pizza so much. Ha! We were starving after a 4 hour tour and so it just hit the spot. Tomorrow (Sunday) we're going back to San Jose for a production of "Romeo y Julieta" at the Teatro Nacional. It's going to be wonderful!

On the way home last night I had a beautiful encounter on the bus with a woman named Annie who sat down next to me with her two-year old son Stewart. She and I talked for the 25 minutes that we were on the bus together, and as we were riding, she told me about her life, and about her child. Stewart, who is 2 years and 7 months old, looks like he's about a year old. He was born at 6 months and has lots of health issues. I realized as I sat there that I needed to tell this woman that I would be praying for her and her son, and I didn't know how. Wow. Somehow we managed to communicate that and there was such a joy between us. It's amazing to me that when God calls us to share with someone, He always provides the right words, even in another language. She really ministered to my heart and for one of the first times I felt like I was really doing what God sent me here to do- to love the people of Costa Rica and pray. I can't really explain why this situation was different from any of the other encounters I've had... but it really touched my heart.

I am reminded again this week that our purpose here is to glorify God, whether through cutting up potatoes, walking through the streets of a busy city, or taking the time to speak a few words of kindness to the people around us, we are called to quiet our hearts and listen to the voice of a God that wants to use us to love the world. If we would only just slow down long enough to stop and realize that HE is Lord of all and we exist to glorify.

Let Us Stop and Pray

Let us stop today, and pray for the people around the world that daily live for the good of others, that give of themselves in service to our country but seem to remain forgotten to most of our world. These people are soldiers, mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, friends, and our family in Christ.

We believe in a God of restoration and love, who is above all things and able to do more than we could ever imagine. His power among our nations is unfathomable

"God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire.

"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah"

-Psalm 146:1, 7-11

Don't forget about our men and women overseas. Don't forget about the people around the world that God created in His image that don't know Him. Don't forget that God loves YOU more than anything and that His son died as a ransom for your life.

Stop and pray today, and marvel at God's faithfulness when we lift others up to Him in prayer.

Abuelo ha regresado! (Abuelo has returned!)

When I got here two weeks ago (I can hardly believe that it has been two weeks!) the grandfather of our family was not here because he was in New York with one of his daughters. He had been gone for 3 months when I arrived here. However, Thursday he came back to Costa Rica! What excitement there was in my house for his return. However, the same day he arrived, was the last day that our friend Rob from England was going to be here. He has lived in my house for a year and is part of this family! Rob left Friday morning, and so Thursday night was full of mixed emotions.

In Costa Rica they celebrate everything with a "fiesta", especially when someone is leaving, or when someone is returning. Abuela made the same soup that she made for Rob's birthday, the day I got here, and they grilled meat. The soup is made with white beans, carrots, meat, and potatoes. It's quite good.

So because of all of this, we had upwards of 20 some people in our house, with lots of music and talking. It was great to finally meet Abuelo, and when he arrived, Abuela was instantly a million times happier than she had been for all the time I had been here. They still love each other so much and what a beautiful thing it is to see them together!

And through all of this, I have discovered that the beauty of Costa Rica lies in the hearts of the people here and how deeply they value the relationships they have with the people around them. This was shown to me on Friday morning when we all got up at 5:30 am to say goodbye to Rob. It was like someone died... there were so many people in our house and everyone was crying. They love Rob as their own child, brother, and friend, and how sad it was that he had to leave!

What a blessing though to live with such a family and I look forward to the connection that I will form with this people and to the things that God has planned. It is sometimes difficult to know how to share Christ with these people, because I am still working on knowing their language, but God provides abundantly and I have been reminded to not worry. I also am reminded that sharing Christ with people doesn't always mean talking exactly about Christ, but is demonstrated in the way we live our lives, the way we love, forgive, and share of everything we have. This is a life lived on Christ's behalf, to bring Him glory and share His love.

How Great is our God

I had a small encounter yesterday that comforted my heart and left me in awe:

I have been feeling so strange for the last week or so, mostly because of the absence of a the body of Christ right now due to my change of locations, but also because I have not been in worship in almost two weeks. Worship is the time that I am able to really quiet my heart and sing and lay my heart before the Lord, be challenged, and be changed- and I have been missing that.

Yesterday though, Cole and I were working at the Soup Kitchen, recycling cans and I started to hear music coming from the kitchen that I recognized. I stopped what I was doing as I realized that it was the song "How Great is Our God" in Spanish. Tears just started to roll down my cheeks and at that moment it was like God just wrapped His arms around me and said "I am here, don't worry." I realized that I miss more than anything the feeling of surrender that I find in worship and my heart is so greatly longing to just cry out to God in song! But in that moment He reminded me that HE is NEVER far, He's always there, right by our side. And there is such a beauty and purity in hearing a familiar worship song in another language. Even if you don't the words or understand anything that they're saying, you know the tune of the song, and you know that they are worshipping, and for a few minutes I was able to stop and worship too.

We all worship God in different languages and in different ways, but we all speak one thing in common- LOVE. For me, God reveals His love for me through those small moments where He reaches into my heart and comforts me with His words.

"How great is our God, sing with me, how GREAT is our God, and ALL will see how Great, how Great is our God. Name above all names, worthy of all praise, my heart will sing how Great is our God!"

take some time today to be quiet and worship. surrender you heart to God and be amazed as he just wraps His arms around you and give you the exact kind of comfort and assurance that you are seeking. He truly is a great God.