He is my everything

Wow it's been a long time, as always! Nevertheless, here I am again. This post however will be a little different. Since my last post I've had so many lovely experiences and I've been taking pictures that will be posted soon on facebook for those who wish to see them. While the day to day happenings of life in Costa Rica are interesting, I really wanted to post more subject based blogs. So I'll make a quick list of what's been going on for y'all who are wondering! If you want to hear the stories, e-mail, facebook, call, or better yet talk with me face to face when I get back, I'll love to tell them and even more than that, I'll love to hear your summer stories :).

Since last writing I've:
- Spent the most incredible week working with children living in poverty. They taught me SO MUCH. Some of their houses are little more than pieces of tin with dirt floors yet their dreams are mansions. They love and give freely. I miss them. When I left they said such wonderful things like, "I love you," "I'll miss you," "I'm going to remember you," and, from the boy who gave me the most trouble all week long: "you're a good person." I'm crying writing this and thinking about their sweet little personalities. I miss them so. And pray for them. And am committed to being more like them. So if I haven't told you recently, I love you. I miss you. I remember you. You're a good person. And yes. I'm talking to you.
Lord, make me more like a child. 
“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 18:3
"See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are." - 1 John 3:1


- Saw Harry Potter in both English and Spanish! It was fun to see in a theater full of Ticos. They're all very animated movie watchers. It's like watching a movie with a bunch of clones of my brother.


- Said goodbye to some girls I had grown close to. Most people stay in Costa Rica less than ten weeks and, with the exception of two girls staying twelve weeks, myself and my friend JaQuanna (the other 10 week-er) are the ones who have been here the longest. In some ways it feels like people come, people go, and the four of us stay.


- Visited the beautiful beach of Malpais. It's on the Pacific side located at the tip of the peninsula. Another breath-taking excursion complete with bus and boat rides, hostel stay, and seeing a beach devoid of man's influence and overflowing with the knowledge of God. 
"Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well...
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You." - Psalm 139 excerpts


- Was violently sick puking my guts out with a "bacterial intestinal infection". After two shots, two types of pills, and some nasty drinking meds, I'm 100 percent again. I've gotten to know the doctor's office really well and Spanish was easier for me than the previous time when I was sick so that's a bright side to the picture! Costa Rica just apparently likes to give me stomach bugs. Pura vida. ;)


- Spent Sundays worshiping with and falling more and more in love with the church in Alajuela. Numerous Sundays I've been blessed to take other girls from the university to Alajuela with me and they all talk about how very sweet and precious the brethren are. They have blessed all of us so. I love being silly with them, learning from them, spending afternoons with them, listening to them, and worshiping with them. I want to put them all in my suitcase and take them home with me. This coming Sunday will be my last one in Costa Rica. It will be so hard to say goodbye.

- Fallen more in love with my sweet madre. I can't believe that in two weeks I'll be leaving her. She's impacted my life and changed me for the better and I thank God for having used her in my life. Ubelia is an amazing woman and I can't think about leaving her without crying. August 13th will be hard.

- Had more fun adventures exploring Heredia and San Jose along with finally completing souvenir purchases for my peeps back home. Success. Also, lots of coffee. And lots of food. My stomach has expanded exponentially in the past eight weeks. I eat so much here, it's ridiculous.

Costa Rica has changed me. Or rather, the Lord has used Costa Rica to change me. I have learned so much here, grown so much here, been humbled so much here. The Lord has taught me of hospitality, simplicity, brotherly love, sympathy, selflessness, servitude, peculiarity, His greatness, and so much more through the beautiful, funny, sweet, and thoughtful people of Costa Rica. I've learned how much more I still need to learn. I've learned how much more I still need to grow. And I've learned that there is much work for me to accomplish to become the woman He would have me to be. Above all though, I've learned that "He is my everything." And in such knowledge, I am content.


There are things about the U.S. that I dearly miss. I miss being around Christians more frequently. I miss my family more than I can say. I miss my friends. I miss going places and not being stared at, not feeling different, and not hearing cat-calls and whistles. I miss normal breakfast foods, tex-mex, and good meat. I miss being able to walk out the door without an umbrella. I miss yards. I miss being able to walk places after dark and having the sun stay out later than six o' clock. Yes, I miss dear Texas quite a bit.


But I also know that when I return, I'm going to miss Costa Rica. I'll miss the church here. I'll miss my dear madre. I'll miss the ease of walking places and hopping on a bus to anywhere in the country. I'll miss speaking Spanish all the time. I'll miss the cool weather, the mountains, and the beaches. I'll miss coffee and fruit. I'll miss afternoon cafecito. I'll miss eating rice with every meal. I'll miss the simplicity of life here. I'll miss the diversity and beauty of the nature surrounding me. I'll miss being around sweet and funny Ticos all the time. Yes, I'm going to miss dear Costa Rica quite a bit.  


However, as strange as it is to always be missing things about different places, I've learned that wherever I am, I can be content. Be I in Texas or Costa Rica, surrounded by the Lord's people or alone, single or in a relationship, with happiness or sadness, well or sick, tired or rested, viewing poverty or plenty, loved or ignored, I am a child of the Father. The Lord is with me. And I will want for nothing. 



"When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced within,
Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
With Your counsel You will guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works." -Psalm 73


I have been embittered of heart before. I am sometimes senseless and ignorant, like a beast before my Lord. Yet He is faithful to guide me with His council, to take hold of me with His hand, to be with me when I feel utterly alone. And as I grow in Him, I learn just how much the "nearness of God is my good." I cannot imagine living life without the Lord as my refuge. Sometimes He has to remind me to be content. Sometimes I stumble. Yet I long for contentment. I want so badly to be like Paul who suffered much yet still said:

"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." - Phil 4


And when I struggle with contentment, I rejoice that Paul gives us the "secret" to contentment: that we can do all things through Him who gives us strength. I am content when He is the desire of my heart. I am content when my eyes are fixed on Him, the author and perfecter of my faith. I am content when His nearness is my good. For, when I consider Him, I do not grow weary. And I have peace.


I don't know where life, or rather the Lord, will take me. Yet wherever I am, though struggles and heartaches may abound and though I may be missing other places, I can serve God. I can serve others. I can love. There is much that I desire in life: a husband, children, ways to serve, friendships, love, family. But rather the Lord grants much or little, He has given me the greatest blessing in Himself and in His salvation. He is my greatest desire. And with Him as my everything, I can be content. I can want for nothing. For you see, I walk in green pastures and beside still waters. Even when I'm in brown, drought-ridden Texas. And that, I think, is the greatest blessing of all. And it's pretty amazing.

So that's life now. Enjoying Costa Rica. Missing Texas. Learning about contentment. I'd say that's a pretty good combination, huh? What are you learning about where you're at in life? As always, I love learning from y'all! And hearing about life in the States. :)
May everyone have a blessed and happy Monday night!
Pura vida!

Blest be the tie that binds, our hearts in Christian love

Sitting in my Tico room, drinking a carrot smoothie that my sweet madre just made me (as gross as that sounds it's actually really delicious), and counting my blessings :).

I'm so behind as always, so I decided to do a quick post summarizing two weeks ago so that I'll be caught up soon! Planning on making myself write another post this week about the last week to be completely caught up! Y'all hold me to that please...

Weekend of July 1-3:
Spent the weekend in Heredia (no traveling) and had a wonderful time! On Saturday I went to the feria (local street fair) with Lisa and her host mom! I've never seen so many fresh fruits and vegetables in my life! It was amazing! We walked among the vendors, I bought some fruit for my madre, and we had a wonderful time seeing all of the fascinating people and foods! Absolutely loved it! After the feria, Lisa, her mom, and I went to an aerobics workout class at her mom's gym. It was hilarious. Following orders in Spanish while listening to English workout music. Very fun experience! We relaxed there a while, had lunch, and then I came back home for a bit. That night some of my friends and I went out for some delicious pizza (Italian food is huge here) and Pops (super good ice cream)! It was such a fun and relaxing Saturday! I loved it!

(Really bad picture of the fair but all those tents stretching out in the distance are vendors selling fruits and vegetables! Incredible.)

On Sunday I traveled to Alajuela by myself and was honestly feeling a little sad and missing friends and family (plus it's not very much fun to make the hour long bus ride by yourself). Sundays are the days when I tend to miss everyone the most. Once I got to the building though, the brethren were so incredibly nice and sweet. They kept asking me if I was missing Beth and Reagan and I kept saying, SI SI SI!!! :) It was so interesting sitting in their class. They were discussing appointing elders and the brethren here had exactly the same questions that people always have when the subject is brought up. People are the same everywhere. Also, I got to hold sweet little baby Favian which was a huge blessing! He liked my necklace :). After services, the preacher's parents-in-law had myself and the preacher's family over for lunch! It was so much fun and I can't get over how SWEET and KIND and HOSPITABLE they all are! They have taught me so much about hospitality in my short time here. The preacher, Santiago, reminds me so much of my own dad. He's so sweet and gentle and sincere and has a delightful sense of humor that comes out at the most random times. Brotherly love is so strong here. I can't get over the care and love and empathy that they constantly demonstrate towards myself and each other. It's a wonderful place to be!

Weekend = relaxing, wonderful, and fun! So blessed to be where I am!

Week of July 4-7:
This week was kind of a blur and I really don't remember a whole lot of it (kicking myself for not writing down what I did each day). I remember that the week was very busy, that the fourth of July was VERY memorable, and that I went on a tour of San Jose because I was sick the first time that the tour was offered by my school! The tour was very neat and San Jose was fun to see! However, I like Heredia MUCH better! San Jose is a big city. It's huge and kind of a little more scary compared to sweet little Heredia with a downtown that I know my way around! So thankful to have chosen Heredia to study in!

 The cathedral in San Jose

 The national theater

The Grand Hotel

Fourth of July story time:

On the fourth of July, I was planning on going over to the house of some of my friends after school to make lesson plans for the coming week (will get to that later). My neighbor Jaquanna and I were planning on taking a taxi to their house since they live outside of walking distance from us. However, at the time when we were wanting to leave, it started POURING! Un "aguacero"! We hopped into the taxi, relieved to be out of the rain, gave the address to the driver, and were off! He drove and drove but when he stopped it wasn't at the house of our friends...we had no clue where we were. He said, "this is the address" (in Spanish of course). But we knew that it wasn't. At that point in time I didn't have a phone and therefore didn't have any way of contacting them. So I asked him if he could call their number and ask for better directions or if he could drive us somewhere that had a public phone. Nope. He had other people that were waiting for him to pick them up. He told us that this was the address, and that we had to get out. So we got out of the car, in the pouring rain, on the side of the road, without a clue where we were. We walked a little way (with water rising over our feet) down the road but still couldn't find the house. Giving up, we walked towards what we hoped was downtown Heredia, and finally found buildings that looked familiar! And then, we found the bus that takes us home! So exciting! However, the bus wasn't going to leave for about forty five more minutes. We were both soaked so we decided to wait for the bus in a nearby coffee shop and buy something to warm us up....so off we started walking again. By this point we're soaked. And cold. And tired/frustrated. As we're walking along the crowded sidewalks of downtown Heredia, we're passing tons of people in doorways who are waiting out the rain (who are of course staring at us because we're gringas). I didn't think anything of it, since people stare at me ALL THE TIME here. I don't blend in at all. One guy however, apparently trying to be funny, let out a scream the likes of which I had never heard in my life as we were walking by a store. His friends started laughing immediately afterwards. I was mad. I personally don't find the "scare the gringos" game very funny. Part of me wanted to turn around and give him a piece of my mind, and the other part of me was actually pretty terrified (his game worked). Jaquanna and I just ignored him though, kept walking, and made it to the coffee shop. Of course though, customer service is very slow in Costa Rica, and it took forever to get our coffee. By the time we finally finished at the coffee shop, it was ten minutes till the bus left. So we pretty much sprinted to the bus stop in the still pouring rain (sticking out even more in the crowded Tico filled streets), and got there right when the bus was pulling away from the curb. So sad. So we walked a little ways to the taxi stop, waited a while in line, and caught a taxi home...paying about 1,000 colones ($2) instead of the 150 colones that the bus would have been. Finally, we got home soaked, tired, and not having made any lesson plans...and it was still raining.

After drying off a bit, I hung out at the house, had supper, and then watched "Facing the Giants" in Spanish with my madre. The only patriotic activity of the day was that the movie was about American football. A very memorable fourth and not one that I really want to repeat. But hey, it makes a good story right?

Planting trees:

Another fun activity that week was planting trees with the children that we teach english to on Thursdays! I had so much fun planting trees with the kids, they're precious!

Weekend of 7/8-7/10

Immediately after classes on Friday, we set off for TAMARINDO!!! It was BEAUTIFUL! Tamarindo is a beach on the pacific side! I call it the gringo beach because it's very tourist-y (the most touristy place I've been since coming here). But I'm getting ahead of myself. First order of business was getting there. Normally, the bus ride to Tamarindo is about 5 hours...our bus ride was 9. There was construction on a bridge and so we pretty much sat on the side of the road for most of the time waiting for our turn to cross a bridge that was letting one car through at a time. It wasn't very fun. We ended up getting into town at about 11 at night but everything was well lit and didn't feel scary at all. The town is very small and we quickly found the hostel where we were staying, La Oveja Negra. It. was. awesome. We had an entire room to ourselves, and bunk-beds. It felt like camp! The mattresses on the beds were INCREDIBLE! It was SO comfortable! After finding a restaurant selling sandwiches for a midnight snack, we fell asleep quickly on the amazing beds and slept so soundly all night long. It was wonderful!

On Saturday we walked to a nearby restaurant to eat breakfast and I had french toast. It was amazing. My breakfasts here are weird and random (rice, squeaky cheese, tortillas, etc.) and this was the first north-american type meal that I had had in five weeks. So good. I ate it all.

Consumed.

Before going to the beach, we were going to stop by the bus-stop to buy tickets for the trip home. My friend Katie had agreed to leave later that day with me so that I could worship in Alajuela on Sunday. However, when we got to the ticket stand, we learned that there were no buses on Saturday leaving Tamarindo for San Jose. Uh-oh. The ticket-guy told us that we could take a bus that left at one-thirty to Liberia (a town, not the african country) and from there grab one to San Jose. We were kinda bummed that we had to take such an early bus (by this time it's 10:30) but decided to go for it. 

The next couple of hours were spent on the beach enjoying the beauty that surrounded us! I loved it like everything else here!

Time on the beach was limited since Katie and I had a bus to catch, but we enjoyed it a lot! After hanging at the beach, we grabbed our stuff, consumed another delicious sandwich, said adios to our other friends, and caught the bus to Liberia! The bus ride was awesome. It took us through a lot of the Guanacaste (region of Costa Rica) countryside and with the windows open and the breeze blowing it was incredibly enjoyable! Such a beautiful region of the country! The bus ride was pretty long but soon we were in Liberia! We asked a couple of people where the bus stop for San Jose was, found it pretty quickly, bought tickets for the six o' clock bus, and had a quick meal in the thirty minutes before the bus left! Got on the bus without any problems, rode for about four hours to the airport, caught a taxi from the airport to Heredia, and were finally home (and smelling pretty great, let me tell you)! Overall a fun trip even though most of the weekend was spent on a bus!

Sunday Katie and I went to worship with the church in Alajuela, and had a wonderful time as always. I'm so in love with those dear dear people. Katie loved it too! Santiago (the preacher) was so sweet that afternoon. He took me aside, said that he was so sorry but his family couldn't take me to lunch that day because they had plans. He was truly upset and worried about it especially since I had Katie with me. I reassured him about fifty times that it was COMPLETELY fine! They don't have to feed me every week! Etc. etc. I still think he was a little worried about it though. Like I said, learning so much about hospitality from them. Am I as willing to take in strangers and foreigners and care for them week after week, then worry about it if I miss a week, as they do for me? Lots of lessons to be learned from my brothers and sisters here. Katie and I ate lunch together and then relaxed for the rest of Sunday! Sundays are by far my favorite days here. 

Speaking of hospitality, here are some verses on hospitality for your Tuesday night reading. Let's think more on ways we can love and serve our brethren, giving ourselves fully to them! We are blessed with SO MUCH, and with so many blessings we have no choice but to share them with others. Even more than our physical blessings, we're blessed with the blessing of salvation, of having a precious Savior with a love great enough to die for us. Have you shared news of that blessing with others lately? Have I? May we be more like the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4) who was thoughtful and caring towards Elisha and more like Phoebe, a "servant of the church", a "helper of many". Two thoughtful women. Two hospitable helpers.

 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well.

Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. 

Thoughts or verses on hospitality that y'all have? Feel free to share them! Would love to learn from you!

That's all for tonight! Coming up: the most exhausting, blessed, and life-changing week of my time in Costa Rica! Stay tuned for more :). And pura vida!

Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside

"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
  Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
    "Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!"

Feeling especially blessed today.

Planted trees.

With some wonderful children.

And prayed a prayer of thanksgiving,

During the magically un-rainy walk home from the university,

In the Costa Rican afternoon,

Viewing the mountains in the distance,

And seeing the hand of God at work around me.

I love Costa Rica.

Also, I'm behind. Very very behind. Blah.

Things have been pretty busy around here lately...lots going on.

So I haven't had time to write....but I have lots to write about.

But if nothing was going on I would have tons of time to write...but nothing to write about.

Also, my internet has been unreliable and almost as non-existent as sunny afternoons are here during the rainy season.

Hence, no opportunity to work on the bloggy.

Absolutely no clue how to resolve these problems.

I'm afraid these blogs get so long that no one reads all the way through them...but then I want to remember everything that happens so I want to write it all down.

Another un-resolveable problem.

Is unresolveable a word?

Probably not.

But then, I don't speak good english anymore anyway.

(I don't speak english well anymore anyway? Anyway...anyways? .........No hablo ingles.)

Ok, enough rambling...jumping right in starting with Friday of...two weeks ago....eek!

Friday (6/28): Puerto Viejo -

Friday was very sad as I said adios to Beth and Mateo. I hated it that Beth had to leave but feel so blessed to have lived with her for three weeks! She has been such a blessing to myself, Ubelia, and all of the other Sol students. I miss her SO MUCH!

After school that day (final day of Advanced Spanish I...whoop!), I met up with Jane, Katie, Lisa, Nina, and Jaquanna and we were off to San Jose to catch a bus to Puerto Viejo!!!! The bus ride was long and uneventful and so wonderful to be on with sweet Jane! Things were going great on our first weekend doing our own thing (the program only schedules three excursions and after that we're on our own) until we actually arrived in Puerto Viejo.

It wasn't late but since it's almost completely dark by 6:00 in Costa Rica things were looking pretty sketch when we got off the bus. We had planned on taking a taxi to the place we were staying but no taxis were anywhere to be seen. I walked into a shop and asked the owner about taxis...all of the official ones had left and only "private companies" were available.

One of the number one rules in Costa Rica is to ALWAYS ride in a RED taxi with a YELLOW triangle. NEVER EVER get in a "pirata"...a privately owned taxi. Those are pretty much dudes that drive around in their cars and give people rides charging whatever they feel like. And I mean, would you get in a car with a stranger in the states? Nope. Even worse idea in Costa Rica. 

So we waited on the side of the road until an official taxi finally arrived. I have my suspicions though that he was a pirata...didn't have a meter and charged us probably a little too much. He was nice though and ended up being our driver for the weekend. Whoop!

We spent Friday night in a tent....next to the beach. It was awesome! (and only five bucks)

Jane and I outside our home for the night!

All of the tents lined up in the daytime!

We ate a delicious meal at the restaurant underneath the tents (the tents were on an upper level and the restaurant was on the first level) and then crashed for the night.

Saturday (6/25) - Snorkeling/Kayaking!

On Saturday we woke up bright and early, ran to the bus to grab tickets for the trip back, ate a pastry, and hopped in the taxi of our new amigo! We drove to a nearby beach, met our guide who had an awesome Jamaican accent, and went snorkeling in the CARIBBEAN OCEAN!!! It was amazing. So many fish and beautiful coral and just...wow. I still can't believe that I was in the caribbean swimming around with the fish! The only bad part of the experience was that, since it had rained the night before, the current was really strong. It pretty much carried us wherever it wanted to take us...and threw us into the coral a couple of times...very rough. I got scratched by the coral in two places and it's still red and itchy where the coral touched me...two weeks later. Haha not sure if I should be worried about that or not :).

After spending about an hour snorkeling we went kayaking! We kayaked a ways down the shoreline, dragged our kayaks over a little bit of sand, and then kayaked down a river through the rainforest. It felt like we were in the amazon jungle and was one of the neatest experiences I've ever had! It was so fun to kayak (my first time) and I loved seeing the sloths and birds and even insects. It was so beautiful and exciting!

We kayaked for about an hour and then headed back to shore where we grabbed some delicious lunch before heading back to Puerto Viejo in the taxi. Once back in Puerto Viejo, we hung out a little on the beach right outside the place where we spent the night before Jane and I caught a bus back to Heredia (the other girls were staying another night). It was so surreal that we were on the Caribbean coast! Everything was so beautiful and fun!

Overall a super successful adventure! We arrived back in Heredia and crashed, excited for Sunday!

Sunday (6/25): La iglesia en Alajuela!!!!!!!!

Sunday morning Jane and I woke up bright and early, caught the 8:15 bus to Alajuela, and were in Alajuela by 9:15 for worship services at 9:30! It was wonderful. The church has about forty members and everyone is incredibly nice and friendly and hospitable. I have learned so much from them and grown so much from worshiping with them. They are so wonderful and sweet and funny and I absolutely love getting to know them! It was SO nice to finally be able to worship with the saints on Sunday. I cried while remembering Christ's sacrifice with them. There is nothing quite as sweet as fellowship with brethren, especially after having missed it dearly for three weeks. 

After services some of the members had us over to their house for lunch. We ate "pollo casado" (one of my favorite costa rican dishes and the best meal I've had in Costa Rica...which is saying something!). After a fun meal with the preacher, his wife, his two children, Ronaldo, his wife, his daughter, Reagan, and Jane, the men went out on the porch to talk and the women made tortillas in the kitchen! The older women taught Reagan, Jane, and I how to make the tortillas and we had a blast making lots of tortillas together! After the tortillas were made, Ronaldo made all of us some chocolate shake type things and we enjoyed the warm tortillas...delicious! We talked and laughed and joked together the way that brethren do, and my spirit was strengthened. I am so very blessed by them and am trying to think of ways to serve them...they do so much for me and I want so badly to do something for them. If you have any ideas, let me know :).

Monday - Thursday (6/27-6/30): Blur of a week!

Monday through Thursday is really a little bit of a blur! It was very busy, spending time with Jane, meeting my new roommate Christina (very sweet girl from California!), preparing to lead the volunteering with fifth and sixth graders on Thursday, starting my new class (civilization and culture), etc. Looking back on that week it really seems to be a blur of activity, coffee, saying goodbye to people, meeting new people, and dearly missing the ones who left. 

Jane left Wednesday morning and I was so sad to see her go, but so happy that she was able to visit me! Spending time with her monday and tuesday, showing her all of the sights of Heredia (fruit, coffee, the church, the park, downtown) was so fun and I loved the adventures that we went on! Reagan also left that week and I was sad that she had to go. After Jane left on Wednesday I felt a little sad. It was absolutely amazing and wonderful to have Matt, Beth, Jane, and Reagan all here at the same time! Like a little College Station reunion! Having them all leave at around the same time though made me a little sad and took a little bit of time to get used to. I definitely missed home more last week than I have since coming here. This week has been a lot better though, think it just took a little bit of time to adjust! But if anyone else from back home wants to visit me, they're more than welcome to! ;)  

Little glimpse of downtown and a taxi over a cup of coffee.

Thursday was my day to lead the volunteering activity. Every Thursday we volunteer teaching english at a local elementary school. I was SO excited about volunteering and planned everything out! We were going to review the english alphabet and learn about adjectives in english! I brought 26 objects for each letter and was so excited about having the children use adjectives to describe them and then play a couple of fun games with them! In my head it was going to be amazing. Then we got there.

The place where we volunteer is kind of outside on a slab of concrete with a tin roof over it. It's the children's playground area. The minute we arrived (in the afternoon of course) it started raining. The problem was that it wasn't a little rain....it was a deluge! Probably the hardest rain I had seen in Costa Rica up to that point (have a fourth of July rain story but I'll get to that one later). The rain was incredibly hard and with the tin roof it was impossible to hear anything over all of the noise. I was yelling and the kids still didn't hear. For the opening activity I had to go to each individual child and pretty much yell in their face. It was interesting. So we ended up throwing my lesson plan out the window and just did activities that didn't require speaking...a fun day but a little sad that it didn't go quite as planned. Hopefully some other time I'll be able to use the lesson! :)

I need to go on and talk about the last weekend and this week but this post is already another monster! And I was trying so hard not to make it long! So I'll try to post again semi-soon so that maybe I'll get caught up...though at this point I'm questioning whether that will ever happen. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a wonderful verse that I ran across the other day. Verses about rain carry so much more meaning to me here. It rains all the time, and so I am reminded of these verses all the time. It's pretty wonderful.

“Drip down, O heavens, from above, 
And let the clouds pour down righteousness; 
Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, 
And righteousness spring up with it. 

I, the LORD, have created it." - Isaiah 45:8

So thankful to be in a place where I am constantly reminded of the outpouring of the Lord's righteousness, of His gift of salvation, and of His amazing creation. Come see for yourself, it'll take your breath away.

Off to Tamarindo (pacific side) for friday and saturday! Super pumped! As always, I miss and pray for all of y'all in the U.S. May God bless you and keep you in His almighty hand! And pura vida! :)

"Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!"

This Is My Father's World

Once again, time has gotten away from me.
So many things I want to post about:
- Culture
- Living with my precious costa rican mom
- Random facts about living in Costa Rica
- Likes and dislikes about Costa Rica
- Living a simpler life
- etcetera etcetera etcetera....
And I'm two weekends behind...eek!

But on to the last weekend and happenings from the week! I'll post about the most recent weekend and this week very very soon! It was wonderful as well! Hopefully sometime soon I'll be able to post more theme based blogs instead of lists about my week....but we'll see.

Saturday (6/18) - La Fortuna waterfall/Arenal Volcano/Baldi:
Saturday we woke up bright and early, met at the school, and left in the bus for the weekend adventure!

Bus ride was long and most of us slept. I was so happy to be feeling better and more like myself!
Our first stop was La Fortuna waterfall! We made a long hike down hundreds of stairs in a beautiful rainforest to reach our destination. Like everything else here, it was breath-taking. I feel like a broken record but I just over and over again am in complete awe at the creation surrounding me. It SCREAMS that there is a God.

"When through the woods, and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds, sing sweetly in the trees
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze;
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art,
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art."

Here are a few pics from the hundreds I took of our trek down to the waterfall and of the waterfall. They don't even begin to do it justice. I'll just have to take all of y'all back with me someday :).

It constantly amazes me how something can be so intricate and big and breath-takingly beautiful from afar, and then is just as intricate and big and breath-taking very very close. The mountain and waterfall and rainforest show as much wonder and creation as the tiny sugar ant that just crawled down my arm (eww by the way). God is amazing.

I feel almost sad looking at these pictures. You don't feel the gentle breeze, the spray of the water, the grit of the dirt. You can't hear the ROAR of the water as it POUNDS against the rocks. You miss the warmth of the suns rays. At least looking at the pictures though, you get a small taste of the beauty of it all.

After a picnic lunch by the waterfall, we hiked back UP the stairs which, after being sick for several days, was quite the test in endurance. We all made it back up though and were off to Baldi!
Before getting to Baldi, we caught a glimpse of Arenal Volcano. Arenal is still an active volcano, spewing smoke and lava, and is one of the most perfect conical volcanoes in the world. It was amazing!

That's smoke coming out the top...pretty cool, huh?

From there we journeyed on to Baldi. Baldi is a resort type place with tons and tons of hot-water springs of varying temperatures. The water is heated by the volcano and then filtered down into the pools! So cool! Some of the pools were so hot that you could only put your big toe in. Others were more bearable but still warm, and others were cold. It was all very relaxing. You could go lay on a bed in one pool, swim around in another, watch a soccer game on a tv screen in another, have a chat in another. Pretty much one of the most relaxing experiences ever. And, because the water has minerals from the volcano, they say that it's very healthy for your skin. Que rico!

After chilling/sweating in the pools for a while, we walked a little ways to a buffet and stuffed our faces. It was the first time that I had really felt hungry after being sick. I made good use of the buffet ;). All of the food was, as always, "muy rica".

Once we were stuffed, we hopped back in the van in hopes of seeing the volcano spewing lava at night. We were lucky and there were no clouds...a rarity for rainy season in Costa Rica. But unfortunately there wasn't any lava coming out that night. Bummer. We did however see a glow-worm. It's like a firefly but in worm form. I held it in my hand and watched it glow for a minute. So awe-inspiring.

Despite the lack of lava flow, we stood outside listening to the nighttime symphony, and were amazed. Gurgling water, chirping crickets, whispering breezes. It was beautiful and the perfect end to a wonderful day.
"This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;His hand the wonders wrought."

Sunday (6/19) - Zip-lining/Fairy tale castle:
Sunday morning I woke up early again and sat outside our quaint little cabin in what felt like a sea of flowers. Each cabin had a porch and flowers absolutely enveloping the porch all around it. I could see the volcano from the porch, hear the chirping birds, laugh at the silly hummingbirds, smell the sweet aroma, and feel the calming breeze. Like everything else here, gorgeous. And so, I spent another Sunday morning remembering Christ's love and sacrifice for me, heart overflowing with thankfulness, mind in awe at the beauty of creation, and yet spirit aching to share in fellowship with other Christians. So thankful that I was finally able to meet with the brethren in Alajuela this weekend (it was WONDERFUL!!!).

"This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere."

After everyone else got up, our director led us in yoga by the pool which was kind of cool and weird at the same time. Still not sure exactly how I feel about it haha. We grabbed breakfast and hopped back in the van headed for zip-lining!

The zip-line guides got us all decked out in our gear and proceeded with explaining how to do it...pretty simple (and much safer feeling than the zip-line dad rigged in our backyard when we were younger; which was awesome by the way).

Zip-lining was amazing! Flying through the rain forest on a wire was indescribably exciting! Loved it!

After ziplining we headed back towards Heredia and stopped by a "fairy-tale castle and garden" on our way home (it was really a church with a beautiful garden outside it). Very fun and beautiful like everything else here.

Headed back to Ubelia and her delicious food! We watched a Costa Rican version of American Idol for children. It was kind of fun to watch but I had more fun watching Ubelia's reactions to it. She's so precious and funny! Overall a very fun weekend :).

Monday (6/20): Coffee Tour
After class on Monday a lot of us went on a tour of Cafe Britt. Coffee in Costa Rica is HUGE! We're always drinking coffee and it's the best coffee I've ever had. The coffee is so rich and tasty that I don't even put sugar in it here! It's amazing! Cafe Britt is some of the best coffee that Costa Rica produces, and the tour was super fun! We learned all about the process of producing coffee and had a blast trying all of the different types of coffee that they produce! Here are a few pictures from the tour!

Naz (guy in the picture above) figured out a deal so that we could buy our families coffee! Overall we ended up saving about 87 dollars or something like that. He was very proud of it! haha

Came home and said hello to Mateo Perez and his mom (they were visiting Costa Rica!) So exciting and wonderful to see them! We went out to eat pizza with Ubelia, Matt, his mom, Reagan, and Beth. It was so wonderful to be with college station people in Costa Rica! I loved it!

Tuesday (6/21): San Jose/Cooking Supper/Futbol!
Tuesday was PACKED full! After class I went to San Jose with Reagan, Beth, and some other girls. We went to San Jose and walked around the souvenir area...rows and rows of tents of souvenirs! So much to choose from, it'll be hard deciding what to get everyone! We ended up getting a little lost and wandering around San Jose in the pouring rain trying to find a bus back to Heredia. It was interesting and we definitely got to explore San Jose a lot!

Once back in Heredia, Beth and I made a stop by the supermarket "Mas por Menos" (more for less) and bought some noodles, chicken, alfredo sauce, and salad to make supper for Ubelia. Matt and his mom showed up with bread and Coke and we had a blast cooking for them and sharing a meal with them! After the meal, all of the families and students in the Sol program met at the stadium to play soccer. I wished desperately that I had an athletic bone in my body while running after the ball and trying in some meager way to contribute to my team. No such luck. After playing one game though I had fun cheering on the other players! Collapsed into bed that night.

Wednesday (6/22): Baking class/movie/singing!
Wednesday after class some other girls and I went to a house and participated in a traditional Costa Rican baking class! It was fun and we made some delicious desserts! We ended up stuffing our faces and bringing tons of bread home. Don Roger (the man who works on Ubelia's house) told me that he really liked my baking! I was pumped that he liked it...and even more pumped that I understood him (he speaks mumble spanish). Here are some pictures from our baking fun!

After baking class I hung out with Beth and Matt for a little while. We went to the movies since it was Wednesday (two for the price of one= $2 movie...and I thought $4 college station movies were good!) We watched the movie...in English with Spanish subtitles, then headed home and had a mini Bible study/singing. It was absolutely wonderful to spend time and worship God with my brother and sister in Christ. So very thankful that Mateo came and that I was able to live with Beth!

Thursday (6/23): Jane arrives/volunteering/symphony!!!!!!!!!
Thursday was SPECTACULAR! JANE GOT HERE!!! I was so excited that she was able to visit me! She's been living in my room for the past several days and I've LOVED having her here! Unfortunately she's flying back tomorrow. Super bummed to see her go. But back to last Thursday....

After Jane arrived at my house, we set off for volunteering! Volunteering was very fun and also a little sad since a lot of the students from the first summer session were leaving. We hung out, taught english to, and played with the fifth grade children and had a wonderful time! After volunteering we piled in a bus headed for San Jose and attended a concert in the beautiful national theater. It was an ensemble of five instruments (clarinet, flute, bassoon, oboe, and french horn). Kind of a random combination but all of the musicians were extremely talented and it sounded beautiful! I loved every minute of it. We ate supper across the street at the San Jose hotel and listened to a super talented pianist playing popular north-american music. It was especially exciting when he played "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". :)

Unfortunately I wasn't very smart and left the memory card for my camera at home :(. So no pictures of Thursday but it was still an absolutely wonderful and incredibly blessed day!

And that ends my week! Friday was the start of our weekend trip so I'll talk about that in the next blog post! Sorry for the monstrously long post and for taking forever to write a new blog. Things have been very busy and very blessed. Still loving Costa Rica immensely and wishing that I could share it with all of y'all! Have a blessed Tuesday night and Pura Vida!

"Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!" - Psalm 103:22

Manuel Antonio and icky blechy sicky.

Hola amiguitos!
¿Como van las cosas en los Estados Unidos?
Here things have been wonderful....and a tad bit not so fun.
But lets start from the beginning shall we?

*Side note...currently typing on a spanish keyboard...I think I might be just a little too excited about being able to type ñ so easily!!!
mañana, tamaño, cumpleaños, baño, año, ñññññññññññññññññññ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SO much fun!
¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ upside down question marks are fun too!
But back to Costa Rican stories....

Last weekend we went to Manuel Antonio national park. I've been trying to think of ways to describe it and it's pretty much impossible. Even pictures don't do it justice. God's creation is just...wow. There was so much diversity, so much creativeness, so much beauty. Several times I wanted to cry from the pure, un-altered, simple joy of it. I am so in awe of the beauty that surrounds me - it speaks of the beauty of the Creator.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard." - Psalm 19:1-3

And then I read verses like Isaiah 40:8
"The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever."

And I am in even more awe. As beautiful as all this is, it will fade and end. Yet the God who created it endures. Such an amazing thought.

On the way to Manuel Antonio National Park, we stopped by a river and saw some GIGANTIC crocodiles. They were icky looking but pretty cool at the same time. Me gustan los cocodrilos mucho!

After seeing the crocodiles, we headed into the national park, hiked to the beach, and were absolutely overwhelmed by the beauty of it all.

If you can find the lizard you get a prize!

Once at the beach we saw some adorable monkeys just hanging out and a super cool iguana! Also the beach was just incredible.

(The iguana is on the log behind me!!!)

Sometimes I have to ask myself if this is real life...cause I'm really not sure anymore haha. Once at the beach we went on a hike up in the forest to a lookout point. 

After the hike we went and hung out more on the beach.

I might just stay here forever. Maybe. :)

After hanging out at the beach we did some souvenir shopping, went to a super cool beach-side restaurant to eat, had some ice-cream at this pharmacy place, and learned a Spanish card game in the hotel room. I was bad and didn't take any pictures of it all....got to do better about that.

The next morning I woke up bright and early, sat outside our hotel room, and joined the birds in praises to God in the early morning light. Remembering His sacrifice while sitting in the midst of a rainforest and gazing out at the vast ocean before me was so overwhelming that I cried. May the Lord make me ever the more mindful of the heights of His love, the depths of His sacrifice, and the magnitude of His blessings. Also, Psalms 104 and 148 are pretty incredible. After everyone else got up, we had some delicious breakfast and drove through some precious small towns in the mountains before reaching our destination. The drive in an open jeep type vehicle was seriously one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on. Unfortunately, we were told not to bring our cameras or I could have some breath-taking pics to share with y'all. So just imagine amazingly beautiful tropical scenery and precious little towns with friendly smiling people. Had some major thoughts about becoming a little school teacher in a village here. Will keep y'all up to date on how that plan works out.

Water rafting was SO MUCH FUN!!! Seriously, I LOVED it! And want to do it again and again and again! It was absolutely beautiful and invigorating and just...wow! If you've never been, I highly recommend it.

After rafting we stopped by a cute little bakery and then made the drive back to Heredia. It was good to be home. :)

The beginning of my week held fun activities such as spending time with friends and being able to learn more about the bus system/also see more of downtown Heredia. Unfortunately though, around Tuesday night I started to feel pretty bad. Wednesday morning I was definitely sicky sicky. 

It wasn't very much fun. Major nausea, bad stomach pain, headache, super tiredness, entire body aching....yeah. Slept the entire day on Wednesday. Thursday tried to go to school but that was a fail so made a little trip to the "clinica biblica" - the doctor's clinic in Heredia....which was an experience! Turns out that I had a pretty nasty virus and had lost so much fluid because of the virus that I was dehydrated. After a super painful injection, drinking a liter of "suero de rehidratacion" (rehidration solution), getting some pills AND liquid meds that I have to take three times a day...I've started to feel MUCH better. The doctor was very nice and my Tica madre Ubelia has been very sweet making me soup and crackers and hot tea. So, after sleeping all day Thursday and loading up majorly on the meds, today has been a million times better! Actually starting to eat real food again...so nice! 

*Other side note...it's VERY hard to speak Spanish when you're feeling bad. I was definitely longing for a little more English in my life. Made me feel sympathetic towards Spanish speakers in the U.S. when they get sick and have a hard time communicating.

This weekend looking forward to going to La Fortuna...ziplining, hotsprings, and waterfalls! Whoop! Will let y'all know how it goes and try to update more frequently so that these posts aren't so monstrously long!

Lastly, a little thought from some 1 Kings reading I did while laying in bed this week. After finishing the temple construction, Samuel prayed a beautiful prayer to God. In this prayer, Solomon says, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built!" - 1 Kings 8:27. Yet God DID dwell on the earth. Read what Philippians says. "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." - Phil. 2:5-8.

My great God whom even the highest heaven cannot contain humbled himself to the point of death. Our God dwelt on the earth. Our God took on flesh. My Lord is so strong and so mighty and yet loves with a love great enough even to come and dwell among us! It is hard for my mind to comprehend such love, such sacrifice, and such greatness. And yet, as hard as it is to comprehend, I am so thankful for it.

As always, love hearing from all of y'all estadounidenses!

Que Dios les bendiga muchisimo!

Y Pura Vida!