Ever since Sunday, I have been listening to an instrumental version of the song, "You Raise Me Up". My friend posted this mp3 with his weekly sermon that he sends out and I have been listening to this 4 and a half minute piece over and over again. I love it and I love listening to the piano.
As I prepared to write this blog I went back and reread the lyrics to the song. The chorus goes...
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up...to be more that I can be
How appropriate are those words for me and for my time here in Costa Rica. God has raised me up and it is only by His power and grace that I am becoming more and more of the woman He created me to be. Little by little I am starting to see more of that woman in me, that is not to say she wasn't there before but God is constantly molding me into His image. For I was made in His image.
When coming to Costa Rica I had two request: one to learn Spanish in order to serve, minister, and build relationships with Spanish speaking people and two to be trained and prepared for ministry work that is ahead. To me those seemed like simple requests (ha!) but I had no idea what I was asking for. God has given me so much more than what I could have ever have asked for or imagined.
Even now as God continues to lead me to what lies ahead He continues to meet my spoken and unspoken requests and needs. Gotta love His confirmation and gentle guiding hands. I feel like a child that keeps getting nudged out the door by their parent, and I feel that door getting closer and closer. What is on the other side I don't know, but I know that my heavenly Father knows.
Being in Costa Rica has been both a blessing and a privilege. Leaving here is bittersweet. In requesting to learn Spanish in order to serve, minister, and build relationships with Spanish speaking people I had no idea how strong some of those relationships would be or how precious they would be to me. Saying goodbye is never easy. (Thank God for the Internet.) Beyond this request God has also given me some wonderful friendships with some of the missionaries at the language school.
Preparing and training for ministry work has been both amazing and difficult. It has been amazingly difficult! :) in all seriousness, it has been harder than I thought, but it has also been more rewarding and incredible than I could have ever have imagined. Preparing and training for ministry has required everything I have, because God knew that there were some things that I needed to learn and there were some things that needed to be planted firmly in my heart. I am confident that the Lord has been preparing me for what lies ahead.
Even here God led me to work with a children's ministry called Valle del Sol and I have loved seeing God work in that ministry and use the people there to reach out into the surrounding community. I have learned so much from the people, families, and children there. I deeply cherish my memories of them and of the ministry and work that is taking place there.
Unexplainable joy and peace is what fills my heart as God continues to push me out the door and into the unknown. I am so thankful to be in the hands of my all knowing and all powerful Father. I am so thankful to know that I am doing what He wants me to do. For a time that was to be in Costa Rica but now that is to go back to the States. For how long I don't know exactly, a year to two years is what I think, but God knows for sure. When He says, "go" I will go and when He says, "stay" I will stay. For my hope and trust is in Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment