I don't like writing blogs when I upset, but I am going to write this one because I am working on expressing my feelings and communicating even when I feel like I can't or when I find it difficult. It is always easier when you are frustrated or upset not to talk or work through your issues, but I don't think that is the way it should be. For me at times, I find it almost physically impossible to talk or communicate when I am in the beginning of a panic attack. You know I don't get easily frustrated or hurt, but when I do it really bothers me and makes me really upset then I start to cry a lot. I think this contributes to my panic attacks because really inside I am a sensitive person, I just try not to show it. I use to view it as a weakness, but now I am trying to embrace it.

My sensitive side is just as important to God as my strong independent side so I am learning to deal with the reality of who I am and who God has made me to be. To be honest, I will admit I don't always like what I see that is why I try to see myself a little less each day through my eyes and more through God's eyes. This is not an easy thing to do, but through His word I am learning more and more about being made in His image and what that means. I am learning about not just accepting who you are, but really loving who you are, because God sees all of you and loves you. Even though, at times I see me and I am like, "really God you love that about me because that part of me I would kind of like to change," and I never know maybe God would like to transform that part of me or maybe He likes that part of me the way it is, but either way I need to learn to love me.

I take on a lot of guilt and shame that I don't need to take on, especially when I have done all of the things that I am capable of doing to correct any wrongs that I have made. This where I am learning to let it go and give it over to God. I also take on guilt for petty things that I shouldn't feel guilty about and sometimes have no control over. I find myself saying, "I feel bad" a lot when I have nothing to feel bad about. I have a friend here who has been trying to help me work this, but it is not easy. I don't like letting others down or doing things wrong, which of course we all know is unavoidable in life because you can't make everyone happy and everyone makes mistakes. To be completely honest, I do many things out of guilt and that is not the way it should be.

Exploring...

Ever since I was a child I have had this curiosity for life. I just love learning about new things and exploring new places. I love learning about people and trying to figure out why people do what they do and why people act the way that they act. This has been both a good thing and a bad thing. Sometimes my curiosity has led to some not so good experiences or situations, but as we get older we learn and I have learned from those experiences. I love the thrill of discovering new things and doing new things, and that is something that I have continually prayed to God about because I never want where I go or what I do to be based solely off of my own feelings or desires. I want God to be the leader of my life. I know that His ways are good.

Today, the new students and I went to downtown San Jose. I gave them a tour of the area and took them to most of the key locations (National Theater, National Park, National Museum, two of the main markets, and then we visited some of the stores and other parks in the downtown area). We grabbed some coffee, which of course is a must in Costa Rica, and then later on we had some ice cream from Pops, which I believe is also a necessary stop when in Costa Rica. Our day was packed, but it was a lot of fun. Even though I enjoyed showing my new friends these places, what I really enjoyed was getting to know them on a deeper level while we walked around the city.

It is so interesting to see how God brings so many different people from so many different backgrounds together in one place. I love it. Everyone has a different story and I love hearing about how God is working in and through their lives. God is truly amazing. I am looking forward to exploring more of this beautiful country with these wonderful people.

Please pray for all of the new students that will be attending ILE this tri-mester.  Pray over their time of transitioning into a new culture and as they begin orientation in the morning.

What a day :-)

This morning things went better than planned for the airport runs. All of the students I am helping arrived with all of their luggage and since one flight was delayed, I was able to pick up all of the students using the same car and driver, which saved them both money. Kate and Patrick are from Pennsylvania and West Virginia, they are the couple that will be living with me. Both of them are very nice and friendly, and I am looking forward to getting to know them more. Candace is from California and she lives about a block away. I love her energy and excitement. I can already tell she is going to be a fun girl to be around. Star has been here for a week and has already made herself right at home in her apartment. I love her sense of adventure and her independence. I can't wait to go back to school and meet the rest of the new students. I can already tell that they are going to be a good class.

Also today, I had another unexpected, but nice surprise as one of the host mom's of one of the students asked if I would help her practice English and in return she would practice Spanish with me. I kind of laughed because I knew that my Spanish the past two times we talked has been rough and I thought that maybe she was trying to tell me something. Although, it is okay with me I would love to be able to practice my Spanish and help her with her English (teaching English is something I have considered doing the past couple of years). I am looking forward to our first meeting on Wednesday.

I love meeting new people and building new relationships so today was a good day. I am excited to see what God has in store for this upcoming tri-mester and I am excited to go back to school. I feel like a little kid who wants to go back and see her friends, but really I just want to go back and learn more Spanish. This break has really helped me refresh some of my Spanish while at the same time pointing out my weaknesses.

Celebrating Life

Today I got to celebrate the day that my friend Emily entered into the world. Even though life has physically separated us, our hearts are never far apart. She is still the one that I want to run to first when I have good news or run to when I need a shoulder to cry on. I never had a sister growing up but I imagine she would be a lot like Em, and even though Em and I are not sisters by blood, we are by heart. She is one of those people that I don't have to say what I am feeling for her to know how I am feeling. She can see it in my face and hear it in my voice. We know one another so well that we can tell one another what we would like and what we wouldn't like when it comes to food, this comes in handy when eating out. I don't know what I would do without her. She makes my life a bit brighter by just being her. I celebrated her birthday miles away from her, but I still rejoiced with her and the rest of her friends and family.

Celebrating life is a wonderful thing. Today I celebrated the life of my best friend and sister Em. I love that once a year we have the opportunity to celebrate the lives of the ones that we love and hold dear. However, celebrating life should not be just a once a year thing. A friend of mine wrote on his Facebook status the other day, "stop and listen to your breathing.......whoa, we are alive. How cool is that". Do you ever think about that? I mean really stop and think about how cool it is that you are alive right now?

As I was at the beach last week, I was in awe of God's creation and the beauty of His work, but in reality I did not have to go very far to be in awe or to see the beauty of His work. One of the most amazing creations in all of the universe is me and you. God made each of us so unique and so complex. Did you that your heart beats 100,000 times a day? That is 40 million times a year. The fact that you and I are alive right now is incredible. A couple years ago, I had the chance to go to go see a famous exhibit in Spain on the human body and see the complexities of the human body. I remember as I walked around the exhibit, besides being completely grossed out by all of the floating body parts, I was completely amazed at how complex our bodies actually are.

Besides thinking about how amazing it is that our body actually functions the way that it does, just dwell for a moment on the fact that there is no one else like you. You are the only one like you. Now I know that sounds cheesy and you have probably heard that before, but that alone is beautiful. God made no one else like you. Instead, He formed you in your mother's womb and made you in His image. He made you good.

So let's celebrate life together not just once a year, but every day. Each morning you wake up, there is a day, a breath, a life worth celebrating.

If you have bad self-esteem this might be hard to take in or if you feel like you don't have anyone in your life that really understands you, celebrating life might not be something that you feel capable of doing right now. However, just know that you are loved, maybe not by the people around you, but by the Lord of the Universe you are. You are His and He loves you. He loves you for you, not for what you have done or what you will become.

"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat...we must find each other,"-Mother Teresa.

Find one another today and celebrate life together.

Saying goodbye and trusting the Lord

  Visit this link to see the video that I would like to share today. http://vimeo.com/15237921
  (If you have trouble loading the video and are on facebook go to my page I posted it there)

I love this song and it felt fitting for today. This song sums up pretty much what I have been thinking about and what my dad and I have talked about this week. God has continually provided for me throughout my life and has guided me all the way. This life is not one that I would have chosen for myself, but I know that God gives the richest life. This life is so much better than anything I could have ever planned or could have ever dreamed of, I love it. I am satisfied in the Lord. Every need that I have ever had God has always provided. God gives me what I need when I need it. He is so faithful and good.

You know there are somethings when growing up that take some getting use to. For example, friends moving away, friend's getting married, and then of course moving out of the house and being apart from family. Those things can be hard. Although, I love my family and friends dearly it is comforting to be reminded of God's love and power in my life. As I stood by the ocean, I thought about how in the reality of life my life is just like a drop in the ocean. It is a small part of something that is so much bigger than me. God's strength, power, love, grace, and beauty is over everything.

"I am trusting you, Lord Jesus. I am trusting you forever and for all."

Spending time with my Dad

This past week has been great! I have really enjoyed spending time with my dad and getting to show him the parts of Costa Rica that I love the most. I have really enjoyed showing him around and introducing him to some of my friends. Our time together has been blessed. I love that my dad has been so easy going and laid back. I have realized that we have more things in common than I thought, at least when it comes to the things that we enjoy doing.

As we talked tonight, I asked him what he would remember the most about Costa Rica and his response was when I met him at the airport. He was surprised at how happy I was to see him. He also said that this vacation has been the best one he has ever taken, because we had no agenda and he got to see and experience a new culture, while at the same time relaxing and just having fun. I tried to show him a variety of Costa Rica so that he could see Costa Rica for how it is and then get to see the tourist side of Costa Rica.

While at the beach, I realized that what I have enjoyed the most about his visit was him. Just having his presence here and the comfort that he provides has been great. I have really enjoyed spending time with him and sharing pieces of my heart with him. I have had a couple little frustrating moments since he has been here and having someone I love so close to me during those moments has been nice. I love my dad's hugs. During his visit, I found myself just smiling at him because I was so happy he was here. While on another trip to Playa Hermosa 3 months ago, my wish was to come back some day with someone that I love. This week that wish came true as I sat on the beach with my dad and watched the surfers on the water.

Our time together has been blessed. I have loved having him here. Tomorrow is going to be a sad day, but I feel blessed to have had this time with him. I can't believe how fast this week has gone by, but I am so glad that my dad has had a great time.

As I walked around the other night at the beach, I thought about how happy I am to have my dad here, but I also thought about how sad I am going to be to see him go. I thought about life and how this is the life God has given me and how honored and blessed I feel to be able to have the opportunity to go out into the world to share God's love with others. However, saying goodbye to loved one's will never get any easier, but the comfort and peace that I have felt just by having my dad here should be the same comfort and peace I should have in knowing that my Heavenly Father is always presence. He is always here and will continue to always be near.

The thought of Jesus in the temple as a young boy entered my mind. Mary, his mother, and Joseph, his father, had been searching for Jesus and found him in the temple. After finding Jesus, Mary says, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been searching anxiously for you". Jesus replies, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my father's house?". However at the time, Mary did not understand what Jesus was telling her. (Luke 2:41-52).

Jesus' focus was always on the Lord and that was something that He wanted to teach us. We need to know who our true Father is. The love that I feel from my earthly father is just a small glimpse of the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. I am so grateful to have such a great father here on earth, but I need to focus on my Father in Heaven. I love my parents and family dearly, but my focus needs to be on the Lord. This is the life that I have chosen to live and the life that I have felt led to live by God's love and grace, and the compassion that He has placed on my heart for others. I am the happiest when I serving and loving God and others, and I know that this is my life. Right now in Costa Rica, this is a glimpse at the life that God has ahead for me and I am so excited. God is preparing me and laying the foundation for my future, and my life is totally in His hands. It is such a blessing to have parents who support me and encourage me on my journey and walk with the Lord.

Going to the Beach

So I decided to do one more post before we actually leave for the beach. This morning my dad and I along with Elaine and May will be heading out to Playa Hermosa for 3 days and 2 nights of relaxation! I can't wait! I am so ready to just sit in the sand and take in God's beautiful creation.

I have enjoyed my time with my dad so much, but now I am even more excited to just kick back on the beach with him and talk. It has been such blessing being able to have my dad here. Last night, as I was having my anxiety attack my dad gave me a hug and tried to calm me down. However, he didn't know he was actually making it worse, because there has been moments here when I just cry but no one is here to give me a loving hug, like my dad, and I thought of that and just cried more. It felt nice to have someone here who could just give me a hug and say everything is going to be okay. I miss having those comforting loving moments.

I love having my dad here and I have really enjoyed our time together, even though his time here is flying by fast. My heart needed this time with him. Thank you Lord.

Goodbye blog for 2 days! Hello sand and sunshine!