October 14, 2011
This Weekend...
Tomorrow morning, I will be heading to the Arenal Volcano with some friends from school. We have an extended weekend so we will be staying til Monday. I am really excited to be able to spend some time with friends and try new things. We will be going zip-ling, which I am quite scared about but at the same time excited. I have never been very fond of heights so we will see what happens. While at Arenal, we will also be going to the volcano and taking a dip in the hot springs. Please pray for us as we travel.
Pray...
For the group of students who will be traveling to Panama today. Thanks.
(FYI: I am not going to Panama but I did coordinate this trip.)
(FYI: I am not going to Panama but I did coordinate this trip.)
October 13, 2011
Building Relationships...
This trimester my host mom, Sonia, (a.k.a. mamî) and I have been meeting weekly to discuss the culture in Costa Rica. I absolutely love talking with mamî. Every Wednesday night, our conversation topic is different and by the time we finish talking our conversation topic might have completely changed. I talk with mamî every week because I want to build a relationship with her, the homework is secondary in my eyes as long as I am still practicing and speaking Spanish.
This week, our conversation went a bit deeper. We started out talking about vacations and by the end of our conversation we were talking about God and she shared with me part of her testimony. As we sat there talking I started getting tears in my eyes, as I listened to her share her testimony and as she talked about her relationship with the Lord. This is one of those conversations that I will never forget.
Thank you Lord for my wonderful host family and specifically for mamî.
This week, our conversation went a bit deeper. We started out talking about vacations and by the end of our conversation we were talking about God and she shared with me part of her testimony. As we sat there talking I started getting tears in my eyes, as I listened to her share her testimony and as she talked about her relationship with the Lord. This is one of those conversations that I will never forget.
Thank you Lord for my wonderful host family and specifically for mamî.
October 12, 2011
A few things I am thankful for...
- Chai Tea
- Hoodie
- Sweatpants
- Thunder
- Rain
- Music
- Friends
- Laughter
- Cooking
- Coffee
Even though, Costa Rica doesn't really have a fall season today really felt like fall to me in many ways. It has been a bit cooler the past couple days so that has helped, and today I actually pulled out my Columbia jacket for the third time this month. Not only that, but I also got to wear my sweatpants and hoodie, one of my favorite wardrobe combinations. I also got to help my friend, Kate, make cookies and apple cider (oh one of the many smells of fall that I love). Now, I am drinking hot tea on a cold rainy night, thank you Lord.
"Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:19b-20
October 11, 2011
Laughter...
Sometimes God makes me laugh... I was having a bad day the other day and out of nowhere I get this desire in me to laugh. Laughing out loud in class is usually not a problem for me because I laugh all the time. However, on this particular day I was done. My body was physically done and so was my spirit, at least I thought so. I had been filled with anxiety all day and I had spent a good portion of my breaks from class getting sick from worry. This anxiety had been with me all weekend and by Monday I was done.
On this day, I went to a Women's Bible Study. To be honest, I really did not want to go to this study and I was not in the "mood" to go, but I went any ways. God gave me more peace in that hour then I had had all weekend, this blew my mind. I really couldn't understand why I had been trying to get rid of my anxiety all weekend and then all of a sudden in the place where I didn't want to be God decide okay let's remove this worry. (I have to admit that this added to my confusion and frustration.) After the study, my first reaction was okay I am done, I am leaving. However, I knew I had to finish out the school day. I went into my next class still thinking about the Bible study and determined not to talk in class so that I could just sit there thinking about everything. Then it hit me, I was listening to my friend Sarah give an example of one of our grammar rules and I lost it. I just started laughing. She didn't even say anything really funny, but I just started laughing so hard that I started to cry. It was great. God knew I needed to laugh.
After a weekend/week of stress and anxiety, it was almost like God said okay you need to laugh so He just put this joy in my heart that just made me burst out into laughter. That might have not been the most appropriate time to laugh out loud but it was for my heart. After that laugh, I still did not have much energy but my spirit was definitely a bit better. It was like in that moment of laughter I saw a glimmer of hope that things were going to get better.
I can recall one other time where that had happened. I had just returned home from a mission trip to Italy and the team and I were doing a group prayer. We were all stressed and the tension in the group was really intense. We were in the middle of praying and I lost it. I just started laughing so hard that I about fell over with laughter. That was not an appropriate time to laugh but the Lord knew that we all need to laugh. Before, I could stop laughing and apologize for interrupting the prayer the whole team was bursting into laughter (2 people did actually fall on floor laughing) and the tension was lifted.
God used those moments of laughter to bring me back to Himself. I knew that everything was not automatically better in that moment but that moment of laughter and joy reminded me that He is with me and He also reminded me of His love for me. In grammar class, I wanted to continue laughing out loud but at the same time start really crying, because God was reaching out to me in my moment of weakness in a way that only He knows how to do. God knew what I needed in that moment and He provided me with everything I needed.
On this day, I went to a Women's Bible Study. To be honest, I really did not want to go to this study and I was not in the "mood" to go, but I went any ways. God gave me more peace in that hour then I had had all weekend, this blew my mind. I really couldn't understand why I had been trying to get rid of my anxiety all weekend and then all of a sudden in the place where I didn't want to be God decide okay let's remove this worry. (I have to admit that this added to my confusion and frustration.) After the study, my first reaction was okay I am done, I am leaving. However, I knew I had to finish out the school day. I went into my next class still thinking about the Bible study and determined not to talk in class so that I could just sit there thinking about everything. Then it hit me, I was listening to my friend Sarah give an example of one of our grammar rules and I lost it. I just started laughing. She didn't even say anything really funny, but I just started laughing so hard that I started to cry. It was great. God knew I needed to laugh.
After a weekend/week of stress and anxiety, it was almost like God said okay you need to laugh so He just put this joy in my heart that just made me burst out into laughter. That might have not been the most appropriate time to laugh out loud but it was for my heart. After that laugh, I still did not have much energy but my spirit was definitely a bit better. It was like in that moment of laughter I saw a glimmer of hope that things were going to get better.
I can recall one other time where that had happened. I had just returned home from a mission trip to Italy and the team and I were doing a group prayer. We were all stressed and the tension in the group was really intense. We were in the middle of praying and I lost it. I just started laughing so hard that I about fell over with laughter. That was not an appropriate time to laugh but the Lord knew that we all need to laugh. Before, I could stop laughing and apologize for interrupting the prayer the whole team was bursting into laughter (2 people did actually fall on floor laughing) and the tension was lifted.
God used those moments of laughter to bring me back to Himself. I knew that everything was not automatically better in that moment but that moment of laughter and joy reminded me that He is with me and He also reminded me of His love for me. In grammar class, I wanted to continue laughing out loud but at the same time start really crying, because God was reaching out to me in my moment of weakness in a way that only He knows how to do. God knew what I needed in that moment and He provided me with everything I needed.
October 10, 2011
My Prayer...
Lord, there are many things in life that I do not understand, but I know in your perfect timing you reveal to me what I need to know. You give me grace and understanding in my time of need. In those times of uncertainty and anxiousness, please help me to find comfort and peace in You. For I know that nothing is hidden from you. I am not hidden from you. I often feel unworthy of your love and rightly so for I know I am a sinner. It is only by your grace that I stand and through your Son that I live.
Lord, please forgive me for not always appreciating the life that you have given me and for not appreciating the sacrifices you have made. I can't imagine what this must be like for you, to see your daughter so broken and knowing that you have given your only Son for her. Thank you for loving me and for constantly pursuing me even when my heart becomes like stone.
I know that you won't give up on me but still Lord I pray that no matter what please continue to transform this heart of stone. Please remember me. You know how stubborn I can be and you know my rebellious ways. Open my ears and my heart so that I may listen to advice and accept discipline. I long to grow in wisdom and understanding. Lord, I long to be closer to you.
Search me Lord and continue bringing to the surface anything that is not of you so that my heart may be completely yours. Mold me and transform me. Protect me Lord from the lies that often fill my mind. May I take captive every thought and bring them before you. Even now Lord as I try to push forward through this difficult time words that should be encouraging often get turned around in my mind and become disheartening. Help me to see the truth and the love in those words. God I want to mature in you, please continue to train me to distinguish good from evil.
Lord, I put my trust in you. You alone are good.
Lord, please forgive me for not always appreciating the life that you have given me and for not appreciating the sacrifices you have made. I can't imagine what this must be like for you, to see your daughter so broken and knowing that you have given your only Son for her. Thank you for loving me and for constantly pursuing me even when my heart becomes like stone.
I know that you won't give up on me but still Lord I pray that no matter what please continue to transform this heart of stone. Please remember me. You know how stubborn I can be and you know my rebellious ways. Open my ears and my heart so that I may listen to advice and accept discipline. I long to grow in wisdom and understanding. Lord, I long to be closer to you.
Search me Lord and continue bringing to the surface anything that is not of you so that my heart may be completely yours. Mold me and transform me. Protect me Lord from the lies that often fill my mind. May I take captive every thought and bring them before you. Even now Lord as I try to push forward through this difficult time words that should be encouraging often get turned around in my mind and become disheartening. Help me to see the truth and the love in those words. God I want to mature in you, please continue to train me to distinguish good from evil.
Lord, I put my trust in you. You alone are good.
October 09, 2011
Romans 8:26-30
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
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