Dia De Independencia

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica!! I was met with the sounds of greeting from all the staff as I walked into the SCORE Villa. Wow. I was home. Yeah... home, for nine months. First things first, we unloaded all the luggage from the truck that brought it over from the airport, and then ate. We had sandwiches prepared for us and then we got to settle in. Aaahhhh.. after living out of bins in my guest room at home and then a suitcase for a few days, I was so relieved to be able to settle into a room that would be mine for a significant amount of time. Especially because I had to maneuver weight around in my suitcases making my backpack incredibly stuffed!! I was glad to unload that heavy burden. So my room is super cool! Number one its room Lucas and with a brother like mine, it's pretty much already the best. Also we have two bunk-beds, a bathroom in our room, and TWO showers!! Yes, two. So with four girls and two showers we're gonna be ok. I love my roommates too. Maddison from Alabama, Holly from Georgia, and Tamara from Alabama. I'm so excited to get to know them better and enjoy living with them! We have all our decorations and pictures and stuff out and hanging, and our place looks so homey. The rest of the day was totally chill. We had dinner and relaxed. I played my guitar.. of course. But our bodies were two hours ahead of actual time, plus travel, so we were really tired anyway.

The next morning I got up at six and went running at six thirty. I know, I'm crazy like my parents. But I really want to get into the routine before classes start so that I'm in the groove and can adjust better when it does get busy around here. So I went around the city and then up to the gym around the track once. It felt really nice. Then I took a shower, did my devos in the perfect weather that we have down here (a common nickname for Costa Rica is the Garden of Eden because of the incredible weather, yeah, be jealous), and then went up for breakfast. After breakfast we met up and walked about a half hour into the main part of town for Independence Day. In Costa Rica their Independence Day is the same for all Central America. And one tradition is that they carry a torch, by way of runners in schools in relay fashion, from Nicaragua all the way down to Costa Rica. It's really neat. So they have big parades and such. The parade part was canceled this year, but there was still a high time and fancy to do. There was a big circle that everyone was decorating with chalk, there was a mariachi band, there were girls dancing with super big white dresses and colored sashes, there were stands of food,.. it was really neat to just see all the culture and soak it in. I got to talk to a couple ladies too.

After getting back from our outing, we had lunch, free time, testimonies, dinner, and more testimonies. It was really neat to hear the stories behind the people we'll be living with for nine months. It's a super fast way to get to know them. We'll be giving them the next two days also, until we get through everyone. I can't wait to hear how God has molded, grown, and led all these people here. It's so cool to see how his hand has been through everything in putting this team of students together. We're all hand-picked by a sovereign God, and we're here together to serve and learn and grow, and then go shake the world!! Thank you so much for all the prayers. They're much needed, but also are being answered. Praise the Lord for his marvelous work in Costa Rica!! I love and miss you all. 

Page Turning Into A New Chapter

Yesterday morning I was an 18 year old recent graduate, living at home, waiting for what was coming next. Tomorrow I will still be an 18 year old recent graduate, but I will be walking into my new home in a new country with new people, a new culture, and a brand new way of life. My routine will completely shift, no more mom making sure I'm awake, packing my lunch, or asking if I remembered everything before I walk out the door. Today was our full day of orientation in Atlanta, GA. All day long we listened to every aspect of CR and everything we're going to experience. The day kicked off with a memory game of names, which was interesting but really fun. Now that I know all about my teammates and how they like elephants and hot dogs, I'm even more excited to be living the next nine months with them. Then we heard about all the rules, dress code, how the internet would work, and everything we'd be expected to do. That was a pretty boring part of the day. But what came next was my favorite. Five GAP alumni came in to do a sort of panel discussion about CR and all that came with being a global year student. It was so cool!! They told stories of learning Spanish, meeting people, serving in the churches, living in the villa, and everything in between. Every time I hear someone talk about their experiences, it just fires me up even more to get down there and be a part of it myself. The host family that I'm staying with here has a daughter who went down two years ago, so I've gotten to hear millions of stories and see pictures and ask questions. I'm more than crazy excited to board that plane tomorrow morning!! We heard about how to deal with health issues, culture shock, and homesickness later in the day. As a shout-out to all my Haiti team members reading this, I laughed when we got to this part because the number one thing they kept saying over and over was "use hand sanitizer and drink water!" Oh how I miss our days with Levi and Jesse as our Sanitation/Hydration experts.. ;) So I'll be once again carrying my trusty orange water bottle and germ-x everywhere! Another thing that we talked about today was our Bible classes. One of our two student life counselors (a married couple who are like our mentors, or group parents) gave his promo for all the Bible stuff he gets to teach us. He's basically going to pump sound doctrine, apologetics, systematic theology, and the entire Bible into us, so that we all come out on fire, white hot, crazy dangerous Christians. Which makes me so super excited!! He warned us that our brains would explode and our beliefs would be challenged in such a way that we would be forced to defend them and make them our own. No more "because that's the way my church does it" or "that's what my pastor tells me." This year it will turn into "I believe this because -insert Scripture and strong defense here- and I couldn't be more fired up to be fired up for my Lord. This year is going to be so amazing, and sitting on the very edge of experiencing it is making me so giddy I can't sit still. We meet at the church tomorrow at 4:30am, and after that there's no turning back. I'm bound for Costa Rica, the Spanish language, and serving my God. Pray for me as I allow him to completely break down what I call my life and rebuild me into a bright shining tool for promoting his Kingdom!!

What I Learned from a Boy Tiger

Once upon a time there was a boy tiger. He was the mightiest in the whole forest, could attack and beat any predator, and even had magical disappearing powers. Sometimes the other animals would think he was a lion.. and sometimes he was.. either that or a leopard, cheetah, bear, or wolf. But all the same he was untouchable. No deer, antelope, giraffe, or zebra could stand up to him. Even the gorillas were scared. He would roam around protecting his family and finding food. And when he got injured, he would ask for some lovings and heal up in no time. 


This story is played out between me and an adorable 5 year-old. Adventures come and go, change or repeat, get worse or more exciting. But we never stop the game. He smirks and talks out of the side of his mouth making me work hard to hold in the laughter as he whispers something serious. Then one night he blurts out of the blue, "I love you, Hannah!" Touched straight to the core I tell him I love him too and fluff his head as we chase after a blanket to do 'hot dog' one more time. But as I think about it, it really is that simple. He has no worries because he knows his family will be there to take care of him. His animal character, the boy tiger, has no worries because even when he gets injured he knows he can always come back to his family for healing. As I thought more about it, I realized that even when I'm far from home and may get injured or scared, I have my family to count on. My immediate family as well as my Christian family. Those that are telling me goodbye and promising to pray for me will always be there for me when I'm scared or hurting no matter how far I travel. So as I stared into the bright blue eyes of this playing child, I was infinitely reminded how thankful I am for my many friends that have supported me and promise to continue in that support. I love you all so very much and cannot even begin to describe how blessed I am to know you. As I take off in a very short 36 hours, I lean on all of you to be my support. God is my stronghold, and you are his strength manifested in human form just the way I need it. I love you all, and thanks for teaching me to rely on the family God has given me, Ashton!!

Perspective God from 4 to 14

There's only one difference between being 4 and 14. When you're 4 you have all the questions, and when you're 14 you have all the answers. This is such a true representation of growing up. Kids begin with a mind of wonder; their most frequent word is "why?" But with the coming of age comes the gaining of knowledge along with the false sense of their knowledge being all-inclusive. I say false sense because mere lack of experience proves lack of knowledge in a variety of areas, proving that though they think they know all, they really know very little. The natural tendency of humans is to reject the advice of those in authority, or those older and more versed in life, because of confidence in self. Where many times in retrospect the regret springs up from time-discovered ignorance. Why is it then that we don't listen the next time? The same is true when it comes to God. At first when we're baby Christians we ask all the questions. We're curious and want to know how it all works. But once we gain some confidence we somehow have all the answers. Nothing can touch us, and we don't need God as much anymore. He's there, but we can take care of ourselves. Buzz. God knows everything, and we know nothing. Life experiences can prove how ignorant of God's plan we are. When things don't go our way or they happen and we can't understand why, sometimes we flip and ask "Why me, God? What are you doing? How did I come to deserve this?" Then on the other side of life, we're blessed abundantly and we barely take the time to turn around and say "Thanks, God." Yet the same Lord is behind it all. So how come we only give him control when we want to? And how is it "fair" that we can blame him for all the trials he allowed, and yet never thank him for the million blessings we hardly notice? The Bible tells us to trust God with all our heart (Proverbs 3:5-6), and it even says he'll work everything out for our good and his glory if we are his (Romans 8:28). Why then do we act like 14 year-olds and try to take control? Even at 18 I'm graduated, leaving the country, and in charge of my own life. I know what's up. But throw a wrench in MY plans and everything is terrible all of a sudden, and life sucks. So why don't I just trust God in the first place and not have to worry when things may change? It's because I'm acting 14. I have all the answers. I need to be 4 again. Jesus told his disciples to view the Kingdom of Heaven through the eyes of a child because the least of these would inherit the Kingdom of God (Matthew 19:14). So 4 years old, here I come. God, make me 4 again, take control so that even when I don't understand and ask why, you can say, "Because you're my child and I love you, it's going to be good."

Tongue Check

"Oops" "I didn't really mean it.." "No offense.." "I was just joking" "Lighten up.." "Come on you know it was funny" How many times have you heard or used excuses like these in a conversation with someone who you just insulted but are trying to back out? Yeah, me too. Too often things slip out that we instantly wish we could pull back into our mouths and swallow forever, but it's too late. Spoken words are said and last forever. Even under forgiveness the scars remain. More than likely the most common times you let hurtful words slip out are when you're tired and frustrated. People push your buttons and you just snap at them by insulting them, becoming sarcastic (yes, I'm professional at that one), or just not being patient. Yesterday at work, I got several comments about friendly service or my smile, but today I had so many people ask if I was tired or having a bad day... What was the difference? Maybe I was tired.. but should that change the way I speak to people? Should my feelings affect my influence on those around me? God forbid I let it happen again. The Bible has a lot to say about words and how permanently beneficial or damaging they can be. Proverbs 18:21 says "the tongue has the power of life and death." Holy cow, we hold some mega power just in our tiny mouths. And Proverbs 12:18 says "reckless words pierce like a sword." So the Bible is pretty serious when God tells us to be careful what we say. A good way to be either a light for the Lord or a terrible rep to his name is by how we talk. A friend of mine told me to let my character speak louder than my words so that I could win unbelievers to Christ "without a word." When you hear a teenager on the street cussing up a storm with his buddies, we don't naturally think he's a Bible-believing Christian. But how often do we as claimed God-fearing Christians slack in the guarding of our tongues in order to fit in? I can confess I've done it myself before. But when I sit back and think about it, instead of being cool for ten minutes with my non-Christian friends by talking like them, what if I spent those ten minutes witnessing so that I can spend eternity with them later? That sounds like a better use of my time.. So why don't I have the guts?? I need to pray daily for God to let his Holy Spirit help me overcome the people-pleasing urge to talk like everyone around me. Even the small words that aren't really bad, if we let them become too comfortable slipping off our tongues, do we sound different enough to outsiders that God will be represented well? Sometimes looking at our life, we have a totally different vocabulary around different people. James 3 addresses this as salt water and fresh water coming from the same spring. It shouldn't be happening. We need to keep our mouths in check and never have to pull the "oops" card out again. Even under stress or fatigue or attack from someone else we cannot attack back. Philippians 4:5 says "let your gentleness be known to all." This is the perfect description of a calm, clean-talking, patient under stress, Christian person who will win their friends over "without a word." And that's how I want to be known. I want to put on the fruit of the Spirit and be changed from the inside so that my words will pour out with love and gentleness demonstrating the character of the Saviour I represent!! 

Last Words

8/3/10

I don't really have anything left to say, but I still feel like I need to write because more happened today. So the Miami airport was great, we got to eat!! American food is so gross, but it's all we wanted. We stuffed our faces, said goodbye to the Roos family, and are now in mid-flight to Chicago. It's getting close to Haiti bedtime so I'll probably sleep the whole flight.. If anything exciting happens I'll jot it down, but otherwise just a night of travel ahead and my shower calling my name!

Epilogue: For those of you reading this log, it's merely my journal that I kept in Haiti typed up. I hope you enjoyed the stories and got to share in the absolutely amazing experience that our team had. God really worked and I hope you continue to pray for the Haitian people on the mountain of Grenier. From now on my blog will be more present day happenings as I prepare, leave, arrive, and live in San Jose for the next year. I'd appreciate your continued prayers, I know I'll need them! Bondye beni ou!!

Until We Meet Again

8/3/10

This was the earliest morning yet - maybe because of the energy about leaving, maybe because we slept in the church - but either way we were up between 3 and 4am. Making sure everything was all packed was sorta crazy, but we got it all done and ready. This morning we had a stew for breakfast. Nice and hearty food for our downward trek. It was more like a soup and had potatoes, carrots, beans, goat meat, bananas, and these dough things that looked like fingers. It was very good. Other than packing the morning was spent just sitting and talking. I’m going to miss these people so much. It’s crazy how close you get to people in just a week. Before we started our hike down, we circled up, held hands, and prayed. I cried.. of course. I’m so thankful for everyone and all God has done this week, not only through our own group that became my dearly loved family, but also through the Haitians who also became my dearly loved family. Saying goodbye to Closiane, Madame Simon, Madame Thoma, and Samantha come next, how it was even possible I don’t know. Then the journey down began. Loaded with my guitar I started to say farewell to my mountain home. I love hiking so the walk down was extremely pleasant even though it was very hot. We had a lot of helpers who carried many of our bags for us. We waited at Kesnel’s house at the bottom of the mountain for the truck to take our bags to the airport. This was like a two hour wait since we had come down so early. But sitting in the shade for a while just chatting and chilling and playing my guitar was nice. The hard walk came with the truck, because we had to walk up to Thomassin. This was the crazy cliff-like hike that we partially rode down on the way to Grenier when I feared for my life on top of a loaded truck. Going up was much less scary, and yet a lot more difficult. But I really enjoyed it because I walked with Joe, Ivener, Austin and Hannah and we just chatted about Haiti the whole way up. When we made it up we waited for a bus to take us the rest of the way to the airport. It was packed again like the ride in, but not nearly as long. We followed the truck for part of the way then a gas run split us up, but we met at the airport and regrouped with all our stuff. Being in the city again reminded me of how extreme Haiti is. There are tent cities on one side of the street, and hotels that beat out 5-star hotels in the US on the other side. The rich and poor is separated by a mind blowing gap. The poverty in the city, and the filth because of it everywhere is so overpowering I can’t describe it. I’m just so thankful we were on the mountain all week with, though poor, hardworking, loving, hospitable, wonderful people, not these viciously greedy, cutthroat, desperate people living here. Finally we made it to the airport where we met up with Miami and he helped us get all our bags checked and through quickly again. But we had to say goodbye. Kesnel, Naime, Jeto, Ivener, Joe, and Josie all gave me a hug and we said goodbye for real. We all thanked Kesnel for all his hard work arranging everything for us and helping us and making our stay on his mountain wonderful. Then we waved as we entered the airport and that was the last goodbye. It only took us about a half hour to be boarded and headed home. I’m sitting here crying as I stare down from a tiny plane window at my beautiful Caribbean Island. I decided that I won’t say goodbye, but instead “until we meet again.” Because if God wills I’ll go back someday, and if he doesn’t I’ll see my Haitian friends someday in Heaven. It’s so sad right now but it’s reality and life is taking us different directions to minister in different ways until someday we minister together once more. This is what makes me hate traveling. I meet people, I fall in love, and I never want to leave. Every time I go out of the country I cry when I get on the plane going home because I just want to stay. My heart truly is not in the United States. Yes, I love it, and it’s my home, but I know God has given me a love for other countries. It’s when I’m out there that I feel most alive and most at home. It’s comforting because once again it reminds me that Costa Rica is where God wants me to be this year. I’m ok with moving on and leaving this place to adventure to new, because my Haitian friends will never be gone from my heart and someday we’ll meet again.