Although I have class for six hours a day four days a week, there are some times where I have some incredible opportunities that come as perks to living in Costa Rica. Two weekends ago I went with a small group of people from my church to a place called Rio Grande Paquera, a TINY town located on the peninsula of the south-western part of Costa Rica. It was an all day trip (we left at 4:30am and got back at 10:30pm), and we just went to check it out because we're going back with the whole church on the 18th-20th. So our job was to see who was there, where we would stay, talk to the pastor, make a plan, and get ready to go back. It was so cool. We even had to take a ferry to get there! I'm really excited now because this Sunday is our planning day. We'll take the Sunday School hour and just lay down some plans as a church how we're going to evangelize in small ways. This town is full of Catholics, and there are even some Jehovah's Witnesses there. My pastor's son, the guy heading up the trip, told me that because there is such division on beliefs there, the people are so insincere. Our job is to love them. That's it. He even said that he would rather us go show the sincere love of God for three days than try to preach to every person we talked to!! We're planning on having games for the kids, clothes for everyone, snacks during the day, and a few other small projects over the weekend we're there. Also we'll have a bonfire with the youth group on the beach Saturday night followed by a Sunday service with everyone in the morning. So we will at least share the Gospel twice!! I'm stoked. If you would be praying for these people as well as those of us going.
THEN recently on a free Monday I went to the beach about 2 hours away (the Pacific), and just spent the day there. We played Volleyball, lay in the sun, jumped waves, and... SURFED!!!!!! My childhood dream came true... I finally learned how to surf!!! :) I absolutely LOVED it!!!! I got up on my knees first try, then stood up a ton after that. I even sat on my board way out with all the other surfers waiting for a big one.. and then rode a prime wave all the way into shore.. YEAH!!! We had the boards all day so we went a lot ;) AND we saw a small shark, a bunch of stingrays, and a few jellyfish. It was an incredible day in Costa Rica. Oh yeah. And it was like 98 degrees... while y'all had a blizzard!! Haha weird.... ;) It's been really cool to experience the country some.
Looking forward we're going to Los Lagos (hot springs by a volcano) this coming Monday and Tuesday, then the church trip next Friday!! I'm pumped. Keep the prayers rolling upward!! Love to all from Costa Rica :)
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Vamos a Palabra de Vida
Last week a bunch of us students had the opportunity to go to different summer camps around our area in San Jose (the kids here have summer break until the end of February). I was a part of the group that went to a Word of Life camp in Guanacaste, about 4 hours away from where we live. It's about 5 times hotter there than it is here, and it's not cold here!! We got to experience constant Spanish, heat, no sleep, tons of middle schoolers, crazy games (and I mean CrAzY!), and of course sun by the pool. I was part of the group of teen staff called Programa. Our job was the kids. We served their meals, planned/organized/ran the games, lifeguarded the pool, sat with them in session time, and just interacted with them. It was super cool. But we had NO free time. Although we barely got sleep, were exhausted by the heat and concentrating in Spanish all the time, as well as entertaining kids constantly, it was an INCREDIBLE experience!! I loved it. Plus I got tan... YES LUCAS for real.. :)
Another super cool thing that has happened lately is last night we started some workshops that we'll have from now on every Wednesday night. I'm leading one on worship. Because I'm the worship leader here I get the privilege of not only working with a great team, but I get to teach them how to prepare and actually lead worship. In the workshop (which doubles as a practice for Sunday so that Sunday afternoons aren't as chaotic) we talked about what worship is and why we do it. Then I walked through some thoughts on how to prepare a corporate worship service that encourages spontaneity and sincerity while maintaining a sense of structure. I loved it. Because a perk of having a practice/preparation session of worship is.. you have to worship.. haha HAVE to.. bummer right? ;) Then another one that we have is a doctrinal workshop. Justin, one of my fellow students, is actually heading this one up. The leaders will be there occasionally, but really only to help him out if he gets stuck. He's the discussion instigator and those of us attending are the ones who carry it. Yesterday we talked about "who is God?" Pretty impossible to answer I know. So we just looked at passage after passage in the Bible and discussed different aspects of God. It was sooo cool!! My mind was blown. I'm so excited to be able to get together and just ask questions, dig deep, and learn a lot.
Oh and Costa Rican weather is beautiful as always. Sun and warm almost constantly. I fell asleep by the pool between lunch and class the other day (for less than an hour), and got burnt. BUT after camp even though I got burnt, it turned into a tan overnight believe it or not family.. :) Thanks so much for your prayers. God is really working!
Another super cool thing that has happened lately is last night we started some workshops that we'll have from now on every Wednesday night. I'm leading one on worship. Because I'm the worship leader here I get the privilege of not only working with a great team, but I get to teach them how to prepare and actually lead worship. In the workshop (which doubles as a practice for Sunday so that Sunday afternoons aren't as chaotic) we talked about what worship is and why we do it. Then I walked through some thoughts on how to prepare a corporate worship service that encourages spontaneity and sincerity while maintaining a sense of structure. I loved it. Because a perk of having a practice/preparation session of worship is.. you have to worship.. haha HAVE to.. bummer right? ;) Then another one that we have is a doctrinal workshop. Justin, one of my fellow students, is actually heading this one up. The leaders will be there occasionally, but really only to help him out if he gets stuck. He's the discussion instigator and those of us attending are the ones who carry it. Yesterday we talked about "who is God?" Pretty impossible to answer I know. So we just looked at passage after passage in the Bible and discussed different aspects of God. It was sooo cool!! My mind was blown. I'm so excited to be able to get together and just ask questions, dig deep, and learn a lot.
Oh and Costa Rican weather is beautiful as always. Sun and warm almost constantly. I fell asleep by the pool between lunch and class the other day (for less than an hour), and got burnt. BUT after camp even though I got burnt, it turned into a tan overnight believe it or not family.. :) Thanks so much for your prayers. God is really working!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Con Familia y Fuerza
Hey!! I'm back home in Costa Rica and absolutely LOVING being with my GAP family again!! I got here on Friday night with only two other students, and after I hugged my incredible leaders I literally walked around the Villa grinning for the entire night. I couldn't believe I was actually home again, and that I was once again with my family and friends, and that I have a whole five more months to serve and grow closer to God here in my tropical country. Wow. I am so blessed!! Now it's Tuesday and classes have started again. It's definitely hard to sit for four straight hours speaking Spanish after having a month off in the states... but I know I'll get back into the swing of things very quickly and practice more and more. For the past two nights now we've had just open nights of spontaneous worship. It has been the best welcome home we could have ever planned. My friends - my family - gathered around together in our little living room praying, reading Scripture, sharing both failures and praises of the break, singing, loving on each other in the presence of God, and giving him all the glory for it. Getting to hear all the awesome things God has done over break is so refreshing. My friends rock! Now it's time to buckle down again and get to work! I'm so excited for over TWICE the ministry opportunities that I get to participate in this semester. Next week I'm going to help with a teen camp, I'll soon be translating another youth group message into Spanish, and in a month or so groups will begin coming down who will need translators! I can't wait. God is so good. And in the meantime I get to be in small group again and work with other girls as well as on my own to get deep with God. I'm so ready for a radical semester that shines with sacrificial love for my Lord and his people. I'm back with my family and with power. Let's GO!! :)
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Love Life - SHINE
I was driving home from town today, and the song "More" by Matthew West came on the radio. Now I've heard this song before and didn't think much of it, but as I listened it hit me: God has blessed me more than I can even fathom or imagine. The song talks about just looking around to see the love God has for me. Well, last night the sky was more clear than I have seen in a long time. I felt like I could see every star in the universe. Now if you know anything about me, the night sky is my absolute favorite part of creation. I think it's breathtakingly beautiful and I could stare at it all night long. Because of the frigid weather here in Indiana, however, I didn't stay out very long last night. But it was enough time for God to take my breath away and cause me to praise him. Then this morning I woke up to find a little over two more inches of fresh, sparkling, white snow on the ground. God is so powerful and cool! And he loves me more than all that beautiful creation of his?! Wow. But not only his creation has blown me away, I can just look at my life and see how much he has shown his love to me even just in the past months. Taking a glance behind me - he sent me to Costa Rica, placed incredibly wise and caring leadership over me, placed me in a room with three of the most awesome girls I could as for as sisters, provided more than the comfort I was expecting, threw opportunities my way countless times, and surrounded me with so many best friends I don't even know where to start in counting them!! Ok now looking around in the present - I'm back with my incredible family, my friends all love me and I have already gotten to see a few of my best friends (even one who lives in NC), I just hung up the phone with a close friend who has a crazy awesome blessing straight from the hand of God, and it's the Christmas season when I can remember the gift of his Son that he gave for us. And even taking a peek into the future I can see how much he loves me - I'm preparing to head back down to paradise to learn more and more, and I have college already set up for next year. Yeah. God has blessed me. And this is proof that he loves me so much. But I have to do something about that. I can't just take God's love and leave it at that. The song says “shine for me.” I need to use the love that God has for me, let it fill me up, and allow it to overflow in my life so that no matter what's going on, no matter where I am, no matter who I'm with, I shine like God's love. I want to emanate the love inside me so that no one is left with any doubt in their mind who I serve. The love God has shown me is powerful, I need to let it affect everything I am and shine for him.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Wrapping Up and Ready For Christmas
These past few weeks have been really cool. Everything has started to come to a close, and preparation has begun for going home for the holidays. I'll try to organize this into paragraphs in regard to relevance.
Coronado wrapped up and the kids began practicing for their Christmas program that they're performing on the 11th for all the parents. Last Saturday we all got to help them remember where they needed to go. I worked with the main character, a crippled lamb, who is played by a boy named Keylor. He is precious. He's about 7 years old and has grown so much over the course of the Coronado kids club. He loves coming and brings his Bible and absolutely loves memorizing the verses. Plus, he gave me a flower this past week. I was inside helping set up, and he poked his head in the door, looked around shyly, grinned at me, walked over, and handed me a flower. My heart melted. It was adorable. I'm going to miss those kids.
Youth group at El Alto finished up with a Christmas party. This was a pretty exciting night because one of my GAP friends, JR, was going to give the message. Our pastor has called him "Pastorcito" since pretty much the first day we got here, and finally he asked him to give the message. But the catch is, JR doesn't speak Spanish yet. So guess who got to translate? Yep. Me. YIKES!! It was awesome. I was so nervous, but I spent pretty much the entire day of praying for God to give me the words to say. Some of the times when he was talking, I couldn't think of what to say, but when I opened my mouth the words just came out. God is so incredible!! And another awesome thing, our pastor liked it so much he asked us to do it again on Sunday morning. Wow. Even scarier!! But it all went well, and everyone was very gracious with my mistakes. We left the church that Sunday with many tears, and warm goodbyes.. but we'll see them again in January.
For our Villa Church that we have on Sunday nights, we did things a little differently this week. Since it was going to be the last time together, we did what I like to call a Prayer Walk. There were about 7 stations of different things to pray about. Such as: a bowl of water on a sheet where you could confess your sins, wash your hands, and leave them there; a cross where you could write something you adore about God on a sticky note and post it up; a box of sand where you could write out someone you were thankful for, who had left a footprint on your life, and thank God for them; a wall with everyone's name written up to encourage them; a white board to write your goals and pray for God to help you achieve them; and a worship station. It was super cool! We all did this prayer walk for about 45 minutes, and then John preached about how to tell the 'wheat' from the 'tares.' It was perfect for getting ready to go home. We learned how to live like a real New Creation in Christ, and witness to others who need him. It was a powerful message. Thanks John.
In coming back to the Villa, it was about 10 in the evening. This was the start of a 24-hour Battle Cry that we planned the week before. We set it up to start at 10pm Sunday and continue until 10pm Monday. Each of us signed up for a 2 hour shift, and had a specific room set aside for us to pray in during our shift. That way we would all be trying to focus on praying all day, but the real deal was being held in a room with people together praying hard-core for 2 hours. It was so awesome. The main things on our hearts to pray for were: breaking strongholds back home, staying faithful in the Word away from our encouraging family here, living out the changes God has made in our lives the past 3 months, and witnessing to those back home that really need Jesus Christ. Just praying for each other as we go back to our old lives in the States, back to the temptations, habits, and just the different culture, was a really powerful thing to do. It's going to be so different. But at the same time I can't wait.
This week has been filled with finals and packing. It's been super chill though. I've loved it. Even though we've had to study a lot, we've just hung out a ton because our finals are usually finished for the day by 9:30 or so. It's been super awesome. I've spent a few afternoons laying out by the pool in the sun.. needless to say I'm not that excited about going back to Indiana sub-freezing degree weather. Buut I am excited for snow!! And of course to see everyone that I love. Thank you so much for all of your faithful prayers. I could not have done any of this without the help of my All-Powerful God. Give him praise for all he's done this year.
I will be home from December 12th-January 7th. Email me! hannah@roxsoftware.com
Coronado wrapped up and the kids began practicing for their Christmas program that they're performing on the 11th for all the parents. Last Saturday we all got to help them remember where they needed to go. I worked with the main character, a crippled lamb, who is played by a boy named Keylor. He is precious. He's about 7 years old and has grown so much over the course of the Coronado kids club. He loves coming and brings his Bible and absolutely loves memorizing the verses. Plus, he gave me a flower this past week. I was inside helping set up, and he poked his head in the door, looked around shyly, grinned at me, walked over, and handed me a flower. My heart melted. It was adorable. I'm going to miss those kids.
Youth group at El Alto finished up with a Christmas party. This was a pretty exciting night because one of my GAP friends, JR, was going to give the message. Our pastor has called him "Pastorcito" since pretty much the first day we got here, and finally he asked him to give the message. But the catch is, JR doesn't speak Spanish yet. So guess who got to translate? Yep. Me. YIKES!! It was awesome. I was so nervous, but I spent pretty much the entire day of praying for God to give me the words to say. Some of the times when he was talking, I couldn't think of what to say, but when I opened my mouth the words just came out. God is so incredible!! And another awesome thing, our pastor liked it so much he asked us to do it again on Sunday morning. Wow. Even scarier!! But it all went well, and everyone was very gracious with my mistakes. We left the church that Sunday with many tears, and warm goodbyes.. but we'll see them again in January.
For our Villa Church that we have on Sunday nights, we did things a little differently this week. Since it was going to be the last time together, we did what I like to call a Prayer Walk. There were about 7 stations of different things to pray about. Such as: a bowl of water on a sheet where you could confess your sins, wash your hands, and leave them there; a cross where you could write something you adore about God on a sticky note and post it up; a box of sand where you could write out someone you were thankful for, who had left a footprint on your life, and thank God for them; a wall with everyone's name written up to encourage them; a white board to write your goals and pray for God to help you achieve them; and a worship station. It was super cool! We all did this prayer walk for about 45 minutes, and then John preached about how to tell the 'wheat' from the 'tares.' It was perfect for getting ready to go home. We learned how to live like a real New Creation in Christ, and witness to others who need him. It was a powerful message. Thanks John.
In coming back to the Villa, it was about 10 in the evening. This was the start of a 24-hour Battle Cry that we planned the week before. We set it up to start at 10pm Sunday and continue until 10pm Monday. Each of us signed up for a 2 hour shift, and had a specific room set aside for us to pray in during our shift. That way we would all be trying to focus on praying all day, but the real deal was being held in a room with people together praying hard-core for 2 hours. It was so awesome. The main things on our hearts to pray for were: breaking strongholds back home, staying faithful in the Word away from our encouraging family here, living out the changes God has made in our lives the past 3 months, and witnessing to those back home that really need Jesus Christ. Just praying for each other as we go back to our old lives in the States, back to the temptations, habits, and just the different culture, was a really powerful thing to do. It's going to be so different. But at the same time I can't wait.
This week has been filled with finals and packing. It's been super chill though. I've loved it. Even though we've had to study a lot, we've just hung out a ton because our finals are usually finished for the day by 9:30 or so. It's been super awesome. I've spent a few afternoons laying out by the pool in the sun.. needless to say I'm not that excited about going back to Indiana sub-freezing degree weather. Buut I am excited for snow!! And of course to see everyone that I love. Thank you so much for all of your faithful prayers. I could not have done any of this without the help of my All-Powerful God. Give him praise for all he's done this year.
I will be home from December 12th-January 7th. Email me! hannah@roxsoftware.com
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
A Sacrifice of Praise
Wow, God, I am so blown away. I can't even express how thankful I am for all you've done in my life in this past week. First of all, your hand is so apparent in Coronado. The people are so open to your Word, and there is such a hunger and thirst for sound teaching. Thank you for the leaders we have there, and the way that they are working. Bless them in their efforts, and continue to give them strength and encouragement in the work that they do for you. Second of all, I thank you with my whole heart for the family that you've blessed me with here. They come around me and encourage me, keep me accountable, pray for me, love me, work with me, laugh with me, and just simply are my family. I love them all so much. Especially during Thanksgiving when I missed my family they became my family, and we shared in giving thanks to you all the way from a different country. They mean so much to me, and I couldn't make it here without them. Thank you so much for each one of them. My roommates in particular have been incredible. You have blessed me immensely with the perfect three girls to help me grow and become who you want me to be. Help me to bless them as much as they bless me. Make me into the loving roommate, friend, and sister that I need to be to them. Third of all, God, I thank you for the teaching I've been given. You have placed a mighty spokesman here to guide us in truth, and you have blessed him with exactly what we need to hear. You are a great and sovereign God who is in control of all that happens. Everything that I have been learning has been perfect for your plan for my life. I have been challenged in my worship, mastery and change over my old self, service to your name, and preparation for my Christian life in the future. I pray now that you would teach me to lose myself in you. I cannot do anything apart from your strength, and only a miracle can save me from myself. Please take my life and form it into an on fire life used to further your kingdom. And fourth of all, God, you worked a wonder right before my eyes tonight. I went to youth group knowing that I was going to translate a message. I thought I was ready, and yet at the same time I knew that I couldn't do it. But I completely gave it over to you. I begged you for words and the strength to think on the spot. And I was amazed at what happened. I sat there not knowing what to say and all of a sudden words began coming out of my mouth. You are all powerful and worked through me and JR in a miraculous way. He was able to bring an important message to people who were so ready and excited to hear it, and all only by your Spirit speaking through your Word in him and Spanish words in me. I am still amazed that we were able to convey a beautiful and powerful message. You amaze me. Thank you so much for that blessing. I'm speechless when I think about it. You rock. I love you, God.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Paradise Twice
Since coming to Costa Rica, I've been able to be involved in some pretty awesome ministries. I'm involved in a church, planting a church, a kid's club, a youth group, leading worship amoung the GAP students, and other random opportunities into which I'm able to get involved. But as you can imagine, with plugging into so much ministry comes fatigue. I get tired. I get tired of helping, serving, ministering, studying, working, planning, and everything else. This is the reason we all get Monday's off. We study in class for 6 hours a day during the week, and jam-pack our weekends with ministry. By the time Monday morning hits, there is no longer any way our minds, spirits, or bodies can keep going without a break. We desperately need a chill day to relax, unwind, hang out with God, and do nothing planned. However, going hand in hand with the busyness of the week comes the desire to do things other than school and ministry. Things such as Ultimate Frisbee, shopping in the San Jose market, cleaning at Coronado, going out to eat, or just leaving the Villa fill Mondays almost instantaneously. Because we want so badly to get out when we don't have school, our free day in a sense is no longer free. After compiling close to 3 months now of this routine, I along with the rest of my group, seriously needed an extended break from everything. Therefore.... this weekend we went to the beach for 2 days!!! Oh my goodness. How fantastic does that sound?! Yeah, it pretty much was. From start to finish.. I was finally experiencing the perks of living in CR ;)
After already thinking I lived in paradise with merely slight degree changes from perfect weather, overpoweringly gorgeous scenery, people speaking a beautiful language, and the coolest ever team, I found myself in paradise twice. Moving from the mountains to the ocean I climbed out of the bus, looked as far as my eye could see, and saw nothing but horizon. I dropped my bags and ran to the beach.. across the sand and directly into the pacific. WAHOO!! Oh man.. not only in Costa Rica but at the beach. This is the life. God is so beautiful. So after swimming out to "Isla Tomar El Sol", walking the coastline, eating sandwiches and juice boxes for lunch, I ventured inland for the first time all day, only to find a sand volleyball court. I got pumped and ended up playing for a few hours straight. The sun was awesomely bright and hot, making me sticky and tired. Yet so happy. I love playing beach volleyball... When I got tired I jumped into the pool expecting to cool off. But as soon as I got in, a bunch of guys were talking about water polo. I got curious and very soon the lifeguard showed up with 2 nets and a ball. Looked like I was playing some water polo :) It was so fun.. I had never played before, but it wasn't that hard and it was super fun! By the end of the game though I was doubly pooped. Luckily it was time to check into our rooms so we got to go crash in our rooms. I drug my bags all the way up the mountainous climb (no joke) to room 206. My roommates and I took showers and collapsed on the beds for about an hour. Then Club Lucas decided to take adorable roomie pictures on the beach. We donned our black and jean and posed and smiled and captured all our love ;) It was awesome. Then we headed to dinner.. but not only dinner.. buffet dinner. Now if you know anything about Villa food you'll know how deeply we all appreciated and got very excited for this buffet dinner. We had options, we had GOOD food, and we had multiple servings. We didn't have corncob/banana soup, hot dog casserole, broccoli bacon pasta, cheese soup, or hot dog spaghetti. Living the good life. So after stuffing ourselves we were extremely full and content. During the after dinner hours those of us from Indiana figured the best way to digest was to not move from the dinner table. So we pulled out a handy deck of cards and dealt up some Euchre. Finally. We had been talking about playing ever since we found out there were 4 of us from Indiana all who know how to play and love the game, but we had never actually played. It was a blast. So for the next 2 hours we played some Euchre and chatted it up. Then close to 9 we walked back to our neighborhood since our rooms were right next to each other so I could grab my guitar and head down for some worship on the beach. I had never played my guitar on the beach before, and in my head it was pretty cool. So I decided to make an announcement that 9 pm on the beach there would be a worship service. It was far better than I had ever imagined. I played for close to an hour straight and we just sang in the dark listening to the waves and knowing and seeing and feeling how awesome God is. We stared out at the ocean, knowing that it's one of the most vast things man can come close to viewing, and yet tiny is not even a small enough word to describe how small it is in comparison to our great God. After some heartfelt, passionate, loving worship and prayer, we dispersed and had the rest of the evening to chill. I took my guitar back to the room and then walked back to the beach to pray with some friends about our group. Then I proceeded to wander nearly the entire camp twice looking for my roommate who turned 19 at the strike of midnight. My plan was to knock on her door at midnight and sing to her, but I couldn't find her until about midnight o five. But it was alright. I still sang obnoxiously and she enjoyed it ;) Bedtime was next.. sorta. We went back to our rooms, but I ended up staying awake talking until close to 3. Oops. Oh well. We got up to another beautiful day on the beach. More incredible buffet for breakfast, only this time accompanied by monkeys. They were everywhere. And I mean everywhere. They would hop down on tables and steal food, take food from your hands, and crawl all over the roofs waiting for someone unaware. It was hilarious. I fed one with a baby on its back a banana and it didn't even share with the baby... pig. After breakfast we headed out to the sand courts for a hardcore 2 on 2 tournament. One boy one girl, best 2 out of 3, play to 15 with a 2 point cap, 3rd game to 10, single elimination. Oh yeah, in the scorching sun with lots of sand to stick to your sweat every time you dove. It was awesome. What a way to spend the morning. I played for about 4 hours, probably 6 games straight, and was undefeated. Derick and I were a team and we beat everyone in 2 games. It was so much fun. Between games we had some rest time and we fueled up on coconut milk, which we learned afterwards has about twice the electrolytes as gatorade. So we really were juiced and ready. We were both completely covered in sand, soaked in sweat, dominating the court, slowly tiring out, and having tons of fun!! After we won (*grin*) we showered most of the sand off and jumped into the pool. It was pretty refreshing, but we just got out and walked to the ocean which was cooler and even more refreshing. After our short swim, we dried off and headed up to lunch. Yep. More buffet ;) By this time my body was screaming at me to sleep. So I headed to the beach with the plan to fall asleep in the sun. However, this plan was quickly thwarted with one look at the overcast sky. So instead of getting my tan on, I hung out by the pool and watched some of our guys be pretty retarded. It was really fun. After another hour or so it was time to go home. Happy, dry, tired, and yet rested, I loaded the bus for a gorgeous drive home. On the way to the beach I slept the whole way so I had missed all the scenery, which was absolutely incredible. So this direction I decided to stay awake and check out God's awesome creation in another country. During the drive it hit that magical hour of about 5 o'clock, and it got dark. But the cool thing was we got to watch a full moon rise and hang out over the mountains. It was so bright and gorgeous.. I love the moon :) God is cool. When we got back to the Villa, there was no food waiting for us so some people decided to make some pancakes. I grabbed some in between unpacking and just sitting around. Then my roommates and I showed Madison her CL birthday power point that I made for her. She loved it. I was so glad that it was an awesome birthday for her, even away from home, she had fun and friends and a great 19th. For the rest of the night we just hung out in Club Lucas. It was quite the weekend. I loved just being in some gorgeous creation, in which the mighty hand of an incredible powerful God was consistently apparent :)
After already thinking I lived in paradise with merely slight degree changes from perfect weather, overpoweringly gorgeous scenery, people speaking a beautiful language, and the coolest ever team, I found myself in paradise twice. Moving from the mountains to the ocean I climbed out of the bus, looked as far as my eye could see, and saw nothing but horizon. I dropped my bags and ran to the beach.. across the sand and directly into the pacific. WAHOO!! Oh man.. not only in Costa Rica but at the beach. This is the life. God is so beautiful. So after swimming out to "Isla Tomar El Sol", walking the coastline, eating sandwiches and juice boxes for lunch, I ventured inland for the first time all day, only to find a sand volleyball court. I got pumped and ended up playing for a few hours straight. The sun was awesomely bright and hot, making me sticky and tired. Yet so happy. I love playing beach volleyball... When I got tired I jumped into the pool expecting to cool off. But as soon as I got in, a bunch of guys were talking about water polo. I got curious and very soon the lifeguard showed up with 2 nets and a ball. Looked like I was playing some water polo :) It was so fun.. I had never played before, but it wasn't that hard and it was super fun! By the end of the game though I was doubly pooped. Luckily it was time to check into our rooms so we got to go crash in our rooms. I drug my bags all the way up the mountainous climb (no joke) to room 206. My roommates and I took showers and collapsed on the beds for about an hour. Then Club Lucas decided to take adorable roomie pictures on the beach. We donned our black and jean and posed and smiled and captured all our love ;) It was awesome. Then we headed to dinner.. but not only dinner.. buffet dinner. Now if you know anything about Villa food you'll know how deeply we all appreciated and got very excited for this buffet dinner. We had options, we had GOOD food, and we had multiple servings. We didn't have corncob/banana soup, hot dog casserole, broccoli bacon pasta, cheese soup, or hot dog spaghetti. Living the good life. So after stuffing ourselves we were extremely full and content. During the after dinner hours those of us from Indiana figured the best way to digest was to not move from the dinner table. So we pulled out a handy deck of cards and dealt up some Euchre. Finally. We had been talking about playing ever since we found out there were 4 of us from Indiana all who know how to play and love the game, but we had never actually played. It was a blast. So for the next 2 hours we played some Euchre and chatted it up. Then close to 9 we walked back to our neighborhood since our rooms were right next to each other so I could grab my guitar and head down for some worship on the beach. I had never played my guitar on the beach before, and in my head it was pretty cool. So I decided to make an announcement that 9 pm on the beach there would be a worship service. It was far better than I had ever imagined. I played for close to an hour straight and we just sang in the dark listening to the waves and knowing and seeing and feeling how awesome God is. We stared out at the ocean, knowing that it's one of the most vast things man can come close to viewing, and yet tiny is not even a small enough word to describe how small it is in comparison to our great God. After some heartfelt, passionate, loving worship and prayer, we dispersed and had the rest of the evening to chill. I took my guitar back to the room and then walked back to the beach to pray with some friends about our group. Then I proceeded to wander nearly the entire camp twice looking for my roommate who turned 19 at the strike of midnight. My plan was to knock on her door at midnight and sing to her, but I couldn't find her until about midnight o five. But it was alright. I still sang obnoxiously and she enjoyed it ;) Bedtime was next.. sorta. We went back to our rooms, but I ended up staying awake talking until close to 3. Oops. Oh well. We got up to another beautiful day on the beach. More incredible buffet for breakfast, only this time accompanied by monkeys. They were everywhere. And I mean everywhere. They would hop down on tables and steal food, take food from your hands, and crawl all over the roofs waiting for someone unaware. It was hilarious. I fed one with a baby on its back a banana and it didn't even share with the baby... pig. After breakfast we headed out to the sand courts for a hardcore 2 on 2 tournament. One boy one girl, best 2 out of 3, play to 15 with a 2 point cap, 3rd game to 10, single elimination. Oh yeah, in the scorching sun with lots of sand to stick to your sweat every time you dove. It was awesome. What a way to spend the morning. I played for about 4 hours, probably 6 games straight, and was undefeated. Derick and I were a team and we beat everyone in 2 games. It was so much fun. Between games we had some rest time and we fueled up on coconut milk, which we learned afterwards has about twice the electrolytes as gatorade. So we really were juiced and ready. We were both completely covered in sand, soaked in sweat, dominating the court, slowly tiring out, and having tons of fun!! After we won (*grin*) we showered most of the sand off and jumped into the pool. It was pretty refreshing, but we just got out and walked to the ocean which was cooler and even more refreshing. After our short swim, we dried off and headed up to lunch. Yep. More buffet ;) By this time my body was screaming at me to sleep. So I headed to the beach with the plan to fall asleep in the sun. However, this plan was quickly thwarted with one look at the overcast sky. So instead of getting my tan on, I hung out by the pool and watched some of our guys be pretty retarded. It was really fun. After another hour or so it was time to go home. Happy, dry, tired, and yet rested, I loaded the bus for a gorgeous drive home. On the way to the beach I slept the whole way so I had missed all the scenery, which was absolutely incredible. So this direction I decided to stay awake and check out God's awesome creation in another country. During the drive it hit that magical hour of about 5 o'clock, and it got dark. But the cool thing was we got to watch a full moon rise and hang out over the mountains. It was so bright and gorgeous.. I love the moon :) God is cool. When we got back to the Villa, there was no food waiting for us so some people decided to make some pancakes. I grabbed some in between unpacking and just sitting around. Then my roommates and I showed Madison her CL birthday power point that I made for her. She loved it. I was so glad that it was an awesome birthday for her, even away from home, she had fun and friends and a great 19th. For the rest of the night we just hung out in Club Lucas. It was quite the weekend. I loved just being in some gorgeous creation, in which the mighty hand of an incredible powerful God was consistently apparent :)
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