Solo en Dios encuentro paz.... Salmos 62:5

This week, although it was my week of rest, was one of the hardest weeks I have had since I have been to Costa Rica.  When the "music fades" and everything around you slows down it is much easier to stop and think...what in the world am I doing?!?!  But it is in those times of questioning that God really does come to the rescue.  I know in the past my posts have just kind of kept you up to date with the happenings here in Costa Rica and have been giving a little insight into where God is leading and what He is doing in my heart.  This week the "happenings" have been a little different...a little more internal.  So, I don't know how personal you all want to get with what God is doing in my heart, but I am going to be a little more transparent this week, and for those of you who know me well, you know that this is not an easy thing.  This week I felt very attacked and confused about why I am here and what exactly God is doing in my life and in the lives of the people here through me.  I questioned what talent or gifts I have to offer in this place, and what I could possibly do without someone else giving direction.  For the past two months I have been serving the Lord through construction, coffee making, friendship building, and in one day it seemed like all of that was over, and I was sitting in my room alone wondering what to do next.  I just felt a little lost.  In addition, I had a few disappointing conversations and a few disappointing non-conversations (conversations that were supposed to happen that never did).  I just felt defeated and somewhat useless.
Although my situation has not changed (I still don't know what the next steps are, where I am going to live, what I am going to do...), God has changed my outlook and attitude.  After a couple of encouraging conversations with some lovely, Godly people and many prayers and tears, God restored peace and hope in what I saw as a disappointing situation.
This week God closed doors to places and opportunities that He didn't want me to follow.  My eyes were clouded by my inability to see the big picture, but God, through the affirmation of those I love, reminded me that when I follow He leads and He has never led me into a situation that I couldn't handle with His strength.
I have a few more meetings coming up this week...one with some of the people from Pura Vida Missions - the mission organization that first brought me to Costa Rica 5 years ago! :)  I am very excited about what God is doing and how He is pointing me to new opportunities and closing doors to places He is not calling (even though it might be a little painful at times).  Please continue to pray against Satan's attacks.  Pray that I would continue to trust in where God is leading and where God is calling me to stay away.  Pray that God would reveal to me the talents and gifts that He has given me for this specific purpose in serving here in Costa Rica and that He would reveal to me how to use them for His glory and honor.  Also, please pray for my relationships here.  Pray that God would teach me how to build relationships through language and cultural barriers and teach me how to serve and love with patience and kindness.  The kind of love and service that 1 Corinthians 13 talks about.  Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support.  I can't put into words how encouraging and uplifting it is to know that there are people praying for each step I take. I love you all so much!  Here are a few pictures of my week off:

Me, Josue and Dougy

Dougy was a little tired.  We woke him up early this day...I don't know like 11:30 or something! :) haha...Dougy, I love you!

Dougy, Josue and Brayan

Brayan and Josue stayed with us at the church for a couple of weeks, but went back to their home in San Isidro about 3 hours away at the beginning of the week.  We had fun making milk shakes (well, I made milk shakes and they drank them), playing guitars, and just hanging out a little before they had to go back home.

Isaac and Michael reading Bait of Satan in Spanish

For those of you who don't know this is my favorite book right now.  I bought a few copies for people back home after I read it because I liked it so much.  Just recently I found that they also have the book in Spanish, so I bought a couple more copies and had Mom and Dad send them to me.  This morning when I  went downstairs Isaac and Michael were reading the copy that I gave Michael and looking up the verses from the chapter they were reading in the Bible....it really just touched my heart!  Michael is one of my favorite people here in Costa Rica!  He has been cleaning the church 3 days a week with Isaac and since I am living in the church we have become very good friends.  He and Isaac both have such a heart and passion for the Lord and I am so glad for their friendships!

Dinner on Friday

I also have had to start learning how to cook in Costa Rica...it is a little different and by a little I mean completely different!  Now that there are no groups here I am on my own for meals...well kind of on my own :)  For the first few days I was eating peanut butter and jelly or cereal at every meal, but when my friend Jonathan saw this we went back to the grocery store so he could teach me how to Costa Rica "ramen noodle" shop!  We found some pretty inexpensive ways to not eat peanut butter and jelly everyday, and he taught me how to make some yummy Costa Rican foods.  I am still learning, but this was our first attempt and it was delicious...probably because he made it all and I just watched, but soon I'll know what I am doing! ;)

I was also able to go to a daycare center this week where another missionary here works.  The children were beautiful and super sweet.  Here are a few of the pictures I took:

Pictures of the children

Chalkboard - Wow! I haven't seen one of those in a while!

Margaret in the middle is the missionary...she has been here 40 years!

I found this very interesting.  Each of the children has a tooth brush that they keep at school to brush their teeth after lunch each day.

Sink with tooth brushes

These are some of the answered prayers that the children had

There wasn't any food and now there is :)

Nap time!

And here are some pictures of the progress that happened at the house over the past couple of weeks:

Daniela's old room....now with no wall!

New kitchen/laundry room area downstairs being started

Window above stairs

Upstairs hallway

Window above stairs from outside

And I found this picture on Dougy's facebook and thought it might be interesting to compare!  This is a picture of the house before the groups came this summer:

Before

This was taken about 3 weeks ago, so there is even more progress since then, but it is the latest from the outside that I could find...wow!

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support.  None of this would be possible without you all!  I love you!

El Ultimo Grupo

Wow! What an amazing 2 months this has been.  It has flown by, but through it God has revealed so much and put so many special people in my life.  The last group leaves today, and what an amazing group of people they are.  Although they were few in number, they made such an impact on the people of the church and on me.  Their enthusiasm and love for the Lord were radiated in EVERYTHING they did.  I was truly touched by their joy and generosity.
Our project this week was the church.  Some painted, some sanded, and some worked on adding walls to the top story of our 3 story parking lot/kitchen/youth building.  The transformation of this building has been incredible, and this week we were really able to finish many small projects that will make the final steps of the process much easier to accomplish.  Here are some of the pictures of our work week:

Joe, Kenny, Kirsty and Tom putting up the walls

Tom: Master sander and plasterer haha....I'm thinkin' I just made that word up!

Sandy working hard sanding

Ray and Miriam painting

Me painting with my super cool homemade harness

I also did a little shopping and site seeing with the group on Friday.  We went to a place nearby that had some pretty amazing and breath taking waterfalls.  It really reminded me just how small I am and how big and strong our God is, and it reminded me of the David Crowder song How He Loves that says "if His grace is an ocean we're all sinking".  I know I wasn't at the ocean but to see the force behind that waterfall and to think that if God's grace and forgiveness are that strong and powerful (which they are) there is no way that there is even a trace of our sin left in us when we ask for His grace and forgiveness....we are sinking in His love!  

Kirsty, Me and Ray

From where I was standing I could still feel the mist of the waterfall

I also did a little bit of leopard taming while I was on this site seeing trip.  I'm pretty sure this leopard knew who was boss...

This is what the leopard was doing with the rope on the inside of the cage....

And this was me on the other end of the rope outside the cage...see what I mean! :)

This week was so much fun and a great end to my first steps down this path that God has made for my life.  I am absolutely still a work in progress, but I can totally feel the pressure and joy of the refining process that the Lord is doing in my life!  Thank you to all of you who have been a part of that process.  Thank you for your love, your prayers, your support, your advice, your comfort and your encouragement!  Next week will begin the next step in this journey...now comes the real test of faith.  I don't really know what the next steps are.  I have a few different meetings set up and am going to be talking to a couple of different missionaries and ministers in the area, but as of right now I don't know specifics of what I will be doing.  Please pray that I would be patient as God reveals and lays out the path that He is calling me to.  Pray that I would not become weary that things are not happening in my concept of human time but instead trust that God knows exactly what step I am taking next and where that step is going to lead.  Continue to pray that I would hear His voice above all others and follow no matter how scary it might be!

One night this week I was sitting in my room and saw the most amazing sunset I have ever seen.  I crawled out on the roof and took some pictures for you all to enjoy with me.  It is hard to deny the extent to which God loves us when He gives gifts like this! :)

Have a great week! I love you all!! :)

Buen Provecho!

So, there is one more week of construction and then the fun begins!  haha!  I don't really know what fun that is, but as I approach the end of the weekly mission teams coming God has really been opening doors and revealing possibilities for the next 10 months.  I will keep you all posted as the choices are narrowed down and God reveals the next step!  I am so excited!!
For now, I'll fill you in on this week's happenings.  I have decided that part of my calling is coffee and milkshake making! haha! I might just have to open a coffee shop! :) Almost every night I have been making milkshakes for the Costa Rican workers and some of the youth that have been around.  I spend about 45 minutes making one milkshake at a time and then they drink them in about 5 minutes.  I'll have to take some pictures of the milk mustaches that are resulting from my concoctions! It has been so much fun!  Now, every night after dinner (and sometimes after lunch) everyone asks when the milkshakes will be ready! So this week I pretty much was the coffee/milkshake maker while everyone else sanding and plastered! After 2 months of doing construction work I am gaining a new appreciation for the people who do this everyday.  This week I just did what I could to help support those that were working...although I did a few sanding and plastering jobs most of my time was spent in the kitchen!
As promised from my last blog post, here are some pictures of the beautiful garden area that we have been digging for the past 2 months that has finally been turned into something beautiful!

Hand prints of the family

Even pretty under the stairs! :)

This week we weren't able to do pretty work like this but we did get lots of walls up and even a ceiling beginning or two! The group this week was from Chicago.  There were some really great people and some super hard workers! They were the last group to work on the parsonage, but we were very pleased with the progress that was made over the last couple of months!!

Here are some pictures of what we ended with this week:

The beginnings of the new kitchen: the wall was cut and cement is beginning to be mixed and laid

Danny's room....with walls!

Danny, Daniela and Dougy's bathroom

Mine and Daniela's ceiling! :)

Hall Ceiling

Dougy's room

Living room floor with no more stacks of sheet rock!! :) YAY!

It is starting to look like something!  It is so exciting!  I can't wait to show you all a finished product.  We are hoping maybe a month and a half, but we have been saying a month and a half for the past 2 months...so I'm not really sure.  Time is all relevant here! 

We also celebrated Yami and Danny's birthdays this week.  Yami had her party in San Carlos with her family, so I was not able to go because I stayed to work on the house, but Danny's party was Wednesday night after all the construction at his house.  We ate and ate and ate and danced and danced and danced! It was so much fun, but I was a little under-dressed in my work clothes...everyone else looked so nice in their party clothes and I had dust in my hair from all the sanding and dirt on my legs from digging! Oh well....what are ya gonna do? :)

Here are some pictures from the party:

Just Dance!

Danny and Friends

Douglas cooking delicious food! Yum Yum

They tried not to take many pictures of me because I looked like a homeless girl, but I found one so I could prove I was there! haha...even though Jonathan kind of ruined it with his mean face! :)

So, one more week to go.  Please pray for me that during this last week of working with teams that God would give me strength and wisdom.  Also, pray that God would continue to lay convictions on my heart that would lead me closer to Him and His will for my life.  This week I would specifically ask that you all would pray for God to give me the strength and determination to follow the things that He is calling me to do, places that He is calling me to go, and actions that He is calling me to take.  Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support for this mission and for all of the cards and emails that you all have been sending! They have meant so much to me!  Please also pray for all of my teacher friends back in Georgia who start back to school this week!  They will need your prayers as they enter their mission field as well! :)  I love you guys!!