6 Days and Counting.

     I cannot believe that in 6 days I will be boarding a plane to fly to Colorado Springs for a week of orientation.  This will be the last time I will see my friends, family, and loved ones around me for over 6 months.  God is STILL preparing my heart and giving me guidance and understanding to this reality.  I have been out of the country many times; Honduras, Dominican Republic and Peru. But the amount of time in these places is simply a glimpse to the reality of what 6 months truly is. This reality has begun to dawn on me over the past few weeks.  My mother even said to me the other day "You don't seem as excited to go lie you were when you first knew you would be going."  My response is that I could not be more excited to serve God's people in such an amazing place like Costa Rica.

     This melancholy, somber state of mine may be the reality that I am going to a country that I know very little about. I will be living with a host, Costa Rican family for the next 6 months of my life that I know nothing about. I will be walking to office I will be working in every day through streets that I am unfamiliar with.  Now these feelings of uncertainty aren't one bit of a discouragement however some of the dawning realities that I will be facing in the next few weeks.  My state of excitement may be suppressed by the stress of getting ready, trying to raise the fundraising that is necessary.

     BUT, I can only imagine the possibilities and the opportunities that God is giving me.  What better of place that I am unfamiliar with to spread His love and mercy. What better place than the streets and people that I do not know to be a light that shines God's faithfulness, His goodness, His kindness to those around me.  God has given me a task. A challenge. A goal. To spread His name throughout the nations.  Based in Atenas, Costa Rica for the next 6 months this is God's playground given to me.
          
                                                                                               To learn.
              
 To grow.
                                                                           To imagine.
                                                                                                                           To design.
                                              To inspire.
                   To build.
                                                            To provide hope to those in need.

     As this journey and chapter in my life quickly becomes a reality, I am beginning to become more sensitive to the reality that God is moving, that God is doing something bigger. He is orchestrating without my control, through means that I cannot control.

     For example; yesterday I was out at REI looking for a travel backpack I could use for carrying my ridiculous amounts of luggage and also as we take weeks trips.  Upon returning home there was an envelope addressed to me from an address that I did not know.  I opened up the envelope and to my surprise there was a check with an amount a little over the cost of the travel backpack I had just purchased.  Also enclosed was a letter signed by a person whom I have no idea who they are.  It is amazing how God continues to show up.  When we least expect it God gives us unforeseen kisses to reassure us of His faithfulness.

Over the next 6 months, come along for this journey with me.  Check back for updates, pictures, and prayer requests! God is moving!

     Also, if you haven't given or are wanting to help support me on this amazing journey, as God gives me the opportunities to uses the gifts and talents He placed within me to serve Him it is SOO incredibly easy.  Go to the "How to Give" tab and follow the 1-2-3 steps. "With open hands we receive what God generously gives to us, and with open hands we give it away knowing that we cannot out-give God."