My Host Family

I have been with my host family for two days now. I think my Spanish has doubled since I arrived at their house. (note that it didn't take a whole lot to double my Spanish) My host mom is amazing and talks slowly and distinctly, so that I can understand. She thinks of different words or uses motions if I don't understand. And she can usually tell if I don't understand by just looking at my face. I guess it says, "no entiendo" pretty clearly. They have been an amazing picture of grace because it is so obvious that they love me even though I am clueless as to their language and culture and can't really reciprocate that love. It has made me realize even more how great God's love is for me, because He love's me even though I am clueless and incapable of  loving Him or doing things right. 

I have my own room with a hand drawn mural of a dragon on it. There is also a mural of Lighting McQueen behind the portable closet. 

This is the view from my bedroom window onto our gated patio/carport. The potted plant on the right is a pineapple plant. It is really lovely here.

I would appreciate prayer for time to spend with God and process. I am just here. I haven't had time to think about why or if I like it or whether my heart is in a good place. I want to be relaxed as I humbly rely on God. Of course, I crave prayer for language acquisition and the ability to love my host family well.

Also, here are the blog addresses of my fellow interns, in case you want a different perspective on EMI or Costa Rica.
Brad Montgomery: rockclinger.blogspot.com
Kevin Winner: awinnersjourney.blogspot.com
Allison Byrd: allisonincostarica.blogspot.com

The Team

We arrived in Costa Rica last night

Me, Brad, Kevin (obviously), and Allison during orientation in Colorado

Here is my promised profiling of the Costa Rica team:

I have been labeled a Granola, which was verified by the fact that I rock climb, ski, drive a Subaru, and wear Chacos. I am the most lacking in Spanish skills.

Brad is always moving, tapping, looking around, and zooming ahead of the rest of us. He has a B.S. in civil engineering with a structural emphasis from Vanderbilt University. He also enjoys rock climbing and together we convinced Kevin and Allison to pick up the sport. They are now outfitted with climbing shoes and harnesses. God has blessed him with languages, because he is conversational after having only 2 years in highschool and 1 year in college.

Kevin is an almost hipster skater. He studied architectural engineering at University of Texas, but has spent the last year and a half doing skateboarding ministry in California. He has just been diagnosed with Chrone’s disease, so it would be great if you could pray for his health. He likes pretty much any outdoor activity and is the 2nd best at Spanish.

Allison is a southern sweetheart from North Carolina. She studied interior design (more like interior architecture) at Appalachian State University. She has had a passion for missions since going on a missions trip to Mexico in highschool. She is humble and willing to laugh at herself. We got to be roommates during orientation, so we are already close.

Endurance

          I am at orientation in Colorado and God gets all the praise. My flight on Friday was scheduled to leave at 8:50am, but was delayed twice because it needed repairs and the necessary parts had to be flown in. Unfortunately, the buses which I was going to take from Denver to Colorado Springs don't run after 8:00 or on Saturday, so I would have to find some other way to get to Colorado Springs. After a third delay we were switched to a different plane and left at 8:50pm. God knew what he was doing though and provided a ride to Colorado Springs without even having to take the bus. My cousin Spencer was at a concert that was getting out late that night, and instead of spending the night in town as he had planned, he kindly picked me up at the airport on his way home to Colorado Springs. We got to talk on the way down, which is rare because we live so far apart.
         Needless to say, after hours in the airport I was exhausted and felt frail. On the plane, which carried only 11 of us, I read Romans 5:2-5 "and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." I could definitely tell that my endurance had been stretched, so I rejoiced. However, I could tell that I was holding on to control and that having all of my plans turned upside down was not sitting well with me. I couldn't sleep because of anxiety. Not extreme anxiety, but my mind wouldn't stop to rest. It took the whole plane ride and a wait for Spencer for me to give control back to God, and not just give him control, but rest in His arms content with whatever He would do next.
         Now I am at orientation with 26 other interns who are technically minded, love my Jesus, and want to serve Him. I smile every time I look around at all of them. Allison, Brad, Kevin, and I, the Costa Rica interns, got to finally meet. I'll secretly study them this week so that I can give you a character portrait next time. Thanks for praying because on Friday I was thinking maybe I'd never make it. I guess God still wants me here. I'd love prayer for good sleep because I lost a few hours on Friday and haven't been sleeping well (new place, excitement). I'd like to be well rested so that I can pay attention and learn everything I can during orientation.

The Body

On Friday I leave on this adventure. This past week I have been extremely nervous as I considered a new culture, new language, and new people with nothing familiar as a safety net. My sense of excitement diminished as well as my view of the big picture of serving God. "I don't know Spanish" was the resounding thought in my mind. This weekend I visited Pullman, where I attended WSU for the past 4.5 years. The church that I attend there is supporting me, and I made the trip so that I could share with the whole congregation what I will be doing, how God brought me here, and the impact that they have made on my life. They prayed for me. The rest of the weekend was filled with friends who prayed for me, got excited for me, gave me advice, told me that I would be fine, and beat me at card games. This whole weekend I have been thanking God for His people, as He used them to encourage me. Even though I still don't know Spanish "my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices" Psalm 16:9