The Presence of God

I never know where to start these posts, so I'm just going to talk about the weather! It's the rainy season here, and it really does rain a lot! Today, we had a really cool storm, and the thunder was super loud! It was awesome, but it really came down hard, and I was glad we went to the store after lunch!It definitely keeps it cool here, and it feels great! We don't have central a/c or heat here, so whatever is going on outside, we feel it. I think it was the 2nd or 3rd day I was here, and it rained super hard, and it got really cold! I wasn't expecting to sleep in my fleece here ( brought them for outreach in Europe), but I'm glad I have them! I went to the cheap store Pali today with some friends here, and it was a neat experience. The store is about 15 minutes away on foot. The corner market that is a bit closer, is called AM PM, and it's just like a mini mart/gas stations store, and it's really expensive. I was looking for some laundry soap, apples, bananas, and totally forgot to get yogurt! I just remembered that...AHHHHH! I can't eat the breakfast here most days, except the fruit. I brought some gluten free granola and was going to eat that with yogurt instead. I will have to go back I guess!!! We are pretty busy during the day, so it's hard to find time to go to the store, except after dinner maybe. By that time, it's dark, and usually raining, and Pali is closed. Work duties are hard, but I'm glad that I only have mine during the week, and I have the weekend off! We have more free time on the weekends, and we are already talking about checking out the beach. I have had such mixed emotions here, and it is driving me crazy. One minute I want to go home, and the next minute, I never want to leave! We have felt the presence of God so much in the last 2 days, it has been amazing! We didn't even have a lecture or sport time today, because He had another plan for us! Carol, the only married girl on the team, was awakened at 2am to pray for all of us. She left her room, and went downstairs to our classroom and prayed over every seat. She said the Lord spoke to her about idols in our lives, and how He wanted to fill us with His Spirit and His gifts, but He couldn't do so, until we cast down our idols. So after she shared this with us, we were told to go spend time with God, and ask Him to show us our idols. I told Him I wanted to lay down these idols, but it may not all happen right away. My idols are: The right to be married & have a family, impressing people, sexual desires, obsession with food, judging people,and I'm sure there are more that He will show me later.I was so impressed with one our young guys, as he was writing all of his idols on the board, when I walked in. For a moment, I thought we all had to do that, and it freaked me out for people to see my sin. We ended up called out our idols anyway in a circle, so Satan cannot get a foothold. We had an amazing time of worship, prayer, and hearing from God. There have been so many tears in the last 2 days,and not only from me. I believe that God is breaking down walls and idols in many of our hearts, so we can be free, and be filled with Him. We also had our first time of intercession as a base, and as a team yesterday. As a base, we prayed in groups for another YWAM base in Central America. My group prayed for the Panama City, Panama base. In our team time, we prayed for God to show us where we are going for outreach in Europe. I thought this was settled, but we are still waiting for God to speak. We are going to Germany for sure, and possibly Norway as of now. Please pray that God would show us where we are to go. We had our first family night last night, and we worship God for about an hour. Then we fellowship and eat! Our snacks were: a cake with no icing, have fruit, bread, and popcorn. This afternoon we had our first small group as ladies, but next week we will split up into 2 groups, and begin discussing the lectures. Today we talked about several things, but we set a time to turn the lights off in out room and be quiet.Lights off at 11p & we start to get quiet, with whispers, at 10:30 We had a hard time deciding the time, because I want to go to bed early, and the older lady, and younger girls want to chat half the night. Satan already tried to divide us on this issue, so please pray for us. I am a night owl typically, but here I am really tired, at least until I get into a groove, and want to get my rest. We go non stop here and breakfast is at 6:30, as I mentioned in my first post, so getting to bed early is key to staying awake in class, and receiving what God has for me. We were given the night off today, but we will normally have a bible study on Thursdays. About the food, I think I'm going to have a hard time losing weight, because all we eat is rice, beans, chicken, and salad. I am trying to not eat seconds, even though I'm hungry. I plan to eat an apple as a snack after dinner, and not eat a second helping.  My favorite meal so far was a lasagna made with plantains(bananas) instead of pasta! Wow, it was so good!!!The food is delicious, but I can't even eat all of it. We had pasta at lunch and dinner today, so I ate a snack from the store I bought. I found a little cake thin, made from corn instead of wheat. It's not very sweet, but it will hopefully agree with my insides, and I can have a treat when the others are eating are the sweet breads here. I brought some Gluten Free protein bars, and peanut butter as well to eat with a banana and tortilla if I get hungry. My friend Sarah wanted to know what books we are reading, but I only know about the first book at this point since we were only given that one. It's called Is that really you, God?: Hearing the voice of God, by Loren Cunningham. He is the founder of YWAM, and is 75 years old now. What a godly man he is, even from a young age, he heard the voice of God. I'm really enjoying the book, and can't wait to read more! I will close for now, because I want to get ready for bed, and read a bit. Bye for now.... I love you all!

First day of classes , family contributions and more

Yesterday was our first day of classes and we received a lot of info. I think I'm going to learn a lot here, and will have many things to ponder daily. We received a journal yesterday and were told to decorate it and make it our own. We will take notes from our speakers in it and also we have to write about a different attribute of God weekly. We received our first of three books to read as well ,and our first book report is due 10/18. We have the last 2 books to read and do reports on by the end of November. I will stay pretty busy, but I'm looking forward to learning and growing in Christ these next 3 months of the lecture phase. All of our team finally arrived and we have already formed some great bonds. I am feeling more and more comfortable each day, and this is because the staff , my team, and the other students here are so incredible. These people are so loving and truly extraordinary. I was a little emotional yesterday and then I found out that my family contribution was to clean the ladies bathroom and showers.Somehow I knew that I was going to get this work duty", and I am a total germ freak, so touching nasty toilets is not my favorite duty if you know what I mean! I do however, have much experience with this task because of my closing duties at HEB grocery as a high school and college student. Also, I was the only one assigned that duty, but 2 of our guys are cleaning the mens facilities. So, I didn't want to complain and God is soooo good, because today I got help, and the staff  told me that they were going to look at the schedule again to get me permanent help. What a humbling job, but we are learning to be servants here after all. So, when I first started cleaning, a girl named Amy came in, and I just shared a little with her about how I was having a hard time adjusting. She mentioned that she struggled as well upon arrival here, and we had a good chat while I was cleaning. Then she offered to pray for me, and of course I said yes! Ever since then, I've had a such a peace, and I had a great day today. I am so sorry for not mentioning this next sentence in the last 2 posts, but I was struggling and couldn't see this experience for what it really is all about. I AM TRULY BLESSED TO BE HERE, AND LOOK FORWARD TO WHAT THE LORD HAS IN STORE FOR ME AND THROUGH ME AND MY TEAM. Most of the people on the base, including staff, are younger than me, but they are so full of the LORD Jesus Christ, and His wisdom, love, mercy, and kindness. IT IS A PRIVILEGE TO BE HERE! While I was cleaning today, 3 ladies who came to use the restroom thanked me for serving them! I was so blessed to hear that I was being a blessing by scrubbing funky toilets!!! I have to share this as well from Sunday morning. We did not go to church this weekend, but will visit 3 churches in the next 3 weeks. We will then select a church to attend for the next 2 months. We all shared how God brought us to Costa Rica, and I was amazed at all of my teammates testimonies. I was already emotional, and then Pedro told about how he has had a dream to be a missionary for 15 years. He got to the point where he couldn't talk anymore, and he just wept. I could totally relate since I wanted to do missions since 2003 so I just broke down crying with him. I have cried so much the last few days, but it really feels good to just release my emotions. On Monday, I cried all during worship. Like I said in my first post, I can't really explain why I'm crying so much, but I knew one reason as to why I was crying yesterday. As I looked around during worship, I saw many nations represented here, and they were all worshiping my God, our God.I was just completely overwhelmed at what God is doing is doing in peoples' hearts all over the world. Okay, I 'm really tired, so I'll post more later.

More details from the last few days

Okay... so I have alot to say, everyday, and I want to share as much as possible, so I apologize for the long posts. And... some days I may not post becuz we are busy and I'm too tired. Also, I will be pretty transparent on this blog, and I would love to answer any questions that you may have. I want to start out with a few funny things. The first night I was here, I'm in my top bunk, and heard a loud noise below. I look down, and my bottom bunk mate, Jody, has her flashlight and her shoe & she killed a bug. It looked liked a bee so I was glad she killed it. I had my earplugs in so I didn't hear a thing. I was totally freaked thinking that bee could've stung me while I was sleeping!!! Okay , I'm cutting this short because I'm on my cell using wi fi& it's too hard to type. My pc went crazy earlier as I was posting and I can't get it to re boot. Oh well, it will just have to wait until tomorrow. Chao amigos!! Luv ya!!!

My first few days in Costa Rica

It is hard to believe I'm back in Costa Rica! It still seems so surreal that I'm here, and will be here longer than a week or two. It has been great to see everyone that I met in March, and to meet my team. The transition has been more difficult that I expected. I'm not sure why, but I have cried a alot, especially today. I can't explain why I'm so emotional, but I think I had to let go of loved ones & the comforts of home for one thing, and I also believe that God is breaking me already. Please pray for my transition here so that I can focus on what God has for me and wants to do through me. I can say that God knows me so well, because we have been giving lots of hugs on our team yesterday & today. The people here are so full of God's love, and they have made me feel so welcome. Our Discipleship Training School will have 19 students, but we are still waiting for 2 Guatemalen students to arrive. Most students are under the age of 24, so I feel kind of old. I think I'm the 2nd oldest in the group, but I'm too shy to ask how old Jo Jo is just yet. The last few days have been pretty laid back, as we are getting accustomed to our new home and life on the base. We took a bus downtown yesterday so they could show us how to take the bus downtown. We live in an area of town called Santa Marta, and the ride is about 30 plus minutes with traffic. We went to the Central Market, a huge indoor market, where you can buy just about anything. I bought an empenada with chicken, and it was delicious. Since I can't eat the sandwiches for lunch on the weekends, I was looking for a gluten free pupusa or some other snack made from corn. As it turns out here, they use corn to make empenadas ( they probably have flour ones too), which I thought were only made from flour. Today we had orientation and learned the rules and expectations here on base, as well as our schedule. We rise early, and breakfast is served from 6:30a to 7. From 7a-8a, is our personal devotion time, from 8a-9am, is either praise & worship as an entire base or school, intercessory prayer, group devotions, or sport time. Class is from 9-12:30pm, with a break. Lunch is at 12:30, and then from 2-4pm, we either have small group, class again, outreach, and on Friday, we have free time. From 4-6p during the week, we work on the  base in our assigned area, but I won't find out what I'm doing until tomorrow. And after dinner, we will either have more class time, bible study, free time, or family night ( every 15 days). Fridays are fun nights. Sorry for the long post, but I'm tring to bring you up to speed. Please let me know that you will be on my prayer team, by posting on my blog that you will do so.  Goodnight for now...