Costa Rica - Day 5

It was impossible for any of us to go through the day without stark realization that at this halfway point, we’ve gone through as many days of the trip as we have remaining… Will we have enough time to finish the projects that have been assigned to us? Have we maximized our time to the best of our ability? Was it a mistake to allow ourselves to be distracted by the local children who stopped by wanting to play? Hugo’s truly irresistible baby boy?  The local markets holding cold sodas & tasty treats within a quick walk/chat/laugh of our worksite? Or were those distractions actually intended TO BE the assignment? What if overlooking those “distractions”… would have meant missing the whole point?

I couldn’t help but to keep thinking about the perspective that “while we make plans, God laughs”. By the end of the day, we had participated in a valuable lunch fundraiser for the church, witnessed some incredible soccer between our teens and the local children, snuggled the most adorable companion pets, witnessed a porcupine falling from a tree, played games to determine what song to play, played pranks on each other, sang loudly, laughed hard, and yes… also got our work to a point where we feel that completion of the project is in sight! God was THRILLED with our ability to see that he had more in store for us than the assignment at hand & that we’ve embraced each of the gifts he’s sent us… so thrilled in fact that the sky exploded in color to greet us when we arrived back at the HQ as a sign of his joy.

We carried the awe from that spectacle with us into the evening where we were lucky enough to get to worship in the church that Wil & Yolanda are members. The singing and praise were captivating, the preacher reminded us that God is at the wheel in our lives and that message is one he’d like for us to take home with us when we leave CR… he especially spoke to Sarah on how truly special she is to the Lord and spoke to the great things he has in store for her life. We happen to agree… she’s a pretty special gal!! It was really fun to watch her be so lifted up!!

After church we got ice cream, dove into a devotion about “getting out of our comfort zone”, and on “overcoming frustrating thoughts” led by Grace & Gabi that once again demonstrated God’s perfect timing as it resonated with many of our feelings from the day. The conversation led to how several in the group have over the course of the week leaned on the others to talk through feelings, evaluate perspective, express frustrations, and have come out of those conversations with greater calm and clarity. We know from Proverbs that “iron sharpens iron” and can see that happening through the transformative power of community within this group as we continue to make each other stronger through the sheer gift of exposure to each other!!

We closed in prayer and then of course – more cards, more stories, more laughs, and off to bed to rest up for our final work day!!