Mi Semana Primera en la Oficina!

I am going to try something a little different this week with the format of the blog entry. For those of you that only have a few moments to look at the blog, I am going to lay out all the important informaton first, and then expand upon everything at the end of the blog.

Prayer Requests:

• I got sick this past weekend and am trying to get over feeling junky. It is tough to speak and understand Spanish when you cannot think very well. Also, it is difficult to work when you feel a bit under the weather.
• My project trip is this coming Saturday (Sept. 19th) until the following Sunday (Sept. 27th.). We will be working alongside an organization called YWAM (Youth With A Mission). Our project, is to help them design a base camp to train and send Haitian missionaries. Pray that we get everything together; that there are no hurricanes while we are there; that the Lord uses us to bring glory to his name; for safety (if that is in the Lord's will); and unity of the team (We are a group of volunteers from all over the country/world).
• That we remain steadfast in our witness to the Costa Ricans in Atenas. That the Lord continues to open doors through which I can build relationships with Ticos!

Praises!

• I am beginning to feel better today, which is awesome!
• Spanish is beginning to get a bit easier. Each day it improves little by little. My comprehension has greatly improved, and my conversation skills simply depend on the day and how tired I am.
• I have an amazing Tico family, who cares for me just like their own son! I could not ask for a better living situation.
• The Lord has been showing me so much this past month, and really for the last several months since before the last trip!

Pictures!

My room at the Chavez house!

Our time at the organic coffee plantation.

Language School.

The canopy tour.

It seems that I have been able to reflect the best upon life and the works of the Lord these days while watching movies with the Chavez family. This past Sunday I thought about the fact that every day we are given an infinite number of decisions to make, and often with seemingly large decisions, we worry that we will make a wrong decision. Like we engineers have learned through the years, there is an infinite number of correct designs and an infinite number of incorrect designs. Yes, some designs are better than others, but in the end, all the correct designs will get the job done. And I am learning that this is true with our lives as well. The Lord allows us to make decisions that have eternal weight and significance, and what He ultimately desires is that we love Him and thus obey Him in all we do. The difficulty I find is when my obedience requires me to do something that is seemingly "illogical"

This has been such a stumbling block for me. God has created me wit ha logical mind and one taht likes to "see" what the next step is or where the next step leads. However, I am realizing that this is foolishness on my side to try to take the place of God. Whether the decision is with the amazing, godly woman I marry or the company I work for or the ministry I do or the place in which I live; these are all simply steps of obedience when I follow steadfastly after the Lord. For so long I have wanted to hold on to to the control of my life, but I am realizing that this is all foolishness. Before my time here, I have worried about so much in my life, but really the only thing that matters is having the Lord supreme in my life and loving Him by obeying his commands. He will take me, as well as you, in a direction that is to shape us more into His image for HIS glory!

I have been here in Costa Rica for just over three weeks now, and this is our first week of "officially" starting work in the office. I am tasked this week with getting all the surveying things in order for the trip. Which entails figuring out how to get AutoCAD LT 2010 to do what I would like the full-blown version to do. =) It is strange to think that of the 4 months of my mission trip, I have spent the first month strictly doing training. However, all the training is important for our spiritiual, mental, and emotional readiness to complete the rest of our time here. Without a broken heart and humble attitude it is very difficult to serve the Lord. Please pray that the Lord continues to keep me flexible and usable for His kingdom.

This weekend I was sick, and this showed me just where I look for my strength, and that is within myself. I am learning right now just what exactly does it mean to depend on and trust in the Lord.

Here is a quick re-cap of the last 3 weeks in Costa Rica:

• 1 week of orientation at the office, which included painting the soon to be kitchen area, testimony time with all the staff, praise and worship time, and cultural sensitivity training.
• Met my host family and am currently living with them.
• Was asked to lead a bilingual praise and worship song my first Sunday at church.
• Language school for 2 weeks.
• A Saturday trip to Esterillos for a canopy tour and time at the beach. It was my first time to try surfing. I successfully got up once! =)
• A Friday and Saturday trip to San Jose to see Maria and Marcos (my last host family). It was a time of learning to be flexible. I never took the buses that I had planned to take, but it all worked out, and turned into a bit of an adventure! =) I also rediscovered that being sick makes understanding and speaking a foreign language a bit more difficult.
• I am building relationships with some of the jovenes at the English classes and at the church, and I hope to meet with some of them each week.
• Daily speaking Spanish and working on improving my conversation skills.
• Currently preparing for our trip to Haiti, and learning some basic French phrases from my Tico sister. I hope that French is close enough to Creol!

So much has happened in the past few months, that I cannot even imagine what the next few months will bring! Praise God for HIS greatness! And Praise God for all of you who have been praying for me!