Finding Joy in the Rain.

This is going to be a weird post. A lot of emotions, and not my typical happy go lucky Costa Rica post. Nicaragua. 
10/15/12 - Bus Ride There. Eight hour car rides provoke a lot of thinking in my life. As I looked out the window at the luscious blue sky, I started to wonder what got me here. But for me, that isn't a difficult question to answer. No, I remember the turning point, the moment, the person that is indirectly responsible for bringing me here. It started with a boy. Hah, doesn't it always? 9th grade. Best friend. Spencer Taylor. There are people in your life that challenge you. People that make you see things at more than face value and people that help you to see life in a new and beautiful way. I can't imagine the thought process of knowing you are dying. Fighting it. Struggling with it. Trying to change it. -all the while knowing that little by little there was something inside you. Killing you slowly. I don't know how you di

          7pm. Dark outside. I head over to my good friend and neighbor Marianne’s house and we begin walking with our friend Matt to the JUCUM headquarters. San Jo sé is arguably the most dangerous city in the country. Typically, I shy away from the idea of walking the streets after dark at 6pm. We load up in a van with 7 other people and head to big, dangerous city. I don’t know what to expect. I don’t know how to prepare. I remember the words from John 8:7 as I pray that God will show me how to love these people. “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” They are broken just like me, I remind myself. They just don’t have the hope of Jesus. The van stops and a few people get out and start talking to some of the women. They’ve been doing this a while and have formed relationships with them. They hand the girls some hot coffee and cookies and re-enter the van. My nerves calm a little just in time for the van to stop again. It’s m

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,   I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’   Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:34-40. The hardest part about living in Costa Rica is knowing I'm going to leave. It's not that I'm not missing people or things or life in Texas, but it's hard to truly grasp the essence of livi

First off, to all the people out there reading this, THANK YOU. I always feel weird blogging... It's like I'm talking to myself... Anyways, it's been encouraging to hear that my friends are reading about my life in the CR. (: Ohhhh and on another side note, MY SISTER HANNAH IS COMING TO VISIT ME IN COSTA RICA! I am SO STOKED! The ticket price wasn't that bad, but I did spend money I probably should not have... If you feel so inclined to give me a $10 birthday present towards the purchase of that ticket and give it to Hannah, I can't say i'd be opposed! (: Well. As you will see from the slideshow, I spent the weekend in Talamanca. Talamanca is a town (not really a town... more like a small village in the middle of nowhere) that is located in the Limón province of Costa Rica. It's about a 5 hour drive from where I am living in Sabanilla. Talamanca is home to many indigenous people. Aka, it's home to a lot of people that live on or near a reser