Shalom Existence

I know I said I would give a full update on Costa Rica, and I am, you just might have to stick with me through rambling and incohesive statements about a vast array of things that have been happening in and out of my mind this past week and weekend.

Let me start by reminding myself that God is good. All the goodness that is in me and you, comes from Him. My hope is in Him, and I hold to that hope because an image of God is in me. Make sense? Let me clarify. Not only did I visit a country known as being the “nicest” third world country and see the poverty and happiness in the eyes of children and simultaneously in my mind’s eye see all the injustices and poverty that happens in our first world country (why do we even have those labels?) but I also learned of the death of a very lovely woman with two children, ages 12 and 14, who passed because a fall she had taken on the 4th of July that created a bloodclot. That bloodclot hit her lungs on Thursday morning. She died not more than 2 hours later. So, I remind myself that although God created the world, he does not step in and wave a wand to keep the poverty to a minimum or death of an innocent and God loving 42 year old from happening.  I can still see God though, through the faces of joy in unwashed Nicaraguan refugees faces, and through the tears of the many people that loved so much that the grieving creates mental and emotional pain.

So, in a nutshell, I see God, and want to know Him and love Him even more.

Next, the trip and my “needs” thoughts:

The trip was successful. Unfortunately we did not have a big enough team to do the manual labor we were originally set to do. However, we visited the squatter neighborhood made up primarily of Nicaraguan refugees and went to several church services and a pastor’s meeting to plan future events. I honestly cannot say that I helped a single person, besides taking pictures for Vision2Hear, but I did get to think and pray and wonder about my purpose. A lot of time in this trip was spent watching and silently getting myself back into prayer. 

The luggage thing was an annoyance that should not have been. People make mistakes, companies make mistakes, and me getting worked up about it does not change a thing. In a way, I am glad it happened, because it reminded me again that God will take care of me. It showed me even more how many luxuries we take for granted, or even view as necessities, that are of no importance at all when it comes to people and the needs that are not being met every day. How much money do I waste? Ok, I don’t want to know. But, I know what I will be doing. That is the giving of what I have to an organization or person in need every month. Not out of charity, but out of seeking justice. Out of righting the wrongs that I myself have committed. The money I have squandered and the people I have turned away from. Also, as I left Family Refugee Services as a volunteer in May, I have been thinking about what my next volunteer opp should be. If you read this I ask you to pray with me as to where I can best be used. Although I volunteer some time at the church, I feel really drawn to an opportunity (like RFS) that would give me contact with marginilized, but (unlike RFS) that would allow me to express my faith if given an opportunity.

So, all in all I would have to say Costa Rica was a very positive experience. I might have more to write later, but for now, I am lost in thought and therefore have too many words to write, what do you call them? Oh yeah, sentences….

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