Hey everyone!
We’ve been in Costa Rica for a whole month now! It’s crazy how fast time has flown by! So far, my time here has been exciting and sweet while also exhausting and challenging at times.
Something that has been really sweet throughout my time here has been connecting with the local children through the kids ministry at the church. This past week I had the opportunity to play soccer and volleyball with the local kids and have been able to connect with a lot of them despite my limited Spanish speaking abilities! We’ve also been invited into many people’s homes this past month and have had the opportunity to pray for them! Two women (twin sisters) in particular, kindly welcomed us into their home, offered us snacks and tea, and allowed us to pray for them. We also spent some time building a fence for an elderly woman named Juanita! Throughout the days spent building the fence, Juanita and her family blessed us with delicious food and drinks along with love and kindness!
Although I’ve found ministry to be sweet and exciting, it’s also been a little challenging at times. Something I’ve learned in the midst of the challenging times is to be content with not knowing the plans for the future. Unlike the fast paced American culture that I’m used to where we plan out the next several months and even years of our lives, here l usually don’t even know what we’re doing tomorrow and even if I do have some idea, those plans usually end up changing. I’ve learned through my time here to take life one day at a time and to be okay when plans change. I think that it’s even possible to find joy and gratitude when things don’t go the way you thought they would.
My view of this really changed a few days ago when I woke up to no running water! This meant no showers, no using the bathroom, and no drinking water which was not ideal, especially in 95 degree heat. Instead of spending the day doing ministry like we had planned, we went out to go find water. Luckily, one of the pastor’s friends, who lives a couple blocks away, still had running water and kindly offered us some. So we walked down to the house carrying jugs, buckets and water bottles and were able to fill them up there and bring them back to the church! Such a blessing! Later the next day, the running water came back on and I felt so much joy! I had never been so grateful for water in my life! Even though having no running water was completely unexpected and a slight inconvenience, there was still so much to find joy in and to be grateful for. For example, if we didn’t lose water, we wouldn’t have experienced the kindness of the neighbor who generously offered us water!
We live in a world where unexpected things arise and disrupt our plans all the time. In these times it’s so easy to become upset or ungrateful about things not going your way. However, we don’t have to be upset! Instead we can choose to find joy in God and be grateful for all the ways he has blessed us (even if that’s as simple as the sunset or a stranger saying hi to us as we pass by them on the sidewalk!).
Thank you guys so much for reading my blog and for all your support! I love y’all so much!
-Dailey 🙂
Also BTW we have two weeks left here in Costa Rica and then we will be headed off to Nicaragua for the rest of our time. ??
