Father's Day

I love you, dad ~ Happy Father's Day!

Goodly Heritage

I may not have riches as some others may

But I have a mother who knows how to pray

And maybe there's some things I've missed in my youth

But I have a father who stands for the truth

Chorus:

I have a goodly heritage

I'm blessed with things you can't see

I have a goodly heritage

And that is worth far more to me

And if in the future, my parents pass on,

To dwell in that City we've come to call Home

They may not leave me the goods of this world

But I have accepted their God and His Word

quick blessing...

Remember I told you about the talent show and how we raised $475 to buy Bibles and food for Los Guidos? Well tonight, we received word that someone is very generously donating another $500 for the fund!!!!! Praise the LORD!

**coming soon to a theater near you**

Tonight was the second and final performance of the GAP Talent Show... and it was even better than the first one :) But I am so excited - total money raised (from both nights) to buy Bibles and help Los Guidos : $475!!!!! We just want to give God all the glory. It goes to show that God can use anything ... even just a simple talent show ... for His glory. PRAISE the LORD!!!!!

cameras, lights, action!

we (GAPers) decided it would be fun to have a talent show, and that it would also be good because we could raise money for los guidos. what is los guidos you may ask? well. its a really really poor place here in costa rica. people here refer to it as "el hueco" or..the hole. because literally...its a huuuuuge hole in the ground...full of tin houses with a filthy sewage creek running through it and ya...you get the picture. so we are having a talent show tonight and also friday night. tonight Ron Bishop (founder and pres. of SCORE) will be coming along with several american groups that are here on missions trips, and then friday everyone from our churches here will be coming. we are charging about two dollars to get in so hopefully we will be able to raise a lot of money for los guidos!!!! :] one blessing is that one church, el impacto, already took up an offering for our talent show...70 dollars!! :] so ya. just pray tho that tonight goes well and that this whole thing will just be a huge success and a blessing for the people of this country! :]
- Sarah Kinsey blog

I copied that from my friend's blog cuz I'm lazy and didn't feel like typing all that out :)
But here's the deal - last night we had our Talent Show for the American groups and Ron Bishop. My "talents" were playing the piano and then Paul & I sang "Defying Gravity" from the Broadway musical "Wicked". At first I was so extremely nervous because I'm not really fond of getting in front of a bunch of people and performing. But once we got on stage, I was fine. We had 14 acts: some funny, some more serious; all in all it lasted around an hour and a half. During intermission we played a video about Los Guidos. We served snacks and put a donation jar on the table and at the end of the evening when we counted the money...are you ready for this? We had raised $350 for Los Guidos!!!!!! And that was just one night - we're doing the show again on Friday night for our churches. God is so amazing!!! We know that it definately wasn't because we're so talented - we want to give God all the credit :)

*Pictures coming soon!*

a challenge...

Tonight we went to the Villa and had dinner with Ron Bishop (founder and president of SCORE International). Afterwards he led us in a devotional and what he said really challenged me:

*No matter what you do with your life, do something significant for Christ.*

I don't really know what all my future holds, whether it's being a missionary in some foreign land or just working in the ministry somewhere, but I want my life to count for Christ.

confession and prayer...

OK, I'll be the first to admit that lately I haven't had the greatest attitude about certain things - like school and going to youth group on Saturdays when I'd rather stay home and sleep/hang out/or watch TV. And I'm embarrassed to say it, but I've been kind of slacking off in my school work - my projects have been shoved aside till the last possible minute so that I could go downtown or something...but it hit me this weekend. I only have ONE month left to learn this beautiful language and to do what God wants me to accomplish down here. He had reason for bring me down here, and I want to fulfill it and not be held back by my lazy, selfish self.

"Dear Father, forgive my terrible attitude and for being so selfish. I ask that You'll help me to make the most of this last month here in Costa Rica and to continue to grow closer to You. Thank you for still loving me when I don't deserve it and for picking me up when I fall down. In the precious name of Jesus - Amen"

stuck in the middle

Here it is, June 1st. That means only 30 more days and I get to go home! I look forward to this with mixed emotions. Part of me wants to just be done with this and go home, see my family, get a job, and move on to the next chapter in my life. This is the side of me that misses the little things I normally would take advantage of:
1) driving a car - just being able to jump in a car and drive wherever I want and not have to worry about walking up that ginormous hill (especially in the rain!) and waiting for a bus...not having to worry if I have enough change for the bus...
2) shopping at WALMART!
3) going to church and being able to listen to a sermon without having to translate it in my head from Spanish to English :)
4) even tho this might make me sound lazy - not having to do my own laundry
5) eating good homemade food...what I would give for some of my mom's cooking!!!
6) late night movies or going to I90 with family and friends
7) doing the bundles at 3AM with Nick and then eating McD's breakfast croisant or some good Daylight Donuts

But then the other side of me wants to stay here in Costa Rica forever. This group has become my family the past 9 months. We've had fun, studied, laughed, cried, shopped, lived with each other, missed home together...I am very blessed to have them as friends/family. Our teachers are so nice - they seriously are putting aside their personal life to help us here and I appreciate that so much! My church family here is wonderful. I've learned so much from them and grown so much in my Spiritual Life and closer to God. And the mountains are so beautiful! They never look the same - I just love them! I wouldn't trade my experience here for anything.

So even tho I kind of feel like Paul in Philippians 1:23-24, I want to make the most of this last month here. It's not everybody who has a chance to spend a year in Costa Rica learning Spanish. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I don't want to waste it pining away for home. So forgive my complaining...sometimes it's just good to write down thoughts, go back and read them, realize how spoiled I am and have a change of heart.