Costa Rica 103

Costa Rica 103

More sleep last night equaled an easier wake up and increased energy this morning. After breakfast Raisa asked who wanted to go on a short walk with her up the mountain to visit a family they have been ministering to. Bre, Beth, Sarah Jo, Hannah and I went with her.

I learned a few things:

Ask for a definition of “short”.

Elevation makes a difference.

Any place can be made into a home.

A few minutes into our trek I was bringing up the rear, and not because I was in protective mom mode. Sweat was rolling down my back. I found myself gasping more than breathing. Bre dropped back to walk with me and kindly, encouragingly said “With the higher elevation the air is thinner and it is harder to breath…” I seriously considered,  more than once, stopping Raisa and saying “I will just sit here in this driveway. You can pick me up on your way back down.” But I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and doing what I needed to do in order to draw my next breath. Kind of like I have been doing for the last ten and a half months. 

I am thankful I persevered. I received several gifts.

I watched a woman who was fighting back against hard life circumstances, doing her best to care for her bed-fast mother, three children and husband who battles epilepsy. And she did it with a smile. A weary smile, but a loving smile nonetheless. The gift of seeing love in action.

We visited another family. My first thought when we walked into their home was “I know farmers who would not put their animals in a building that looks like this.” There are four generations living in the second home. The gift of being reminded that I live a life of luxury.

As we left the second home Rasia said “I could go on and visit all day.” I was honest and told her “I do not have your stamina. I will have to work on that for my next visit.” She graciously began our walk home. The gift of humility and honesty.

Part of our journey home was through a coffee field. Most of the beans are green. We saw a few that were red, on their way to ripeness. Raisa stopped and picked enough of the red ones for us to try one-they have a bit of a fruity flavor. The gift of a new flavor.

After we ate lunch we found out what the afternoon plan was. We would be going to see a couple who opens their home for children’s ministry. Carlos and Raisa come alongside them to help them when they are able to. I found myself volunteering to teach a lesson on the power of our words. So I planned a lesson and activities geared to helping children understand some basic things. The gift of courage.

Proverbs 15:1; Ephesians 4:29; teaching point-our words can build up (be helpful) or hurtful (tear down) object lesson-each blowing up a balloon as I complimented the children, letting the air out when I said hurtful words to Bre. Proverbs 4:23 and Matthew 15:18-out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. teaching point-once the words are out of our mouths, there is no pulling them back in. Object lesson-squeeze toothpaste out of the tube-give each child a tip and ask if they can put the toothpaste back in the tube. Psalm Psalm Teaching point- we already have learned that what is in our hearts is what comes out of our mouths. I cannot bring good things out of my heart by myself so I ask God to do some things for me. Object lesson-sour patch kids- we want our words to “taste good” in other people’s ears. The gift of experience and being able to recall.

I was feeling comfortable. Well, as comfortable as you can feel when you put a lesson together in 30 minutes. Until I realized I would also be teaching the women-including them in the object lessons. YIKES! Raisa translated and asked follow up questions. The gift of being privileged to share the Word of God and see its power at work.