To Jaco and back...

Well everybody, we're back from Jaco and everything is back to normal, besides the fact that everyone else is off doing a work project and I'm at home but we will work our way up to this point...

Let's go back to last Friday when we had a day off before our trip to Jaco. Friday was a great day to rest and relax, and much needed from a hard week of work. Friday night for our devotional we spent time voicing concerns for our trip to Jaco and then praying about them, talk about the power of prayer. God answered everyone of our prayers and added so many extra blessings. We got to Jaco Saturday afternoon and met the people who ran the library, Kevin and Liana and their friends who are helping for a few months Anna and Adam. They took us to get settled into our hostile behind Papa's and Burgers restaurant and then let us explore for the rest of the day. The hostile was interesting because there were tons of random travelers staying in one small area with one bathroom. I think everyone that prayed for our team to be close was getting their prayers answered in a humorous way... Let me just take a minute to explain how beautiful Jaco is. Imagine a coast scene from Pirates of the Caribbean, Jurassic Park, or just imagine the Garden of Eden if it had included an ocean and there you go. The first night we were there we went to a worship service at a local church. Luckily, the speaker had an English translator which helped a lot. After the service it was so fun to get to talk to the small but growing community of believers there. We stayed for at least an hour fellowshipping with the different people. 

The next morning we got invited to a home church where a group of English speaking believers worshiped on Sunday morning. It was the coolest experience. I have never been to a home church, but the intimacy and sincerity of it was so beautiful. It was about fifteen people of all ages and walks of life, we sang a few worship songs, after we ate amazing cake and had coffee of course, and then we listened to a podcast video sermon from F. Chan. It was an amazing way to start off a day. That afternoon we began our work on the library. Over the next week we worked the majority of the day organizing, sorting, labeling, moving, etc. books and getting all the other things ready for the library to be ready. By the time we left on Saturday it really looked like a normal, organized library. It is such a cool ministry for that community. Their facebook name is Biblioteca de Jaco if you want to add them or check them out. I'm sure they would always love your support and prayers for their ministry. 

Our trip to Jaco included a lot more then our work in the library though. One day we went to the local national park called Manuel Antonio. It is a huge forest along with a beautiful, tropical coast. We walked through the park and saw toucans, sloths (momma and baby), monkeys, and leaf ants. Then we spent the rest of our time in the water dodging huge waves. The waves were at least a few feet over my head and packed a pretty good punch if you didn't duck in time. What a rush though, Meredith and I kept going in and coming back on land to rest for a minute and then running right back in. On another day we went to the beach in Jaco and did the exact same thing, except in Jaco the beach sand is normally covered with little pebbles/rocks. And you see these rocks get bigger the further you go into the ocean until you get past the initial break point. So... here we would go a group of North Americans tiptoeing into the ocean while huge waves would tear us down and spit us out right back to where we started. It was hilarious. We had such a great time just getting some sun and laughing in between getting pummeled by waves. On our last morning we got to go on a Canopy zip lining tour. Oh my goodness, it was so much fun. I definitely recommend it to everyone and anyone. We went down a series of twelve zip lines and got to see monkeys, waterfalls, and beautiful ocean views of Jaco. Some how I ended up at the beginning of the line and so I got to go first for everyone which was really fun, but a little scary for the first one. 

One night we split up and went to boys/girls bible studies. The girls went back the home church location and spent two hours sharing our stories with a group of about ten women from our age to my parents age. It was the coolest experience. I loved that the different ages were able to all share together... it got me thinking on ways to incorporate that into my life in the future. It was as simple as every woman getting five minutes to share what God is doing in their lives and then person beside them praying out loud for them. What a simple, genuine, humbling act of encouraging and supporting inside the body of Christ. 

All in all it was an amazing trip and experience, far better then anything we had heard or expected. When we left on Saturday we were all kinda sad to saying bye to such a wonderful place full of amazing people. 

So anywho, back to the beginning of the blog where I mentioned I'm at home alone right now... Why you might ask? Well last Friday before we left for Jaco I got bit by ants twice on my left hand. Nothing big right? Well over the next week these "ant bites" started spreading in between my fingers and on the back of my hand. The bumps would itch like crazy, get really red, and spread when I got hot and sweaty. I went to the Pharmacy twice in Jaco and the lady said it must be an allergy and gave me a itch cream the first time I went. The second time she gave me a mild acid cream to dry it up and told me I should probably go see a Dermatologist. Great right? Here I am in Costa Rica trying to do all this manual labor to help and Satan decides to try my patience, joy, faithfulness, and self-control by giving me this annoying rash on my hand (that is now on my other hand  and forearm too, but just a little). It's kind of funny though because I gave a devotion on the fruits of the spirit while in Jaco and we all spent time praying for the areas we felt God calling us to grow in. I prayed for more joy and faithfulness and what do I get? A chance to really practice joy and faithfulness when it isn't that easy. The good news is that it hasn't been itching very bad since we got back from Jaco and Katia made me an appoint to go see a doctor Wednesday night if it still isn't any better by then. The bad news is that we are leaving to go to Sarapiqui this Saturday and it is even hotter there and we will be there for three weeks. 

So I would love any prayers you want to send me way for healing for my hands. I know it sounds silly, but it's just really frustrating to not be able to give it my all because of a silly rash. I'll keep you posted though on any updates.

Things to be thankful for on this trip so far:

1. Our apartment with a stove, fridge, hot water, nice beds, beautiful view

2. Carl and Katia arranging all of this for us and making it all work out

3. The active body of Christ in Jaco

4. This amazing seven member family God brought together on this trip

5. Alajuela Methodist church

6. God's beautiful creation

7. God's grace, presence, blessings, Word, love, and sacrifice for our sins

Deuteronomy 31:8 "For the Lord your God will be with you, He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Love you all!