¡Dios me ha bendecido!

Today is the third day in my new family and I am really at a loss for words when I think about how the Lord is working in my heart here. I am finding Him everywhere! The people, the language, the churches, the colors, the food, my new room, friend's stories, and the list goes on. I am immediately reaping the benefits that God convinced me of at Tall Timber: He promises us that if we give up OUR lives we will find TRUE life exactly where we are in each moment. I am so grateful for this season of discovering what it means to give up control…mostly because I have no choice.
First: the people. Family here is incredible. I am so envious of how much effort they put into building strong families. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are picture perfect families. In fact, one of the things I first noticed was how broken the homes are. Most of the women I have met with children do not have a father present. But the cousins, grandparents, uncles, ants, etc. poor their love into each other. My "madre" has eleven siblings that all basically live on the same street and the women work in a flower shop. I also have a 29 year old sister named Natalia but she goes by Nati. (Nah-tee) This is often confusing because my mom cannot pronounce my name and she calls me Kati (Kah-tee). Anyways, my sister works for Dos Pinos which is the big ice cream, yogurt, milk product producer in Costa Rica. She is very kind and fun to talk to. We went running at 4 am this morning which was….well, early. Very fun nonetheless.

I had a flashback to elementary school today and I vividly remember talking "fake Spanish" to my friends on the playground. They believed me. I guess that God has given me a special gift to fake it which I am very thankful for here because I have to a lot! I am in a difficult Spanish class learning university level vocabulary and concepts but I am thankful for it because I have to push myself a lot. I am understanding way more than I expected and just starting to feel more comfortable talking. But I definitely still have a long way to go considering the fact that I have to be staring at the person's mouth when they are talking to me. Clearly, eavesdropping is out of the question.
On Sunday, I went to church with my professors and some students. It was a Protestant church, which they call "evangélico" and there were definitely tambourines and dancing. Very fun! However, all in all it was not my favorite experience at a church but I am going to be working there and I am praying that as I get to know people, God will change my heart. In two weeks, I am going with some Whitworth friends to do a missions trip on the beach with the churches jovénes (ages 13-30). I have absolutely no idea what it is going to look like but I never do here so "sea lo que sea". Also, I am going to be working with a house church of about 30 people called Casa Adobe. My internship with them is to go around this community and ask people what they would like this church to look like in the context of serving, gathering, praying, teaching, etc. in their neighborhood. I cannot wait for this! I am taking an independent study of Latin American Theology and I am finding myself more and more fascinated with what I am learning as I see it firsthand. More to come on this I am sure.

This is the church at El Parque Central en San Rafael.

Finally, my senses are exploding here. There are incredible rainbows almost every day that show themselves all the way to the ground on each side, colorful houses lining the streets, fresh rain mixed with the smell of hot bread, honking cars and roosters, and of course the delicious smells of my mom's kitchen. She makes me three meals each day and she likes to cook healthy but very tasty food. So far we have had steak, mashed potatoes, best tomato soup ever, fresh avacado (spelled for you fam), fruity frescos, gallo pinto, and a lot of rice and beans. I am in heaven here.

Most of all I am feeling so rested in the Lord. I have had hardly any anxiety here as I just relax in the Lord's presence even here all the way in Costa Rica. I just finished reading through Genesis in Spanish and it is funny how when you can't understand a lot of things the things you do understand stick out. In particular, one phrase I have become very familiar with is "el Señor estaba con él y no dejó de mostrarle su amor". It means roughly, and God was with him and never stopped showing him His love. He loves beautifully and wholly. In every moment of every day. I pray that we all may let Him mold our eyes so that we may see Him clearly.