the sun amazes me
one giant ball of light
that illuminates the earth
you cant look at it
it's brightness burns your eyes
it keeps us warm, it helps us grow
it keeps birds and the lilies alive
it makes things beautiful
when it hides for too long we get sad
it spins it moves
its here, its in colorado
it radiates in the sky



and we did not make it

movie night

I just got done watching a movie with my family...it was called Blood Diamond.


I sat in my comfortable house, with my television, and nice couch, not living in constant fear of who could be around the next corner with a gun. How was I so blessed? I have no idea. Just to think that right now there are people, and children around the world suffering tremendously makes my heart ache. And as I sat there watching, I just kept thinking, what can I do? I want to fix all the worlds problems, that shouldn't be that hard huh?

There wasn't really any point to this besides to get some thoughts out.

the anchor...

Its the last week of my adventure in Costa Rica.


Lasts always fill me with a weird feeling...a little sad. But just more of a strange feeling. This last is especially weird b/c I will be saying goodbye to people that I would say are almost like family to me. But lasts are good.


Without lasts we wouldn't have firsts.


And lasts push us to finish with more. EJ shared with the group this morning an example from running. The last person who runs in a relay is called the anchor. And the anchor has to be your strongest part. It has to finish hard, and strong, and with all it's got. This week is the anchor of our trip. We are pushing ourselves, and each other, and just taking time to really soak up and take advantage of every momment that we have here

This trip has been such an amazing one...filled with many memories, and lessons...many lessons. maybe i will come to share those later.

cinco de julio.

I suppose this is the second to last week here...how strange. It is so weird and so sad to think that I only have a little bit of time here, this place has begun to feel like home. The faces seem so familiar. I am sitting here on Jodi's computor while my friends watch a movie, and others eat sushi, and others play pool...and it feels so natural. I think it is amazing how comfortable I feel in this temporary world. I love how Brad says "Bueno" all the time, and how Sarah has an encouraging smile and comment awaiting you at just the right time, and I love how Lisa who is sitting right next to me can always laugh with me as well as offer up random snippets of knowledge about Costa Rican culture, and my travel buddy Steph and her funny faces (esp the one when she is getting ready in the morning) and I love how Kristen always suprises me with the spanish she whips out, and I love how Nathan laughs with out moving! And there are so many other things and people that I just love and can't help but smile when I think of.



So what is God teaching me here? I think a more appropriate question is what is He not teaching me. I am learning so much, most of which revovles around residing in His love and letting everything else follow. I am just so excited to know my purpose in life, and this trip has only magnified that feeling. I read in 2 tim this morning...."This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained." I am making it my gospel more and more everyday. I will always remember how I felt the first time I realized this truth.

So I went horse riding this weekend, it was absolutely amazing, we galloped through the feilds of Costa Rica. That was probably one of the most exhilerating experiences....just to be moving so fast on a living creature...its pretty sweet :)
We went zip-lining through the jungle, also amazing. How blessed I am to be here and be able to experience these things.

It hasn't all been easy though, haha...sounds funny about being in Costa Rica, but I have been streched so much....I have learned a lot about myself and God...to many things to write, but it has been quite the experience!

semana una...

I have been in Costa Rica about a week...a little more maybe. It has been completely amazing. We went white water rafting yesterday which was probably one of the coolest things that I have ever experienced. i was rafting through the rain forest yesterday. wow.

It is almost hard to put into words this experience. Everyday I am experiencing new things than the day before. Culturally, emotionally, and spiritually I am being streched and learning so much everyday. I never really imagined what this would be like while I was at school or even home. It almost felt fake. And even now there are times when I feel like, "man is this really happening?" It gets me excited to do more and more everyday.


So lets see what exactly does it look like down here. We start the day everyday with fresh fruit and time to pray and reflect and talk to each other. Then we go to the campus to just talk to and get to know the Costa Rican people. We have a lot of free time, and time to really love the people that we meet. I love it. Today I hung out with this girl that I met last week and we went shopping and to a coffee shop to just talk. she shared her testimony with me. I really got to know her which is what I love.

i love being here.


the picture above are (top) my toes and some leaves and some flower petals outside out hostel. (bottom) a little boy running through a field in Orosi

En Costa Rica

Estoy en Costa Rica...the "Rich Coast"...finalmente. Wow, it is crazy that I am here in this country that is so different than anywhere I have been. It has been amazing so far. Not only the country but also the people that I am here with. Its pretty amazing and blows my mind that I have known these people for only 2 days. With the amount of time we have spent together and the fact that God is most definitaly a part of this I can tell that I am going to make friendships and relationships that will be real and lasting... which is so exciting.

We explored the campus and the city today. And I had time to practice my spanish. Necisito practicar mucho. I probably am not even spelling those words right, but it is amazing and fun to try to comminicate in a different language. It reminds me how big the world is, and how little I am. Its also been really cool to see people talking about their faith in differnt languages, how cool that God and that love penetrates all barriers and languages!

pictures will come later...the connection to the internet iss really slow:(

Its crazy...i've been here a day and it feels so right here.

home?

I have been home for a couple days now. It's weird to be back in a place where I feel like I am in a foreign world that is completely familiar. The sights that I see are the same, but I am not. It's hard to find where and how I fit into this world of Charlottesville Va. Coming back to these beautiful mountains, and rolling hills is always a time where I find myself thinking alot. so... that has been on my mind.

I went to church this morning. it was really good.

perseverance

"one especially harmful aspect of our world is the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once. There is a grea market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprentiship in what earlier generations called holiness." ~ Eugene H. Peterson

so this was a quote printed on the front of the bulleten to go along with the sermon. I really liked this because it is so true.


I am leaving for Costa Rica in two days...crazy!

on the brink of something

Today was a beautiful day.
It was beautiful but more than just a pretty kind of day. I felt God today. I felt him because I took time to stop and realize. Realize that the world is big, huge in fact. I sat in the garden behind Scott Quad and saw the creatures "living" their lives, I went to Strouds and saw the majesty of the evening sky, against the lake. I spent time with good friends which was the other thing that made it beautiful. I spent people who I barely knew at the beginning of the year, but who have become a part of my life. People who I have talked with and people who have I have laughed with.

We sat there talking about our summers, our years, and our lives, and I got excited and a little scared. Seeing people graduate, marry and "grow up" made me think. At the end of this year I feel that I am on the brink of something big. I dont know what it is, but I feel that I will soon find out.

there is a first for everything

Well... Here is my first post. Exam week seems like a good time to do something like this. Instead of studying. This blog thing is kind of weirdly new to me. I never have done it, but I figure it is a good way to put pictures and thoughts out there. Mostly pictures I'm guessing.

Well I suppose I will just put a couple of my favorite photos that I have from this year. Which has been an excellent year.

My cute friend who I have missed a lot



Pretty Sky




PGIF outside