this morning i went to look at the website of mark and meg,< www.kuzdas.com > the missionaries in costa rica who i visited every year for 5 years. i was looking at pictures of all of the kids and updates from all of the recent teams who have visited and i found a video from a team that went in december. i cried the whole way through it. i still miss it every. single. day.
its been 6 years ago this summer since i went to costa rica for the first time. i know it sounds dramatic to say, but that trip changed everything about my life. god used it to spark a passion for travel that has since continually grown. he used it to show me that he wanted to use me in missions, that he wanted to use me with children, that he wanted to use me in foreign languages. he revealed to me the passions that he’s given me and began to shape my life around them.
when i tell people how much i love costa rica i know that their first thoughts are of beaches and mountains and volcanoes. and they assume that i sat on a beach day in, day out, every trip i ever took. and i do love those parts of the country- they are undoubtedly the most beautiful places i’ve ever seen or will ever see in my life. but its not the beaches and the mountains that my heart misses- its my kids- my family in costa rica. my alexa from the orphanage, my mauricio, ruben, james, anyoleth, & nicole who have kept in touch with me for 5 years- who have pictures of me in their family album- who included me in their family for birthdays, baptisms, and baby dedications. i miss them.
it was through my travel to costa rica that i also met my friend brittney. we both felt god calling us to missions at the same time. the summer after we traveled together, she and her family were killed in a plane crash. god used that to teach me about heaven, about his glory, about how his plan is so much bigger than our own, about trusting him, about the realization that our every breath is in his hands. a camp was later started in her memory. hundreds of children who live in the slums of costa rica are able to go there throughout the year to escape the violence and poverty in which they live and to learn about the love of christ. < campbrittney.com >
this is where it started. this is why i travel. jesus has put it deep inside me and perpetually uses it to flip my life upside down. costa rica will always be the love of my life. i hope jesus leads me back there one day to stay for good. it is in my heart every single minute of every single day. but for now, he’s leading me to other places. and i know he has huge things to teach me there too.
