eucharisteo.

Well, yesterday started out with the usual Monday morning meeting with the rest of the YL Costa Rican team, where we talked about Mark 8, shared prayer requests and prayed for each other. This was the first time Jen and I took the bus to the Vida Joven office in San Pedro, so we got a little turned around in taking the bus back to San Fransisco de Dos Rios (where our school/homes are located). And, as it turns out, we took the wrong one. And the wrong one took us 30 minutes outside of where we needed to be, making us 45 minutes late for school. Thankfully, Jen and I knew this was bound to happen eventually. We were able to laugh about it and accept it as part of the transition process.

But, nonetheless, it wore me out. When we finally made it to language school, my brain was not in the mindset to learn Spanish. Even more tiring was attempting to switch my brain back to learning. And so when I got home, all I wanted was a bowl of ice cream and a nap. But was greeted with something so much better…

A bedside table/book shelf!! I know, it seems like a such a small/insignificant thing. But when my host mom, Dona Olga, brought me up to my room, I could not help but jumping up and down with joy and thanking her over and over again. A place to put my books! I was overwhelmed with thanksgiving. And then I could not help but laugh. Never would I have ever thought that I would be so thankful and excited for a bedside table/bookshelf. But I was! And I am! Even as I sit here typing this, my eyes well up with tears of joy and thanksgiving.

And through this small gift, I can see the heart of God more clearly. And I think back to the word “eucharisteo”. Gifts of grace. Grace moments.

"These are for you - gifts - these are for you - grace - these are for you - God...so count the ways He loves, a thousand, more, never stop, that when you wake in the morning you can't help but turn humbly to the east, unfold your hand to the heavens, and though you tremble and though you wonder, though the world is ugly, it is beautiful, and you can slow and you can trust and you can receive each moment as grace."

"Slapping a sloppy brush of thanksgiving over everything in my life leaves me deeply thankful for very few things in my life...life changing gratitude does not fasten to a life unless nailed through with one very specific nail at a time."

And so I count each moment here in Costa Rica as grace and I become more conscious of how He is continually shaping my heart and I fall even more deeply in love with Jesus.

And here is the rest of my room, for those who are curious. It is my little humble abode in the midst of a crazy life.