**Another Blog Sing Along **

Loving that I know about this great artist now, thanks for my friend Cassandra! Beckah Shae, WONDERFUL! great music to sing and dance to, and remember the goodness of the LORD. I am enjoying this first week back with family and friends! Winter is off to a great start!
Have a wonderful day <3 

Reminder: My life was created to be about the Lord. About him working, moving, being powerful and wonderful and love. When I remember that it is not about me it is like a breath of fresh air after a snow fall. *

Is he the vision to your sight? Can you see him moving? Am I letting my life be about him, or am I wanting it to be about me?
Get up, sing, dance, listen to the words! Enjoy!
Post and Pics soon! <3 much love

The end of summer... start of winter :)

 Hello, WELCOME to the last post from Costa Rica!
I am heading to the US tomorrow morning! Crazy huh!? I am again so thankful to all of you for supporting me and encouraging me on the way! God has truly blessed these 4 months. "He is faithful to the end, He is faithful to my heart"
SO, this past weekend was the Host Family Party, and off to a Pool Sunday! Enjoy the Pics!

The Christmas tree! and my tico dad's train!!!

Making the cookies for the Host Family Party!

My mom, Nuria, and little Logan! Im going to sure miss these two!

Pizza Toppings!

Babies! <3 

Time to frost the cookies!!! SO much fun!!!

Tica mom and sister! Sarah and Beth with cute little ones!

Compleated cookies!

Sunday swim! silly brother!

Unterwater Nati and Wendol!

A wonderful pool day! and great last weekend!

I hear there are 17" of snow waiting for me to come home.

"An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up."

Proverbs 12:25 Lets start spreading some CHEER!

Love,  from Costa Rica!

JoyFUL JoyFUL

Time for a little blog sing-a-long!

I learned about this great link from my friend Cassandra this week. Love the line:

 "Fathers Love is raining o're us, brotherly love joins man to man."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc8BRReglnc&NR=1

And a little blog read-a-long!

1 Chronicles 16  Ministering Before the Ark

1 They brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before God. 2 After David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD. 3 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each Israelite man and woman.

4 He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to extol,[a] thank, and praise the LORD, the God of Israel: 5 Asaph was the chief, and next to him in rank were Zechariah, then Jaaziel,[b] Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.



7 That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise to the LORD in this manner:

8 Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
9 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
10 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
11 Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.



12 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
13 you his servants, the descendants of Israel,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.

14 He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
15 He remembers[c] his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
16 the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
17 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
18 “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion you will inherit.”
19 When they were but few in number,
few indeed, and strangers in it,
20 they[d] wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
21 He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:

22 “Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”

23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

25 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
28 Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
29 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

30 Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
31 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”
32 Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!
33 Let the trees of the forest sing,
let them sing for joy before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.
34 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
35 Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior;
gather us and deliver us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name,
and glory in your praise.”
36 Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the LORD.”



Have a blessed day wonderful EMI support system and blog readers! :) <3  Do you have the JOY? Jesus brings Joy, and he gives freely!

Rain here, Snow there

A happy day to you all.
So, very crazy but there are only 2 weeks left of my internship! 3.5 months have passed! Crazy! So last week I got a wonderful visit from my mom and dad as you know. It was full of sun, beach, pools, bumpy roads, cows, monkeys, tasty food, Tico visits and so much more!

 It is a very dark rainy morning here. I really enjoy rain here because I pretend it is snow :) I hope you all enjoy some cold for me today! Wrap up in a scarf and put on those boots!!! So in these last weeks we are trying to compleate both the hospital project and the boys home project. We can see the end of them both, so we hope it is possible! I have been doing a lot of electrical drawings these past days.




I have really enjoyed looking at peoples winter posts on facebook and on their bolgs! So maybe you will like these summer like pic below! Enjoy :)

Mumzy and Dadio ready for the beach!

Dad and I trying out the underwater camera, swim swim

Love

Bright Sun

little monkey eating sugar!

SO, there was a little view into warm weather for you. Happy 1st of December. So something fun for the end of this post, as I have rain and you have snow:

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yeilds see for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Isaiah 55:10-11

Have a JOYFUL and PEACEFUL day!

Views from my life in Costa Rica

How wonderful to have MY MOM AND DAD IN COSTA RICA!       
   They flew in yesturday afternoon! They met me at the office around 3pm after their drive from the air port. We then went and had a cafecitto with my Tica Familia. My mom (tica) made a great queque de pina and a nice pot of coffee.  Mom and dad loved their first sips of life here :) It was great getting to show them all around my house and to meet my family.  We will be back there for a dinner this Saturday. Here are some pictures from night one.

Meeting my family!

Our kitchen

Getting a hair cut from Nuria

Blacky sleeping

We then headed to our hotel and enjoyed some dinner at La Trotcha. This morning we had breakfast here at the hotel and then headed down into town. I gave my family a little tour and then we went on a walk to see....

MY COW FAMILY:

meet the mommy

meet the daddy, and sadly my baby wasn't there today.

I hope you all are having a good week! I am thankful for you! Another blog update soon! :)

The Lord Directs His Love

Psalm 42:7-8

Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me-a prayer to the God of my life.

Take a listen to this great song, it sets my mind on how great our God is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9jdaOG6Lis&feature=related
 
After remembering all God is for you, Can you hold your love back? How wonderful is the Word of God? It guides us and reminds us of who we are who he is! Do you want to know who you are and who he is, I pray we crave this word a new today! It is alive and active! For forever!!! Soak in these words. I colored the things that really stuck out to me this morning.
 

Psalm 40

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear the LORD

and put their trust in him.

4 Blessed is the one

who trusts in the LORD,

who does not look to the proud,

to those who turn aside to false gods.[b]

5 Many, LORD my God,

are the wonders you have done,

the things you planned for us.

None can compare with you;

were I to speak and tell of your deeds,

they would be too many to declare.

6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—

but my ears you have opened[c]—

burnt offerings and sin offerings[d] you did not require.

7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—

it is written about me in the scroll.[e]

8 I desire to do your will, my God;

your law is within my heart.”

9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;

I do not seal my lips, LORD,

as you know.

10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;

I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.

I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness

from the great assembly.

11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, LORD;

may your love and faithfulness always protect me.

12 For troubles without number surround me;

my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.

They are more than the hairs of my head,

and my heart fails within me.

13 Be pleased to save me, LORD;

come quickly, LORD, to help me.

14 May all who want to take my life

be put to shame and confusion;

may all who desire my ruin

be turned back in disgrace.

15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”

be appalled at their own shame.

16 But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who long for your saving help always say,

“The LORD is great!”

17 But as for me, I am poor and needy;

may the Lord think of me.

You are my help and my deliverer;
you are my God, do not delay

And one more song for the day: SO GOOD!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmv38GtUtCI&feature=related
 
Have a very wonderful day blog readers and my EMI Support System! Thank you for being part of my life!
Bring to your mind why you are here, that you are by God and for Him!

The Things We Learn

Determination, Domination, Training, Crowns!

Ok, So I have just been thinking for a little while, what things I want to bring up and talk about on this post. And I am not completely sure what it is going to be. I am just SO THANKFUL of all the things I can see that God is having me learn while I am here. I am just thinking about how much each of us must learn each season of our lives. Take a little time to sit down with some paper and maybe a cup of apple cider or something fall-like and think on the things this season has come with. The hard things the new things the joyful things that you have learned.
So today I want to start with a great concept, and I think some powerful wording, that I read this week.


"... in intimate personal belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ and make a determination to be dominated by Him alone." - Oswald Chambers


Determination to be dominated by Him alone. The fight we fight as Christians against this world, our flesh, our selfishness, the devil, we thankfully do not fight alone. I can just picture a life fully dominated by Him alone is a good place to fight from. It puts me in a position where I can win.


"Do you know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. THEREFORE, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." 1 cor 9:24-26


This verse sticks out to me because it seems to show a picture of determination. We are to go into strict training. I can see that in my own life when there is something really big that God is having me learn and practice. An over arching theme in this season of my life is fear. How we are not called to think in fear about tomorrow, how his love cast out fear. How we were GIVEN a spirit of power love and a sound mind. NOT fear. And if we have been given something then we HAVE it. Cool how that works huh? so that was a small tangent example. So we go through training for a specific reason. It is so that we get a crown that lasts forever!

"THEREFORE, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air."

Because of all of those things we have an aim! It is not a fight all for nothing! There is this concern about the need to fight here at the end of the verse. Paul wants all of these things so that he doesn't miss it! He is preaching to others, spreading truth, writing these letters for us to learn from and he says he needs to keep this aim, keep his body in check, that after all this he doesn't miss it.

"No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

May we be determined to live a life dominated by Jesus. May his truth, his love, his grace, mercy, word, peace, even the suffering! all of Jesus dominate us. Have a wonderful MONDAY all!!!!

LOVE to my eMi support system

LOVE to my family

LOVE to my friends!

I am blessed! <3

 Interns plus Katie and Matt

Boat ride

trying to pull off awkward... I think we did it!

Rain Rain... here to stay?

HELLO blog family! and my wonderful eMi support system! <3

This past week I was on a trip with the interns. We bused off to south Costa Rica and then crossed a fairly run down bridge into Panama! Can anyone say adventure. For those of you who have been to Belize, south Costa Rica reminded me very much of it. We had a beautiful boat day during our trip and got to see a mommy and baby dolphin! We also saw animals like red frogs, monkeys, and a sloth. I need to say sorry once again for my cameraless state. I will post some pics from intern Bethany because I want you to see some BEAUTY! Somthing that hit me on this trip was that all of this belongs to my Father. It was created by the one who LOVES me perfectly. It was formed by the one who wanted me!

The Boarder

Walking to the Beach

Gods Creation

Cute Little Guy

Want a Banana?

Panama

Work here is going well. I am currently working on electrical plans for a boys home. The building we are designing is a place for teams to come down and stay while serving at the boys home. We have had some none stop rain around here. It rained so hard all night. A few drips hit my face this morning, I guess it was really pounding down on our roof!!! We didnt walk this morning because of all the rain, so I hope my cow family is doing well even if they are wet. I am really enjoying this rain and cooler weather. It is 70 but for us it is chilly. :) I really wonder how coming home in the middle of Dec will be for me brrr haha.

Yesturday on my walk I got to see a new mom and brand new baby cow! They were walking with their human parents down the side of the road. :) que linda no? So this is a quick update from the last week. Another post coming soon. Next post, we will dig into the word together.

Reminder for the day: God created you. He thinks about you. He knows all about you. He wanted you, he WANTED to create you! You are part of a big plan!!! I want me and you to remember this today. I can get lost in the thought that he wanted me, before anyone else did. He wants me and you even if the world and the people in it dont. His love can push through everything to get to you. May we say yes to him today.

Have a crisp fall day :)

A Little Baby Post

Hello blog family!




I am just wanting to say hello to you all. It is a cloudy kind of rain filled Saturday here in Costa Rica. My past week was filled with CAD drafting! It was a wonderful week having Bethany, a fellow intern, back in the office with me this week. I was no longer the only girl! The last week she was on her project trip so I was for sure missing her :) It was a nice week at work working on a boys home plan for a ministry in Guatemala.

An eventful happening at my house this week was that day my mom killed our last 2 chickens. My oldest brother and sister where not happy about it and refuse to eat any of the meat that came from it. We also have been house sitting a little dog named Blacky for the past week and a half or so. So 2 small dogs following each other around the house has been a joy.

So, This week at Bible Study we looked at John 13. While talking over the passage our leader Dan asked who is Jesus in this passage? Then he also asked who are you in this passage? This was a great way to define within a single chapter how Jesus was acting and who he was being, and also where I fit into that! What stood out to me was in the first verse, John writes,

 "Having loved his own who were in the world..."

That reminded me that I am Gods! and that he LOVES me! There is a lot more in this chapter that you can take out of it and see yourself in. Some people saw how they were like Peter. Peter was asking a lot of questions and quick and full of passion for following God. There was a lot of things for this passionate disciple to learn. I am so thankful that the Lord grows each of us. And brings us into more understanding! David did a character study on Peter, and saw how later in Acts we see how Peter still had the boldness and passion but, was also mature and had grown in wisdom with the Lord. It was a good Bible study with many things to talk over on just one chapter. So go take a look and ask those questions. Whos is Jesus in this chapter and who am I.
I hope this post finds you all well. I am thanking and resting in the Lord and his plans tonight. You are where you are at right now for a reason. And this season is of great importance to the Lord. I pray that I allow the Lord to use it in his way. And what is so great is that God never leaves us in a season all alone!
Another update coming very soon for you all! LOVE FROM THIS COSTA RICA CHICA! <3 

The Goodness of God. Part 2

A BIG hello from Costa Rica!
Ok, this is a much needed blog update! Remembering the goodness of God. So last week I started this post and new it needed to be finished up in a second part. So we left the post talking about how Gods people didn’t want partake in repentance, salvation, quietness, trust, or strength. That just sounds crazy doesn't it?!

The Lord finishes that thought with this one:
"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" Isaiah 30:18
He longs to be gracious and he gets up to show US compassion! The question is will I wait for him? Will you wait for him? BECAUSE, "blessed are all who wait for him."

So now as I'm writing this it makes me ask, how do I wait? I though right away of the song that I love:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb7TSGptd3Y&a=GxdCwVVULXdoSpH4mpSEqDOysWYymM7g&list=ML&playnext=1

Goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life. Wait, what was that? Goodness and mercy! right behind me! I really need this to hit my head this week, and for the rest of my life really. I was made for God and by God. YOU! were too. A plan for his children is mercy and goodness. That is not our plan. We did not come up with it. It is his plan for your life. I want you to take a look at Psalm 23. Try to go into it with fresh eyes right now, even if you have read it before. Ok look at the things that are Gods plans here. The things that he is doing. What he does for us. Pick those out on your own.

Ok now go look at what we are to be doing/not doing. Four things:

1. "I shall not be in want"... why is that? because the Lord is my shepherd!


2. "Walk through the valley of death"... why is that? It is a path he can choose to guide me on.


3. "I will fear no evil" ... why is that? because HE is with me!


4. "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever"... why is that? because of HIS goodness and mercy

some bibles say goodness and love. AMAZING huh?! yeahhh



Wow the goodness of God. And guess what? This is only 2 small little parts of the Bible. Just a completely small piece, that teaches something so big. I pray we each get some God and "insert your name here" time about these verses.

Back at the Ranch... aka quick update about my internship

Design work on the hospital has been coming along! We now have the 2-5 year design plan in CAD in metric. There are some details that will need to be changed now and a lot of things to get started on. Now the structural part of the addition can be worked on! Then we will continue with all the construction drawings for that addition. We are also working on finishing a project from a boys home in Guatemala as well. This was a project from the last intern group that was here in the office. It is a big one so the work continues! So we stay busy around here! We just had a team come back from their project trip, and had one team head out! So you can be praying for the other EMIers that are out traveling around this world! So there is a quick update from here. Another one will be coming soon! It is time for me to get home to my tica familia for dinner! I hope you all have had a WONDERFUL Monday!!!! I pray we keep the goodness of God on the front of our minds!

Here are a few pictures for you all. ENJOY. 

This is an EMI project from this past winter that is now being built!

It is a school! what a view the classrooms will have huh? And it is like that from every

side of the building! I love me some mountains!

Yep they are real! We saw them on a lang. school trip!

we stood on a bridge and watched them!

Very beautiful bird in the yard at lang. school!

 MUCH LOVE from this Costa Rica Chica! :)

The Goodness of God. Part 1

Hello blog readers!
So it has been not stop rain here for close to a week. I guess this is what is meant by rainy season.
So today I see this need to learn contentment from the Lord. Some days, some moments even, I can find myself missing home or missing people. Yes there are many great people at home that I miss :)

And from that I see how I can walk away from contentment. This passage in Philippians 4 is so important to learn from. It is from God and his strength that we are able to be content.

12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Ok so that was just a quick thing that came up this morning for me. Now on to the Goodness of God. God is good. I have been so encouraged this week by a lessons I have been listening to on the Fruit of the Spirit by Joyce Meyer. We are called to goodness. That just sounds so good! A verse that I took away from that teaching that day was in Isaiah 30:18

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of Justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!"

If you go and read all of chapter 30 and then see the context of this very powerful verse it becomes that much more powerful. In vs. one God talks about his children doing things that are not his plans. In vs. 10 and 11 the children of God don’t want to hear truth, they just want to hear "pleasant" things. Gods answers to these actions are discipline and hard things seen in vs 12-14. Then one of my most fav verses that I need to write down and post on my wall by my desk is:

"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it."

That is hard to read because I find myself restless in worry, loud in my thoughts and not trusting but questioning and not noticing when I need to repent. I DONT WANT TO BE THE ONE THAT HAS NONE OF IT! I want all that the Lord has shown here! and praise the Lord for his goodness that it is his plan for us! I pray I walk out that verse and each day I pay attention, am I walking out those things?
I am going to make this a 2 part post because I need to get to work. :) This week we have been working on CAD drawings for the hospital plan remodel. It is coming along great! Sorry to cut this short everyone! Much love to you all, I pray all of us walk in Isa 30:15 that we will walk in all of it not none of it and not just part of it! We will continue on the GOODNESS on the next post!!!!

Fall for us all!

Hello lovely blog readers,

          This will be a very short post here before I get started with my day at the office.  Wednesday was the offical start to fall! And even with me being here in this summer type weather, where the grass is always green and flowers always blooming I am thinking of the beauty of fall.
          Just the idea that the old has gone so the new can come! I love how in our own lives that process can hurt and look messy and ugly. BUT look how beautiful it is displayed all around us in fall! When God starts new things how LOVELY! So today will be poem day for us. Below is a poem I wrote maybe a year ago or so. It is talking about the idea of trees and the changes they go through and how it can be similar with us. This poem is a litte more about a winter tree, but we need to go through fall to get there :) Have a BLESSED day!

I Will Use My Imagination

I will use my imagination today, in a joyous way.

I will be a tree today and maybe learn to stay that way.

What is it?
Light dancing on white. My hands cling to it and it holds me.

I did not meet my death, but rather a deep breath

But my decoration and protection did fall; I let it float down on the ground.

 (no longer will they look at my scarlet and gold, no longer will they look at me)

So I stand bare for now. But I carry a promise that wholesome protection will fall from on high.

 Soon that light will catch every eye.

My branches have a pulse, I feel.

It gets cold. It gets dark in time. There use to be light. It stays dark.

But then even with little light, or none, down falls the promised white, from all sides.

Covering every bare part of the tree that is me.

This deep, bare bark now sheltered.

Me, stripped and unseen.

It is to be found on me; love sits there, on the tree that is me.

~ The Lord and Erika

LOVE LOVE from Costa Rica!!! I am thankful that the JOY of the Lord is for us every single day no matter the type of day we are having! BY HIM FOR HIM! Lets live that out today!

Home in Costa Rica, back from Guatemala!

It is time for an update if I do say so myself!

HELLO wonderful blog readers and eMi support system.

Grandma and baby girl, This little one can not get any cuter!

           Today is a day off for me here in Costa Rica to allow for time for people like you all to get an update! I just returned from my 8 days in Guatemala! Four of us from the office headed out last Saturday to the city of Chichicastanago a few hours outside Guatemala City. Our team met up with four great volunteers from the states. An architect, a structural, electrical and mechanical engineer. What a team we had! Full of knowledge and ready and willing to bring the Lord glory with time and design work.

<-- here is the great team that came down!

A LOOK AT THE WEEK:

Day one we set out on a tour of a hospital in Antigua then we completed our drive to Chichi. Guatemala had been experiencing many mud slides along their roads which made for interesting travel and saw many missing parts of roads. Thank the Lord for our safe travels! We arrived in Chichi and saw the hospital we would be working with. Then we got to go to a local night church service.

            The next 3 days and Friday we spent working away on design. We would get up and eat a great breakfast. We then got to have a group singing, praying and devo time. One of my favorite parts of the days was sharing life stories, by the end of the week we heard everyone's! After that then we would head to either the hospital to research and document or work away at the hotel in the room we took over for the week. I spent the days working on putting hand drawings and layouts into CAD. We would break from our work for lunch and dinner and wrap up a few hours after dinner. It was great to learn and work alongside the volunteers.

             Thursday we got to have the afternoon to experience more of the city. We went to the big market that Chichi is known for! That was a cultural experience. We also saw some churches and got to drive out of town to visit some local people. It was very hard on Thur. because Lynn Dee the lady I roomed with needed to head home after finding out her mom was not doing well after having heart surgery. We can be praying for her as she is home now, we have not got any updates from her yet.

Then Saturday we had our final presentation to the hospital board. Now we are home and will be working on this project for the rest of my time here. We need to take our idea and get it all worked out and into construction documents to be able to give to the hospital. So you can be praying for the voluneers as the continue to work these next months on final plans and as we at the eMi office get it all in CAD and all orginized for the hospital!

Now time for some pictures!!

Market

How we got around

Me :) hello supporters!

A look into a normal moment! Hard at work!

There are many more pictures, I will post more on the next one! Thank you for taking a look and time to read into my life. Much love from Costa Rica! I am thankful for the support you have given me as I spent this fall here! It is wonderful to think how big God is and how grand his plan for the world. How it can bring 4 people from the states to Costa Rica to send them out then to Guatemala, to meet up with 4 others from the States to meet wonderful people that work at one hospital in Chichi! Our God knows big things and very little detail things! How amazing! Our God is a good God!

Rain Clouds

A bit from my head for you...

Every day the clouds roll in around noon.

They carry rain in hopes to drop it off.

It is the plan and purpose they have, to cover

the sun and cool the ground.

Here in Costa Rica during this season of rain it rains. Haha for real! Every day it pours down. There has been a theme of water for me in my daily devo also. The other day I was reading Psalm 77 and found water there too! Take time to read it, then we can talk about it :)

What a powerful moment we read into here. This person is in sorrow of a night! We can all relate! Amen. And what did he do. He remembered the Lord. He though of him. In verses 7-9 we see him question. These were big questions. His mind was taking him down! And he fough back with the rest of the psalm! Amen! May I learn to fight like this too. What a great example. He sets his mind on the things the Lord HAS done. He remembers the miracles the works and the deeds of the LORD!

Vs. 16 we look at the power of storms and rain and water! What a great thing we can see and hear and feel to remind us of the Lord. I am blessed to have these daily rains. I pray I will remember!

"Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen." vs.19

What a wonderful picture. The sea parting and knowing God is the one who did it, the one who is leading you, but unseen footprints. We are called to trust the Lord that we shall make it across! I read a quote this weekend that said if you never trust the river you can never cross it. This makes me think of putting our TRUST in the LORD!

About time for a post! lets remember how we can TRUST the LORD!

Another Hola from Costa Rica!

I have just finished a morning of language school. For lunch I had a small hamburger, not the same as in the US but reminded me of it a little and some pina juice for lunch! I have speaking plenty of Spanish here and find it hard to speak English normally. My mind is jumbled with both! As time passes I am sure it will get better.

So these past weeks we have not been going into the EMI office. We did get to have a great dinner where we shared our testimonies with the EMI staff.  Part of the program here is having a staff mentor so this was a way for them to get to know us better. The staff families are such a blessing here!

So I need to fill you in on some activity that has gone on here. My first weekend I went on a walk with my family into the jungle to a waterfall! Yes that is right! Here are some pictures from that great saturday! That ended in swimming in the rain and being very dirty and wet... daily rain we should have remembered!!! :)

Meet my sisters Jessica, from the states, Wendol, de Costa Rica. And my brother, Augusto, de Costa Rica! 

And the WATERFUL

It was truly a tropical expirence! Walking through it all! What a beautiful thing to run into at the end of our hike! I think we may go back again with the whole family and other interns next time!

Time for the WORD

So what I wanted to share last time! Here we go. Let’s look into the word that is sharper then a double edge sword! That is the word of the LORD for us! So my first week here daily at the office we had a devo. We took a look at Romans 12. At the end of chapter 11 we get thoughts of how great our God is!

Vs. 36: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

Due to these 1-11 chapters and these thoughts of how amazing our Lord is flows chapter 12. We talked about what do we all do now?! We worship be being living sacrifices. Verse after verse of this chapter unravels and builds on how we live this worship out. We talked about it being like an onion that layers get pulled back and uncover more and more of the meaning.

Take time to look over this. This chapter calls us up high! It calls us to change, to not be in the “pattern” of the world around us. Then we get a look at gifts that our given to us. Ways we can worship!

Gift- charisma in Greek, Chris meaning- grace or undeserved, Ma meaning- result of something. What a beautiful meaning of a gift the result of grace! The chapter then explains about sincere love! This reminds me of any gift without love is useless. We are called to bless! The verse that stands out the most to me in this section is vs.12

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”


I leave this post with that verse! May the Lord help each of us with these 3 things! Much love to you!
<3 <3 <3

Hola! from COSTA RICA

Hello my wonderful blog readers

and my great EMI support team!!!!

I am here in Costa Rica.

This is Bethany and Jess two the wonderful people I am in CR with! I live with Jess with our Familia Tica! This is us at a market last Friday buying fruits for the office.

So I arrived in Texas and met up with the other interns! We got to Costa Rica late that night and stayed with an EMI family. This past week was orientation here at the office and around town. We spent the mornings in group prayer and then did a devo going through Romans 12. That was my favorite part of each day last week. Living with my Tico family is such a blessing. Tico by the way is the name Costa Ricans have for themselves. In my family I have 2 sisters and one brother. Also we have a dog named Suki!

This week has been the start of Spanish class. It is my teacher Maria and I from 8-12. What a blessing it is to be able to learn more Spanish. We use it SO much here. After these 2 weeks of class and Spanish I am off with intern David for our project trip. So, from September 11-19 I will be working with EMI at the hospital in Guatemala I told you about in the other post. It really is coming up so fast. That is a short update of my life here! All of the EMI families here are warm and welcoming to us interns and the heart of the Lord is seen in them and my host family!!!

a new fruit! Mamonchino! very new, it is like a eyeball on the inside and tastes like a grape, kinda.. :) Oh also my Tico Mom is a great cook and gives me great coffee. I am one blessed girl!

 

Having a great time at the feria.

Ok beloved ones! I will post again soon. I am in the middle of learning a lesson about faith and trust and I also need to share from Romans 12! So next post we are "diving in" the Word! Have your Bible ready! Much Love,

Erika