A little while.

Pensamientos.

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Thoughts.

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John 16:16 ~

"Jesus went on to say, "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."

... That doesn't make sense to my time-centered brain. Is two thousand years really a "little while"? I mean, I've been getting used to Tico (Costa Rican) time, which is pretty relaxed and let's just admit it, we're always late. But, 2011 years (counting from Jesus' death) is a bit too much of a stretch. Maybe Jesus was talking about how in a little while, we would have the presence of His Spirit, and that He would be with us forever. But maybe to Jesus, time is insignificant.

As the time that I have been here has been flying by at an insane speed, I have realized something. Even though I have huge amounts of evidence that this doesn't work, I still try to slow down or speed up time so that I can selfishly have more of what I want and less of what causes me pain. I pretend like I either have control over the time I have, or that I don't care. But, neither of those is true. I deeply care about the little bit of time I do have, and I don't have any control over how fast my life is going by. But God is bigger than time. He promises to use our passion to be at work and to give us and others greater joy even if it causes temporary pain - but I'm often just afraid. I have spent a great deal of time being scared and not opening myself up to what God is doing. But what can I gain from being closed? Or worse, from being lukewarm? And in this life, having already gained Christ, what can I lose?

I want to dive in with my whole heart.

"Very truly I tell you, you will weep and morn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. ... I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

(John 16:20-22, 33)

Being here in Costa Rica has taught me that time really is insignificant, but also, it is precious. I have relationships with people here that have been built in less than six months to a level that is just as deep if not deeper than some of my relationships back home that I have had for years and years. I have built a life here. God is all over this. I see evidence of Him everywhere - which has been challenging but incredible.

I am so humbled and grateful for the beautiful hearts that I have been privileged to know here. And we still have five weeks together! It has just been hard for me these past couple weeks as I see this chapter of my life closing so rapidly. I know that this time, it will be time for me to be home. And who knows when I will be back again - but that is what is pushing me to make the most of my time here. And what have I done? I have begun to walk with the Lord knowing that in my relationships, He is sovereign. At times I do feel lonely - it has been a long journey. But what a gift of life and of relationships, not just with people here, but also with dear people at home. I am incredibly blessed!

So as the countdown to going home begins, I have decided that there are too many countdowns in life to count them all - with this particular one, I will be living fully, being here, and loving on the people I come in contact with - hoping and praying that God will use me and that He will draw us all closer to Him and to each other in the time we have left here!

God deserves all the glory. His word will not return void, but will accomplish the purpose for which He sent it. (from Isaiah 55)

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Some more pictures....some old, some new...

Much love,

Courtney

(World Traveler in Training)

Go camping.

Yet again, I have failed to blog as frequently as I intended... but, here I am! And I still can't believe how fast the time is going. Although school has been hard this semester, and being away is harder than before, I am so grateful every day for the beauty here and especially for the people with whom I am able to spend this chapter in my life! What an incredible blessing!

This past week Meagan, Sho and I went to the Poas Volcano. I had been once last semester, but during the rainy season you can't really see anything... it's like being in a cloud! haha. So, I'm really glad we went again. It was so much easier to see everything, and plus, it was just a great time with friends.

~ This is at the sulfur lake next to the main crater (me and Sho :)

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These plants are called "Sombrillas Pobres" ... (poor man's umbrella.)

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This weekend, we were planning to go to El Rincon de la Vieja, a national park with volcanoes to climb and rivers to kayak, and we were planning to bring tents and camp there for two days - an awesome adventure in the making. However, through a series of unfortunate events involving latino boys, we didn't end up going. Our friends here are all in majors at the University that are very time-demanding, and they ended up having to cancel the day before because of work. *sigh. But! I decided that after they finished their project on Saturday, we should all make s'mores and "camp" here at home. And so we did. Epic success, and further proof of the awesomeness of s'mores, because after having them for the first time last night, I feel like our friends from Guatemala and Costa Rica will continue the tradition with their own friends and family if it is whatsoever possible. Transforming lives, one s'more at a time.

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That's all for now!

love,

Courtney

(World Traveler in Training)

Nicaragua and getting older

Well, it has been over two weeks since my last post - I can't believe that. The time has gone by so fast! And that's a good thing in some ways, but in a lot of ways I wish time would slow down! I'm so grateful for the time I do have here though, and just for this experience in general. It's a crazy idea to start building a life in a new place that you know can't last for long - but at the same time, what is "long" in this life? I'm determined to make the most of my moments here.

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These past two weeks have been filled with school work, tests, lots of Spanish, and this past weekend, Nicaragua! I went on a long weekend trip with my friends Meagan, Margie, and Sho. Although the bus ride was ridiculously long and the trip wasn't as long as I would have liked it to be, we enjoyed our time there and it was a relatively cheap trip! We went dancing one night, which was kind of a fail due to the amount of gringos and creepy older men there, but walking around Granada and Masaya was beautiful - the city of Granada was a city during the colonial days of the conquests of Spain, and the churches and streets there are antique and beautiful. Masaya has a volcano and some beautiful nature, but we didn't have time to do everything so we went to "mercado viejo" which is a marketplace inside these really old walls. It was a very unique place and I liked it a lot - there is so much poverty there though, and it is so dirty - there is trash everywhere walking along the streets, and it made me sad to see such a beautiful country in that condition. It was also hard to think that I was in a third world country and I couldn't do much more than give people money or water when they asked. I've never been asked so many times before.

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The people in Nicaragua are beautiful! And I may never have seen so many one-person bicycles with two (sometimes more) people on them. Also, there were a ridiculous amount of horse-driven carriages.

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Paul, William, and Margie

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Nicaragua has one of the world's best baseball teams. They are amazing. Meagan doesn't play, but she makes a great model for the uniform!

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View from a church in Granada... we climbed up the church tower to watch the sunset!

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Debating directions in Granada

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Typical foods in a Nicaraguan breakfast

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These aprons were everywhere!! All the vendors had them. I would like one.

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Hey guess what.... I'm 20!!! :) It was strange not being home for my birthday, but it ended up being a really fun day!

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That's all for now, I promise I'll be better about blogging!

love,

Courtney

(World Traveler in Training)

Beautiful time, beautiful people

Hello! Well, here I am taking a break from homework, and I thought I'd share some pictures and stories from this past week - it was a wonderful weekend!

This week was a little stressful, too much school work, but I like being busy and I'm doing well in my classes. Just two more weeks of my first intensive Spanish class! 4 hours, 5 days a week gets long, but it has been better and I'm enjoying some of the people in my class.

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In the mornings I've started reading through the gospels, starting in Matthew. I'm enjoying getting to know Jesus better. It's amazing how even though I'm so familiar with His story, there are still so many things that I've either missed, or not given much thought!

Speaking of Biblical matters... On Friday night I went to Bible study for the first time! I was the only "gringa" there, which at first felt a little awkward but I loved it! It's a great group of people, all in their 20's, and we read 1 Corinthians 13, discussed it, (all of this in Spanish of course), and then we went to Taco Bell together. haha. It's great how even in another country with a completely different culture, people still love to go get fast food late at night. But yes, there are definitely some kindred spirits in that Bible study, and I'm so excited to have that in my week!

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On Saturday we just hung around the house, got some school work done, and I went to the Multiplaza (a mall nearby) to have lunch and get some Valentines Day cards with my friend Margie. Today being Valentines Day, (or in Spanish, El día del amor y la amistad or El día de San Valentín), we gave out cards and candy to our friends and family. It was quite enjoyable:) Although I usually have a pessimistic outlook towards Single Awareness Day, I really enjoyed it this year!! I'm so blessed.

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On Sunday, we got up at the lovely hour of 5am, got on a bus, and went to the beach for the day! It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time! Margie brought her waterproof camera, super cool, so here are some pictures! .......

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I love them.

Alrighty, that's about it for now! Back to the books. I have 3 exams this week....woohoo!

Abrazos,

-Courtney

(World Traveler in Training)

And the time continues to fly...

I am currently sitting in my new room, (but in the same house as before), listening to the wind cool off the now sun-baked trees. What a musical way to finish my mountain of homework!

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The room is kind of the library/office of the house, and there is also a little balcony outside!! It has a beautiful view and lots of sunshine. I love it! The only downside to our new room is that we have to go downstairs to get to our closet and our bathroom that we share with the other two new girls, Chae'le and Hannah. That has really worked out well though! I don't mind it at all and I love my new little nook here.

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The time has flown so far, I don't know where to start... school is going okay, it's a lot and I get overwhelmed, but I'm trying to remember to take it one day at a time and just do my best.

This past weekend we were just here in San Jose, but it was one of my favorite weekends that I've spent here in Costa Rica! On Saturday we went to a park called La Sabana, where the new soccer stadium is, a small lake, lots of places to walk and picnic, and we also found a group of guys from Nicaragua playing baseball! The next field over was empty, so we went over to it, and of course - there was a baseball, and a bat. Yes. So we played baseball! "We" being Andres, Margie, Meagan, Jose Mario, and me! What a beautiful day.

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On Sunday Meagan and I went to a little town called Pacayas with Jose Mario and Andres. The guys had to take pictures of the buildings there for an architecture project, and we tagged along to take pictures and just spend time with them. It was really fun! And Pacayas was beautiful.

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Now, it's back to my week days - running at 6:00 A.M., class from 8-12, and then studying!!

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-Courtney

(World Traveler in Training)