Every mission trip I go on is almost like a refresh button. It takes me from my hectic life to a place where I can put my full focus on the Lord. I feel as though this week in Costa Rica made me view not only a different culture and way of life, but how simple life and faith can be. It did not take much work to jump rope or paint nails with these children; yet the outcome of the short time I had as those communities changed me in many ways. Being in the beautiful country of Costa Rica and having the pleasure to spend time with the people made me acknowledge the real important things in life. From our theme song this week- “To tell you I’m sorry, for running in circles, for placing my focus on the waves not on Your face.” I need to continually take my focus off of the craziness of life and keep it on what is truly important. This week challenged me in many ways spiritually and emotionally. I found myself questioning many times how these amazing and beautiful children have to live such difficult lives. Why do I get to live with supportive family and friends and the ability to continue education; the ability to be whatever I want to be and actually have the resources to achieve that? It made me realize that this is just a small country in the world where there are less fortunate; where in fact there are millions of children that are in these circumstances, or worse. All of these questions were bothering me during my week in Costa Rica. My daily devotions and the nightly worships helped me get through those hardships, and made me remember that I need to focus on the things I can do with my resources to help my neighbors and to continue to serve the Lord. Out of the many mission trips I have been on, this trip challenged me the most spiritually and emotionally. Even though I may only be a small sliver in these children’s lives, each child’s smile and each one of their laughter’s have forever transformed me. |