Transitioning to life in San José the past two weeks has been challenging for me - a lot more than I was expecting. It’s been really easy to feel discouraged and confused, honestly feeling distanced from God. I’ve been practicing thankfulness the last couple of mornings to help me be grounded in the time and space that I am in and to help me to rejoice in the moments - including the challenges and struggles. Here are some of the things I’m feeling thankful for:
The natural light that I get in my bedroom in the morning and during the day (the rest of the bedrooms in the house don’t have much natural light)
Laughter at the youth group
The Word of God - even though it is sometimes SO confusing, I’m thankful for opportunities to read the Word of God in Spanish and English
The community + support from wonderful people I met in Enumclaw last summer
My Neuma missional community - I’ve been listening to some Voice Memos that I took during worship last semester that have brought so much encouragement
Pastors Moses + Cindy - they have been a consistent support in my life over the last 2 years since I moved to Spokane, they are always so willing to pray with and for me
My community in Spokane - the sweet texts they send me, the FaceTime calls, the notes that they sent with me when I left
New opportunities - even though they’re challenging and so uncomfortable
The ability to learn to communicate in Spanish
God’s nearness to me, even if I can’t ‘feel’ it
The love, support, and generosity of my parents in so many things
My brother’s silliness and the laughter he brings to my life
That God has never left me, not for one moment
Alexa (a member of my cohort): her joy + kindness!
Time with Josué and his wife Nicole (Josué was one of our translators when I was in CR on the Race in 2019 - I got to reconnect with him this week and meet his wife!)
Coffee time (cafecito) at 5pm with my host mom + getting to chat with her
My 15 year old host sister and her patience with my Spanish :’) She also teaches me a lot about Costa Rica
Getting coffee with Vale for 3 hours (I met Vale in Costa Rica last time I was here, she ended up doing the Race the year after me and also went to Ethiopia)
Joining the Confraternidad Carcelaria conference on Zoom this morning. Leaders who work with restorative justice programs in prisons all over Latin America joined together to encourage one another and hear a teaching from Jonathan Derby, an expert in the field of restorative justice. It was so amazing!
The last week and a half has been hard, but my God is so gracious and is helping me to see the blessings around me more and more through practicing thankfulness. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to reconnect with people that I met when I was here on the Race.
Hopefully next week I will be able to share more about my internship - the plan as of now is to add another internship and work with an organization that is in the middle of a community in San José that is predominantly Nicaraguan. I will hopefully get to work with their restorative justice program too, so please be praying for all of that!
En la paz de Cristo,
Elena:)
Elena, this is so encouraging! So much to be thankful for! Cindy and I are thankful for you and your pursuit of God's heart, your encouragement to us and your love for the people of Neuma.