What a great day! All of my flights went well and I arrived safely! Praise the Lord! Only a few things during the flight from Miami to San Jose were interesting. The pilot announced that everyone needed to take their seats immediately and seemed a little panicked but nothing ever happened, as we started to land in San Jose we circled around one of the volcanoes! Super cool! Wish I would have gotten a picture. Then as we go to land, it looks like we are going to land in the middle of a field!! But thankful no, there was actually a runway. What an exciting flight!
Once landed Dan and his oldest son Luke (5 years old) picked me up and took me out to eat dinner. I had a chicken ciabatta sandwich with the BEST avocados! So good! After dinner we drove to Alajuelita, passing the richest and poorest parts of Costa Rica. Its crazy that they are a block away from each other! Once arriving to a neighborhood where several of the staff live, Dan and I joined their weekly team small group. We will be studying 1 Corinthians the next couple of weeks. Im sure I will enjoy the small group time since Ill be missing my lifegroup so much.
After getting to meet everyone and get to know a few of the staff, we arrived at my new home. Casa Azul-6:8 Ministries Team House. I have only seen a little bit of it but so far it seems to be pretty different from any of our homes in the states! First of all the house isnt completely closed off. In front room, the outer wall doesnt go all the way to the ceiling! There are bars there but it is open to the outside. No A/C but thankfully we have a giant fan in our room. I am rooming with another intern Chaz. We have a lot in common and Im sure we will get along great! Our room is super tiny, only 2 sets of bunk beds and 2 shelfs that we squeezed in will fit. But no big deal.. I doubt we spend too much time in here anyways.
Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day and I am exhausted! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!
Thank you Lord for everything you do. You are constantly showing me how good you are. Thank you Lord for bring me to Costa Rica and for working through me. I can not even describe how blessed I feel to have you using me for Your glory! Thank you Lord for opening my eyes and I pray you continue to show me your grace, mercy and love. I pray you open up the hearts of the people we will be trying to reach. I have heard so many great stories of transformations already and I know there are many many more come. Thank you Lord for all of your many wonders. This place is beautiful, but I know a lot of people are hurting. I pray for your healing Lord. Please pour down onto these people and open their hearts to fall in love with You! Please bless this team and please continue to break my heart for what breaks Yours. Amen.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
9 MORE DAYS!!
I am so excited! I have been counting down the days and it is getting so close!
Just to let everyone know fundraising went GREAT!! God used so many people to support me and I am SO THANKFUL!! Thank you all for your generosity, I feel truly blessed to have you all apart of my life!
Several people have been asking if Im ready to go, and honestly Im not sure. Im really excited but it hasnt really "hit" yet. Its been a long journey just to get this far and I really cant believe its already almost time! Ive been trying to be obedient to God and reading His word and praying He continues to prepare me. God has given me several people full of advise and best wishes. God has provided me with so much, He is so faithful, yet I have a few fears... Im worried I wont make the impact Ive been praying for, I am possitive I will miss my family and the luxury of seeing/talking to them every day and Im a little sad I will be missing some of the amazing things I know God will continue to do here in Oklahoma. Overall I know God will take care of all of my fears and I know He will stay faithful! Honestly I believe if I wasnt nervous a little bit I wouldnt be allowing God to push me out of my comfort zone. I prayed for Him to break my heart for what breaks His and to use me in a big way. Funny how God always answers your prayers!
This past week and the week to come are very busy. I am trying to pack, see friends, clean my car/room, work, and spend quality time with my amazing family. Ive had such great joy getting to spend so much time with the people I know full heartedly support me. I am so blessed that God has provided me with so many amazing people in my life! I love you all and ask that you keep me, the people of Alujuelita, and 6:8 Ministries in your prays.
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you Lord for all of the amazing things you continue to do in my life. You are so faithful Lord, and you never cease to surprise me. Thank you for this opportunity and for allowing me to be a tool for you. Please keep preparing me Lord. I want to be as ready for this adventure as possible. I ask you stretch my limits and truly break me of the boundaries I set up for myself. I pray You give me obedience to be focussed on this trip and this trip only. I pray You opens up the eyes, ears and hearts of the people of Alujuelita. I pray the people at 6:8 Ministries makes a huge difference in these lives and that You Lord get all of the glory. I pray for everyone here to stay healthy and happy and have You move through them in a completely different way than ever before. I pray you watch over my family and continue to use them for Your will. I pray you transform us, Lord and I pray you continue to break my heart for what breaks Yours. Amen.
Just to let everyone know fundraising went GREAT!! God used so many people to support me and I am SO THANKFUL!! Thank you all for your generosity, I feel truly blessed to have you all apart of my life!
Several people have been asking if Im ready to go, and honestly Im not sure. Im really excited but it hasnt really "hit" yet. Its been a long journey just to get this far and I really cant believe its already almost time! Ive been trying to be obedient to God and reading His word and praying He continues to prepare me. God has given me several people full of advise and best wishes. God has provided me with so much, He is so faithful, yet I have a few fears... Im worried I wont make the impact Ive been praying for, I am possitive I will miss my family and the luxury of seeing/talking to them every day and Im a little sad I will be missing some of the amazing things I know God will continue to do here in Oklahoma. Overall I know God will take care of all of my fears and I know He will stay faithful! Honestly I believe if I wasnt nervous a little bit I wouldnt be allowing God to push me out of my comfort zone. I prayed for Him to break my heart for what breaks His and to use me in a big way. Funny how God always answers your prayers!
This past week and the week to come are very busy. I am trying to pack, see friends, clean my car/room, work, and spend quality time with my amazing family. Ive had such great joy getting to spend so much time with the people I know full heartedly support me. I am so blessed that God has provided me with so many amazing people in my life! I love you all and ask that you keep me, the people of Alujuelita, and 6:8 Ministries in your prays.
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you Lord for all of the amazing things you continue to do in my life. You are so faithful Lord, and you never cease to surprise me. Thank you for this opportunity and for allowing me to be a tool for you. Please keep preparing me Lord. I want to be as ready for this adventure as possible. I ask you stretch my limits and truly break me of the boundaries I set up for myself. I pray You give me obedience to be focussed on this trip and this trip only. I pray You opens up the eyes, ears and hearts of the people of Alujuelita. I pray the people at 6:8 Ministries makes a huge difference in these lives and that You Lord get all of the glory. I pray for everyone here to stay healthy and happy and have You move through them in a completely different way than ever before. I pray you watch over my family and continue to use them for Your will. I pray you transform us, Lord and I pray you continue to break my heart for what breaks Yours. Amen.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
In preparation... mentally.. physically.. spiritually..
Deuteronomy 30:19 NLT
“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!"
Being a procrastinator its so easy to fall into the "oh I dont leave for 6 more weeks, I can do this later" state of mind. I keep thinking I can just wait, I can do this in a few weeks, or why would i buy bug spray almost 2 months before I leave? This doesn't work. I refuse to not be packed till 4 am Aug 31 when Im trying to get in the car to leave for the airport. I also refuse to think I can wait till the week before or even during, to read the list of scripture I am determined to enjoyed. And I am refusing to wait till I am in Costa Rica to walk a million miles a day. I think in short, I want to be prepared for this trip in so many ways I never thought I would need to be, I keep putting it off, and thats just not okay. Therefore I have lots of work to do and it's going to be great!!
Therefore, tonight I finally picked out travel insurance... I am now covered if anything major goes wrong and even added additional coverage for Hazardous Activity. I feel pretty confident Ill be covered. I have also decided to start walking/jogging more (even if it is 110 degrees outside.. It might be that hot in Costa Rica.. who knows!) And I have been reading more of the verses on the healing scriptures list. Deuteronomy 30:19 is one of my new favorites! It just pushes me to actually live and really has opened my eyes. God is so good!
I also want to give a huge thank you to all of my supporters! I just never thought going on this trip would bring about so much love and sacrifice. I have had so many friends and family tell me how much they love me and how proud they are, it has been such a blessing!! I am so thankful that God has put all of these amazing people in my life! Thank you all for the prayers and financial support. You truly do not realize how much this means to me. I am so blessed!
Thank you Lord, for all you have done for me. Thank you for this opportunity to go out of my comfort zone and travel worlds away to try to impact and pour into others lives. I feel so blessed to experience You using me for your will. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for letting me be apart of this and for showing me that this is one of the reasons why I am here on Earth. I pray you continue to prepare me for this journey and that you equip me with your word so that I may pass it on to the people of Alajuela. I pray you open their hearts Lord, so that they may hear of your love. I pray you continue to open my eyes and soften my heart for the needy. Lord I pray, You continue to break my heart for what breaks Yours.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
The Date Is Set!!
I am happy to announce that last Sunday I booked my flight for Costa Rica!! I am so excited! I leave Aug. 31 at 6 am, arrive there at 3:40 pm and will be leaving Oct. 13th!! I am so happy and so blessed that God has made this happen! I literally jumped up and down! Then 2 minutes later reality sunk in. I am leaving for a 6 week long adventure in 2 months and I have nothing else prepared.
So after spending about 2 hours at Academy with my dear friend Kelsey Schulz, I returned with some awesome clothing and shoes for my trip. I have a backpack, camelback, pocket knife, passport, and flip flops ready to go! I just need to find some skirts, bedding, rain jackets, possibly some rain boots, bug spray, and I'm sure a million other things I haven't even thought of yet! I'm sure everything will come together nicely though.
As far as fundraising goes, I am extremely pleased and VERY GRATEFUL for all of my supporters and how amazing my friends and family are. So far I have raised about $1800. I also have a pancake breakfast fundraiser scheduled for July 23rd! So far it looks like there will be a great turn out! God is so faithful! I don't know why i even worry about some of these things.
In all honesty the other day it hit me that I had been really focused on all the worldly things I was trying to prepare for. That just isn't going to work. I really need to be focused on letting God continue to prepare me for this journey. I'm going to dive into His word more. After praying about what to study, I found this list of "Healing Scripture" verses that was from high school small groups. I've decided to study all of them and hope to memorize several. Also the lifegroups pastor at the Edmond campus gave me this amazing book, "When Healing Hurts" that I just haven't finished yet. Hopefully after this reading and continuing to pray and seek God, I hope I am as prepared as God needs me to be. I am so excited to see how much God works through me and how much I will grow during this journey.
I am so thankful, Lord. Thank you for all of your blessings and all of the good you bring to my life. Thank you for this adventure and the memories I will treasure always. Thank you for pushing me out of my comfort zone and really guiding me to follow your will. Thank you for giving me a family who truly supports me and has faith you will keep me safe. I pray You use me for Your glory and You break my heart for what breaks Yours.
So after spending about 2 hours at Academy with my dear friend Kelsey Schulz, I returned with some awesome clothing and shoes for my trip. I have a backpack, camelback, pocket knife, passport, and flip flops ready to go! I just need to find some skirts, bedding, rain jackets, possibly some rain boots, bug spray, and I'm sure a million other things I haven't even thought of yet! I'm sure everything will come together nicely though.
As far as fundraising goes, I am extremely pleased and VERY GRATEFUL for all of my supporters and how amazing my friends and family are. So far I have raised about $1800. I also have a pancake breakfast fundraiser scheduled for July 23rd! So far it looks like there will be a great turn out! God is so faithful! I don't know why i even worry about some of these things.
In all honesty the other day it hit me that I had been really focused on all the worldly things I was trying to prepare for. That just isn't going to work. I really need to be focused on letting God continue to prepare me for this journey. I'm going to dive into His word more. After praying about what to study, I found this list of "Healing Scripture" verses that was from high school small groups. I've decided to study all of them and hope to memorize several. Also the lifegroups pastor at the Edmond campus gave me this amazing book, "When Healing Hurts" that I just haven't finished yet. Hopefully after this reading and continuing to pray and seek God, I hope I am as prepared as God needs me to be. I am so excited to see how much God works through me and how much I will grow during this journey.
I am so thankful, Lord. Thank you for all of your blessings and all of the good you bring to my life. Thank you for this adventure and the memories I will treasure always. Thank you for pushing me out of my comfort zone and really guiding me to follow your will. Thank you for giving me a family who truly supports me and has faith you will keep me safe. I pray You use me for Your glory and You break my heart for what breaks Yours.
Monday, May 16, 2011
In The Beginning..
Hello all!
As of right now I'm pretty sure you have heard I am planning on going to Costa Rica for a mission trip. I have just applied about a week ago and am still waiting on a few reference letters but will hopefully be hearing soon if everything will be finalized!! I am so excited! God has been doing so much and I am so grateful of everything thats been going on in my life. I will definitely be keeping everyone updated! This is the blog I will be keeping while I am there and during any other adventures!
If you would like to check out the ministry I will be working with you can check out their website.
68ministries.org
Have an amazing week and thank you for all of your prayers!
God Bless!
Whitlee
As of right now I'm pretty sure you have heard I am planning on going to Costa Rica for a mission trip. I have just applied about a week ago and am still waiting on a few reference letters but will hopefully be hearing soon if everything will be finalized!! I am so excited! God has been doing so much and I am so grateful of everything thats been going on in my life. I will definitely be keeping everyone updated! This is the blog I will be keeping while I am there and during any other adventures!
If you would like to check out the ministry I will be working with you can check out their website.
68ministries.org
Have an amazing week and thank you for all of your prayers!
God Bless!
Whitlee
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