Perfecto

I just read that the average temperature for the season/location of Costa Rica I will be staying in is around 75 every day. The lowest record in history is like 63.

Im just sayin....

Two posts in two days...can you tell volleyball is over and that I don't know exactly what to do with all this free time yet? But the free time is not for long considering I bought my plane tickets last night for January 13 to Miami, where I will meet the other students participating in the Latin American Studies Program. We will fly out that day to Costa Rica and I can't even imagine what my days might look like starting then.

But my reason for this post is to say a little bit about my parents. I don't think I will really understand my parents until I am a parent myself, but I think I understand them a little better since I have left home. I also don't think I have appreciated them as much as I have the past two years. Every week this summer there was a speaker who talked about faithfulness. And every week when they began unpacking what lives of faithful people look like, I saw my parents. I saw my parents faithfulness to each other, and through that provided my brothers and I an example of a Godly marriage. I saw their faithfulness to our church through the midst of a building change and people leaving...they served every Sunday. I saw their faithfulness to their jobs and to our family in the way they provided for us. And through their faithfulness in God, my dad was carried through four months of pretty serious medical issues. Their faithfulness was clear when God continued to carry us through the financial issues that followed. I know that their faithfulness is the reason I am where I am today. I know without a doubt that they will always be faithful to me too... even when I go to school nine hours away... or pack up and go to Costa Rica for a semester. They are just great parents...I am so lucky to have them...and I love them a lot.

This summer these words were said that made me think of my parents every time:

"If you die with only a few people who know your name...will they we able to say you were faithful? There are more people around us who do more to spread the gospel in the quiet places than you and I will ever know. The problem with most sermons on integrity is that they are only about what you don't do while no one is watching. I want you to know my friends that integrity is also about what you do when no one is watching. Its the places that you go, the little details that catch your eye....may we remember the example of Christ himself, when He, under the very shadow of the cross, took the time to wash his disciples feet. He ends his time with this simple command...please don't miss it...He looks each of us in the eye and says go...and do likewise"

Here is what I've learned:

Being an RA doesn't mean you own the place. It means you have to keep a tight check on your integrity. Traveling with CIY all summer doesn't mean you are on a "spiritual high" every night. It means you pour out every ounce of energy and put on a good face..sometimes when you don't want to. Playing volleyball on a Division II NCCAA school doesn't mean you are good. It means you continue to play for the glory of God when everyone else plays for themselves and goes undefeated. Being class president doesn't mean you are popular. It means you have less time doing things that really matter. Getting good grades doesn't mean you are smart. It means you have less time doing things that really matter. Going to Bible College doesn't mean you understand God any more than an engineer or a bus driver. It means you sometimes over analyze the storms and the creation and forget the creator and the God who carried you out of the storms. Following Jesus doesn't mean just going to church. It means being faithful when everything around you falls apart. Being in a community of believers doesn't mean everyone is happy all the time. It means you are prayerful and honest with people when they don't want to hear it. And it means not getting defensive when people are honest with you. Having faith doesn't mean you are confident. It means the opposite actually. Because when you "prove it" you no longer need faith. Faith means you might be wrong.

Moral of the story: I don't have it all together. Sometimes I feel a lot of pressure from a lot of people including myself. This is one of the reasons I am so excited for my semester in Costa Rica. I can go, by myself, where no one knows me, and no one expects anything from me. Sometimes I feel like I give off the impression of the "poster child" that has my life figured out. I don't. Fortunately I serve a God that doesn't expect me to have it all together. I don't have to be smart enough, rich enough, talented enough, pretty enough, or popular enough. It feels good to serve a God like that.