Another change.

Hola!

Well I have officially changed families again and now I’m back living with the first family I was with. Last night I had to say goodbye to my family of 3 weeks. I was surprised at how hard this actually ended up being. It was sad to see how much they wanted me to stay, and it really made me feel loved. My dad and mom ended up driving me to my original family’s house last night. Instead of sitting in the front seat, my mom sat in the backseat with me because she wanted to be next to me. I really was so thankful for this ride that we had together because I felt like it was really good closure on my time with them. We were able to talk about the time I spent there and talk about some of our favorite things that happened the past 3 weeks. I didn’t realize how much I needed to have that closure with them, but God knew.

When I arrived at my first family’s house again, I was so surprised at how warmly I was welcomed back. As you may remember, things haven’t always been super friendly with this family, but I felt very welcomed last night. In fact, we ended up playing Phase 10 for 2 hours last night and laughing a ton. This was the first time we had played a game together, and I just was so thankful for this time together with them. Oh again, God knew what I needed.

So overall, last night was a total surprise. I had a really good closure and goodbye with my internship family, and I felt like I was genuinely welcomed back to this house as well. Wow I was just so surprised and thankful for God’s goodness to me in this.

Today has been a good day. I had class this morning at 10:00am. We mostly just talked about our different experiences and internships. It was kind of a group processing experience, and it was really good to hear all the different stories from the students. Some examples of the variety of internships that were represented are working in a bakery, teaching English, working on an organic farm, and working in a daycare. Everyone’s experience was so unique! It was also so good to get to see my friends again. I genuinely felt happy to see them again, and it was good to catch up some more.

One thing that really hit me this morning during our group processing was what one of the student’s shared with us about what he was learning. He was saying that his internship was really difficult and he just was not enjoying the experience. However, about 1 week in, he realized that he was really worrying about what he wanted and about having the internship fit what he wanted to get out of the experience. He realized that he was not thinking about what God wanted for him.

This was such a wonderful encouragement to me. I have found myself comparing my experience to other students’ experiences throughout the semester. After all, it’s hard not to. You are all together every day and you talk about what is going on in your family and at your house. And now we were all talking about our internships. There have been times where I think to myself, “Oh wow…you're so lucky to have that family” or “That internship sounds like it would have been perfect.” However, through this other student, God reminded me that growth doesn’t happen without challenges.

God could have given me a really fun and relaxed experience this semester. He could have made me fall in love with Costa Rica and have the time of my life, but I probably wouldn’t have grown as much. I would have been content, and I know that contentment does not leave room for growth. God uses the hard experiences to shape and mold me. Yes, this semester has been hard. Sometimes I thought I was done for. But God reminded me today that all the things that happened this semester went through his hand first. He allowed these things to happen in my life because he is in the process of refining me and making me a more genuine disciple of Christ. My experiences have been hard, and oh how they have hurt, but they were necessary for growth.

This made me realize one way that God really has been answering my prayers this semester. Before I left for Costa Rica, I was genuinely praying that God would stretch me and make me grown during this semester. Rather than praying for a semester full of fun times and great memories, I prayed that God would help me grow and ultimately that he would bring me closer to him through this semester. Well, I should have realized that I was indirectly praying for a lot of difficult and challenging experiences. Nonetheless, God is faithful, and he is bringing me through. I’m so thankful today of God’s reminder to me: I may be blinded in the midst of this battle, but he holds the outcome in his hand.