Tomorrow will mark the third week since Karina & I have arrived in Costa Rica. Have we walked the Caribbean beaches, and dipped into its warm waves? Yes, absolutely and it’s as delicious as it sounds. Most days we feel the happiness and satisfied longing for which we so long aspired to attain. Living in the present moment makes all the beauty around us so very much available.
But with the beauty, there are rip currents of reality that have come ashore of our new life, and these have summoned us to call on God for deliverance and victory. Case in point: our little green bus, affectionately called “ Betty”, is a twenty-year-old lemon, and since we took ownership of her we’ve had windshield wipers fall off, flat tires and dead batteries, the starter requires prayer each time we insert the key, and the rough roads of the reservation rattle her old bones each time we ramble on down to the Bambu base. But when she does start, we’re like happy kids with the windows rolled down and the wind blowing across our smiling faces.
There are also much larger, dare I say immense realities that come to mind, in particular the Nest site itself. As impressed as we were with the big beautiful house that now sits on the land, we see in stark contrast the amount of work that still needs to be done in order for the Nest vision to become the reality of our dream. Shelters for new families, bathroom facilities, the planting and harvesting of crops.
The list goes on, including the necessary organization of bringing the scope of our work to the local tribal council for a stamp of approval. This last piece, although not a necessity is something we feel would endorse us within the community, that we are building The Nest to bring hope into and for the BriBri themselves. We are confident as evidenced by the way the Lord has and continues to bless the Nest, that God will accomplish this task in due season.
Lastly comes the reality of Karina and I’s living arrangements. It’s been a wonderful time of rest and adjustment to stay at this beachside rental for this first month of in-country living, but come the new year, we will need to move in closer to our work.
Much anxiety and pondering we’re involved with where and when to move. And in the end, God has provided a house for us to rent long before we even arrived here. So in January we will be finally be getting more settled into a place we can transform into a little home for ourselves.
In all these adventures we lay them at the feet of our God, open-handed and trusting in him, leaning on your prayers and gifts, of which we are immensely grateful and dependent.
With love and gratitude
James beach.