Finishing the Race

Hebrews 12:1-3 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."

After our very enjoyable and restful weekend, we have now come to the concluding week of our time here. On Monday we arrived at Rahab as usual and began our work after a short time of prayer. We completed preparing the wall by the playground by applying the last bit of mortar and following it with primer for the painting to soon take place. JT and myself (Matt) were named co-MVP's of the day mostly because our joyful attitudes for the crummy job that we were assigned. Constant inside jokes and movie quotes kept us laughing the entire day as we worked together. For lunch we went back to our usual spot, El Chavo. We concluded lunch by taking some pictures with the owners and receiving some balloons from them: "As if we don't stand out enough down here, now we will be walking back carrying balloons." And another quote from lunch, "If I lived in Costa Rica, I would have my birthday party here." Both quotes from Julie. After lunch we were a little bummed and limited because of rain and headed back to AMCA early. It was a nice evening of relaxing and fellowship together.

The team with the owners of El Chavo, our favorite lunch spot

Today we woke up with our spirits a little bit down because we were going to leave Julie behind for the day due to the flu (she is feeling better now). It is always a pick-me-up when we get to see Fernando's happy spirit pick us up first thing in the morning. When we arrived at Rahab for the day, we mapped out the plan of painting the wall. Joni, FULL of encouragement and enthusiasm, gathered the troops and began the work on the wall. Kirsten did an amazing job painting the detail stuff such as animals, trees, and grass. The rest of us pretty much slopped a bunch of paint on the wall that is supposed to be representing sky and ground. After we were done painting for the day, we are all so stoked and excited about how well it turned out and good it looks. When we arrived back to AMCA, we were glad to see Julie still getting some rest, but more so that she was beginning to feel better. Tonight consisted of half of us playing monopoly and the other half reading/journaling. For those who don't know me, you will know that the obvious option for my night consisted of reading and not partaking in the monopoly game.

We are all beginning to get very excited to get back home and see all of you and share our experiences in person.

Isaiah 40:30-31 "Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

Our prayer is that God will continue to work in tremendous ways through us until the end of our race here. That when we begin to grow tired, weary, and faint, that the Lord will provide us the strength to continue and finish the race strong.