Love Letter to my Broken Shoulder

Dearest Broken Shoulder,
I am writing this letter to you because I would like to tell you how much I love you. The pain and inconvenience that you cause me make the day so much better. I absolutely adore the fact that you make me miss weeks of gymnastics classes. Practicing for competition is totally overrated anyway. Who needs it? The sling that you have forced me into is the most comfortable, happy thing in the universe. I love it almost as much as I love you. Please come back for another visit soon.
Love,
   Me

P.S. JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!! I hate you with an intense passion. You should go cry in a corner and feel miserable about yourself and then die in a Cambodian ditch where there are broken shoulder eating monsters.

Costa Rica!!!! :D

Wow. That is all. Wow. Words just can’t describe the experience. God worked in so many ways, through so many people. It was overwhelming and wonderful. Who knew that a bunch of people who don’t even speak your language could influence you so strongly?

The first thing we did in the morning was devotions and worship. All of the male chaperones took turns doing the devotions. They did such a good job preparing us for the day and in encouraging us to step out of our comfort zone a little. This was very good because immediately after the devotions we went into the little town called Santa Rita to distribute bibles. When we gave each person their bibles we told them what the bible meant to us and how it helped us. It made us think about what the bible really meant to us, which was nice because we take it for granted too often. A lot of the people also opened up to us a little and told us about what was going on in their lives so we could pray for them. It made me think about how much I have, and how amazing my life is, while the people in Costa Rica have pretty much nothing. And they are all thankful for what they have and never complained to us about wanting more.

Bible distribution was definitely something that Satan did not want to happen. It rained on us, or it was really hot and uncomfortable to walk, or we ran out of water, or we were fed suspicious liquids….But that’s another story altogether. Satan just did not want us out there evangelizing, so he came up with every way to discourage us. Thankfully, tons of people at home were praying along with us and we got God’s word out there. So thank you to everyone who prayed!!

Another amazing thing that we got the opportunity to do was run a VBS for the kids. Once again, Satan did NOT want it to happen. The first day, we barely got bible time in. The kids were running everywhere and wouldn’t pay attention for anything. And, of course, God came to the rescue again and helped us out on the second day. The kids paid total attention and we all got to talk to the kids about Jesus. Aidan also shaved his head and let Steph paint it purple and yellow. That got the kids pretty interested, I think. J

During the week, Ashley and I got to babysit some babies for teenage moms. That was a lot of fun. We sat in the air conditioning for the first time during the week and held babies and ate pineapple all morning. I’m not sure if the morning could have possibly been better. The babies were obsessed with playing with my camera. It was pretty darn cute.

Aside from the aforementioned things, we fixed up the YWAM base a little and the boys built a ceiling for one of the rooms. Every morning we each had different chores to do around the base to help the staff. Mine was to make the lunches. 45 sandwiches almost every day. Somehow, dad got out of chores. I would like to know his secret…maybe I could use it at home… God also did some amazing things in our lives during the first week. For me personally, he changed my heart and my attitude significantly. One of my biggest burdens was taken away and it shouldn’t be returning any time soon. Isn’t God great?  I think, yes.

During the second week, we got to work with a team from South Dakota. Together, we fixed up a church. The boys rebuilt the roof while I swept up their mess and helped cook our meals. It was actually quite fun. That’s all we did during the day for the first few days. At night dad taught his seminars on worship and we sang together for the people. We tried to sing a song in Spanish, and it actually worked! It was awesome.

The non-work stuff we did was zip lining (which dad didn’t do for some crazy reason, because it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING), and we went to the hot springs and the beach. The beach was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. The waves were so cool and it was just beautiful. There were little creatures in the sand that didn’t really look like anything. I thought they were rocks until they moved. And the water was warm. It was really, really nice.

So, basically, the past two weeks were the best two weeks of my entire life. God was the center of everything we did and we all learned to rely on Him more instead of trying to work things out ourselves. I’m so glad we got to have this experience. Hopefully, we’ll go there again next year. J

TPW!! =D

Last night my church had this thing called TPW (Thanksgiving Praise and Worship). It was the most fantastic thing ever. You know that feeling when you just KNOW that God is right there with you? Well, that's what it felt like the whole time. Isn't it amazing how wonderful our God is?

100 things that make life wonderful

So, I got this idea from Steph. She was having a bad day, so she wrote about 100 thing that make her life good. So, I though I'd give it a try.


1. my Bible
2.my bed
3.music
4.pianos
5.singing
6.Celtic Thunder
7. my friends
8. orajel
9.smiles
10.dinosaurs
11.my kitty
12. chocolate. oh my gosh DUH
13. learning new stuff...and actually understanding it
14.being alive
15.ballet
16.gymnastics
17.choirs
18.Craisins
19.laughing
20.Knowing that God loves me
21.Funny teachers
22.little toy cars
23.fishies
24.text messages from amazing people (EVERYONE!)
25.cousins
26.the mountains
27. beaches
28.soft, cuddly blankets
29. hugs
30.coffee on school days
31.church
32.legit coke bottles
33.Photo albums
34. drawings
35.dresses being burned (it HAS happened!)
36.someone saying they love you
37.sweaters
38.books (not textbooks. Just books)
39.headbands are cool
40.eyes. people have beautiful eyes
41.sparkly and shiny things.
42. bunnies
43.shrews
44.ok all tiny animals...plus zebras and pandas..
45.somebody smiling at you
46.individuality
47. water...water makes me happy
48. swimming
49.showers
50.bubbles
51.malls
52. new born babies
53.when hamsters nibble your fingers
54.art
55.little bits of string
56.polka dots
57.bright colors
58.just being around people
59.watching people do stuff that they love
60.blogs
61.leaves
62.study hall
63.finding something you lost
64.the feeling you get when you finish your homework
65.grandparents
66.guitars
67.Irish and English accents
68.memories
69.clouds
70.the sound of rain
71.happy people
72.birdies!
73.parks
74.water balloon fights in the rain
75.snow..when I am safely inside, drinking hot chocolate.
76.hot chocolate! =D
77.the word "chicken"
78.mystery movies and books
79.doctors that are actually NICE!!
80.Damian McGinty.....
81.boots
82.children's shows
83.The Land Before Time
84.Kid's books
85.exploring
86.chapstick
87.sharpies
88.crayons
89.randomly speaking in Spanish in the middle of a conversation
90.socks
91.random sayings
92.the stars
93.drawing pictures all over your math notes (not that I do that or anything...)
94.no shoes
95.acting like a ninja
96.year books
97.watching movies with people
98.roses
99.playing games with people
100.writing songs