So, our Sabbaths here are on Mondays, and this past Monday about a third of the group went to the beach. We got to the beach around nine o'clock in the morning and stayed there until six. The day consisted of playing volleyball (in the water while jellyfish stung us), swimming.. (with stingrays) and surfing (with sharks... okay just one shark, a baby shark.. but still! I'm from Georgia!).
The waves at this beach (Jaco) were really, really big. As we walked on the beach there was a sign that read, "Beware of Rip Tide Currents." That beach is known for having them.. so I guess you could say we were pretty desperate to play in some waves! Anyways, a little under an hour after we got there two of our boys came walking down the beach with a surfboard. I was very, very excited.
I've never surfed before, and I definitely have wanted to for a long time. After a couple of people took their turn, I got to go. I got up my first try (but definitely not every single time), so at that point, I discovered what I would be doing with most of my remaining free days.
The most expensive part of the entire trip was eating lunch there. Renting a board is 10 bucks for the whole day, the bus ride there and back is about 8 dollars. So we're planning on taking our own lunch and splitting the cost for a board.
One of my buddies here, Andy, and I spent about 4 hours surfing. We failed, a lot, and mentally prepared for Heaven because of the freakish size of some of these waves (I'm sure they were baby size for pro surfers).... and for the one time we legitimately thought we were being pulled out in a rip tide, but even the risks made the trip so much more exciting. It's really an adventure when you have NO idea what you are doing.
I had been talking to my buddy on the bus about how I didn't feel like I really made much of God at the beach and he said, "Grace, don't you think one of the most glorifying things to God is enjoying His creation?"
fact.
When people really ENJOY gifts you give them, it sure makes you feel good.
oh! so this is really cool..
Coconuts are so awesome. I don't know detailed health benefits of a coconut, but all I know is that every REALLY, REALLY hot beach I have been to has always been surrounded by coconut trees. It's easy to stay in the waves all day and not realize how dehydrated you are, and back in the day when they were no hotels or drink stands right on the coast, I'm sure coconuts were lifesavers. After surfing for a couple of hours we picked and drank some coconuts from the trees right on the beach. Fresh coconut juice is one of the top natural sources containing electrolytes, and after being in the sun for 3-4 hours, I physically could feel the effect of the nutrients I was intaking from the juice. I just think it's so awesome how well God has taken care of us.
We're doing a study on the book, Radical by David Platt (definitely recommend reading to anyone who loves Jesus) ...(maybe everyone else too) and in it, the book talks about how in the American culture "we can do anything we set our minds to accomplish," and so then he points out John 15:5 where Jesus says "I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
woah. nothing?? nothing.
I had to lead a discipleship group of boys and girls with a couple of other students on the 2nd and 3rd chapter of Radical, and we talked a little bit about this verse. The FACT that we can do nothing apart from Christ begs the question... could we love God... without Him helping us? And finally, did we seek God out on our own, or did He draw us to Himself? Did He choose us?
So, that question raises a very controversial topic, and I never cared much to discuss it... until I really studied that verse. Either way Jesus is really awesome, and we're pretty awful without Him. No. We ARE awful without Him.
Last Sunday on the way back from Church, my group and I took this man out to lunch named Franco. He was really awesome, homeless and dirty, but awesome. He wasn't very talkative at first, but finally he started asking us questions. Again, I have realized how much more spanish I need to learn. Please pray for my spanish.
Anyways, on the way back we told him we were going to find him Friday night of the coming week. So, tonight, my church group and I are going to go looking for him in San Jose. We're hoping we can find him. He was joking around with us after an hour with him and when men in San Jose would say inappropriate things to me and my friend Emily, he would stick up for us and tell them to get away. He's not saved, so we're hoping we build a relationship strong enough that we can present the Gospel. So, please just pray for our wisdom and love in what we say and do. God's going to work.
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