Costa Rica-What I have learned after one month.

A few years ago, someone I respect and admire very much sent me the following verse and definition.

“You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.” Psalms 31:8
“I think God puts us in physical and spiritual spacious places. When I picture freedom I picture open spaces or spacious places. If through Jesus our heart can become a spacious place, who knows how much he will pour out on us.”

As I was walking home from the store the other day, this verse and description came to my mind again. It is a scary thing in some ways, to pack up your life as you know it, leave it behind and head off for the unknown. There is so much freedom in making that change that in can be overwhelming but it also forces me to be so dependent on God. I want to be wise with that freedom God has entrusted to me. I became aware of the fact that since being here, I have had grace to do things when the situation would normally have been uncomfortable or potentially dangerous. I have seen God's hand in all the little things in my life here that perhaps other people would not necessarily notice but I notice. In recalling all those instances after being here a month, it was then I realized, God placed my feet in a spacious place.

Everything that encompasses living in the city of San Jose stretches me. It is a challenge to live in a city that is bigger than what I am used to and wonder if I will ever get used to the sound of car alarms!! Spiritually I am pushed beyond anything I have ever experienced and I know this is just the beginning.

Webster's Dictionary defines the word home as; “one's place of residence ; a familiar or usual setting; in harmony with the surroundings; on familiar ground.”

While those are correct definitions/descriptions of the word, God defines it much sweeter to me. Being here I have come to understand this word to be defined as I worship God among other believers no matter the denomination, background, culture or language. Other times the reality and understanding of this word is brought to mind when I play or feed the children in Cartago. As I look at the faces across this nation, I see the heart of Jesus. In all of these instances, I am on familiar ground.

I remember praying on a plane last summer that God would show me His heart. I wanted more than anything else to know beyond the scope of what I had already known of His heart. I learn it every single day here in some form or fashion. The more I see and learn, the more I am so at home. It is not the country, even though they have done an amazing job of welcoming me! It is not having my things sitting around the apartment or the fact that I can purchase certain items at the store that are from the USA. Being on the path of God's will for my life and in the process touching His heart through the many faces of children brings me home. Only God could do that, only He could take a country you are not from, a language you barely know and a culture that is unfamiliar and make it somehow home. I don't think it gets more spacious than that :).

So to answer so many that have asked, no, I am not homesick. There are little things I miss and I miss my family in a big way!! I think the feeling of being homesick hits when I am not seeking the heart of God and His presence. David says in Psalms 27:4 “...this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life....” So like David, I too want the “One Thing” with all my heart and as long as I have that; God can drop me in whatever country and culture He chooses and I will be home.