We are half way into week three here in San Jose. This trip has been very good. We have spent time with Young Life kids, with staff, and we have met new friends. We do miss our friends and family back in Austin and we are excited to get back and see them, but it is nice to know that when we move here there are some great families that are anxious to help us settle in and start to build a life here. Wow. That is hard to type. I think because as I type it I think of all the people we will miss. People like you reading this and especially our family.
We went to a church yesterday called Vida Abundante. Abundant Life. I think those are marvelous words because I feel like more and more that is what Jesus is doing in our lives.
I think our kids are learning that fear is not real. Maybe ‘worry’ is a better word. They are learning that when you trust Jesus and go to club even though you don’t want to, because you will be one of a few speaking english, Jesus has something to show you. When you get in the car and go, Jesus shows up and you get to laugh till you are just busting at the seams. Vida Abundante. I mean sure, maybe they were laughing because they were still a little timid but the emotion is so powerful and it is all built on Faith in Jesus. Trusting Him.
Trust Him with something big. Something you think is impossible. But believe He will carry you through. He will. He loves you.
Church was a big one. We were invited to go to church at Vida Abundante. The only thing is it is all in Spanish. This one was big. The kids were not happy. They were a little worried. I mean new churches in English are tough. I didn’t really feel that comfortable going either. But that is just it; we could have punted and made up a reason not to go. I think we are learning as a family that when those moments come, it’s the time to lean into Jesus and leap. Trust Him. Go for the experience, not the safe. And not like ‘safe’ in human safety but safe as in comfortable. So we went. I know you are smiling because you know it is going to be good. It was.
We met this family at their house in a community with modest but pretty homes and sidewalks. Adrian, their 10 year old son got in our car and road with us. Big step for him. We got to laugh a little and then we got to church. And right off, there was the Latin American version of Jim Story. The parking guy waving us in. We parked, snapped a quick picture of the parking guy and headed in for ALL SPANISH church. No idea what to expect. Kids were quiet but they went for it. I am so proud of them. The kids went to the left with Jeannie and got signed in and Mauricio and I went and found seats. Jeannie showed up without kids… so far so good. The music was in spanish and I kind of like singing in Spanish. It is strange that I have no idea what I am saying but it helps me focus more on singing to God. It was kind of cool. Same at club a few nights before.
At church, the message was great! No really, it was. Mau translated bits and pieces and I would lean over to Jeannie and give her my take. The pastor was talking about our responsibilities as believers. It struck me that he was talking about how we need not be perfect, nor great orators, or even know every page of the bible. He talked about witnessing. He broke down how we are to be witnesses for Christ. If a witness gets on the stand in a trial they do not say what they think you should hear. They say what they saw, what they felt, what happened to them. It is their testimony that shapes the world around them. I think there are so many stories, so many things that I have seen Christ do in my life but have I told them? Have I spoken them out? We need to continue to tell stories. The sermon could have ended there but he went on to talk of the importance of telling people, and that is obviously about eternal salvation. His last point is about what you use to do this. Your time, your treasure and your talents. The truth is I am not sure if the pastor was making this point or it was more the Holy Spirit.
His time. His treasure. His talents.
Seems when I read from Philippians or Romans or something, Paul is always giving his life away. He is all in. And I think he even has the Vida Abudante when he is in prison. The prison walls come down and he sticks around to save a guy and that is how the Phillipi church gets started. 10 ladies and a prison guard. Only God writes these kinds of stories. I love those stories. I love the impossible story. Like the one about a family that is going to move to Costa Rica and learn to live and love. It is impossible for us to do alone. I sometimes want to tell the stories about praying and the power coming back on, or praying as a family for Ella, and whatever tooth pain she had just goes away. These are the most difficult to tell. What if Paul had decided not to tell the story about the walls of the prison coming down because it was impossible or better yet unbelievable. What if he had sugar-coated it like I have done and said “man I don’t know what happened they just fell down, lets get out of here.” I know some of this is dramatic but I have been looking past or brushing over the things that I have seen that I know were Divine. So what does that make me? Not much of a witness. I think it is time we told more stories. We looked for miracles and as Christians we lean into those and say He did this or that. He did it because He can and we believe. The bible says we will be persecuted for that. Once in our small group someone said (Bob or Alan) that he heard a bomber vet from WWII describing how they knew they were over the right targets. He said, “We knew because they were shooting at us.”
We are going to move. I think I have a new perspective of our mission. We are still going to be going with Young Life with the same vision. We are still going to spend our time loving on kids, building and creating ways for kids to hear about Jesus and walk alongside them. Jeannie may be doing or teaching photography after school. I plan to do some consulting with my company and even start another one down here for sustainability for Costa Rica Vida Joven, but the difference is now we are doing this for Him. That any sustainable business model we create, all revenue goes to His kingdom. Not to mine or Jeannie’s. That is scary. Some would say not smart. But that is just it. If we are holding on with even the slightest bit of doubt that God can provide for us then scripture says we are like a “wave that is driven and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6-7 We have to trust that He will provide. That people will want to join us. I think that they will. I think that if you are reading this that maybe you might be a small part of what God wants to do.
I want to be a witness to what God has done in my life. I hope that writing this shows how much I believe that He does move in our lives and He wants to move in yours. The Vida Abudante. We want you to join us. We want you to come and visit us in the coming years. We hope that you are as excited and nervous as we are for what God is doing in your life. If you do not believe, lets go have lunch. I have some stories to tell you.
Jimmy