Dear Costa Rica.

Hey sweet friends! As of right now, my squad and I have a 6 hour layover in Panama before flying to the Dominican Republic! And I just wanted to take this time to write a little letter… thanking, reflecting, and remembering my time in Costa Rica. These past 3 months have been so sweet and I want to give all of you more insight of what I mean. 🙂 So, here we go!

 

Dear Costa Rica, I just want to thank you…

I want to thank you for being such a loving community.

I want to thank you for loving so boldly.

I want to thank you for your friendship. 

I want to thank you for the intentionality in your culture.

I want to thank you for welcoming me in with open arms.

I want to thank you for trying to teach me Spanish.

I want to thank you for trying to talk to me in English, because you knew I struggled to speak Spanish.

I want to thank you for making me a part of your family.

I want to thank you for accepting me.

I want to thank you for laughing with me when I’d say apples instead of mountains in Spanish. (iykyk)

I want to thank you for teaching me how to live in the city.

I want to thank you for letting me cross the street.

I want to thank you for all the waves, holas, buenas, and pura vidas.

I want to thank you for teaching me how to pay in colones.

I want to thank you for teaching me how to get around Curridabat and San José.

I want to thank you for educating me on your culture.

I want to thank you for our base.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to live with 30 people in one house.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to be bunkmates with Ang.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to wash my clothes in the sink and hang them to dry.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to share one pantry and one fridge with 30 people.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to have sleepovers with my best friends every night.

I want to thank you for all the late night talks with my team.

I want to thank you for all the early morning runs with my squad mates.

I want to thank you for all the dishes, cups, bowls, silverware, mugs, and French presses I got to clean.

I want to thank you for temp. checks every morning before 9am.

I want to thank you for the jam sessions every morning while breakfast was being made.

I want to thank you for my squad mates beautiful voices, worshipping outside every morning. I love y’all so much.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to make scrambled eggs and gallo pinto for squad breakfast. (muy bien everyone)!

I want to thank you for pancake Monday and for the time Kaylin put rainbow sprinkles in them.

I want to thank you for deep clean Tuesday.

I want to thank you for team times every evening with Shathal.

I want to thank you for the enos and swings on our back porch.

I want to thank you for our backyard.

I want to thank you for our sweet room that I already miss so much.

I want to thank you for Corrie and Caleb’s Activation Tuesdays. 

I want to thank you for Xinia’s meals.

I want to thank you for the maggots in the trash cans.

I want to thank you for the spoiled bananas.

I want to thank you for all the dance parties we would have in the house.

I want to thank you for our walks to Fresh Market.

I want to thank you for the Walmart bridge and roundabout.

I want to thank you for my squad mates who let me borrow their clothes.

I want to thank you for the squeaky bunk beds.

I want to thank you for our chalk board in the living room.

I want to thank you for our front gate.

I want to thank you for the bathroom window that connected to our room. (iykyk)

I want to thank you for whoever kept clogging the toilets and didn’t own up to it.

I want to thank you for every laugh, cry, scream, singing, and dancing that happened in our house.

I want to thank you for every Dutch Blitz, Jungle Speed, Skip-Bo, Uno, and Spoon game we ever played.

I want to thank you for our ministry partners, Til He Returns!

I want to thank you for Micah and Mellissa. 

I want to thank you for their sweet family, their love for the Lord, goals, passions, and their friendship. They truly taught me how to chase after my dreams and passions and to also use my gifts for the Kingdom. I appreciate them so much!

I want to thank you for the opportunity to get to know them and learn so much from them. 

I want to thank you for their stories. They have beautiful testimonies that have helped bring so many people closer to the Lord.

I want to thank you for their kids! Tys, Ziza, and Axel!

I want to thank you for their silliness, dance moves, and all the laughs these kids brought me. 

I want to thank you for Briana. For her leadership, friendship, and love for others. She is a true friend to all!

I want to thank you for Charlie and Astrid. They are the kindest people ever! I look up to them in so many ways. Their relationship with the Lord, marriage, how they love others, business, dance, missions, literally the whole enchilada! I just love them so much! 

I want to thank you for José. For his testimony, openness, love for people, the Lord, for dance, love for others, and his love for sharing the Gospel. He has had such an impact on so many people and has an incredible gift of dance! He taught me so many dance moves, the meaning behind it, got Gap D connected to the people in House of Raw, and showed me how to have fun with it! 

I want to thank you for Rachel. What a hardworking gal! She is an amazing English teacher, loves people so deeply, and leads so many people to the Lord. I will forever be grateful for her kind heart and friendship!

I want to thank you for Corrie and Caleb. I know the Lord has blessed me with these lifelong friends. They are the most real, loving, down to earth people I have ever met. They have helped me through so much and love people with all their heart. They are so intentional, so kind, so funny, and have so much wisdom to share with others. I will forever love these people so much!

I want to thank you for Jenna. Jenna is our ministry host on base! She is the sweetest person ever! The most hardworking gal I know for sure. I appreciate her allowing us to live on base and for loving us so well. She is so amazing, so kind, and so loving!

I want to thank you for Kevin and Ana. Wow, they are so kind and love the Lord with their entire heart. They are so obedient to what the Lord calls them to do and I look up to them in their relationship with the Lord, but also their relationship with each other.

I want to thank you for Ceci! She is a powerhouse of a woman! I have never seen someone so on fire for the Lord and someone who is this joyful. She has got a true gift for seeing and loving people. She is one of the kindest, loving, most intentional person I know. She completely lights up every room she walks into with her huge smile and big hugs. Wow, I love her so much!

I want to thank you for Genesis. This girl has so much wisdom and love to offer. Her love for the Lord is inspiring and I am so blessed to call her my sister and friend!

I want to thank you for Quique and Dani! I love this family so much. With every story each of them have shared, I appreciate it so much. They have so much love, wisdom, and kindness to give. They have always been there for me and I miss them already!

I want to thank you for Pablo and Luís! Your friendship, your testimonies, your love for the Lord, every adventure, laugh, and every day we got to share was super fun and sweet! Y’all are one of a kind!!!

I want to thank you for James and his family. You are so talented, you are so loved, and you mean so much to Gap D. Love you forever, friend! 

I want to thank you for every single person in House of Raw! What an incredible group of people. So talented, so amazing, so loving, so energetic, so GREAT! Each of these dancers have shown me something new and have been such a blessing in my life. I am so grateful to have learned from each of you.

I want to thank you for Danette and her 5 children. You will forever a blessing to me.

I want to thank you for Alfredo! I love this man so much! With every bus ride to ministry and back, you made it so fun. With every Hosanna, holy holy holy, hallelujah, on God, running to the alter like a track star, English/Spanish lesson, fist bump, laugh, singing, dance moves, I love you in Jesus, you are my sister, you are my friend, santo santo santo, en Dios… I love you and that yellow bus more than I could ever put into words! I can’t wait to come visit you one day.

I want to thank you for Xinia! What a kind, talented, loving human being. I am grateful for your heart and yummy gallo pinto. I am so thankful to have met you and been you and Alfredo’s pen pal! Thank you for having patience with our squad when we would accidentally break a bowl or plate! 

I want to thank you for Kacie and Jez! I love them so, so, so much. They are hilarious and I am so thankful God chose these beautiful ladies to live with my squad and I! 

I want to thank you for Edgar! Wow, the most loving guy ever! Thank you for teaching me how to garden and for allowing us to witness you trying your first ‘smore ever with Shathal, Align, Corrie and Caleb! How tender!!! 

I want to thank you for all of the locals! Jonathan, Jeana, Henry… every single person I ran into every day! Thank you!

I want to thank you for English classes, Parenting and Pancakes, Beauty for Ashes Retreats, Business Club, House of Raw, Evangelism, Discipleship, Spanish Class, Hospitality, Refuge, Waves of Grace, Workout Class… all of the programs Til He Returns has to offer! 

I want to thank you for the women in this community. You all are so strong! Thank you for showing me how passionate I am about helping this generation of women and for sharing your story with me.

I want to thank you for Abraham’s Project! 

I want to thank you for Georgiana, Steve, Lucas, Conney, and Bethany! What a loving family. I adored our time together and will forever be grateful for the special time we got to share together. Your family is so amazing and I cannot wait to come visit you all again someday! This family holds such a big place in my heart. 

I want to thank you for La Montaña and their staff. The most beautiful camp I have ever been to and the most fun staff ever. Y’all are so good at soccer, volleyball, and basketball!!! 

I want to thank you for the Sun… Yep, even though I got burned in under 10 min every day, got sick with sun poisoning twice, and have never been so burnt in my life, I am still thankful. Even though you came out @5:30am every day too… ha! 

I want to thank you for the beautiful mountains, flowers, trees, grass, parks, city, countryside, beaches, waterfalls, weather, stars, and all wildlife! This is the most beautiful place I have ever been and it was so cool being able to experience, explore, learn, and see so many new things!

I want to thank you for THE FOOD! Fresh Market, Hooligans, you know all the places I am talking about. Wow, I love food so much.

 

And lastly, I want to thank you for showing me the true meaning of ministry. Ministry is a lifestyle. We get to share the love of God through our actions and do that everywhere we go. We get to build relationships, be a friend to all, and love on every person wherever we go. That even just a huge smile to someone in the park, shares the Lord’s love to that person. Thank you God that you are the same God in TX, GA, Costa Rica, and everywhere in the world! And that your spirit is with us everywhere! Wow, thank you Jesus and thank you Costa Rica, for all these wonderful memories from the last 3 months.

I love you forever and will come back soon! 

 

Thanks for reading this and I hope this made your heart smile and gave you a better perspective on how special these people and this country is to the Gap D family! Love you all so much and comment below if you wanna! 🙂 

 

God bless! Sending hugs!!! -Jamie <3