Costa Rica Here We Come!

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On August 25th we will fly to Costa Rica to visit the International Youth Group, meet with parents, check out cost of living, and all that good stuff. We will fly down on buddy passes, and the IYG is graciously paying the taxes and fees that come with those. This trip will allow Maggie and I to really make the decision of whether or not to commit to the IYG, and them to us. Sending agency details will fall into place however the Lord decides to lay them. 

During this time of discernment, we ask for your prayers. Please pray for wisdom and clear thinking on the part of Maggie and I. Pray that we would ask smart questions, be objective, and most of all be sensitive to the Spirit's leading. 

As I continue to contemplate leaving friends and family in the United States (and already have in Ecuador), I sometimes wonder just what it is that I really want to be doing. Will moving to Costa Rica and working with a youth group make me happy? It is sad to think of leaving the close proximity of good friends like everyone we have gotten to know in Oxford, Jonny and Jill in Indiana, Tim and Kelli in Michigan, family, extended family, and everyone else we don't see as much as we'd like to. 

But then, it's not really about what I want. It is, but it isn't. I really want to follow the Lord. This is what I want for me and my family more than anything else. To serve him and be used by him in a manner where I decrease and He increases. But sometimes my selfish desires kick in, and the enemy tries to cloud my thinking. It would be nice to be comfortably living in a hedonistic society where my pleasure is the most important thing. But life is bigger than that. God is bigger than that. I encourage you to remember this. 

What is important in your life? Are you forgetting the supremacy and urgency of the call to follow Christ? It always involves sacrifice. Always. 

Blessings and Grace. 

Jonathan for Maggie and Patrick

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