rescued

If my heart is overwhelmed and I cannot hear Your voice
I’ll hold on to what is true though I cannot see
If the storms of life they come and the road ahead gets steep
I will lift these hands in faith
I will believe

I remind myself of all that You’ve done
And the life I have because Your Son

Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I am Yours I am forever Yours
Mountain high or valley low
I sing out remind my soul
That I am Yours I am forever Yours

When my heart is filled with hope
and every promise comes my way
When I feel Your hands of grace rest upon me

Staying desperate for You God
Staying humbled at Your feet
I will lift these hands and praise
I will believe

I remind myself of all that You’ve done
And the life I have because Your Son

Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I am Yours I am forever Yours
Mountain high or valley low
I sing out remind my soul
That I am Yours I am forever Yours

I am Yours
I am Yours
All my days
I am Yours

Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I am Yours I am forever Yours
Mountain high or valley low
I sing out remind my soul
That I am Yours I am forever Yours

I am a very average musician; there is nothing special about me. But the way that God spoke to my heart through this song was extraordinary and I wanted to share it with you. Let the beautiful words of this song sink into your heart and penetrate your thoughts, words, actions and life! 

-aud

r e n e w

It's amazing to me that God knows what we need before we ourselves even realize we are lacking something. 

Yesterday the Holy Spirit refreshed me in a way that renewed my spirit and healed parts of my heart that I didn't even realize were broken!

I've shared with you all how frustrating the language barrier has been for me and how discouraging it is to be learning Spanish so slowly when I just want to talk to everyone I meet! Without realizing it, this last week I became intensely focused on this barrier in front of me. 

I also realized yesterday that I have been in Costa Rica for a month! I cannot believe how quickly the time has already gone and how much of a blessing this last month has been. I was hit with this sudden sense of urgency while walking home yesterday...I only have three more months to live in Costa Rica.

I do not want to waste my time here. 

As much as a blessing my new friends, family, culture and experiences are, I do not want them to become my main focus these next few months. My number one purpose for being in Bible College should be to grow in the knowledge of my Lord and Savior and drawing closer to Him every day! This should always be my focus. 

So fast-forward to yesterday afternoon. I'm reading through Numbers 13 (go check it out!!) and when I got to verse 27 my heart literally skipped a beat. My mind was moving a hundred miles an hour and I was immediately on my knees before the Lord. In this passage Moses sent 12 spies into Canaan to spy out the Promised Land. The men came back with giant grapes and a report of how the land was flowing with milk and honey. 

BUT (there's always a "but" with us humans, huh?) 

then the spies reported about the giant people and all the enemies that inhabited the land. The men had seen the promises of God, they knew He had called them to be in the land of Canaan, but they could only focus on the difficulties that they saw in front of them. 

They had forgotten the promises of God. 

And I found myself relating to this passage so deeply! The time I have God speak the clearest to me in my whole life was when He told me "Go to Costa Rica." And here I am! God told me to go, I followed, and now I just need to trust His promises that He will see me through this season of life. 

He knew there would be a language barrier.
He knew I was going to get frustrated.
He knows the plan He has for my life. 
He even knew that I would doubt this plan because I became so focused on the difficulties in front of me instead of the promises of His promises. 

Ha, I am such an Israelite!

The moment I realized this, I was simply overcome by the Holy Spirit. I don't know how else to describe it! I felt such a sense of peace, urgency and purpose in my heart. God's presence was so thick around me and for a moment I forgot that I was on my knees in my living room. All I could see was God's great love for me. 

You guys, this absolutely brought me to tears. 

God knew I needed to be renewed with a fresh anointing of His Spirit! I am so thankful to follow a God who intimately cares for the details of EVERY ONE of His children! Oh beloved friends, cry out to Jesus! Pour out your heart before Him! (Ps 62:8) He is so faithful to come upon His people when He hears His name on their tongues and hearts. 

If I can encourage you with one thing today, it's this:

Evaluate your focus. 

I realized that my focus was not on Jesus. It was on the obstacles in front of me! And the longer I focused on those, the less I could see the power of the Almighty God. Set your sights on the cross and the power that rose Jesus from the grave! God has given us His promises for a purpose...He knew there would be difficulties in our lives, so He made His promises even bigger than our problems. Cling to His promises that are all throughout His word and set your focus on His holy name that is Mighty to Save. 

I love you all and pray that God blesses and keeps you. May His face shine upon you and bring you peace. 

-aud

h o p e

Seriously, how great is the God that we serve? I am just blown away by His faithfulness and His promises that cause me to be a prisoner of hope. 

I read that phrase in Zechariah this morning,

"Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;

today I declare that I will restore you to double."

{ zechariah 9:12 }

I had to stop and just think about that for awhile because it hit me so strongly! I am a prisoner of hope. 

God's promises are so perfectly true that I can be captured by them if I choose to place myself in His stronghold. And not only does He want to be my only refuge, but also He is offering me restoration inside this stronghold! 

I am just overwhelmed by You Jesus!

    So in Costa Rica updates, we have just finished our second week of classes and they are going great! I am really being blessed through the classes and all the different teachers. I'm always so amazed at how living and active the Word of God is! I'm also humbled after every single class because I realize how much I still have to learn about God's Word. He is so big and too marvelous for my tiny mind to ever fully comprehend! 

It's such a blessing getting to know the Ticos and continue to make our way around the town. Yesterday morning all the students and interns left the house at 6 am and we picked up trash at the bus stops in our neighborhood for a couple hours. It was so humbling but also really fun and eye-opening! We already stick out so much in this community, so we were especially obvious yesterday as we were picking up trash. I was laughing to myself thinking about how funny we must look to the Ticos...just a bunch of Americans picking up trash early in the morning must be so bizarre to them. 

But it's giving them something to think about for sure! I love how the school is working to make us known in the community, but not to be known for being Americans or white, but being known because of Jesus. 

Please continue to pray for divine appointments for all of us during this next week. God is continuing to bring new people to the Sunday night study, and last  week our Tico friend Anderson gave his life to the Lord! Hallelujah! God is so good! 

I love you all and thank God every time I remember you. Thank you for constantly encouraging me and blessing my heart. 

-aud

falling

I am blown away by God's sovereignty.

I mean, just sitting back to consider how perfect God's divine plan for each of our lives is brings me to my knees in complete worship. God intimately knows every single person on the planet better than they know themselves. He can speak to me in a way that no one else ever can. 

He has loved you more in a moment than other lovers could in a lifetime.

Whenever I get to go to someplace new I always find myself thinking about this overwhelming fact of God. There are so many people in the world, everyone has their own lives, own thoughts, own desires. And yet, God has the power to whisper into each one's heart and draw them closer to Himself. No one is too far away for His gentle touch to reach. Not even the drunk on the street I just passed. Not the prostitute on the street corners late at night. Not the business man driving through town. Not the Bible college student. 

We are all in the same desperate need of Christ and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. 

I have been in Costa Rica for almost a week now and I am falling....falling in love with the people, the culture and the way of life. Everyone is so friendly and  easy-going. I speak very little and broken Spanish, but everyone I have talked to is so gracious and helps me through my poor sentences. 

As kind as the people are here, there is still such a great need for the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. This area is run by tradition, which can sometimes lead to hardened or uninterested hearts. Everyone here knows about Jesus Christ because Catholicism is the main religion. Helping the Ticos (locals) to understand the difference between the old religion and Christ's freeing salvation is difficult. But my heart has been so encouraged to meet some of the believers in the area! We host a Sunday Bible study for the community at the school and many Ticos came to hear the living Word of God. We worshipped, fellowshipped and laughed late into the night. I love my new brothers and sisters in Christ. God is doing a great work here! The Holy Spirit keeps reminding me of Isaiah 55:8-9:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

Everything the Lord does is completely perfect in it's own time. So I am just praising His holy name because of what He has done, what He is doing and what He will continue to do in San Isidro. He is so worthy of all glory, honor and praise and I pray that my life is a reflection of this. 

Dear brothers and sisters, seek after Jesus! Oh He is so sweet and beautiful and we have only seen a glimpse of His goodness! I am so thankful that He has forgiven my ugly sins and removed the burden of guilt from my shoulders and replaced it with joy that is new every morning! Please pray that through the students and staff at CCBC the community of San Isidro would also come to know Christ's peace that surpasses all understanding.

Thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement and support. 

Pura Vida!

-aud

We're here!

Wow!

It has been a crazy past two days, so I am thoroughly enjoying this moment of stillness. I’m sitting in my new apartment with the windows open, feeling the afternoon breeze gently come through. I hear the birds squawking to each other, the occasional conversation in Spanish and the distant noise of car engines.

This culture is so colorful, bright and easygoing. I cannot even tell you how much I am falling in love with Costa Rica!

This morning everyone (staff, interns, their families, students) met for breakfast family style. It is great getting to know everyone and hearing how God brought them to Costa Rica. Everyone is so encouraging and ready to serve in whatever way God asks them to. 

After breakfast we had the rest of the day to go exploring the town! After unpacking, we went grocery shopping for the week. This was so much fun and challenging, mainly because of the language barrier. We spent close to an hour wandering around, reading labels, repeating words in Spanish and figuring out the conversion rates. We finished this small adventure with groceries for the week and a better understanding of everyday life here in San Isidro. 

After lunch all the girls took a trip to...where else? The mall! We wandered around, looking through all the stores and the merchandise. There was a small ice cream shop where we all got cones and tried out more of our Spanish on the employees there. I'm so thankful that the people here are so laid back that they want to help you with Spanish instead of being impatient with us. 

We took the bus back home and enjoyed a quiet afternoon in our apartments. Jill and I decided to make dinner together and we were quiet proud of ourselves when we had finished making a nice spaghetti dinner with our limited resources. Did I hear someone say P31? ;)

Our first day in Costa Rica was finished off by a great worship time. We sung out praises to the only God who is worthy, late into the evening. I am just so thankful to be here with my new brothers and sisters, all sharing one heart that longs to worship and serve our Father. It is truly a blessing to be here and I cannot wait to see what this new day holds. 

Adios mi amigos! 

b e g i n n i n g s

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." // psalm 37:4

This verse has always intrigued me. I've heard it used in so many different ways by many different people. 

"There won't be blessings in your life until you are truly following the Lord."

"Once I love Jesus enough, THEN He will bring me my husband/wife."

"I must not be following God good enough because I don't have ____."

"Loving God = me getting tons of really cool blessings."

But I struggle to believe any of those things to be true. I don't think that God is a magic genie or a Father who will be manipulated. I also don't think that blessings always have material forms. 

1 john 3:1 says "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." God is the most loving, faithful and generous Father there ever could be. He longs to lavish His love onto His children if we would only pause to realize the depth of His affection for us. 

The moment I taste and see the goodness of the Lord, I want more. His love satisfies so completely that I am beginning to learn that He is truly all I ever will need. I've noticed that the more I delight myself in the Lord's love, He begins to change the desires of my heart. I used to think all I ever wanted was to get married and have a family. Although those aren't bad things to desire, God was  moving my heart in a different direction. Over the course of 2012, the desire of my heart became one word. 

 go. 

I've been blown away with how deeply the Lord has placed this desire in my heart. In the course of a year, He allowed me to go to Denver and Ethiopia on mission trips and attend Bible College in Southern California. I never expected these blessings to be a part of my life. Missions has changed my outlook on life and molded what I want to be when "I grow up". 

Last September, during a missions presentation on Costa Rica at my school, I felt God telling me, so clearly, "Go to Costa Rica". I sat in my seat, stunned, because I had never heard God's voice so clearly before. Over the course of two weeks, God confirmed this over and over again through different situations. 

And so, I'm moving to Costa Rica next week. Ha, that sounds so weird to say!

I'm going through Calvary Chapel Bible College and will be living at the teaching site in San Isidro with about ten other students. While taking classes centered around missions and evangelism, we will also be doing hands on missions work! I am so excited for this part!! 

We will be working in two different orphanages, facilitating a Sunday night church that anyone from the community is welcome to join, taking backpacking trips into the mountains to tell unreached people about Jesus, and most importantly, being an example to the community of the saving grace of Christ.

This is going to be one of the biggest adventures of my life, and I stand in awe that God is allowing me to go. It is incredibly humbling. 

I'm sitting here, just reflecting on the goodness of the Lord and how faithful He is to keep His promise. Delighting myself in the Lord led to Him gently molding my heart to be more like His. This is only the beginning and I am nowhere near perfect at this. I still fail to bring all my worries and problems before the Lord. I forget to place time with Him as my number one priority. I still give into the temptations of my flesh and forget to let the Lord fight those battles. 

But, beloved friends, God is faithful! He has turned my wretched, broken heart into an instrument that longs to praise and serve Him. I am so in love with the Savior of my soul! 

So this simple blog is just a way for me to communicate to you what God is doing in my heart these next few months. The wandering that I am doing with Jesus. Not because I am anything important, but because God is the most important person of all and His faithfulness deserves to be repeated. 

All the glory goes to God! 

-aud