Choir Tour
God has blown me away. Again. Blessings never stopped pouring out for the entirety of the twelve days of choir tour. I had no idea that we were going to be doing such awesome things. But more than the things we did, I was awestruck by our surroundings. The earth truly does proclaim the glory of God! God’s imagination and the beauty He created surpasses my understanding. Twisted, massive tree trunks covered in damp moss, clouds shrouding the mystery below that suddenly pull back to reveal acidic lakes and craters as sulfuric wind blows in my face. A hummingbird, unusually purple, darting in front of me, the endless canopy of trees I see as I soar along the zipline- it all just takes my breath away.
The density of the forest especially struck me. As I watched mile after mile of thick forest go by, I got a mental picture of what it would be like to be in the woods without a trail there for me to follow- branches hitting my face, not knowing which way is up, hot and sweaty, frustrated at my slow progress. An image of the stressful, frustrating times of life when it feels like I’m going nowhere, getting stuck, and everything’s hitting me in the face. Everything is a tangled mess around me. No beauty, no order- I can only see 10 feet in front of me, and there’s nothing but the same ahead. But God tells me to climb a tree- ok work with me here- and get away from my surroundings, set my mind of something else, but it doesn’t make sense to me why he would want me to do that. I finally get to the top of the tree, and the view is breathtaking. Stunning greens and rolling hills greet my eyes. Now I see….the beauty, the whole picture- it makes sense. A vast forest unfolds before me, no longer the tangled frustrating web. THIS is God’s reality, beauty, majesty, everything flowing together to create a masterpiece. And so it is with my life. I can’t always be at the top of the tree where the tapestry that God is weaving with my life is clear and beautiful. Sometimes I just have to trust that he knows the view from above and will help me through the thick, dense mess below. Thank you for your sovereignty, Lord. You are stunning.
For some reason, I was not expecting to enjoy this trip as much as I did. One of the most unexpected blessings was getting to know the people I was with and realizing what treasures they all are! This year I didn’t bond with choir people very well because I had to leave 20 minutes early for a lot of rehearsals and, quite frankly, just didn’t put in a lot of effort to get to know people! But it was so refreshing to be able to spend quality time with so many wonderful people without worrying about anything and simply having a great time together!
Since we were guided by a tour company, we only saw the face of Costa Rica and Guatemala that tourists see. I feel like we didn’t see the real living, breathing Costa Rica of the common man. Not that I expected to see that, because the purpose of our visit was not the same as other trips to foreign countries I have participated in. But I am curious to know what life is really like for people who live there. I really want to go back and live there for more than a few weeks, and not as a tourist. This trip has inspired me to want to keep up with my Spanish. The desire in me to live somewhere outside the U.S. for a prolonged period of time was further cemented during the past two weeks. Not that I don’t like the U.S., but I want to understand a non-American mindset and be a minority where I live. I think this would be such a great opportunity for me to learn so much from the people I interact with. I love experiencing other cultures, other paradigms, other ways of living life. It’s fascinating to me. I still have more to process from this trip, I’m sure, but for now this will suffice. Tata!
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