Surveying the land

I am reading this book called "The Source" and it begins with an archiologist viewing the land in which he is about to dig into for a year long project, and knowing that the area he choses to begin in must be significantly chosen and thought out. It must be the area that he feels will yeild the most return. It is an investment, this dig, and he knows that where it starts is almost as important as what he hopes will be found there. I feel a little like this archiologist, knowing that very soon I am going to begin digging and digging hard, but not feeling quite sure where I should first place my shovel. I was emailing a friend whom I have grown up with and knows my heart, and I told him that I recognize so many areas where we could get involved and probably have the time of our lives, and we would build incredible relationships with people and I know that God would be glorified; but what I want more than all of that is to know deep in my soul that we waited, and we heard, that this was the location God had brought us and this was the spot where our shovel should begin to move the soil. Phil and I have spent the last twenty days surveying the land. We have met some incredible people, first in Alejuela, and now in Hone Creek and Puerto Veijo a little closer to home. There are people our age who have come to Puerto Veijo thinking they would stay a year and have opened up some incredible businesses and stayed for 8. There are people we have met that I can see turning into awesome friends and people that we can let our hair down with at the same time that it is ministry if it makes any sense at all. I am laughing inside at God because the people that he is having me meet and really love are the people that surrounded me in the Tower District, in Fresno, and the students that I was drawn to in HighSchool. I have a heart for the alternative, hippie crowd, and that is what I am finding over and over again; and who I believe I need to be sharing God with in those moments when they are asking me about my views on astrology and religious freedom. God in some ways has brought me all the way to Costa Rica to continue to teach me that who I need to be a witness to are some of the same people I have been sorrounded by in the States. It is interesting to see how God will get you to see things eventually, no matter how long it takes or what avenue He needs to use. I am thankful for the continued teaching.
Returning to the process of scoping the land, Phil and I have turned in applications to Alternative Missions, and are waiting to meet the Vice President somewhere around the 23rd of this month. We want to invest in Hone Creek, where our home is and spent the morning talking to some teachers at the school down the road from our house. It was encouraging to hear the needs they expressed and saw, and the areas they thought, as teachers, we could be of some benefit. We had no idea what we were doing or what we were going to say when we went there, and left feeing blessed by the conversation, and excited to go back on Thursday to speak to the director. I am thankful that God allowed us first to meet the teachers rather than the principle, because I feel they can offer a different, helpful picture into the school. We are attending a biblestudy/ house church that meets every Sunday in the home of Barret Cruise the main guy here for Alternative Missions and have loved meeting his family and some of the people he has built relationships with. Our goal is to try out some of the other churches in the morning, see more of the community that way, but continue to go on Sunday nights to learn more about Barret and his heart, and the people there also. God is still our provider, Phil and I are finding the areas in which this trip is going to help us invest in ourselves, our marriage, and we are ever learning more and more about ourselves here in this country. It is funny how I came to Costa Rica to learn about this culture, and what I am discovering on a daily basis is more and more about myself. We send all of our love, and thank you for the prayers I know are being said on our behalf.
God bless,
Shan