Sunday, April 29, 2012

Princess Club: Listening AND Acting

James 1:22-25

New International Version (NIV)
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
 

 How often do we do that? Look at ourselves in a mirror and walk away only to forget what we just saw? How many times do with do that with the Bible?
Read a passage, find it encouraging, close the book, walk away...
and forget what we just read!
Probably a lot. 

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That's what Ana Laura and I talked about this week with the girls.
We need to not only read the Bible, we need to memorize the Bible:
and then obey it!!

We talked about the things we need to remember to obey.
Like not stealing, even if it's just something small or something no one would notice.
Or lying to our parents. 
Or cheating on a test.
Or gossiping about our friends.
 
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We can talk about it, and studying it, and read about in the Bible.
Now it's time to act it out!
 
Don't just look in the mirror and forget what you see. 
Put it into practice!
 
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PS: 4 out of 8 girls have memorized last week's verse already
and 6 out of 8 had the theme verse memorized!!
 
 
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Our mirrors will remind us this week about the lesson


 
Princess Club 2012!!!

Dancing to the Music of the Heart


I have always loved this quote. Some where deep in my heart it makes me happy. Perhaps I have occasionally been one of those people, beating to my own drum (as my mom used to tell me when I was little). But I truely saw the embodiment of this quote yesterday morning when Rodney and I were at the farmer's market.

5:55 read my clock. Rodney leaves the house promptly at 6 to get the weekly produce at the Pavas farmer's market. Ugh. I did not want to get out of bed. Fifteen more minutes, please!!! Nope...up and at 'em. I don't think I said two words to Rodney on the way over. My caffeine-deprived brain still wasn't firing correctly. We passed the usual vendors. Stopped for our lettuces from the big family. Got our tomatoes from Tex, the Tico with the wide brimmed, cowboy hat. Fish guy, check.Then something usual caught my eye. An ordinary man, clean shaven, shaggy hair, washed face, Hawaiian shirt, leather shoes, long, dark coat with a scarf artistically drapes around his neck: dancing. More like conducting and moving to the rhythm of unheard concertos. I could see tiny earphones pumping undoubtedly sweet melodies into his head from an iPod in his pocket. The rhapsody must have been divine, because it spilled from his head down his arms out through his fingertips and into a spontaneous expression of movement. Vendors stopped to stare. He didn't notice. People in the streets moved out of his way. He shook fruit from a stand as if it could add its pizzicato to the orchestra, oblivious to the world that was not joining in his euphony. 


Rodney was buying pineapples. The man at the stand next to our pineapple man noticed my stare. He stared, too. Then leaned in close and whispered to me, "Gotta watch out for that one." I leaned back, "If more people in the world would dance, we would have fewer problems." He was a bit shocked at my tart response. I was a bit put-off by his. There was nothing malicious in the man. There was nothing weird or even creepy about him what-so-ever. I had a split second thought that maybe this was one of those angels that God sends to make the wise of the world look foolish and the foolish to the world a dancer before the King of the Universe.

Rodney asked if we should talk to him. I wanted to. And yet didn't. I liked the mystery of not knowing who he is, yet longed to know who he is. What was he listening to?  Why did it move him so? I wish I had my camera. And yet that also feels like an intrusion on a some how intimate moment and memory, caught between time and space. Nothing could capture the innocence and beauty as being there live.

I remembered my own days in elementary school when I would put on Mozart and Beethoven in my bedroom and pretend to conduct imaginary symphonies using glitter sticks and broken radio antennae. Moving to the music unashamedly. When did I stop? Why did I stop? Was it when I realized others might see and make fun of me? That it's not "socially appropriate" to be see spontaneously dancing in the streets?


This post is so closely related to my recent one on exercise: Are you willing to do the work the Lord has called you to do even when no one else shows up? I think this is an even deeper reflection into: Are you willing to dance before the Lord when the rest of the world thinks you're insane because they can't hear the music in your heart? Deeper still, are you willing to dance WITH the Lord in the intimate dance of faith and complete trust, no matter where He leads?

Saturday, April 28, 2012

May Prayer Requests

The saying holds true even in Costa Rica: April showers brings May flowers. This is true in many senses. The rainy season has started again, which means the foliage is turning green again. It also means an end to the constant threat of forest fires started by broken glass in the community. We had several very nasty fires this season where the fire department had to be called. Praise the Lord no one was hurt and no houses burned down. As the rainy season starts, pray that there are no more devastating floods as there were last year.

We are praying corporately for the raising up of a Latin pastor for the church, for more people to become involved in the worship team, and for overall more leaders for the youth group, Bible studies, and ministry opportunities. As the church expands, our needs for strong leaders increases exponentially. We would like to focus more on discipling families, but we need more workers for this harvest!!

May is also a preparation month. We are getting ready for Les and Diana to move down at the end of the month to set up the new discipleship school in the community. Pray that all of their financial resources come through and that their preparations fall into place to move from New Hampshire to Los Anonos. We also have two interns, Jessie Morgan (from our church) and Shannon DeCourcey (from a supporting church in Virginia), moving down in June. Pray for financial favor for both of them as well as a an easy transition into community life here.

Coming soon....The Adventures of Les and Di!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

When no one shows up

My first group of ladies in the Casita after working out
Back by popular demand are my women´s exercise classes. When I first arrived here in Costa Rica I was all obsessed with my exercise classes. That was back in the days of the Casita. I would walk down the hill several days a week in my exercise clothes carrying DVD's of Jillian Michaels and Zumba and a scale to check our progress. I would pop them into the TV that was on top of the fridge in the little 12X15 cement block room that is the Casita and 5 or 6 women and I would shake out groove things to salsa and aerobic music. Those were the days. Then the flood happened. The Casita was turned into a temporary storage place for the stuff of misplaced families. But by that time we were renting the Casa Nueva, where we have church. The TV was brought up there. Classes resumed, but in a smaller room that got hot quickly. Then the DVD player broke. Bummer. I started hauling the projector and bass amp and laptop computer and cables and wires down from the house to have our classes outside. And then the rainy season started. At that time the Casa Nueva had no roof out back. Attendance was low. So low, in fact, there would be times where there was just, well, me. Alone. With a projector and a bass amp and a laptop computer and cables and wires trying to dance, well, alone. Dodging rain drops. It was such a pain to carry all the equipment down and then have no one show up that I got discouraged. So I cancelled exercise classes. Every once in a while some one would ask me about them and I would often reply that they were cancelled due to poor attendance and lack of commitment.

Lorena, just hanging out in the store with the ladies
Fast forward too many months to even want to count. The women still gather multiple times a week. And still in the Casita. Only now it's a thrift store and they only gather to chat and waste time. One day I was in there, too. Chatting and wasting time right alongside them. When one of the ladies started complaining about her weight. Several others chimed in. And Adriana started reminiscing about the days when the Casita was just the Casita where we did exercise, and she lost weight and how skinny she was back then. She turned to me and asked when we were going to have exercise classes again. Hmmm...Good point. I, too, had missed our classes. I LOVED going to the gym and attending aerobics and zumba classes when I was in the states. I LOVED encouraging the women here in Costa Rica to get fit and feel better about themselves. There's something so satisfying about all those endorphins happily jumping in your brain as you jump around the dance floor making an idiot of yourself with a group of ladies who are also making idiots of themselves and no one cares because you all feel happy from the jumping endorphins.

So two weeks ago classes resumed. In talking to Rodney about the pain it is to haul the projector and a bass amp and a laptop computer and cables and wires back and forth between our house and the Casa Nueva to use work out DVD's, he suggested that why don't I just teach the class from what I already know. Genius! Why not give it a try?? iPods fit into pockets so much easier than projectors and laptops and cables and wires do (the bass amp stays at the church).

The first 2 weeks of classes were awesome. Attendance was steady. Their determination to work out, get fit, and lose weight was strong. The Mechanic Falls team came and also helped teach the classes. They even brought yoga mats to make floor exercises easier. The Saturday they were here Kim and Monique helped teach the women about healthy nutrition, diet, and exercise as well as the importance of good dental hygiene as part of the women's breakfast. The women were incredibly interested and everyone had lots of questions. I have found it to be a universal phenomenon for women to want to lose weight. Every country has its own myths, norms, and practices, as well, when it comes to losing weight, diet, nutrition, and exercise. The Ticos here in Los Anonos are not excluded. I gained credibility with the ladies as I showed them a picture of myself from over 9 years ago when I weighed almost 100 pounds more than I do today. They were shocked and could hardly recognize me. That was the start of my weight loss journey where I made lifestyle changes to become the person I am today. I told them that I understand the struggle that it is to lose weight and to want to be healthy. They showed renewed interest in losing weight and attending exercise classes now that they could relate to my journey.


What a difference 10 years makes...2002 to 2012!!
 
This week started out strong, too. I had several women come on Tuesday. At the end of each class we talk about when we're going to have the next class. Several women work in the mornings or care for children, so it's touch and go. I asked the ladies if I had classes the next day would they come? Yes. For sure. Two said they would definitely come. I asked again. Are you sure you'll come tomorrow? If you want a class I will be here. Yes. Definitely. They wanted a class on Wednesday. Wednesday woke up on the right side of the universe. It was sunny and warm, not too hot, not a cloud in the sky. I got ready in the morning, excited to start out my day on the right foot, too. I prepared a new playlist on my iPod for working out. Nothing like a little Avalon remix and some old school World Wide Message Tribe to get you ready to rock out. I got set up in the backyard of the Casa Nueva and started warming up. Five minutes went by. Not unusual for the ladies to be late. They are on Tico time, after all. Ten minutes went by. Slightly unusual, they're normally fairly punctual to my classes. Fifteen minutes went by. Still no one. And the music had changed to a rapid beat, for doing step aerobic. Time out. What do I do? The old me would have been frustrated (see previous blog on the things that I'm still not used to but don't bother me as much any more about Costa Rica). I probably would have just packed it up and went home. Maybe even been a bit offended that my time and efforts didn't matter enough to them to even send me a text message saying they weren't going to be able to come. I mean, who wants to do step aerobics alone? In the back yard of an empty church? But then again, why am I even exercising? Am I exercising and getting fit for the ladies of Los Anonos or for myself? For my own health and betterment of my own body or for other people?  Was exercise going to be part of my lifestyle or just something I talk about doing? If there is anything I have learned over the last 9 years it is that I need to make wise choices and decisions for the health and nutrition of MY body, so I never go back to my old self. I have decided to make living healthy a lifestyle and not a fad, even when no one else is around. So instead of letting myself become discouraged and giving up, I pushed through and did the full work out by myself.


As I was thinking about this in physical terms, of course the Lord brought to mind this whole concept in spiritual terms as well. When we live in the world, we are spiritually heavy. Fat. Lazy. However you want to call it or imagine it. When we accept the Lord into our hearts, we are a new creation. Healthy. We go through a process of transformation as we exercise our new found faith. Pretty soon we become spiritually fit, by reading the word, praying, and using our faith to help and love on others. We become light in the freedom that Christ has given us. But it is also a lifestyle change. We cannot go back to the laziness of our lifestyle in the world, where we are only pleasing ourselves, eating whatever junk we want from the world. Our diet changes to a healthy appetite of the Word of God.

When we do become spiritually fit, some times others see our fitness and what to be fit, too. Bible studies form. Prayer groups. Ministries. However, just like in exercise and diet, some times we crave the things of our old life. We like to be lazy. We like to eat whatever we want. We don't always like to exercise. But we remember what it's like to be fit and light. So we start exercising our faith again.

Are we willing to exercise our faith even when no one else shows up to exercise their faith with us? Are we willing to make a complete lifestyle change knowing that others may or may not follow us in our endeavors because we know it's right for the health and nutrition of our spiritual body? Are we willing to encourage each other that when we no-show one day and "fall off the band wagon"? Will we become discouraged when no one else seems to take spiritual health as seriously as we do? Will we still read the Word even when no one shows up for Bible study? Will we still pray if no one shows up to the prayer meeting? Are you willing to work out your spiritual body even when others think you're crazy or you're not "seeing results" in your life? You can do it. It can be a lifestyle and not just a fad. You can do it.

"For physical training is of some value, 
but godliness has value for all things, 
 holding promise for both the present life 
and the life to come." 
~1 Timothy 4:7-9


 Adriana and her daughter, Keylin, both get a good morning work out in. Adriana shows off her Combate moves (a Costa Rican TV show like American Gladiator) while Keylin stretches.

Good 'ole calisthenics. Nothing like a few jumping jacks to get your heart rate up.


...Oh, and by the way, just for the record...they all showed up to work out this morning :)

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Feeding the right dog

An old American Indian tale recounts the story of a chief who was telling a gathering of young braves about the struggle within. "It is like two dogs fighting inside of us," the chief told them. "There is one good dog who wants to do the right and the other dog always wants to do the wrong. Sometimes the good dog seems stronger and is winning the fight. But sometimes the bad dog is stronger and wrong is winning the fight." "Who is going to win in the end?" a young brave asks. The chief answered "The one you feed."


Wow!! Can you already see the application I am going to make? This story is all too true of our spiritual lives. The New Testament is chuck full of warnings, advice, and lessons regarding this very topic. It´s called the flesh versus the spirit. The old self in the world versus new self in Christ. While you know I love to write my own commentaries on such stories, I think this one is pretty self explanatory. So I will leave you with a challenge instead: Which dog are you feeding?



I love these kids

The boys...January 2011 to January 2012. They're getting so big!!!
 Keylin...September 2010 to April 2012.

Below is when I first met Keylin in June 2010. The one next to it was last week.



Genesis: sweet baby!!
She has grown SO much in a year!!!



Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Beginning of the End

Yesterday marked only 130 days left for me in Costa Rica. Dude, that's a lot, right? I know. I'm not counting or anything...well, I kinda did, but only out of curiosity. One of the girls who is coming down to take my place in the house, Shannon, has a facebook count going. She's at like 58 days or something. She keeps putting the date on facebook. So I decided to count my days, too. I have 130 days left. I'm trying not to think about it. But it seems to be a topic of conversation as teams come down. Every one keeps asking me if I'm going to miss Costa Rica. If I'm ready to go home. What I'm going to do when I go home. Am I going to be sad to leave. Etc. Etc. Blah blah blah. So this blog is dedicated to answering those questions.

Things I've gotten used that don't typically even cross my mind unless blogging about them or people on teams comment on them:
~Washing dishes in cold water.
~Line dried underwear.
~Scratchy toilet paper that you throw into the trash basket next to the toilet.
~Sleeping in a twin bed in the fetal position because my feet hang over the edge.
~Walking up and down the hills of Anonos.
~Thinking, speaking, and some times dreaming in two languages and needing to go back and forth between them exceptionally quickly.
~Children who walk to attend activities, princess club, classes, the internet cafe, or even church, ALONE, or some times with multiple siblings, from as far away as the other side of the community.
~Having a plan and having it change. Last minute. If you're not flexible you'll break. 
~Planning games nights, hang-out times, worship nights, trips to downtown, and meetings via text an hour before the event...and having a ton of people show up.
~Effective, prompt, communication via text. 

Things that I still haven't gotten used to, but don't bother me quite as much now as they did when I first got here.
~Having people tell me they will come to an activity and then having them either 1. Not show up at all. 2. Show up 30 minutes late. 3. Show up with 15 extra relatives who were not originally planned for.
~People that call their live-in boyfriend or girlfriend their "husband" or "wife" even though they are not married.
~Ridiculously large spiders, cockroaches, scorpions, and snakes.  
~People coming to events only for the food, fill their plate and eat, fill their plate a second time and then cover with their napkin to take it home...they usually end up taking more home than they ate...and then they ask for the left overs for their family members. I totally get it. It makes sense. It was just a bit odd how they do it at the beginning.
~People staring at me because of my height. I can pretty much ignore it now.



Things that will always bother me no matter who long I live here:
~Giving infants as young as 3 days old coffee in their bottles. And then give them fish head soup at 15 days old. Don't even get me started on pediatric nutrition!!! Part of it is a lack of resources, part of it is lack of education, and part of it is cultural norms and values.
~Adult nutrition for that matter. They believe bananas are fattening, water makes you bloated, and coffee with a minimum of 4 tablespoons of sugar is perfectly acceptable for an entire meal.
~Children playing in the streets, in poor living conditions, and frequently without daily necessities. 

~Parents that allow their children to bold face lie or steal even when they're caught red handed.
~People coming to events only for the food or the activity because they claim they are part of the church even when they have never attended a service. Why are you lying about coming to church?!? AUGH!!!
~Drunk men trying to hit on my. Seriously? Haven't I shot you down enough in two years? Come on. 
~Seeing people who are capable walk by others in need.


Things I will miss about Costa Rica:
~Rodney and Cindy. And David. And Kevin. And Pipo. Okay, and the dudes. And Verania and the kids. Seidy. Adriana. My women's group. The kids in the Tajo. The kids in the Mangos. The kids in the Rotunda. 
~The Princess Club...although I am planning on starting one when I come home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~The egg man coming by at 6 in the morning. We just don't have those in the states!! (All y'all who have been down here on trips know EXACTLY what I'm talking about)
~Going out into the community and seeing people outside in the streets. Visiting people at all hours of the day. Always being welcome to visit. Always seeing a million kids in the street who call my name (even when I some times have never seen them before...how does that happen???!!!)
~The cute little geckos and frogs. The chirpy birds. The goat in the backyard that bleats while I'm hanging my wash up. 
~The smell of the rainy season. 
~FRESH FRUITS AND VEGGIES!!! For Cheaps!!! 
~COFFEE!!! No joke, man, I'm contemplating donating all my clothes to the store and bringing back 50 pounds of coffee instead. Seriously. No joke. How many suitcases can I bring back? When is the Grand Rapids team coming? How much of my stuff can I send back with them so I can load up on coffee? For real.
~Sun tan in December. And January. Oh, and did I mention February, too? Woot woot!!
~Having an open air church with the best view EVER!! 
~Having teams come!! Meeting new people. Having new adventures. Learning new trades and skills. Seeing them interact with a new culture. Seeing them fall in love with the people and the language, just like me!
~Being able to plan events spur of the moment and people are available...because they don't have cars and are mostly always around the community!
~Speaking in Spanish every day!!! I really do love it.


Things I will not miss about Costa Rica:
~Dogs barking in the street at all hours of the night.
~Trash in the streets. Trash in the gutters. Trash in the river. Trash on the side walks. Too much trash!! 
~Being asked at least 3 times a week if I can build someone a house, fix their roof, move them out of the community, buy them land, find them work, or do some kind of major renovation. I hate saying no. I feel so bad not being able to give a better home for these beautiful people. The compassion and reality centers of my brain are at war with each other constantly. They are in negotiations for what they can do for who as to what resources we have at the time. It makes my heart heavy and my brain hurt.
~Non-commitment...Like when people show up for practice and then not show up for the event. Or they tell you they will come and bring something specific that you need and then never show up or text that they won't be coming. Yes it happens at home, too, but it happens VERY FREQUENTLY here...Like on a daily basis. Ouch.

In conclusion, when the chips are down, yes, I am going to be exceptionally sad to leave Costa Rica. I cried for four hours when I bought my plane ticket home. It has been my home for two years. I have friendships here. So many stories. So many memories. I've seen babies born and kids learn to walk and talk. The community has grown and changed just as much as I have during my time here. On the flip side, I will be ready to go home, too. I miss my family, my friends, my church, and even my career. It will be a hard transition, but it will be at the right time. And yes, I do plan on visiting Costa Rica again. There is a huge chunk of my heart that has an indelible mark on it for this place. 












Sunday, April 22, 2012

:Princess Club

WOW!! Two princess clubs have gone by with no blog! HOW COULD THAT BE?!??!??!?!? I need to catch you all up!! So, here's a princess club BOGO (that's buy one get one free, for those who are not so up on their acronyms). For the next few weeks I decided to talk about simple, foundational verses with the girls and work on them memorizing them. There are so many important lessons in the Bible for kids to learn while they're young that are really exceptionally simple... They tend to grasp them quickly and have surprisingly mature insight into the concepts, while some times us adults are a little dense in getting it............I think these past two weeks were in fact a good kick-in-the-butt reminder for me of basic truths I tend to forget.


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Last week (April 14) 

Matthew 6:25-35: Do Not Worry

    25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?    28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 
In planning for the lesson, I decided to start by researching what other churches were teaching their kids about this passage. Pretty interesting what I ran across. Several websites said to talk to the children about the difference between wants and needs. How we need food and water but we don't need toys, or even a bed to sleep in...while those things are nice, we can in reality live without them. They said to talk about not worrying about the things we want, and to be thankful for the things we that need and already have. While that is all very true, and in the right cultural context appropriate, it made me stop to think of my princesses. Like Nicol who shares a double bed with 4 or 5 siblings every night. Or Katy and Julissa who were taught to eat only half their snack and take the rest home because they might not have food at home. Or Maria who has very few toys to speak of. How do you talk about not worrying for necessities in a very poor community?  I decided just to ask the girls
 

What do we worry about? How do we worry? The girls said they worry mostly about getting good grades,  getting along with their siblings, and making good impressions on others. I asked them if they ever worry about having food to eat or clothes to wear. They said they think about it, but their parents always tell them that God will provide. We are very blessed in the community to have the Catholic church in town. They feed every school aged child in the community lunch seven days a week. While several of the girls have very little to eat during the rest of the day, they get a good, solid lunch.


"No se preocupen" means "Don't worry"
How do we seek the Kingdom of God? The girls agreed: reading your Bible, praying, and coming to princess club!! They said not worrying means focusing on what you need today and planning for tomorrow but not worrying about what will happen. I've got some pretty smart girls.

To help remember the lesson, I taught the girls how to make paper flowers. If even the flowers of the field have beautiful petal dresses to wear, how much more does God care for us and want to see us wearing beautiful princess dresses?? 


 






 



WARNING: While craft looks very cute, not for the faint-hearted crafter!!! Note to those who want to try this at home. I found a tutorial on how to make the flowers online. They looked really easy to make...two of the girls could do it without any difficulty, two needed a bit of help, but two really struggled. If you have crafty girls, they will LOVE this project and will catch on quick. This craft was a good reminder that not everyone is crafty.


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This week (April 21)

Philippians 4:13

"I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength." 
 
I asked this girls: Nahomy, I have a flat tire can you fix it? No?!? Why not?!? You can do all things with Christ, can't you?!? Fabiana, can you sew me a new dress for Sunday? NO?!?!? Why not?!? You can do all things with Christ who gives you strength!! Brithany, can you build a house for me? NO!??!?? Why not?? You can do all things through Christ who will give you the strength to do it!!

Yup. You can probably picture this conversation. They laughed at each suggestion. So why can't they do these things if Christ will give them the strength?? You guessed it. This is one of the most misquoted verses of all times. We have a tendency to use it for everything: winning football games, running marathons, taking tests in school, and doing things we don't like or don't want to do. 

So, Philippians 4:13 does not mean—whatever I want to do, God will give me the strength to do it. Rather, whatever circumstance God brings into my life; whatever experience He takes me through, He will give me all the strength I need. I can embrace everyday with the strength that comes from our Heavenly Father. He will also walk through those situations with us and tell us how to handle them. When we listen to His voice, he will give us direction in how to navigate through our problems and circumstances.

To demonstrate this, I had the girls do a blind obstacle course. First I asked for a volunteer to go through the course blindfolded...with no guide. Katy, my first victim...I mean volunteer...had a difficult time and couldn't even make it to the first obstacle without hitting a wall...literally. Then I had the girls go in pairs: one blindfolded and the other with open eyes, speaking directions to the blindfolded girl to guide her through the course. 



  
Cousins, Nahomy and Fabiana, navigate the course fairly well. Fabiana just kept saying "over here, over here" and pointing, forgetting that Nahomy couldn't see where "over here" was :)



For our craft the girls glued together "Super Princesses" who can navigate any situation God puts in front of them. Super princesses that turn their cant's into cans and their dreams into plans!!!