by Kelsey Fiveash, 3-month Costa Rica Immersion team member
As October turns into November my teammates and I venture more and more into Costa Rica's rainy season. And as with most rainy seasons, rain has become almost a daily occurrence. Sometimes we get caught in an unexpected torrential downpour and other times we embrace the rain and play futbol in it. Because it rains so much here it's become a team joke to say to one another: "Some people feel the rain, others just get wet."
As I reflect on the last couple months I realize just how true that quote really is. Some just go through life constantly focusing on what's next instead of what's now. They're not actually feeling the rain, they're just getting wet.
Here in this community, so far from the fast-paced life that I left thousands of miles away, it's not so difficult for me to live in the moment. When I wake up I'm not thinking about what I'm going to be doing in two days, I'm thinking about what I'm going to have for breakfast. It's easy to just live and to just be. But as I prepare to leave this place I can only hope to bring this valuable lesson back with me. It's important to think about what my future holds, but it's also important to live in the moment. Which is totally against everything that American culture tells me. American culture tells me that I always need to be one step ahead of where I am. That I need to ensure that I have a stable future by always working for what's to come. But that's not what I want. I want to be present in the moments that God has given me and trust in the fact that He says that He 'll never leave me nor forsake me. Which means trusting Him with my future. It's scary, but I know it's worth it.
When my time on earth comes to a close I don't want to look back and think of all that I missed out on because I was too busy focusing on the future. I want to remember how I trusted in the fact that God never left my side and he provided for me every step of the way. I don't want to just get wet, I want to feel the rain.
KELSEY FIVEASH is a member of the Fall Costa Rica Immersion team that spent 3-months in Costa Rica, both learning the language and city life in San Jose and living with host families in the remote village of Shiroles. Immersion is a 1, 3 & 6-month cross-cultural missions program from Experience Mission.
LEARN MORE | What is IMMERSION? Check it out here!
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