Camping!

So this weekend I went camping for the first time! It was pretty soft camping but it was camping none the less. We went up to Spirit Mountain which is the coffee farm that Chad and Krista (the couple who started Doulos) grow coffee. The coffee is organic and fair trade. The profits go to supporting Doulos. It was INCREDIBLE to see what a coffee bean looks like before it is dried and roasted (I have pictures and will post them soon!). At the top of the coffee farm is a camp site that Doulos has the 5th grade expedition every year. We drove up to the top and spend the afternoon and evening on Friday just hanging out. We had no school on Friday. I went up with Chad and Krista's family and Leah, Rachel, and Loraine. The last three are all teachers at Doulos and great girls!! I enjoyed being able to sit in the hammock my brother bought me for Christmas (thanks Branden!!) and talk with them. I got to hear more about their life and how they got to where they are now. And for most of you that know me, that was quite life giving. Conversation is one of the more life giving things for me. I love it. And to have it outside surrounded by the mountains God created with the sound of birds singing in the background...it couldn't get much better than that. I enjoyed sitting by the fire in the evening and gazing at the stars. It is incredible how many you can see when you are at the top of a mountain!

The next morning Rachel and I went on a hike to a waterfall that was about 45 minutes away from camp. Again we had such good conversation on the way there. I loved walking through trails and guessing our way there for some of it. It felt good to be dirty (sounds weird I know). It felt good to appreciate the breeze. It felt good to almost walk into a spider web and scream like a little girl. It felt good to be sharing it with someone else and being vulnerable in the process. I got to share about my life on the way there and she shared on the way back. How beautiful! It makes me think about Adam and Eve walking through the garden and sharing about life. There is something that feels so "right" about that. It's so simple and yet so life giving.

Needless to say, I am blessed here. I cannot think of a better way to spend my last semester. Yes things are still hard at times and will be in the weeks and months to come but I am starting to realize how much richer life becomes when we don't avoid the hard times. I am starting to realize that failure it so good because it promotes growth. And even further I am starting to realize that it isn't about failure or success it is just about being. I was introduced to this concept the first time that I came to the Dominican Republic and worked at Pico Escondido, the Young Life camp. The intern at the time Russ Crowe, talked to me about "just being." I didn't understand it at all then, and imagine I am only scratching the surface now. But over the past two-ish years this concept has stuck with me. It has slowly made its way into my being and reminds me to stop focusing on success or failure. It reminds me to stop focusing on productivity. It reminds me to stop focusing on works. It reminds me that I am made in His image. It reminds me that God can't love me any more. It reminds me that tomorrow has enough worries of its own. It reminds me of Christ.

I have so much to learn and for once in my life that is not intimating. For once it doesn't make me feel like I am behind and have so much catching up to do. For once in my life it doesn't make me feel less than and insecure. It makes me smile. It makes me excited for the next moment, the next hour, and the next day. It makes me excited for the next season. It makes me excited for friendship. It makes me excited for conversation. For early mornings and late nights. And for a new perspective.

"Reality is found in Christ" -paraphrase from Colossians 2:17

Just being allows for me to do my best, confident that my best is enough for my God.