Panama...where to begin

I finally lived a life of simplicity, and it was so rewarding. A life focused on people, not on things. A life focused on time, not on money. A life where true dependence on God for the daily bread and fish isn’t exchanged for dependence in a bank account. It is a beautiful thing. Now, how do I bring that back to the U.S.? I obviously can’t live in a hut with no electricity and no car and no bathroom. There are things that we are unable to live without in order to survive. But I still can’t figure out where the balance is. But I think the changes in my life that need to happen wont be extreme like I’ve always assumed they would be. I always thought that the extreme changes would be hard, but I could do it. But extreme change, even if possible, is less difficult than changing my daily habits and way of thinking. Such as:

Buying organic foods to support small farmers and to rid the environment of pesticides

Using less plastic: shopping bags, containers, sandwich bags, cups, plates and the list continues.

Eat less meat. I learned that by becoming a vegetarian, one contributes more to the environment than by buying a hybrid car.

Simple things, but difficult things, to live intentionally in order to serve God on a different level.

Monte Verde

This trip made me fall in love with Costa Rica. It was an amazing spring break filled with relaxing, a zip line, meeting crazy dutch men, good food and great dancing! I dont want to write much more, so here are a bunch of great pictures!!!

Another Volcano

I went to a volcano this weekend and it was amazing. And the volcano was in the middle of the jungle. At one point I was walking on the path and I felt like I was in the Chronicles of Narnia…except in the jungle rather than the snow. I’m just blown away at the biodiversity here and just the beauty. There was an eclipse this weekend and I was struck by the brilliance of the moon. It almost hurt to look at it because it was so bright. And the stars in Nicaragua actually twinkled. The one guy nailed it on the head when he sang, “What a wonderful world.” And I don’t even think he new the full truth of that statement. Anyway…I am blessed.

What a Childhood

So yesterday I watched a movie about DDT, transgenic crops, and the destruction of the environment and GNO or something like that. They showed Pioneer corn, Round-Up and of course corn fields (from North Dakota)…so sad. But…I felt like home. It was so wonderful.

Then, I was talking with my friend, Seth…the guy that thinks a lot and always has an argument for everything. I think he uses a larger percentage of his brain than most people do. Anyway, I was feeling really jealous about how much he knows…about everything. I wished that I could be as intentional about learning and searching for information… (without all the work and reading of course). I told him this and he said, “Yeah, but Liz, do I know how to cut cabbage?” Nope…he doesn’t. And that made me happy.

I realize now in Costa Rica how much more I understand about the world and life being that I grew up on a farm. I understand erosion and the idea of maximum capacity for a piece of land…something that affects sheep farmers in the Middle East and Israel. I understand cross pollination and transgenetic corn…which affects 90% of the corn industry in Mexico. I understand affects of the weather, which caused the loss of potato crops in Ireland and Peru. I know about stable foods, the idea of working to literally put food on the table and the feeling of lack of control over your income. I also know how to milk a cow and catch chickens. SO SWEET in itself.

A crazy conference

First…its amazing how when you have a rough week and everything hits the fan, God totally picks you up in ways you wouldn’t expects…funny cards, e-mails, humor in struggle…not to mention a completely ridiculous conferences.

You wont find this nearly as funny as I did for many reasons, but this is partly to help me remember the story. Here’s what happened. We had this conference with this biology professor (67 gray-haired gringo, hits the table when he talks, paces, definitely uses his voice) who ‘works at the 5 biggest universities in Costa Rica’ so he ‘obviously’ knows what he is talking about. I’m sure he did…I’m probably just a little too stupid to catch what it was. Anyway, after blithering on and on about lots of things (mostly globalization) and quoting lots of books he threw in this statement:

“Eskimos’ survival depends on their ability to distinguish 62 different types of snow…I don’t know if that’s true because I saw it in a movie.”

And then:

“…and my last name is Crowther, which obviously means the one that takes care of birds.”

Then he gave us ‘marriage advice’ and told us not ‘to have any expectations, it’s great’ that way.
I laughed until I cried…and then I started to wheeze from laugher…it was great. I’m really liking my friends here and I’m trying to soak up the time with them. God has been so faithful and I don’t want to forget how His crazy Mighty hand is working in all of this.