Life between Port and Mexico

Hey guys, 

So I kinda figured I’d let you all know how my 9 days in Canada, between Costa Rica and Mexico, have been; and what God has been teaching me. So first off, my flights back from Costa Rica to Canada were crazy and super amazing. It started off with a bunch of you awesome people dropping me off at the airport, with hugs, tears and prayers. It really meant a lot to me that you guys came, so thanks so much! Then to top it all off, God sent my off from Costa Rica with a sunrise and awesome double rainbow, which I thought was pretty crazy awesome too! However, once I got into the airport things got a little exciting… after I had my boarding passes printed off I went thought security, and past that “point of no return” and wandered over to my gate… there I actually “looked” at my second boarding pass… and found that my flight from Houston to Calgary was completely messed up. I was leaving San Jose at 7:44am, but my flight from Houston apparently left to Calgary at 8:45am… and seeing that my flight didn’t even get to Houston until after 11am this was totally not going to work. But because I was past the “point of no return” (aka I was through security) I couldn‘t got back and get them to change it. So, to make a long story short, after looking around the airport for a staff person, someone finally came to my gate 15 minutes before my flight left and said that I would have to figure out the flight stuff in Houston because they didn’t have an AirCanada booth there. So I knew I was making it to Houston, but making it to Calgary was another story. But this entire experience was just really supper cool because it really taught me a lot about trusting God. It also really made that whole Worry assignment that we had to do back at Port really become reality. It was pretty much the coolest thing ever, because God gave me such peace about it all. Like it was seriously the “peace that surpasses understanding” because I was truly not even worried at all about how I would get home; I knew that God brought me to Costa Rica and He would bring me back; He’s always got everything under control. So just trusting Him with it all and not having to worry about how I would make it home was just a supper cool thing, because trust was one of the huge things that God had been teaching me at Port (and is continuing to teach me), and now it was no longer just head knowledge. Once I made it to Houston, I took a train to the other end of the airport where a random AirCanada flight was gong to be leaving to Calgary in 3 hours… so I spent 2 and a half hours waiting at the gate to find out if I would make it to Calgary. During that time, I met up with a random lady that I had talked with a bit in the San Jose airport, and found out that she was heading to Calgary as well. We ended up having a super-duper awesome discussion about Jesus, mission trips, the purpose of the church, Jesus living in and through us, surrender, trust, and what it means to be a Christian. It was a super legit conversation that lasted the full two and a half hours that we were waiting at our gate eating lunch together. It was so awesome! Like, I seriously never really had that legit of a conversation with a random stranger in my life! It was just so cool to see God working, like right now I’m even starting to get all excited about it just thinking about it again!!! About 15 minutes before the plane left, I went to go and see if they could change my boarding pass… and after taking 10 times longer to figure mine out than anyone else, I got the boarding pass, and was on a plane headed to Calgary! God was taking such good care of me, and it just reminded me again just how worthy of all my trust He truly is!!! :) At the Calgary airport I was greeted with cold temperatures and pretty much rib breaking hugs from all my family members; it was great… I even got to go to Tim Hortons and then Skype all you guys once I got home! All in all it was a pretty much awesome day of travel back home, God is just so good!

The rest of the 9 days that I had back home were filled to bursting with a ton of awesomeness. I’ve gone to weddings, birthday parties, been unpacking and repacking, played in snow, almost died sledding in the coulees, watched Courageous (in English!), hung out with a hundred million people (that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I still feel like I’ve had to put people in time slots just to fit everything in!), baked dozens of cookies & made turtles, impromptu shared at Youth Group for almost an hour, went skating with Jayda and even went with her to her totally awesome Bible study… it’s been a pretty much insane week packed with so much awesomeness… Oh, and guys, guess what… God’s in Canada too, He didn’t stay at Port :) And now, on Monday morning at 4am, my family is getting into our truck and driving through the States down into Mexico! It’s going to be awesome! I’m just so excited to see what God is going to do in Mexico, and how He is going to grow and stretch me as well as the rest of my family through all this, it’s going to be amazing! And then, after 50 days in Mexico, I fly to Costa Rica again for the second semester! It’s also been pretty crazy saying hi to people back here, only to say goodbye right away again, it seriously feels like I’m only just visiting Canada. So yeah, I’m going to be out of Canada for 6 months… which is like, half a year! So yeah, I really super excited to see what God is going to do!

Some prayer requests would be for safety for us when we are traveling down to Mexico. Lord willing we will arrive in Mexico sometime on Wednesday, but road conditions can do anything, especially at this time of year. As well, my brothers are both kinda sick right now, so just for health, that we won’t be traveling sick, and that the rest of us won’t get it, because that would be super unfortunate. Also, that I will be able to be fully available to God, and not leave pieces of myself in Costa Rica and Canada, but just be fully available to Him right where I am at any given moment. And also just for my whole family, that we will be able to just let Christ live through us, and be a light to the people in Mexico that reaches beyond all language barriers. I would appreciate it so so much if you would keep us in prayer, and me as well, because I know that I seriously cannot do this by my own strength, and to do anything of value we need God. So yeah, when you think of us, just pray for us, it means more than I can even say. Also, my family is going to be keeping a blog like we have done for the last few years that we have been going to Mexico… so if you are ever wondering what going on down there, feel free to check it out… right now it still has a bunch of posts for the last few years that we have gone to Mexico, but I’ll update when ever I get the chance. It’s www.brouwerfamilymission.blogspot.com so yeah, feel free to check it out.

Wow, so this post has gotten really crazy long… I hope I didn’t bore you too much…. it’s even more than 800 words… maybe I just miss writing papers or something haha  …Well, I guess I should wrap this up… I seriously miss all you guys a ton, like no joke. The community/family that we had going on down there at Port was beyond amazing and it’s really hard to not be with all you guys every single day anymore… but I know that God has awesome plans for all of you right where you are at right now. I love you all a ton and miss you a lot, I’m praying for all you guys, (so if you ever have something specific that you want prayer for, just email me, or Skype me, or use some random source of technology to get a hold of me). I can’t wait to see how God uses each one of you, all of you are amazing men and women of God, and He’s got awesome plan for all your lives! Just keep yourself available to Him, and continue to let Him life through you so that you can have a huge influence on the lives of those around you, just as each of you had on me. :)

Love from your sister in Christ;

-  Stephanie Brouwer

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." - Proverbs 3:5-6

Sunset from the plane :)

First Tim Hortons :)

The snow out my bedroom window :)

Ready to head off to Mexico! :)