Never judge a book by it's cover; the greatest story of your life might be in those pages!

Since we got here we have been attending this church called Horizons.  It is an English speaking church that partners with a Spanish speaking church here in Jaco.  We have enjoyed the small church and the people have been very friendly.  We also started attending bible studies.  I go to a women's study on Monday nights and Jeff goes to a men's study on Wednesday nights.  

Jeff and I both wanted to build a community and meet people as soon as we got here so we jumped right in.  Now looking back over the last month, it's amazing to see the connections we have made and opportunities God has provided.  But first some background.

A couple of years ago when I was in Grad school looking for a counseling internship, I SEARCHED for something I could do working with sex trafficked victims.  I felt so called to help  these victims, yet there wasn't much in Colorado regarding this issue.  There were a couple of organizations raising awareness, but I was really wanting work with victims.  By the grace of God I ended up getting an internship followed by a job at a Domestic Violence Agency called Safe Shelter of St Vrain Valley.  I could not have been happier working for this agency.  It is full of amazing advocates that love what they do, are great at what they do, and have compassion coming out the wazoo for people who have been oppressed, controlled, and silenced most of their lives.  Simply put this agency and the people in it are incredible and were a perfect fit for me.  They encouraged my passion while also taming my plan to "Save the World!"; they helped me put away my superwoman cape, and equipped me with the compassion and empathy to understand the stories of each client that walked through my door; they laughed and cried with me; and they gave me an amazing foundation to understand, help, and love, the most vulnerable members of society, and I am beyond grateful for that experience.  When we finally decided we were going to move to Costa Rica, leaving Safe Shelter was one of the hardest things for me.  I loved what I did and couldn't imagine being somewhere else with such great people, great support, and a mission that I was so passionate about.  

Fast forward to the first womens bible study on Monday February 4th 2013.  I was sitting there listening to this girl talk about how to study the bible.  Not that anything is wrong with that but there was no conversation, no relating anything to real life, nothing but listening and filling in the blanks!  It felt a little bit like 6th grade science with Mr. Null minus his constant attempts at jokes. (Mr. Null if your reading this, your class was one of my favorites of all time, I only pretended I was too cool for your jokes cause I was at the weird awkward pre-teen age, please forgive me)  I sat there for an hour thinking in my head, I don't think I want to be apart of this group, I want to live life with people, I want to know these people, I want to connect about real life not surfacey lame-sauce conversations every week!  *Go ahead and say it, I know your thinking it, call me Judgey McJudgerson, I know I deserve it!*  Anyways by the end of the fill in the blank session, I decided in my mind, it's fine that this group isn't what I expected, I'm going to keep coming, and enjoy what the group has to offer.  Good thing too, cause it has a ton to offer!!

 (What I didn't know at the time when I was being Judgey McJudgerson is that they had decided as a group to do a quick overview of how to study the bible for a couple of weeks, and normally they do a more laid back study and actually do share about real life.  Tisk, tisk, on me!! ) 

At the end of the group one girl started taking prayer request.  All of sudden it was like everyone opened up like beautiful butterfly's and actually shared about their lives!  Guess what else came out during that time?  The extreme need for counselors in Jaco...ummm I'm sorry did you say counselors?  Wait did you say a local group that houses girls rescued from sex trafficking rings has been praying for a counselor to work with the girls?  Wait a flippity flop minute, your telling me this community/church/organization is in need of qualified counselors?  Oh okay just checking cause I am, and working with survivors of sex trafficking just happens to be something I have always wanted to do, oh and by the way my name is Ashlie Swanson.

Since then I have spoken with the director of the organization called Seeds of Hope, gone out to observe some of their classes and meet some of the girls, and have been praying about what God wants me to do down here.  There are many details that need to be worked out including school with G.  So far I have been homeschooling, which has been awesome, but he would need to attend a private school here so I could work.  We have him on the waiting list for a really good bilingual school we would love to send him to so hopefully something comes of that.  There are also many more conversations and hoops to jump through to figure out exactly where I fit and what working down here would be like, but one thing is for sure, I am so excited to see where my passion and the need for counseling meet the road.  Wherever that may be, it truly could be one of the greatest stories of my/our lives, and I'm so glad we are here in Jaco to read what God has written!