Where in the World is Brittany Michelle Arthur?

Did you ever watch Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Man, I did and I loved it! We have the same amount of syllables in our names but her name definitely rolls off the tongue a little bit better, ya?

So, the real reason for the blog: I have flight info for you!

April 19th We fly to the Dominican Republic
April 26th We fly to Columbia
May 9th We fly to Costa Rica
May 10th We fly to Florida
May 24th I fly to Ohio (I'm coming home for a little bit! :)
June 9th I fly back to Florida

*Whew* That is a lot of flying! Please be praying for me and my team that we will be safe while traveling, that we will be happy travelers no matter what situations we encounter. Please be praying that detail things get worked out like housing and transportation and that kind of stuff! Food! Food is always important :)

Update on me: My back is so much better! Thank you for all of your prayers! School is going well. We are learning a lot very fast so lately I have been really tired and taking like a 2 hour nap every afternoon! Yes, my friends, I am a 24 year old with a nap time :) I have 3 weeks left of school so please be praying that I finish out strong and come home speaking some Spanish :) Below are some silly pictures we took in my phonetics class yesterday, enjoy!


Sometimes phonetics is very difficult and this is what it does to us. The lady on the left is Autumn and she is with me from Book of Hope and the other lady is Debbie. She and her husband are fully appointed missionaries. With our forces combined class is not as boring as it could have been :)


Here is Roberto, our phonetics teacher. Behind him is what we are working on in class now and honestly he looks a little confused by it.....hmmm *shrugs shoulder*


This was Roberto's idea :) I am not sure if you can tell but the board says "help" :)


We are always being told by the nationals to open our mouths. "Abre su boca" they say because speaking English is different than speaking Spanish so Roberto has this folder with Sponge Bob on it and when our mouths start getting lazy he holds it up and says "Abre su boca!" This is Autumn imitating Sponge Bob :)

God Bless! And have a happy weekend!

Funny story coming your way!

What is the last thing you expect to happen while walking out of a chiropractor appointment? Maybe getting hit by a car? Sounds crazy but it happened to me! It's all good though--I am fine!! I walked away with my arm swelling a little bit and a thumb print size bruise. I am proud to say that I did not cry and have laughed about it with everyone that I tell :) Seriously, it is not a big deal. He was sitting waiting to pull out into traffic and decided to back up a little bit and bumped into me. My back was feeling really good that day and then the car happened. It did knock my back out of whack and left me in pain, again.

"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 'He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." Hebrews 10:36-39

I read that the day after I got hit. That is a call to arms if I've ever heard one! William Wallace, Martin Luther King Jr., Winston Churchill: they are all great men and can amazingly corral a group of fighters but they have nothing on the Lord God Almighty. Persevere Friends!!! Sometimes things get bad and then they just get worse but believe that He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23) and whatever you do, don't shrink back!!!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support!! It is comforting to know that there is a group of people back home fighting for and with me :)

Have you ever waited to start living?

Have you ever waited to start living? I sure have! I did it here in Costa Rica, in fact. I had a negative thought about everything in my life: the people that were around me, my schooling, my living arrangments, the ministry, everything! I started convincing myself that once I left Costa Rica everything would be better. But that would mean my life would be on hold for at least 2 months! I became selfish, I became secluded, I became lonely. Then there came the day that I couldn't do it any more...my back had gotten bad enough that I couldn't sit through class anymore and I was stuck laying on my bed icing it for a couple of hours. While sitting there I finally talked to Jesus about my "living" situation. I told Him all the things I wasn't happy with and after a long bout of ranting and raving He left me with a peace that with His help I could change things around.

After recieving His grace and love I had more than enough to cover the people around me so my relationships improved--I really loved them finally! I missed being involved with a bible study/community of ladies/iron sharpening iron type of thing so I started my own bible study and invited a few of the ladies from school who have also expressed their pain and lonliness of being at school. Now we all have a community to belong to! I missed the accountablity of having someone to disciple me so I scoped one out and now a lovely lady from Texas is meeting and having coffee with me every week :) I feel more like me now because I am being more like Jesus and less like the selfish brat I was being. Instead of waiting for my life to begin I started living life in these circumstances. That's what it's all about right--not waiting for things to get better but learning how to live through every circumstance.

I am doing really well right now and my back is doing much better! I was able to stand up today after sitting for awhile and for the 1st time in 2 1/2 weeks it didn't hurt and I wasn't huntched over! I walk with little to no pain and can sleep throughtout the night now. Thank you for all of your prayers and to all the people who have expressed concern over the past couple of weeks...your love has meant a lot!

A couple of pictures to enjoy:



This is where I live. This is my part of Costa Rica. Off the picture to the left is my apartment.



This nice little out-house looking like thing is the place where the guards sit as they watch over the neighborhoods. There is one almost on every corner. If they aren't sitting in here then they are maning their post by sitting on a chair :)(Tilt you head to the left, it makes more sense)



This is where the security guard sits outside my apartment and in front of my school. Behind the building is my school, CINCEL. To the left like 100 feet is the gate to my apartment. I wanted to show those who have expressed concern over my safety that I am pretty taken care of here...that doesn't not mean you stop praying though!

Thank you for all of your love and support! May I encourage you if you are waiting for life to "begin" to not wait!! Grab onto Jesus and start living today. It is totally worth it :)

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

My Weekend...

I woke up on Friday for the first time all week without pain in my back. Praise Jesus!!!! This was great because our whole school (all 60 of us) were going on a field trip. My first field trip in years :) We went to 2 very nice churches, headed over to a volcano, and then ended with having lunch at a beautiful restaurant. Let me show you...


We visited 2 beautiful churches. This church is actually 1 of 3 buildings that is left from the Colonial Period. It was built sometime in the 1500 and all the other buildings have been destroyed by earthquakes.


This is me and my roommate Carla in front of the other church we visited.






This is a little critter that I met at the volcano. I thought he was cute :)




This is Joanna and myself on the edge of the volcano. You can turn around and look inside of it. I had never seen a volcano and I was surprised to find green liquid stuff...no that is not its technical term :)





This was the view from our table at the restaurant we had lunch at. It was breath takingly beautiful!


This is my friend, Abby. She is from Mexico :) She helps me with my Spanish and I help her with her English. I must say, she is doing much better than I am!!!

That picture was taken of us on the bus we were on all day. We were on it for like 5 1/2 hours. Needless to say my back did not like it and went crazy again over the weekend. I enjoyed my one day of walking normal :) Please pray that God would heal me again and that I would have the wisdom to take care of it!

This week some professors from AGTS are here teaching us 4 hours a day on missiology on top of our 4 hour class schedule. I am really excited about learning more on missiology but not so excited about sitting for so long....yikes! I'm still praising Jesus and I am very thankful for the opportunity to be here doing what I am doing. I know He has a plan and is using all this for His purpose :)

Playing Hurt

This past Sunday at church the pastor preached on "Playing Hurt". Sometimes we live life under unoptimal conditions. When this happens we have a choice: we could choose to quit, just to give up and go home or we could play hurt. The pastor pointed out that if we quit then we won't see the reward of continuing on. I thought to myself, "That was a great message. I will have to remember that when things get tough again." Little did I know I was going to use that message the next day!

I get back spasms. Sometimes they last a few days and sometimes I am on the couch for a week and I am the most ridiculous looking thing walking around.

My back spasmed again yesterday and today I am missing class. I know that the Lord has brought me here and I know that He will bring me through. How will I lead a team if my back spasms again in the middle of no where? I don't know but I trust the Lord will come through again like He has done in the past. And I trust that if the Lord has brought me here that He isn't going to leave me here but He will provide a way.

Please pray for my back. Pray that my muscles loosen and that walking wouldn't hurt so much. Pray that my spirit stays strong and that I will take Joy in playing hurt.

Valentine´s Day for Lauren Myerly...

I tried to send this through email but I wasn´t able to...this was the next best thing. Sorry it wasn´t more personal :)

Darling,

Do you remember last year when I asked you to be my valentine? Well, I sort of assumed that you were my valentine again this year...:) Costa Rica has some really beautiful flowers and I wanted you to have them. So yesterday I went on a walk around town and took some pictures for you. This is your digital bouquet of flowers :)

I love you,
Britt

Pictures of my apartment!!!!!

Jesus is faithful. Sometimes I get selfish and I forget that. Sometimes I get caught up looking at all the negetive parts and all hard parts that I don't see the cool things God is doing or has done. Then I start to think that He owes me something. Afterall, I am His daughter and I am doing what He asked of me. Doesn't that deserve something!! Well no, not really. Good things happen because He is a good God, not because I am a good daughter. And that is the thought that put me in my place. Jesus is faithful. Halleluliah!!



This is our apartment. We might be moving upstairs in a couple of weeks but for now this is it!! An open room with a bed and a couch. There is another room divided off by some curtins. This is Christine our team leader and the lady who is teaching me how to do my new job.


This is Carla, the other lady traveling with us. She is standing in our bathroom that actually doubles as her bedroom. Behind her is a her bed. Being quiet in the morning to not wake up the others is just not an option.



This is our kitchen....kind of speaks for itself.



Our apartment was a coffee shop before we came so there are cute hand painted images throughout it. This is all hand painted around both of our windows. They are amazing!!!!



And this, my Friend, is my bed. It pulls out, but I think it is just a really cool couch!!

More pictures to come as soon as I find my batteries or buy new ones. I love you all!!!!