As I’m sitting here on the last day we have with Pastor Basilio in Costa Rica, I’m thinking back on all the amazing times we’ve had with him. Despite the language barrier, we managed to share so many laughs and moments with him. One night, we made popcorn with him which resulted in lots of kernels flying through the kitchen. We’d have broken conversations while making breakfast and He took us on an impromptu adventure day to one of his friends’ ranches. The thing that stood out to me the most, however, was the daily pictures of fruit Basilio sent me over WhatsApp.

We had fruit hour every day around 10:00am. Usually, we would still be in our Bibles around that time, so, not wanting to disturb us, Basilio would send me a picture of the fruit to let us know that it's ready. These pictures were a testament of how much he cared about us, and they made me smile every time. One day, he even sent me a voice recording of himself saying, “Fruit ready!” and I can’t tell you how many times I replayed it.

These pictures made me think of how the little things often make an unexplainably big impact. This is true for any relationship, even with God. For the past year, I’ve been working on being more aware of the little things in my life and thanking God for them. It honestly makes life so much more beautiful. Now when I look at a sunset, I know that it’s God saying, “I love you.” The same is true for when I see teeny tiny birds or funny looking clouds or dogs being silly or stunning flowers. These are all little I love yous from God.

 Lately, flowers have been a huge part of my faith walk. For the past few months, I’ve found myself drawn to their incredibly shaped petals, vibrant colors, and lush leaves. I hear God’s I love yous most clearly when I’m walking along and see a beautiful flower peeking out of the grass. My camera roll is filled with pictures of flowers I’ve come across and I even have a special photo album for them. Costa Rica has some of the most stunning flora I’ve ever seen! We spent so much time walking during quarantine and on our evangelism days that I got some incredible pictures. Every time I look back at these photos, I just smile and say, “I love you too, God.”

What little I love yous has God been showing you lately? I would love to hear about them in the comments! If you haven’t noticed any, go ahead and ask God to show them to you. I promise that they’re right in front of you; we’re usually just too busy to notice.

 Please join my team and I as we pray for Pastor Basilio, his family, his church, and his community. We’ve had a wonderful month with them, and they have made such an impact on all our lives. We’re sad to leave them today, but we’re so excited to see the amazing things that God will continue doing through them. Also, please be praying for our next host. We’ll be going to Nicaragua on the 16^th, and we’ll be staying at one ministry with our entire squad! We’ll be joining Tara, the head of Light and Salt Ministries, as she and her team work with a local boys school, teach trade classes, organize sewing classes for women, and run a program called Mercy in Action for the elderly.