Are you the “ice cold brain” or the “fiery red heart”? Or maybe a mix of both?

On a Teaching Tuesday, one of our base hosts asked us to reflect on this and talked about how the body of Christ needs both to function well.

I think I’m pretty balanced; I can choose to operate more in my heart or my head depending on the situation. But there was a time a few weeks ago where my head almost made me miss out on an amazing experience; I had to consciously choose to go with my heart even if it didn’t make much sense.

It was a Thursday night, and my ministry group had an off day the next day. My teammate Morgan and I really wanted to get out and do something fun, and we were researching different options. Everything we looked at seemed too far away and we weren’t sure how much it would cost to get there, if anyone would go with us, or if an Uber would even take us there. We found one waterfall that seemed like it might work, but it was getting late, so we decided to see how we felt in the morning. 

In the morning, one of our friends, Gretchen, asked what we were doing for the day and we still hadn’t decided. We told her about the waterfall option and she was so down for it. I was honestly leaning towards not going; it seemed like too much of hassle.

A million different scenarios ran through my head: What if we got an Uber to the waterfall and couldn’t get one back? What if we got stuck somewhere? What if we got lost? What if we got there and it was closed? What if it went all that way and didn’t even find a waterfall?

In this moment, I had to make a conscious decision to go with my heart. Even when my head was making plenty of logical excuses not to go, I had to say yes to my heart and just see what happened.

Within an hour of deciding to go, we had packed our lunches, water bottles, masks, and gotten some money out of the ATM. In the end, five of us girls decided to go: me, Morgan, Gretchen, Sydney, and Anjali. 

We called our Uber and it ended up being this tiny little silver car driven by a man named Jackson. The five of us crammed in and prepared ourselves for what we thought would be an hour drive. 

The hour drive turned into an over two hour drive into a tiny Costa Rican village in the mountains. It was rainy and cold (not the best day to go to a waterfall)! But, as soon as we started driving, all the reservations my head had plagued me with earlier just went away. We were doing the thing, going on an adventure; and whatever happened, happened. All along the way , we talked, laughed, and chatted with Jackson. We rolled down the windows, letting the breeze blow in; in awe of the views that passed by. I could feel myself starting to relax, to let go.

Jackson dropped us off on a tiny dirt road in a very isolated village, close to where our phones said the start of the hike to the waterfall was. He kept asking us how we would get back; there was definitely no way we could get an Uber home. In the end, Jackson offered to pick us up in a few hours - SUCH a blessing. 

We started on a muddy path, hoping that the trail head was just around the corner. We saw a spot to pay for the entrance fee to the waterfall but it was all boarded up and closed - not a good sign. In the distance, there was a little house labeled with a sign that said “catarata” (waterfall), so that was where we went. As soon as we got close, a woman and about 12 cats streamed out to meet us.

“To the Muralla Waterfall?” she asked in Spanish.

“Yes!” 

We were relieved.

As soon as we payed her the fee (a little less than three dollars) she told us the directions to the waterfall. We went off our very mediocre knowledge of the language in the direction she was pointing to. This led us down yet another very muddy path strewn with cows and cowpies. We had no idea where we were going, we just hoped we were going the right direction. Just five girls winging it and seeing where this adventure would take us. 

It ended up that the “hike” was just a very steep downhill walk into a canyon that the waterfall poured into. We met tons of cows along the way, many of which we had to politely ask to get out of the path so we could pass :)

I remember turning the corner and seeing the waterfall for the first time. It was beautiful and breathtaking. The best part is, since it was cloudy and apparently not a very well known attraction, no one was there. We had this beautiful gift all to ourselves.

Once we reached the base of the waterfall, we just stood there for a while; it was all we could do. We were in awe. We even sang worship songs at the top of our lungs as the water roared. 

There were rocks we could climb up on to stand and literally just take it all in. I stood on this one rock, watching the water cascade down, down, down. I just couldn’t stop thinking about how amazing the Lord’s creation is. How precious this gift was. The beauty, the adventure of it all, it was healing for my soul. 

We had a picnic on some of the rocks downstream and a few of the girls even got in to swim! We couldn’t stop saying “best day ever!” because that’s what it really was.

We took the hard and slippery trek back up the mountainside, calves burning but not one of us cared. We still had a little while before Jackson picked us up, so we walked down through the village to explore a little more. We saw amazing views and tons of animals: horses, peacocks, chickens, puppies, and kittens. 

Eventually, Jackson pulled up in his little car to take us back to the base. We stopped at a little roadside fruit stand and bought some strawberries and mandarins to share! It ended up being even longer on the way back because of traffic, so we had lots of time to get to know Jackson a little bit and jam to his music.

We got back to the base, still on a high because of how amazing the day had gone. We ordered McFlurries and ate them as we laughed and talked about how amazing the day was. Best day ever!

I’m so glad I chose to listen to my heart instead of my head, because I would have missed out on all of this. Fellowship with these girls, a whole lot of beauty, laughter, grand sweet gifts from the Father sprinkled everywhere throughout the day.

This isn’t a super deep or challenging blog post. Just one to reminds you that adventure is out there! And the Lord wants us to experience that adventure, and all the joy and wonder that comes with it. 

In a lot of ways, walking with Him means adventure, excitement, and not always knowing what’s around the corner :)

Thankful for you, friend! 

Emma 

emmasnowaustin@gmail.com

PS: Here's some pics from our fun day!

Pictures taken by my incredible teammate Anjali!