A Ridgerunner's Heart Extended by Autumn
I like fruit.
Like, REALLY like fruit. In fact, a friend and I joke about being like ridgerunners - creatures from a book series we love (The Wingfeather Saga). Ridgerunners are obsessed with their fruit, and will go to great lengths to protect or acquire it.
So, when we decided to go to Costa Rica, I was ecstatic. I knew from friends and my own research that Costa Rica is a land of fruit. Due to its extremely diverse climate, Costa Rica is able to grow many different varieties from fruits. Within our first days in Costa Rica I was able to try many unique fruits that I had never tasted before. Some of these included starfruit, passion fruit, cacoa fruit, and water apples. Some were better than others.
Now, the reason we went to Costa Rica wasn't for the fruit. Our main focus of the trip was to find ways we could serve and do mission work. At first we tried to find organizations we could help with, but they all turned into wild goose chases. After a lot of prayer we decided to make up our own projects. One of these was my special favorite.
You see, when we were in Puerto Rico, we learned that even though they grew some produce, the locals hardly ate healthy at all. This was because the lower on the ladder that you were, the more easy and cheap it was to buy junk food and prepackaged things. All of this was in my mind while we were shopping at markets in Costa Rica and when we helped the homeless on the streets.
All throughout Lent we had already been making rosaries to hand out (see previous post). In addition, Gianna and I made little cards that said "Jesus loves you exactly how you are" in Spanish with a Bible verse on the back. My idea was that we also go to the market and buy a bunch of fruit to make bags to hand out with our rosaries and cards. We all really wanted to share our love of fruit with others and help them out the best we could. So, without further ado, we got the project underway.
