Two Weeks then it's ¡Hasta Luego!

Today marks two weeks until I will be in Costa Rica. Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! Where did the summer go? It's already July 8th! This day last year I was at home in Texas headed to a Texas Rangers Baseball Game. (the only reason I know this is because I was cleaning out a couple bags and found the tickets for the game in the bag)

So, not gonna lie, yesterday was pretty awesome. Here's how it all went down. I had to work from 7am-3pm. Killer. Opened the cafe for our saturday morning customers which usually is a make up of two men's bible study groups as well as a few other random customers. I started setting out a paper next to the tip jar that looks like this:

The tips from the times I am on shift help me to continue towards my goal. 

Saturday was pretty busy which was nice. Several people asked who "Gabrielle" was and I told them I was Gabrielle. I like to work the register more than most people at work so it was easy to answer questions if anyone asked about it. I had one woman who talked with me for about 5 minutes about my trip and what I was doing and with whom. (5 minutes is pretty long when your a barista and it's been a busy day)  There happened to be a break in the flow of customers when she came through so I was actually able to engage in conversation. She asked questions, gave advice and encouraged me. She then had her drink, told me to have a great time, and sliped 5 dollars in the tip jar. I thanked her and she made her way out. I walked to the back room to finish my lunch in the rest of my break when I saw someone on the security camera walk back in the cafe so I walked back out to the counter. It was the woman with whom I was just talking with, but by the time I came back out she was walking out the door. Ashley happened to be hanging out at the cafe and told me that she put some money in the jar. I looked in the jar and there was $40! I looked back at Ashley and began to cry. Tears of joy of course. Wow. God is incredible. I didn't even know this woman and couldn't thank her again. Perhaps I will see her come into the cafe in the future. I was so overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude. 

Funny thing is... 10 minutes later in the middle of making a drink I stopped and began to laugh. Ashley proceeded to ask me why I was laughing and later I told her... "I was laying in bed last night after having a rough evening and my heart hurt a lot so I prayed and asked God to make today a beautiful day filled with joy and beautiful people and surprises." I saw just then in the midst of making a latte that God had answered my prayer. I met several strangers who donated towards my trip, encouraged me, and got to spend an unexpected afternoon with my best friend Ashley. Wow. Yeah. How about that for God and how incredible he is. 

Also, today as I was cleaning... I found $20 more dollars in a bag I hadn't used since December. 

So all around... God is good. He is definitely providing and teaching. I will share more later about what he has taught me this week.

2 weeks to go and I am only $500 shy of my goal! It's all in His hands :) Praise God for getting me this far with a hope for the future.