Mustard Seeds

“Mustard seeds. Have faith.” Upon starting this excursion through the Costa Rican rainforests, our guide Jimmy shared with us a story from his childhood. Once when he was a little boy, after three straight days of rain, his grandmother came up to him with a handful of tiny mustard seeds and said that with faith, the seeds could move a mountain. If he had faith, the rain would stop. After five minutes of praying to the little seed, the rain stopped and did not return for days.

Throughout the trip, Jimmy has reminded us to have faith in good weather and good luck. Despite our initial hesitations, the mustard seeds work. Every day we have had perfect weather and seen more things than even he thought possible. Our first time in the forest we saw spider monkeys swinging through the trees. We saw rare species of birds and frogs. We saw crocodiles and river otters and more creatures than we knew existed.

One night, after a morning of learning about the life of a sea turtle, we ventured to a beach in Tortuguero and walked on the beach for hours trying to find the elusive Leatherback sea turtle. We chanted to the ocean and prayed to the tiny mustard seed that we would be fortunate enough to see one out of season. After most hope was lost, we saw the beautiful 600 pound creature right in front of us on the beach. As it was nearly midnight, we almost did not see her; but with the help of a trained guide and a little faith, we saw something that even some people living in Costa Rica have never seen. We watched as the turtle laid over one hundred eggs into a hole she had dug in the sand. She then covered it up and left for the ocean as we stood in amazement and awe.

A few days later, we went on a zip lining tour through the rain forest. The area had a perfect view of one of the largest volcanoes on the island, Arenal. Unfortunately, the volcano is often enveloped by clouds and fog, so we were unable to see it. After a few minutes of physically trying to blow the clouds away and a little more faith in mustard seeds, the clouds had vanished.

While our group still jokingly says “mustard seeds!” whenever we want something good to happen, we all know there is a truth to such a positive mentality. This experience would not have been the same without the optimism and enthusiasm shared throughout the group because of a little faith in the tiny mustard seed.