upcoming happenings

i have always wanted to live with an ecuadorian sometime during my time here. i thought about it off and on last year, and the thought recently popped back into my mind. on my way to church on sunday, i was walking and talking with a lady here and telling her that i would like to move in with an ecuadorian during my last 2 months here. we talked about some names and i told her i thought it would be better for me to live with an older single lady. we came up with a name and things started to fall into place. that night at dinner, i was talking to another missionary about it, and we remembered that she is a maid for one of the other families in shell and that i should call the family. a second later, the man that i needed to talk to walked in the same restaurant! i was waiting for a bus to drive by telling me that i needed to move in with this lady! so, she said that she would be happy for me to live with her...and im going to hopefully move in around my bday...and begin the adventure! why am i doing this, you ask? well, im not really sure. i do know that i have been wanting to experience life outside of the compound gates and experience the ecuadorian culture first-hand, while getting more spanish practice. these verses come to mind...

"--but i entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view....I did all this because of the Message. I didnt just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it." 1 cor 9:22-24

also, my mom is coming here for easter/SB2Ko7(spring break 2007)! we are going to hang out at the beach in Manabi province....it should be a good time. im excited to relax and not think about school. im sure my mom needs a break too...so it will be fun to get a tan, possibly attempt to learn how to surf, paraglide, and eat some great ceviche.

so...im definately going to be in seattle in august for my start to grad school! woah...that is really scary to say! sometimes i wonder what the heck i am doing...but i guess thats part of the excitement with walking with God...its always an incredible, unknown, challenging journey that is always 100% better than i could have dreamed. if God is with me, who or what do I have to fear?

walkwithfaith

weekend fun

david, our friend helped us make some traditional food called llapingachos...they are basically potato pancakes with cheese, avocado, eggs, a salad with onions and tomatoes, and some meat
this past weekend, beth, david, and i went to Banos to do some hiking...when we left, we didnt know what trail or where we would hike exactly...but i had some options. when we got off the bus from shell, i jokingly pointed up to some antennas high on a mountain and said that i wanted to hike up there. we looked around the mountains to look at our other options and decided that going up to the antennas would provide the best views. so, we started our hike uphill on a road that would take us there. after 1 minute, we knew we were in for a long and hard hike all uphill. we soon found out that it was a 8km hike....which isnt bad, but it is when it is all uphill and you are a little pushed for time. so, we decided that we would try to get a truck to take us up to the top and we would walk down. we finally found someone, after a few rejections (david said we needed to have on some short shorts :) hehe). as we were going up the mountain, we realized that it would have taken us about all day to hike up there! when we arrived at the top, it was worth it and very beautiful. it is a perfect view of tunguragua..an active volcano. it was a bit cloudy..but the clouds gave us a small peak at the volcano spewing some ash. it was a lot of fun!



so now, we were ready to walk down. i thought it was going to take awhile because it had taken awhile to get up there by car! i also thought it would be easy walking downhill...which it was...but the next day (and now) i could hardly walk! walking downhill for more than an hour works some muscles i dont usually push very hard apparently!
this was taken in puyo at a local concert. it was celebrating "dia de la mujer" which is a day celebrating women! they take it rather seriously here! every woman in the audience got a rose. it was fun! one of the bands sang spanish songs that we knew in english. after the concert, rachel, beth, and i went to get our picture taken with the band! it was very funny. we ended up exchanging emails and beth and i even went to see them lead worship at a church in puyo the next day! hehe...rachel and beth like to call us groupies....we gringas can get away with so much here!

off to grad school

there are ideas and dreams in your life that you never think will actually surface or become real. i am learning, though, that the desires of your heart are known and cherished by our God who plays out those dreams. it is so amazing to me that I can have an idea that i think will be good...but God changes it and turns it into something better than i could have EVER imagined.

ever since i was in elementary school, i thought i would meet my husband in college. my parents had met in college, and every other couple i met had gotten together in college, so i thought that is just what happened. when i went to college, i would finally meet my husband. well, when i was actually in college, it was totally different. at my small christian school, everyone was on the pursuit of marriage. people were getting married and engaged my freshman year! it was crazy. when i was at taylor (my college) i thought it was the thing to do. then, i graduated college with no husband and moved back to chicago. when i met people my age, they werent even considering marriage. they said i was too young to think about marriage. but when i was at taylor, it seemed like the perfect time.

i look back, and praise God for getting me out of that "i must get married to be successful" mindset. i was in such a bubble and lies were being thrown at me. i dont think it was intentional, but in an environment like that, the singles get the "i feel sorry for you...your single" look.

when i got to ecuador, it was also somewhat difficult being single because i was definately the minority within the american missionary community here. in a way, it was a bonus because people felt sorry for me and invited me over a lot. :)

during my time here, a lot of people have also told me that they are envious of my freedom and being single. i often get comments like, "i wish i was young again like you with more energy and freedom to travel and do what you want." its funny because when people are married, they want to experience "young freedom" again and single people want to experience marriage.

all this to say, i am very thankful that God brought me out of my thinking that single people have less worth than married people. if i had been in a relationship while i was in ecuador, i know that my focus wouldnt have been as clear. I would have been more distracted and not have been able to experience all that God had/has to offer me here. I am thankful for my freedom right now, and know that it is all for a reason. if i am supposed to be married, i know that i have to trust God with his perfect timing. because he has shown me this time and time again. every time i doubt, i remember jesus saying continually to his disciples, "ye of little faith" God has given me NO reason to doubt, so why do i do it?

i have been accepted to a grad program, called IslandWood. it is located on Bainbridge Island..just a ferry ride from seattle across the puget sound. i am extremely excited and extremely grateful for the opportunity! the program has an outdoor education focus. i will probably continue to finish my masters at the university of washington upon the completion of the 10 month program. well see!

i cant believe that i only have approx 3 more months here....i cant believe that i will have spent approx 2 years here...wow....keep walking with faith....thats all i can do.