Sucua at night brings me great peace. There are vendors on the side of the cobblestone street selling chicken and fries and corn on the cob with cheese. You will find many people roaming the tight corners, small restaurants and under the trees on top sidewalks.Tonight the sky is dim and black. The lights turn up the night for most people here. Near my home, in fact right around the corner there is a bar. It does not surprise me anymore to clearly hear the music blast at two in the morning. The nights are where it´s at. These people like to party. Energy is bound up in the heart of these people. Everything is loud and energetic. I think I can find rhythm in this atmosphere but it is probably with the others I love...people watchers. Benches are filled with men in fedoras talking to other men with deep wrinkles and sun spots. They greet most who pass by and for a gringo a good stop and stare is in order. I appreciate the slow pace of life here alongside the great energy. My favourite spot here is in the park or at the steps of the catholic church. There I sit in the cool of the shade. Wonder, deep thought, theology, music and prayer accompany me in this haven. I walk there from my home two blocks away. November and December are the hottest months here in Sucua. So walking is (always) pleasant but (seimpre) very warm.
Just a few days ago I found myself there sitting by myself. This last month or so I have read more of the prophets in contrast to the New Testament. I found that the "greatest love story ever written" is in fact the bible. I sat there speaking aloud about the many things that God has done in times past. He brought about a people and loved them with an everlasting love. They were perfect and walked with Him throughout His presence and talked with Him as their friend. He then watched them fall and become something unnatural in keeping with His love. Then you keep reading and find that there were a good handful or so who found favor with God. One being Jacob, later known as Israel. Israel became a nation in fulfilling God´s plan. His chosen people, His love. He reached out to them and helped them along. He brought them from captivity and gave them a light load to carry- However they could not bear this burden. They turned away from Him and prostituted themselves, making them a shameful nation seeking other gods.
The end is what most people hear. God came here in the form of man and gave himself so that all men might come to know God. But what really stuck me was how wrong my thinking was. This was not a story out of His hand. But this was God´s good pleasure. He holds all things, makes the wise frustrated fools and the foolish carry the wisdom of the prophets. I thanked God in tears and in love that this story was a love letter to me. I thanked my Father with a peaceful heart that I was never alone and He has never left me. In our faults and our downfalls we realize then more than ever our need for His presence in our life, His love and His life! There is nothing that has happened that He has not had control over and there is nothing that will happen in which He has not seen. That gives me peace when I lay down my head at night.
Tonight I walked down the cobblestone streets and avoided the cars and sounds that plague my meditation. I am in Sucua, Ecuador. Love the nights here. Love my Father in heaven. Praise God for a heartbeat so close to mine. Thank God that my past, present and future are no surprise to God. Because He has seen it all. And when I think this is the end or that I have fallen too many times, He is there. And in these times I know that I am loved, remembered and going places. He has it all in His hands. And this gives me peace.
The above words and scenes may be more like the jungle gym at McDonald's. They are always colouful, but also disorganized and dirty. However they somehow unlock a profound amount of thinking and meditating on God´s word. He is better than life. And sure supported a good smile when I tasted and saw how much better than life. No greater love.
And this is a good night in Sucua.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Home
God is so good. God is doing great things in me. I pray that I am blessing those around me as I am abundantly blessed. "I wish I could keep track of all the things God is doing in me." These words left my mouth as I traveled alongside Addair my Ecuadorian roommate and very good friend. We let with Joil to pick up a team Thursday morning at 8:37. The time was given by the dashboard of the yellow taxi we traveled in. Walter a friend from church was to drive us. The eight hour trip via bus would only take six hours in the taxi and with Walter driving.
The backpacks were brought were strapped down in the bed of the taxi. His truck sat five people, which accommodated us fine because Patricia Joil´s secretary would travel with us. We were off, down the dusty roads, then cobblestone, and then highway. We left our home in Sucua to spend the night in Quito, the big city. Adventure. We drove through many cities, and past many beautiful scenes of sporadic coloured hills and glorious clouds that met them at their neck. After dropping Patricia off we traveled a bit more until we reached Baños. There we ate at a restaurant that served traditional Ecuadorian meals. The chicken was good. I tried the chicken liver in my soup but chose to only watch Joil strip his chicken feet clean. No, thank you. *smile*
Baños is beautiful and small. We walked back to the truck but only after stopping for snacks. Addair cleaned out a store of their Sparkies for only two and a half dollars(Sucua was out since Destiny´s birthday). Joil and Walter chose a bakery where they got banana bread and grandma´s cookies. Baños was our half-way mark from Sucua to Quito. Joil offered me one of the two cookies he had. He said "I think this is your kind of cookie," I say, "Why?" and he says "Because I know you. And I think this is your kind of cookie." I accept the cookie with a thank you. As I bite into it Joil also says that it lacks about two spoon fulls of sugar. Good snack for travel. If you ever travel to Baños, ask grandma for a cookie.
We were not two hours or less from Quito and the taxi started acting funny. We took a gas station to the right and tried to fix the musical engine. But upon getting onto the road again it proved it could go no longer. Joil had to get to Quito soon and so we had to leave Walter on the highway. We waved down the next bus to Quito and jumped on for the next hour. I was smiling so much. This was fun, this was a change of plan and everything was going against the grain. Hey, this is Ecuador. You never know what will happen.
Quito was busy as a big city would be. The weather was my favourite. Perfectly romantic and noisily charming. Joil took care of business after we were delayed and possibly late. However, God took care of us. He always does. We chatted over dinner about many things. Before leaving the mall we stopped at a candy store. Joil got (a favourite of his) blow-pops and I got chocolate covered coffee beans and nuts. I love anything coffee. Across the street we walked (I love anything walk too) to picked up supplies for construction. We then went back to the hotel to rest a while before leaving to pick up the team around nine. Everything was taken care of that night. The team came in safely and were very tired, as were we. So the hotel was sweet for sleeping. The next morning we took the eight hour bus ride back home to...Sucua.
Much had happened and this is just a bite. But more than these events God is doing more inside my heart. I´m without my many conveniences and norms to be frank. My new home is quite different from my home back in the states. I have to bend more, take less, stretch out and be still. And it is wonderful. God has shown Himself to be near, present, close. He is by my side. When there is no one else my God is beside me. He holds me fast and cradles me tight. I am not alone. He is my Home. There is more peace in the center of God´s will that any peace given by this world. There is nothing better than that.
So no matter where I am, who I am with or who I am without on this adventure, His peace surrounds me. And I am Home.
The backpacks were brought were strapped down in the bed of the taxi. His truck sat five people, which accommodated us fine because Patricia Joil´s secretary would travel with us. We were off, down the dusty roads, then cobblestone, and then highway. We left our home in Sucua to spend the night in Quito, the big city. Adventure. We drove through many cities, and past many beautiful scenes of sporadic coloured hills and glorious clouds that met them at their neck. After dropping Patricia off we traveled a bit more until we reached Baños. There we ate at a restaurant that served traditional Ecuadorian meals. The chicken was good. I tried the chicken liver in my soup but chose to only watch Joil strip his chicken feet clean. No, thank you. *smile*
Baños is beautiful and small. We walked back to the truck but only after stopping for snacks. Addair cleaned out a store of their Sparkies for only two and a half dollars(Sucua was out since Destiny´s birthday). Joil and Walter chose a bakery where they got banana bread and grandma´s cookies. Baños was our half-way mark from Sucua to Quito. Joil offered me one of the two cookies he had. He said "I think this is your kind of cookie," I say, "Why?" and he says "Because I know you. And I think this is your kind of cookie." I accept the cookie with a thank you. As I bite into it Joil also says that it lacks about two spoon fulls of sugar. Good snack for travel. If you ever travel to Baños, ask grandma for a cookie.
We were not two hours or less from Quito and the taxi started acting funny. We took a gas station to the right and tried to fix the musical engine. But upon getting onto the road again it proved it could go no longer. Joil had to get to Quito soon and so we had to leave Walter on the highway. We waved down the next bus to Quito and jumped on for the next hour. I was smiling so much. This was fun, this was a change of plan and everything was going against the grain. Hey, this is Ecuador. You never know what will happen.
Quito was busy as a big city would be. The weather was my favourite. Perfectly romantic and noisily charming. Joil took care of business after we were delayed and possibly late. However, God took care of us. He always does. We chatted over dinner about many things. Before leaving the mall we stopped at a candy store. Joil got (a favourite of his) blow-pops and I got chocolate covered coffee beans and nuts. I love anything coffee. Across the street we walked (I love anything walk too) to picked up supplies for construction. We then went back to the hotel to rest a while before leaving to pick up the team around nine. Everything was taken care of that night. The team came in safely and were very tired, as were we. So the hotel was sweet for sleeping. The next morning we took the eight hour bus ride back home to...Sucua.
Much had happened and this is just a bite. But more than these events God is doing more inside my heart. I´m without my many conveniences and norms to be frank. My new home is quite different from my home back in the states. I have to bend more, take less, stretch out and be still. And it is wonderful. God has shown Himself to be near, present, close. He is by my side. When there is no one else my God is beside me. He holds me fast and cradles me tight. I am not alone. He is my Home. There is more peace in the center of God´s will that any peace given by this world. There is nothing better than that.
So no matter where I am, who I am with or who I am without on this adventure, His peace surrounds me. And I am Home.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Rejoice In The Adventure
"This is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it."
I have just read through Psalms and Proverbs and ran across this familiar verse. This is a lot of what I am feeling here in Sucua, Ecuador. The beauty of the hospitality of the people and the events which pull vivid colour out of their smiles. I love this place! I want to highlight a few stories and a few people today.
A week and a half past we had an additional missionaries here to accompany us. They were from my home state, Clanton, Alabama. I loved having this team around for the four days we shared. Real solid people like my best friend would say. Bubbling over with sincerity too, as I would say. We worked together laying bricks for the walls of a new grease trap. The girls had recently experienced an ugly pipe or two to say the least. The whole bathroom had to be gutted and then a floor relaid. We are still working on the bathroom. But after much work the grease trap is finished and the girls are set. Praise God!
Around this same time, on a Saturday night I came home in a rainstorm. Before I settled in for the night I walked back out into the Storm, around the corner to the closest store. There I purchased milk for the following morning. When I came home the sky broke open in a mighty rain. If you walk back through the laundry room and up a step to our my bedroom you will find a gutter above head. You can see the roof there before entering into our room. You can imagine the floor getting a bit. Indeed it had so to prevent an unfortunate accident I grabbed my towel and laid it down. As I laid it in the floor there was suddenly a cascade of water coming from the gutter! I ran through it to announce the news. To make a long story short our sweet little house owner climbed up and cleaned out the gutter. The water stopped but the house was flooded. We stayed up that night and swept the water out of the house. The electricity went out all over town so we lit candles. It was quite the event, When it was all over we had clean floors and tired arms. God is good.
This Thursday my roommate, Addair and I are going with Joil to pick up the next team. We will be in Quito for a night and then back to double time here in Sucua. We will split the team and interns in two groups. One team will be in the interior with the medical team and the other half will dismantle and rebuild a small building at the church. This is going to be fun. We will be very busy for five days.
I do no know why we do not greet with a kiss in the states. It is a lovely way to greet someone and a great ice-breaker. The girls at the girls home are sweet and full of giggles. They greet us everyday when they return from school. We eat lunch with them everyday at their home. Yesterday we helped to replant flowers, pull weeds, plant a tree and start a soon-to-be garden of flowers and herbs. Leah is the artsy mind behind it all. Yesterday we planted a tree and then dug small trenches going out in the from of a sun. Leah wants a row of herbs and then a row of flowers planted beside each other, back and forth. I do not think I have ever had so much dirt under my nails. It was invigorating...in some aspects.
This is the day that He has given to us. I am in Sucua, my home for now. We are all somewhere on this earth. The beauty of this day and its events is that we are all connected by the spirit of Christ. Today I rejoice because I am in love. He is the reason we move, breath and live when what around us is passing. We are his children, friend and beloved. We are blessed. So today, I rejoice! I do not believe that everyday lacks in the least to call for an adventure. Adventure is all around you. He has opened my mind to wonder, beauty and brokenness. And this is the adventure I am living. I am glad in this day and I rejoice in the Lord!
Wonder. Beauty. Brokenness. Adventure. This is our God!
I have just read through Psalms and Proverbs and ran across this familiar verse. This is a lot of what I am feeling here in Sucua, Ecuador. The beauty of the hospitality of the people and the events which pull vivid colour out of their smiles. I love this place! I want to highlight a few stories and a few people today.
A week and a half past we had an additional missionaries here to accompany us. They were from my home state, Clanton, Alabama. I loved having this team around for the four days we shared. Real solid people like my best friend would say. Bubbling over with sincerity too, as I would say. We worked together laying bricks for the walls of a new grease trap. The girls had recently experienced an ugly pipe or two to say the least. The whole bathroom had to be gutted and then a floor relaid. We are still working on the bathroom. But after much work the grease trap is finished and the girls are set. Praise God!
Around this same time, on a Saturday night I came home in a rainstorm. Before I settled in for the night I walked back out into the Storm, around the corner to the closest store. There I purchased milk for the following morning. When I came home the sky broke open in a mighty rain. If you walk back through the laundry room and up a step to our my bedroom you will find a gutter above head. You can see the roof there before entering into our room. You can imagine the floor getting a bit. Indeed it had so to prevent an unfortunate accident I grabbed my towel and laid it down. As I laid it in the floor there was suddenly a cascade of water coming from the gutter! I ran through it to announce the news. To make a long story short our sweet little house owner climbed up and cleaned out the gutter. The water stopped but the house was flooded. We stayed up that night and swept the water out of the house. The electricity went out all over town so we lit candles. It was quite the event, When it was all over we had clean floors and tired arms. God is good.
This Thursday my roommate, Addair and I are going with Joil to pick up the next team. We will be in Quito for a night and then back to double time here in Sucua. We will split the team and interns in two groups. One team will be in the interior with the medical team and the other half will dismantle and rebuild a small building at the church. This is going to be fun. We will be very busy for five days.
I do no know why we do not greet with a kiss in the states. It is a lovely way to greet someone and a great ice-breaker. The girls at the girls home are sweet and full of giggles. They greet us everyday when they return from school. We eat lunch with them everyday at their home. Yesterday we helped to replant flowers, pull weeds, plant a tree and start a soon-to-be garden of flowers and herbs. Leah is the artsy mind behind it all. Yesterday we planted a tree and then dug small trenches going out in the from of a sun. Leah wants a row of herbs and then a row of flowers planted beside each other, back and forth. I do not think I have ever had so much dirt under my nails. It was invigorating...in some aspects.
This is the day that He has given to us. I am in Sucua, my home for now. We are all somewhere on this earth. The beauty of this day and its events is that we are all connected by the spirit of Christ. Today I rejoice because I am in love. He is the reason we move, breath and live when what around us is passing. We are his children, friend and beloved. We are blessed. So today, I rejoice! I do not believe that everyday lacks in the least to call for an adventure. Adventure is all around you. He has opened my mind to wonder, beauty and brokenness. And this is the adventure I am living. I am glad in this day and I rejoice in the Lord!
Wonder. Beauty. Brokenness. Adventure. This is our God!
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