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!