6 weeks in Ecuador. #ishouldhavebroughtmoretissues

Well its officially been six weeks of living in Ecuador! It has really flown by, especially the last two weeks. They told us that once we got into our regular weekly routine that the time would go by even faster and they weren't kidding. This week was a little bit different then our normal week just because it rained every single day so we didn't end up getting to do a couple of our outreaches because they are normally held outside, and apparently the second it starts raining all the Ecuadorians go into hiding lol, they hate the rain here.


So I figured I would just give you all an update on some things I've been learning here. A few months ago I shared a blog post on facebook by a woman called "stop singing oceans"(you can read it here) and she talked about how most of us sing the words to this song :"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters, wherever You would call me." and "Take me deeper than my feet would ever wander, that my faith would be made stronger, in the presence of my Savior." but we don't really mean it. Would we really go wherever God would call us? Like to a foreign country? I thought it was a great article but I thought ya I do mean those words when I sing them because I am leaving everything comfortable and moving to another country to learn and serve people. I thought just making the decision to move here was the hard and uncomfortable part, I knew there would be times I would become uncomfortable while living here but boy was oblivious to how often it would be. Thinking back to before I got here I think how cute it was I thought this wasn't gonna be as hard as it is. If I could go back six weeks and give myself some advice I would tell myself to buckle up and bring a suitcase of tissues because for some reason tears seem to flow a lot more often when you are living everyday out of your comfort zone.

These last six weeks have been a major time of stretching and growing for me. Something I needed so desperately. I was telling someone how I am doing things here that you couldn't have paid me to do back at home, things I would have went out of my way to avoid but after I do them I feel so fulfilled. I'm honestly kind of scared to go home after I am done with this program. We are learning to live a successful life, how to pursue our dreams, how to break out of our "normal" and I am so afraid of going home and living an average life again. If you are reading this then feel free to challenge me when I get home, ask me what I am currently doing to pursue my dreams? Ask me if I am living a life I am proud of. I want this time in Ecuador to be a stepping stone into bigger and better things. Dreams and passions I've had for my entire life have been re-awakened since I've been here and I don't want to lose them again. I know I still have so much more to learn and will continue to be pushed past my comfort zone while I am here. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to take time out of life for 5 months to just learn and serve as much as I can. I am excited about the time I have left here and for whats to come after!