Been a long time.

It's been a long time since my last blog post. I've been putting many pics on facebook instead. Pastor Shaner (my pastor in the US) called today. It was great to talk to him. Since we have been back in Ecuador for about a month and a half I have tried to call US numbers many times with my MagicJack with very limited success. Tonight I visited with Pastor Shaner for almost an hour and it was clear the whole time!! What a blessing!! He asked how he could pray for my family and as I started to think I realized that we have been extremely blessed here in Ecuador. We have a wonderful landlord, a great apartment, hot AND filtered water, a washer and dryer and we are very comfortable. We are together as a family, and we all get along! My children are enjoying Spanish classes and are enjoying school as much as one can. We have eaten more chicken in a month and a half than I have in my entire life but look forward to eating it night after night. I see this Lord's blessings in our lives as I sit here this evening. However, I think it is also the product of desiring to follow Him in what we choose to do each day. I am incredibly thankful that my children appreciate thier family and that they enjoy the little things, as I think these traits to be uncommon today.

It takes a little while to settle in before one is able to start meeting folks and building relationships but this trip to Ecuador is all about relationships and how to get things right. As we left Lusk I took inventory of the relationships that we were leaving and was sad to realize that we have not been doing our part to cultivate meaningful relationships and to love our neighbor. Not the neighbor that we want to love, but the actual physical neighbors that God planted us by. Ginia and I have committed to cultivating relationships in Ecuador and to follow Christ's mandate: to love our neighbor as ourselves. Think of all the problems that would be solved in our world if we all simply committed to loving the people that live beside us......

We have been taking Spanish lessons for about 5 weeks. SLOWLY we are learing Spanish. I am very impatient in learning the language, as every conversation is a struggle and I can tell people are paying more attention to what I am getting wrong than what I am trying to say. I can also tell that folks at church are afraid to come talk to us because they think we won't understand them and they dont wish to be caught in an awkward situation. It is a bit of incouragement, however that we are able to recognize many words and have been able to understand the gist of many sermons.

On the English speaking side of life, we have met a couple missionaries that we missed the last time we were here, and a couple other families from the US that are here for various reasons. We met a young Ecuadorian man who speaks English as well. More than one person has mentioned the need for a ministry that caters to the gringos of Ecuador and I am begining to see that need myself. There are many reasons that they don't attend church here but two big reasons are that the churches here are very loud, and that the services are in Spanish. Others simply are not interested in activities of a Christian nature. We are looking for the Lord's guidance in this area and if it be his desire for us to proceed in some fashion into facilitating Christian growth among the gringos of Baños.

We have not spent much time in Shell at Casa de Fe in a while as we have had the opportunity to provide child care (fun time for us!) for a couple families. The people at church probably think we are crazy as our family has had 3 different Ecuadorian children in church with us 3 different weeks. To see the hearts of my children open up to these little ones has been an answer to my prayers that they will grow to have an incredible burden for all of God's children. I know the Lord's will for my family centers around children, and have known that for years, but my ability to hear Him over the distractions of my life is something that I struggle with daily.