Weakness

Weakness

6/12/12

            Yesterday I got to Skype with my mom and dad for a good three hours; it was wonderful. People in Santiago’s family kept coming in, so my mom got to meet Santiago’s two brothers, as well as his mom. Santiago’s mom told him that she wanted to talk to my mom, so she came and sat down to chat with us. The silences were a bit awkward, but we would just laugh. She didn’t say much to my mom, but what she did say I would translate. It was interesting.

            After hanging out at Santiago’s house for a long time (and missing the bus the first time), we went into another city to get pizza. I kept telling him I craved three things: KFC (because I saw it on a bus there), pizza, and tacos. So we went to get pizza at this cute little restaurant. I got a regular pizza with oregano and extra cheese, and I’m really not quite sure what Santiago got. It had like bacon and meat and stuff. Apparently people here like their pizzas with lots of stuff on there because the menu wasn’t like “add your own toppings from a plain pizza”; it was like “here are the pizzas with all these toppings already on them”. My pizza was the only one that was “regular”, but it still was listed with the others.

            Santiago and I just talked about random things and differences between Ecuador and America. For instance, they don’t really “tip” at restaurants, he told me. In America, you HAVE to tip because the waiter depends on that money.

            After pizza, we each got a banana split, which was awesome. Then we headed back out to the bus to go home. When we got back, I found out my host mom was feeling sick, so I gave her some crackers and medicine. Then Santiago and I just talked for a while before he went home.

            For some reason I didn’t sleep that well last night. My allergies have really been getting to me, even though I constantly am taking Zyrtec. I think my body still hasn’t adjusted to the altitude change, the weather, and the environment. I’m not so sure it ever will!

            I tried to sleep in as much as possible because from like 12am to 3am I couldn’t sleep. I woke up around 10:30 and took a shower before doing my typical routine. I had my leftover pizza, plus my favorite chips in the whole world. Then I started my devotional.

            Today my devotional said, “God’s strength is best seen in our weakness”. It explained how peacocks are absolutely gorgeous yet have the ugliest feet. In 2 Corinthians, Paul explains that he has been blessed with many things, yet has this flaw, this “thorn”. He realizes that in his weaknesses, God’s strength is shown so much more powerful. It’s in his flaws, his weaknesses, and his trials, that God is really working.

            I have seen SO many weaknesses in myself, especially while being here in Ecuador. First of all, I feel so inadequate when it comes to the language. I want it to just become a language to me, and not just something I have to translate in my head. I always feel so weak when I can’t understand or don’t know a word. I also have a hard time with my emotions and controlling where my thoughts go in times of feeling weak. That is probably my biggest weakness because most of my actions are results of my current (and fleeting) emotions. However, I have to remember that in these times, God is using those weaknesses to show me His strength. It’s often hard to remember that because all I can see are the bad results, but this morning I was reminded of His overpowering strength.

            “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” -2 Corinthians 12:9