A New Journey

So I’m a little late on writing this post, but better late than never!

I really wanted to close this chapter out and kind of talk about my transition and some of the things that I’ve learned not even just the 5 months I was in Ecuador, but these last few years, as well… I have learned so much, and I really do think that I changed this summer. You may not have noticed it, but I did. I changed my point of view, and I’ve learned about what it’s like to really “live” in a totally new culture… almost for the first time in my life. I’ve traveled overseas about 8 times now, but this was the first time that I actually lived for almost half a year in another country. It was my first time being homesick and discontent. And I learned so much about contentment, too.

At many points while I was in Ecuador things seemed to fall apart. But funny enough, like Alanis Morissette talks about in “Ironic”, everything seems to always come back together in the end. Everything for the Ecuadorian wedding, the visa, my coming home… everything that was so back and forth finally came together. We thought we had a venue, then we didn’t. Then we thought we’d found three more, and they fell through. And all to get to where we are now… with a venue in our hometown, a great caterer, and a more than FABULOUS house for Santy & my family! We even finished ALL the Ecuadorian invitations by ourselves.

I’m proud to say that I feel genuinely content now. I was so depressed and anxious and broken for a while—longer than just those 5 months in Ecuador. But now at this point I’ve really recognized that whenever things fall apart (and always all at once, it seems), they almost always come together in the end. No worrying on my part is needed. God’s got it under control.

That’s something that we have to constantly remind ourselves… that if our contentment is dependent on our circumstances, well… we’ll probably never be really content. We’re always searching for more, and we’re let down all the time.

Contentment isn’t about our current circumstances, though. It’s about how we handle those circumstances. Like that quote from my other post- “Two women looked through prison bars. One saw mud; the other saw stars”.

Anyway, you all know I was so happy to come home, but I also was sad to leave what had become my home. Man, I was more than happy to flush toilet paper again and to eat Mini Wheats and to have my personal space back. But I do miss Ecuador all of the time. I miss my humble family and waking up to the mountains.  I miss moo-ing at cows every day and taking the awful bus to the city with the man of my dreams. It is exactly what I said it would be—bittersweet.

I got to spend my last few weeks doing a lot. Santy and I had a really fun Halloween where we dressed up like jungle people and danced all night at a discoteca. Then we had delicious McDonalds breakfast.

We went to the city a LOT to do wedding stuff and to get Christmas presents.

We ate pizza and played Monopoly & Risk with our families, which was hilarious.

I threw Santy a surprise birthday party and got him to go all the way to Pizza Hut 2 hours away so his family & I could have time to set up. Then we played Santy Jeopardy, and I was surprised at how much people knew… especially about our relationship! Needless to say, he was totally surprised and had a really great time.

We also led worship one last time at Pan de Vida and said goodbye to everyone. We got to spend time with a new friend, Sofia, which was awesome. Sofia, Santy, Cristian, and I all went to Pizza Hut after Pan de Vida, and it was so much fun.

I also got sick the week before I left, which was NOT fun. However I recovered very quickly (I even sang worship while sick). After drinking lots of warm orange juice, visiting the doctor, popping Halls like a drug, and sitting around the house 24/7 doing nothing but watching CSI & eating Santy’s homemade chicken noodle soup, I got better within a week or so. The watching CSI part was totally fun, though. I slept on the couch pretty much every night, and it was just like when I was a kid and always wanted to sleep on the couch on the weekends! :)

Santy and I also ate dinner with the Darnell’s one last time and had lunch one day with Mari, a dear friend of ours. I’ll miss them all so much!

We also went to a few good counseling sessions with a great pastor who is actually letting us use his church for the Ecuadorian ceremony next year!

Of course I finished out my last few days with just my family & Santy’s family. Santy’s mom even cried when she was saying goodbye to me, which was so unexpected for me.

Needless to say, it was a good last month in Ecuador. I got to spend a lot of time with Santiago and with the people that I love, and I miss it already. But I also think coming home was really good for me, too.

Since coming home, I searched fiercely for a full time nannying job and finally got one! I had several really great offers, but the job that I finally took is incredible and perfect for me. I’m excited to start full time in January.

I also spent Thanksgiving, as usual, watching the parade and eating some great food. And I realized it’s my last year of being “single”. Next year I will be showing Santy all the goodness of Thanksgiving—parades, soup kitchens, wearing traditional turkey hats, and pie!

Other than that I haven’t done too much else. I’ve been trying to stay in contact with as many people as possible, though, because I’m just realizing how necessary it is. I want to be there for as many people as I can, and I’m just starting to get back into really investing in the people I care about. I want any and everyone to know that they’ll always have someone who will be willing to listen to them and love them. I was convinced for a while that I could not be that person, but now I know that I was BORN to be that person. A few bumps along the way can’t take away what I was meant to do.

Anyway, I digress. :) The transition home wasn’t as hard as I thought, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought, either. Other than my flights being pretty good, I’m feeling much better about things and about life. I’m grateful to be exactly where I am right now, and I know that there’s a purpose in everything that I’ve been dealing with and struggling through. I know that it doesn’t end here, but I’m excited for what’s to come.

So thank you to whoever is reading this and who has been following my Ecuadorian journey. Thank you for your support over the last few years and for keeping up with me. I appreciate it so much, and although this chapter is temporarily closing for now, Ecuador is still a huge part of my life that I plan on returning to someday.

Now time to embrace what is to come. A new journey awaits me…